Where each one leads
Land Rover Discovery
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Land Rover Discovery uses 11.2 l/100 km, the 2017 Volkswagen Touareg 12.2.
Volkswagen Touareg
- Against cars of the same year, the Volkswagen Touareg comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 20% less often than average) than the Land Rover Discovery (fails 13% less often than average).
- Fewer Volkswagen Touareg cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (10.2% against 14.2%).
- New Volkswagen Touareg cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 199 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 225 for the Land Rover Discovery in 2022.
- Measured by the cars' own fuel meters, the diesel Volkswagen Touareg uses 9.1 l/100 km on the road, the Land Rover Discovery 9.9.
Too close to call: MOT pass rate against cars of the same age.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Land Rover Discovery | Volkswagen Touareg | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1989–2026 | 2003–2018 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 129,697 (2010–2022) | 212,242 (2010–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 261,834 | 42,140 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 2,692 | 4,235 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Land Rover Discovery | Volkswagen Touareg | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 73% | 76% |
| … against cars of the same age | +8% | +6% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 1.2% | 1.8% |
| … against cars of the same year | −13% | −20% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 14.2% | 10.2% |
| US owner complaints | 545 | 646 |
| Most complaints about | Electrical system | Fuel/propulsion system |
| Model year with most complaints | 1996 (65) | 2004 (231) |
| US recall campaigns | 23 | 12 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 4,103 | 8,425 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 2 | 9 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Land Rover Discovery | Volkswagen Touareg | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 11.2 l/100 km (2026) | 12.2 l/100 km (2017) |
| Real-world use in Europe, diesel hybrid | 9.8 l/100 km | — |
| Real-world use in Europe, diesel | 9.9 l/100 km | 9.1 l/100 km |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | — | 12.2 l/100 km |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 225 g/km | 199 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 205 kW (274 hp) | 206 kW (277 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 2,493 kg | 2,142 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €110,461 | €99,632 |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).