Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Land Rover Discovery 2017: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 82 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2017 Land Rover Discovery were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front).

Summary

The 2017 Land Rover Discovery follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 9,170 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
82 in every 100
Did not pass first time
18 in every 1001,689 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
8 yearsabout 75,704 miles
First tests counted
9,170

What failed most often

  1. Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)22 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (rear)15 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Brake pads (rear)12 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2017 Land Rover Discovery vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), 13 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,689 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 373 first tests13 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Whether a suspension arm ball joint dust cover still keeps dirt out decides its grade. Severely deteriorated is Minor, while missing, or no longer preventing the ingress of dirt, is Major.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Brakes

One fault and one wear pattern. The strongest is the rigid brake pipes (rear): 11 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 88 first tests11 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 85 first tests, 3.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 198 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A pad worn down to its wear indicator, or contaminated with oil or grease, is Major. A pad worn below the set thickness limit, missing or incorrectly mounted is Dangerous. The manual treats an illuminated brake wear indicator as no reason for failure, although DVSA also lists an illuminated indicator as a Major row.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: airbag warning light, 7.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Airbag warning light

Failed on 111 first tests7.9 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

The airbag warning lamp (SRS MIL in DVSA's wording) is failed only if it indicates a system malfunction, which is Major. A lamp lit to show the passenger airbag is disabled is not to be regarded as a defect. Dashboard messages are not a defect in their own right, though they can help the tester confirm a malfunction.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 216 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
82in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
2in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
16in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 81.6% of 9,170 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 83.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 2 fixed and the 16 not fixed make the 18 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

406080100199520002005201020172020Older carsNewer cars
4060801002000201020172020Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 83 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
199474 in every 100523
199569 in every 100671
199672 in every 100746
199770 in every 100864
199868 in every 100927
199966 in every 1001,637
200064 in every 1001,759
200164 in every 1002,861
200265 in every 1003,652
200366 in every 1004,666
200465 in every 1005,295
200564 in every 1006,295
200661 in every 1006,150
200763 in every 1005,278
200864 in every 1004,086
200966 in every 1004,486
201070 in every 1005,608
201171 in every 1005,453
201272 in every 1006,239
201374 in every 1005,951
201477 in every 1007,006
201579 in every 1008,703
201680 in every 1009,189
2017 This car82 in every 1009,170
201885 in every 1008,001
201986 in every 1007,476
202086 in every 1005,898
202186 in every 1006,395
202287 in every 1003,933

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage makes a modest difference on a 2017 Discovery.

Of 2017 Discovery vehicles with under 57,000 miles, 85 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 98,000 miles or more, 78 in every 100 did.

Under 57,0001,801 tests
85
57,000–70,0001,876 tests
83
70,000–82,000 Typical car1,803 tests
81
82,000–98,0001,861 tests
80
98,000 and over1,829 tests
78

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 57,00070,000–82,00098,000 and over
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)2.75.34.1
Tyre condition (rear)2.52.22.8
Brake pads (rear)1.91.72.1
Tyre tread depth (front)1.20.71.4
Airbag warning light1.11.52.0

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

50in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

22in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

6in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2017 Land Rover Discovery follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), about 22 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 81.6% of 9,170 first MOTs on the 2017 Land Rover Discovery passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 83.8%. Among 1,689 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) appears more often than on similar cars (22.1% of those tests; 373 observed failures; about 13× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2017 Land Rover Discovery at the first attempt were Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) (22.1%), Tyre condition (rear) (14.6%) and Brake pads (rear) (11.7%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) (22.1% of those tests; 373 observed failures; about 13× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (22.1% of those tests; 373 observed failures; about 13× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2017 Land Rover Discovery include Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), Airbag warning light, Rigid brake pipes (rear). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2017 Land Rover Discovery (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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