Morning 747JK,
I to have a 2010 discovery 4 3.0 HSE: i have had many problems with the car since purchasing the vehicle with just 19k on the clock. I too have a smoky engine on start up which is identical to yours. I'm unaware if it has a DPF I will check.
My car;
2010 on a 10 plate
60 thousand miles (just under 57 I think)
Hi Glenn... Not that I wish to delight at your poorly car too, but it's finally nice to know I'm not in this alone. Perhaps having found another car with the same problem, Land Rover is at least going some way to being able to claim this is "representative of the marque"!
It does sound like a very similar problem and I would most certainly flag it up to the dealer before the warranty is out. If you can find a way to upload a video onto YouTube, and post the link on here, I'd be interested to see it.
The level of problems I have had with this car is best described by being honest about what Land Rover has done since I took ownership. Firstly, they paid for the service in year one and year two, as means of an apology I presume... Plus, a few months after my car was back on the road after the complete engine failure (which took circa two months for them to repair), they invited my wife and I on an official 4/5-night Land Rover trip to Spain, staying in a mix of 5-star hotels and comfortable camping, offering us the chance the drive a D4 on an off-road tour through some Spanish mountains. Due to other commitments, we declined - but I don't believe this is something a manufacturer offers customers unless they know they are driving a 'problem' car.
They then extended my warranty, upon request, and at no charge, for a fourth year. They did this as I told them I planned to run the car for five years, and had no confidence in it given the engine problems I had had in the first 12 months. I must say, my worries were well founded if this year is anything to go by.
Like you, my dealer, Harwoods Croydon, has been very helpful. This year I understand they've been left to pay for a lot of the investigation into my car's ongoing engine woes as LR wouldn't cover it all themselves. My service manager, at one point, admitted this was the first LR they (the dealer) hasn't been able to fix, ever...
But what bugs me - MASSIVELY - is that there is clearly something wrong with my car, but LR are prepared, probably as it's more than 3 years old (even though the engine is still under 3 years old), to walk away and give me this tosh that it's "representative of the marque." It may well be, but if that's the case, it suggests there is a wider problem that needs to be addressed.
Also, if the problem was truly "representative of the marque", why have they tried on four occasions already this year to fix it, carrying out extensive tests over weeks of having the car VOR, replacing primary turbos, then secondary turbos, cleaning parts, carrying out compression tests etc etc etc.
The D4 has the potential to be such a super car in so many ways, but when the OEM is not prepared to admit there's a fault with it - and fix it - it gives you no confidence in wanting to own another. And that is very sad indeed.
