Land Rover Discovery vs Volkswagen Touareg vs Audi Q7: which one has the lowest running costs?
The lower end of the premium-brand family SUV market is a busy arena, with a host of relatively new models to choose from. We selected a diesel Land Rover Discovery as baseline, and then compared it to two closely-related opponents in the same price bracket to see which one would have the lowest running costs.
How can you pre-determine your car’s running costs?
When considering a car’s running costs, it’s important to look at it over the full life-cycle. This allows third- or fourth owners of older cars to get a clearer picture of possible future expenses, and it helps first owners to determine at what age their cars may become too expensive to run. Unfortunately, many of the cars available new on our market are still too young to give accurate long-term information regarding running costs.
There are however certain key points which could give an idea of a car’s general upkeep requirements. This includes the length of the service intervals, the cost of replacement tyres, and the prices of service parts. For new-car buyers, the emphasis might perhaps shift more towards resale value, insurance premiums, and fuel consumption.
None of the three cars in this comparison are newcomers to our market anymore: the Volkswagen Touareg is the newest (having been around since 2018), the Land Rover Discovery is a year older, and the Audi Q7 dates from 2015. In fact, an updated Q7 is expected to arrive in the second half of 2020 (according to Audi SA’s website), but it would appear that some examples of the pre-facelift version are still available. Nothing much is expected to change on the mechanical front anyway, so the pre-facelift model’s technical data should remain applicable to the refreshed one as well.
We selected the least-expensive Discovery with the nicest engine in the range: our contender is simply called the Discovery S Td6. Its opponents share a platform and do much the same things: both the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg are still, as always, very closely-related, and also share genes with cars as diverse as the Audi A4 and Lamborghini Urus. Will their similarity result in the Audi and Volkswagen’s running costs being equal, and how will they compare to that of the Land Rover?
Let’s meet the contenders!
1. Land Rover Discovery S Td6 (R 1 115 656)
“S” Trim level denotes the entry-point to the Discovery range, and the “Td6” badge denotes the presence of a lovely 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel engine. In this form, the suspension is by way of steel springs, the wipers and air conditioning are controlled manually, and a sunroof isn’t even on the options list. All in all, this trim level has the fewest things to go wrong in the long term – there will be no air suspension to repair, and no sunroof malfunctions to sour the long-term ownership experience.
It has the nicest engine in the range as well: the 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo mills (either petrol or diesel) are both adequate for the job at hand, but they have to work too hard (and noisily) to get the job done, while the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol goes like stink but suffers from really profligate drinking habits. The sweet spot is this one: a 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6 that sounds like distant thunder, and delivers performance and economy in equal measure. Outputs are 190 kW and 600 Nm, enough to shunt the big Disco from a standstill to 100 km/h in 8.1 seconds and deliver stump-pulling torque.
2. Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI Luxury (R 1 126 600)
This is the least-expensive Touareg in our market, and uses the Volkswagen Group’s highly regarded and very popular 3.0-litre V6 TDI, mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox and permanent all-wheel drive. It’s tuned to deliver identical power to the Discovery’s V6 in this application, with the same peaks of 190 kW and 600 Nm.
It’s a fair bit quicker than the Discovery, though, because it weighs around 200 kg less. Volkswagen doesn’t quote acceleration times for the Touareg in this trim (apparently South African cars are tuned differently), but the 0 – 100 km/h sprint should be dispatched in less than seven seconds on the way to a top speed of 235 km/h. It’s suitably high-tech as well, with a touchscreen fest inside and quite a lot of standard goodies. Navigation is included as standard, as are adaptive cruise control and ventilated seats. In all, a much better spec list than the Discovery, and worth the R 10 000-ish premium.
3. Audi Q7 45TDI quattro (R 1 136 500)
An extra R 10 000 over the Touareg will, at the time of writing, net you an Audi Q7 45TDI. That’s not a large sum to get a premium badge, but somehow, a few horses escaped in Audi’s powertrain tuning. The peak torque remains pegged at 600 Nm, but power drops slightly to 183 kW. That’s still enough for a 0 – 100 km/h sprint claim of 6.9 seconds, possibly thanks to their weight difference: the physically larger Q7 is actually a bit (45 kg) lighter than the base Touareg. Interesting.
Equipment levels of the pre-facelift Q7s still available reflects its relative age (in this company), but the facelifted one we’ll soon see has all the bells and whistles. Included in the future package should be an all-touchscreen cockpit like the one in the Q8, and a similarly advanced LED light show all round. It will probably cost a bit more than the outgoing model, though.
Which one has the lowest running costs?
Purchase price and depreciation
The Land Rover Discovery is the least-expensive car in this group, but the difference isn’t massive. And, for the time during which their maintenance plans are still active, all three cars should have decent value retention – albeit not equally so. It’s not uncommon to see 2- or 3-year-old Discoveries still retailing for 87% of their new value, and the same applies to latest-generation Touaregs as well, where 2-year-old examples may be listed for more than they cost new.
The odd one out here is the Audi Q7, where year-old, very low-mileage 45TDIs are listed at only 80% of their new value. That makes a nearly-new Q7 a very good used-car buy, with the cheapest examples on AutoTrader now dipping below the R 800 000 mark.
The really precipitous drops only occur once the maintenance plans expire, however. Going on historical data, it’s likely to be the Volkswagen that would depreciate the quickest, but the Q7 would not be far behind. Bargain-hunters would be well-advised to wait until the current Touaregs, Discoveries and Q7 are older than six years, because that’s when they will really become affordable to the average user.
