Owners have filed 42 complaints on the Land Rover Discovery Sport, covering 2019–2023. The system named most often is Power Train (12 reports). Worst years by volume: 2019, 2020, 2021; cleanest: 2022, 2023, 2021. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 3.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Land Rover Discovery Sport
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 42 Discovery Sport complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 12 Read
I drive a 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport, which was serviced over three months. The certified dealership replaced the head gasket, fuel injectors, cylinder heads, and starter engines. The car was less than three years old and had never had any issues before service. The car had a sweet burning odor and very rough…
While stopped in traffic with the vehicle’s automatic engine start-stop feature engaged, the vehicle failed to respond when the accelerator was pressed. The engine had shut off normally due to the start-stop system, but when attempting to move again, the vehicle did not accelerate and appeared temporarily disabled. A…
Started car, placed transmission in 'reverse' and backed up into a public thoroughfare zone thinking enough time was alloted to place vehicle in 'drive' and merge into traffic. Car would not go into 'drive' nor would it go back into 'reverse' let alone 'neutral. So after realizing the car was reporting a transmission…
Electrical System 7 Read
Rear cameras(3) no access from menu. Shows a red circle crossed out on menu. Car available for inspection. Backing vehical warning system was working in reverse, accompanied by hazard proximity beeping, but abruptly stopped working after a thorough cleaning. Suspect water in cameras which does match a mfg recall…
When at a stop, the car Idles rough first, then gives a message about re-engaging a gear to maneuver before shutting down completely. I have to turn the car completely off and start again. Happens randomly
Driving 80 MPH on an LA freeway with children, "gearbox fault" message, total loss of engine power, forced to coast to the shoulder
Vehicle Speed Control 4 Read
When trying to accelerate at a light turning left while on coming traffic is coming tries to accelerate and car didn’t want to move. Took foot off the gas and didn’t again. The car finally moved if not there is a potential accident. Also went up a street on hill. Turned right and stop sign right away. Pressed gas to…
The contact owns a 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The vehicle independently decelerated and lost motive power. In addition, the check engine warning light was…
When traveling the car does not accelerate properly sometimes losing power. Feels like engine might turn off. But removing foot from accelerator (gas pedal), then reapply, gets engine to respond, but very slowly. No warning messages
Structure 3 Read
Roof molding detached from driver's side of 2023 Land Rover Discovery Sport, upon arriving at home checked the passenger side and it came off without excerpting any force. Subsequent check on search engines indicate this may be a common occurrence in recent model Land Rover SUVs. I ran a VIN check for recalls on NHTSA…
Roof side rail bars flew off when on the freeway. Car parts should not be flying off a car if made correctly could have hit another car causing an accident. No warning messages. Has not been inspected but have pictures
Rear hatch body welds have failed causing a rattle. The dealership took it apart and placed some foam and sound deadening material. But I was told if the problem was to reoccur, I would have to take it to a body shop
Service Brakes 2 Read
Brakes to done function properly! There is continual drag and not coasting due to brake issue. Had accident because car slide 5 car lengths would not stop. Car engine shuts off and needs to be put into park and restarts when hitting brake quickly, happens on freeway very dangerous. Had to replace all brakes at 9k…
The contact owns a 2023 Land Rover Discovery Sport. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle was shaking erratically. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with cracked brake pads. The contact was informed that the brake pads needed…
Steering 2 Read
The ignition does not turn on or the car will not power on with the key. The car has been at the dealership for a month and they have been unable to repair what is clearly an electronic problem with the vehicle. The power button in the ignition does not power up and the vehicle does not start
I feel unsafe in vehicle at times when driving. The vehicle stalls sometime when taking off after you have stopped at a light and press on gas it sort of hesitates then goes. I had someone else test it out and they say the same thing, also purchased vehicle from Carvana and dont think they inspected this car because…
Engine 2 Read
The vehicle has a transmission problem. The vehicle will shut off at a stop and will come out of gear. I have been sitting at a traffic light and when the light turns green the car will not move (it goes back into neutral). When this happens I have to turn the engine off and restart the car before it will go into…
2019 discovery sport. The turbo charger suddenly failed at 62,000 miles. No prior warning before losing power and loud whining noise began lucky to get to the side of the freeway safely. I Had the turbo charger replaced with new OEM parts by authorized Range Rover repair facility. Cost of new turbo $3565.82 labor cost…
Lane Departure 1 Read
The blind spot monitoring system randomly turns itself off. I don’t always notice it but multiple times, I’ve gone to change lanes only to realize there’s a car in my blind spot but the BSM system isn’t on anymore
Discovery Sport years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Power Train,electrical System | — | — | |
| 2022 | Electrical System,lane Departure,back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2021 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2020 | Electrical System,engine | 1 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Electrical System | 1 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 32 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.7 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 4. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Discovery Sport?
By complaint volume, 2019, 2020, 2021 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Discovery Sport years are the cleanest?
2022, 2023, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Land Rover Discovery Sport have?
42 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2019–2023. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.