xc90 vs discovery 3

[john o]

Hi, just wondered if any of you guys looked at the discovery 3 before buying your volvo and what made you go for the volvo over the discovery.

I like both very much, I think the volvo will be better on fuel.

Any advice would be great.

Cheers

John

[ckp]

I had a disco v xc90 day a few years ago.

Disco pro: Big inside, Very smooth ride, smooth V6.
Disco cons: Too tall (dumps/garage), high fuel use, weight!

Went for the XC90 last year, but I did miss the disco ride. My wife couldn't trust the disco ride hight system to lower the car when entering the garage. Minor but enough to push me to the XC. I couldn't cope with the fuel use... but I only get 25mpg from the XC now! I suspect the disco would be sub 20 in town.

... but the new 3.0 V6 for the disco could be interesting.

[AB-UK]

Reliability is also a major issue.
I know several owners of Discos which spend a lot of time - and a great deal of their owners' money - at the service garage.

I recently went on a tour of a Volvo dealership which had just merged (in fact had been subsumed) by the company's Land Rover arm. The workshop was impressive - with only a few Volvos but loads of Land Rovers - the service manager let slip that they were constantly busy with them. I wonder why that is. :0

[F1BMC]

My Range Rover which was just over three years old cost me over £3500 in 3 months on repairs and put me off Land Rovers for life - two sets of different friends failed to make it home without the aid of tow trucks last year after staying with us for the weekend. Guess what they were driving? - Discoverys Mark 2 and 3....case closed as far as I'm concerned!!

I've had my XC90 for quite some time now and it's never missed a beat - and it's a treat to drive unlike the Land Rover garages courtesy Freelander!

[4wheeldriver]

When youre using the full 7 seat capacity theres more boot space in the xc90 than there is in the Disco!!

[double-six]

That's interesting. I'm in the same dilemma at the moment - had a Disco 3 on hire for a week and overall was very impressed.

I've not driven an XC90 yet although the 2 main things in my mind are:

1. the lag when accelerating from still that some users report;
2. off-road ability (I can't seem to find any reports how good/bad the xc90 is off-road). The disco was excellent, in fact far better than I expected - i know the XC90 is only a "soft-roader" but I'd be interested to know how soon it would give up compared to the Disco.

Don't plan to buy until June so have a few months to make my mind up yet...

[Fordy]

Originally Posted by F1BMC

two sets of different friends failed to make it home without the aid of tow trucks last year after staying with us for the weekend.

LOL, reminds me of the stats LT fanboys always come out with.

75% 0f Land Rovers ever made are still on the road ...













...the other 25% managed to make it home

[RoyMacDonald]

Disco 3. was too Expensive as it was a 1 year old car against a 4 year old one. About 10mpg less per gallon. (I get 35-40 out of the XC90) The fact I would expect to spend a lot more on repairs than the XC90

I'd been driving Volvo's for 22 years and I knew and liked the people I used for servicing and the Owners club was a great resource for Volvo owners. I love the engineering of Volvo's. I had tried a Merc and the body seemed flimsy and I was appalled at what they consider to be an acceptable standard of rustproofing, although I thought the engine was great. (E320 cdi) So I was yearning for a Volvo body again anyway.

The surveys I saw showed the XC90 to be a lot more reliable than the Disco but that the Disco was more competant off road than the XC90, however I felt that most of my driving would be on road with only a small amount off.

I mainly wanted the ground clearance as I'd had about 20 days when I hadn't been able to collect my grandaughter from school with the Merc because the road to her school has a flooded area in heavy rain and it needs about 200 mm of clearance, Even my 940 was OK. Also couldn't collect my wife from the airport due to snow, and we couldn't go to the holiday cottage we like as it is down a long track with big boulders on it.

The Disco does have 700 mm of clearance if you get the air suspension, it can also tow more. The XC90 is cheaper on fuel and servicing, and I absolutly adore the ventilation system.

Ohh.... the other thing is my wife dosn't like the styling of the Disco although I do but think the XC90 is the better looking car.

To be honest I'd like to have one of each. That wouldn't go down well though, and I absolutly love driving the XC90.

EDIT: I forgot the Disco wouldn't fit in the garage. The XC90 has brilliant use of space.

Roy

[ademora]

I have just part exchanged my XC90 for a new Disco 3 after losing confidence in the XC90, haven't had too many problems, knocking front suspension, engine failure at the top of a steep hill on exmoor, had to struggle with hardly any brakes and heavy steering to bring it to a safe stop at the bottom, Anti skid system faults leading to over a week in the garage, and finally last week all the electrics went dead near the bottom of porlock hill. we felt that it was time for a change, (btw I bought the XC90 from new, just over 3 years old with only 44k on the clock)