Instalment calculator
*Calculated according to the AutoTrader Car Finance Calculator, with a 72-month finance agreement, 10% interest rate, 10% deposit, and no residual value. List prices were accurate at the time of writing, but may change without prior notice.
Land Rover Discovery S Td6
List Price: R 1 115 656
Instalment: R 18 601/month
Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI Luxury
List Price: R 1 126 600
Instalment: R 18 784/month
Audi Q7 45TDI quattro:
List Price: R 1 136 500
Instalment: R 18 989/month
As is to be expected with their list priced being so closely stacked, the monthly payments vary by less than R400 per month. Obviously, these numbers will change depending on interest rates, deposit size, and finance term, but it still points towards a marginally lower monthly expense for the Land Rover Discovery’s first buyer. It also depends on the ticked option boxes – there are plenty of those in all three of these cars, and they can quickly skew the asking prices in a completely different direction.
Related: Which new cars depreciate the fastest?
Fuel efficiency
The Land Rover Discovery Td6 has a commendable claimed average consumption figure of 7.8 ℓ/100 km, and real-world use should show around 9 ℓ/100 km to be well within the realm of moderately conservative drivers. The Volkswagen Touareg beats it by a handy margin, though, with a claimed average figure of 7.1 ℓ/100 km, but the Audi’s claimed consumption of 6.3 ℓ/100 km trounces them both.
In mixed-cycle driving, the Audi/VW siblings should both return mid-8 ℓ/100 km figures, and open-road use should see that drop below 7 ℓ/100 km without much effort. However, going on their official consumption claims only, the Q7 has to win this department (in theory), with the Touareg second and the Discovery third.
Related: Top 5 tips to improve your car’s fuel efficiency.
Warranties, maintenance plans, and service intervals
All three cars include a maintenance plan for 5 years or 100 000 km in the price, but the Discovery is the only one with a warranty that runs for the same period. The Volkswagen’s warranty expires after 3 years or 120 000 km, and the Audi’s warranty runs for only 1 year (but with no mileage restriction, for what it’s worth).
Their excellent maintenance plans should give new-car buyers considerable peace of mind for the first part of the car’s lifecycle, regardless of warranty considerations. Seen in this context, it doesn’t really matter that the Audi Q7 has the weakest warranty here.
All three cars have good aftermarket support, but the VW/Audi duo likely has the upper hand here, thanks to their oily bits being used in many other VW Group products. Just remember that they’re all boosted by turbochargers and high-pressure direct-injection diesel systems, which may need attention around the 150 000 km mark. This means that all three will likely cost a lot more than simpler cars to keep going as they age, and is really a point worth considering for all ageing, high-tech cars.
Insurance
Thanks to its brand cachet, the Audi Q7 is considered a higher theft risk, with the Discovery and Touareg less likely to be stolen or hijacked. Combine that with its higher replacement value (due to its higher new-car price), and a new Q7 will be more expensive to insure than the other two.
The opposite applies when buying used, however: seeing as older Q7s suffer pretty severe depreciation, it will be cheaper to insure a used Q7 than a nearly-new Touareg or Discovery. Also consider that insurance premiums vary widely, and depends on factors like the driver’s risk profile, where the car is driven, security arrangements where the car is stored, and the mileage accrued on the vehicle.
Related: Is it better to buy insurance from a broker or go direct?
Tyre replacement
Standard tyre prices play a significant part in any running cost evaluation, but it’s not always a given that smaller tyres will be less expensive – if they’re less commonly used, they might be harder to find and more expensive to replace than larger tyres which are in wider use.
First up is the Land Rover Discovery. In base trim, it wears 255/60R19 tyres (larger wheel/tyre combinations are optionally available), which is a very unusual size in our market: of the two nationwide retailers where we enquired, neither stocked anything in this size. This indicates that replacing the Disco’s tyres will likely cost a fortune, unless one deviates from the manufacturer’s specifications regarding size and profile.
The Audi and Volkswagen have the same sized standard tyres, and they both offer different combinations as optional upgrades – narrower 18-inchers for the Touareg and wider 20- or 21-inchers for the Q7. Their standard shoes are 255/55R19 in size, however, which is far more common than the Discovery’s footwear – we found 9 alternatives from one retailer. Replacement tyres are still expensive, with prices varying between R 2 800 and R 5 000 per tyre.
Related: How long is a tyre supposed to last?
Verdict
Casting a verdict regarding running costs for this trio can only really be done effectively if the term of ownership is taken into consideration. In the short term, these three cars should have similar running costs, thanks to those very strong maintenance plans. The Discovery’s fuel bills will likely cost more right from the start, however: its extra heft demands more energy to move from A to B.
Also counting against the Discovery is its tyre replacement cost, but that might be offset by the insurance saving when compared to the Q7. The Q7 has another drawback too, because its steeper depreciation means a lower trade-in value a few years down the line.
In the long run, the chances are that the Volkswagen and Audi should both be less-expensive to maintain and repair, simply because of their wider OEM- and aftermarket backup. However, they all have turbochargers and direct diesel injection, (which introduce very similar potential failure modes to all three), so there might not be much difference between their maintenance- and repair cost over a long term.
Taking all the above factors into account, the Volkswagen Touareg should have the lowest running costs in both the short- and long term, with cheaper insurance and less-steep depreciation than the Audi, and lower fuel consumption than the Discovery.
*Pricing was accurate at the time of writing, but may change without any prior notice.
Recommended Next:
Shop for new and used Land Rover Discovery cars for sale here.
Shop for new and used Volkswagen Touareg cars for sale here.