Range Rover Sport Problems

There’s no reason to believe that the Range Rover won’t be reliable over the long term, but it will almost certainly be more expensive to own and run. Servicing will be more expensive than a lesser model from an Asian carmaker for instance.

Range Rover does not have a great reputation for reliability or resale but the Sport is a great drive. So the X5 is the safe choice but the Range Rover is likely to give you more enjoyment.

For maximum space and tow rating you should definitely be going for the Touareg V6 TDI. It will do both your jobs with a 3500kg tow rating and 280kg ball weight.

There are lots of fresh contenders in that class, including the Porsche Macan — which has an 18-month waiting list. The pick is the Land Rover Discovery Sport. I give it The Tick and rate it well ahead of the NX for comfort, quietness and class.

The Range Rover is fantastic and a personal favourite but the BMW also gets The Tick. Neither will be cheap if something goes wrong after the warranty. I would have a Range Rover badge every time.

The later Range Rovers are not nearly so troublesome but still not as bulletproof as an X5. I would not vote against the British beast if that’s what you really want.

I CAN'T tell you how accurate trip computers are, but I am cautious about their accuracy. Nothing is 100 per cent accurate. I have had some very suspicious results from trip computers. For instance, I recently tested a new Falcon XR8 ute and the trip computer told me the average fuel consumption was 16.5 litres/100km in the week I drove it. I next tested an FPV Pursuit that had a more powerful version of the same V8, but the indicated fuel consumption was 12.5 litres/100km in similar driving conditions. Granted there were some inaccuracies in what I was doing, but I can't believe there was a difference of 4 litres/100km. I wasn't surprised the XR8 was a gas-guzzler, but I was very surprised at the economy of the Pursuit. It made me suspicious of trip-computer readings.