Thread: puma ??

Heya mate - although I have personally had a lot of warranty claims, I think some further comments are warranted in light of your good question.

Firstly, forums will tend to generally attract the, "I have this problem....." type comments. Rarer for persons to just put up a post to say nothing is wrong.

Secondly, most of my warranty issues have been minor.

Thirdly, many of my other warranty issues have been brought to the dealer's attention because I'm fussy, I payed bucks for a brand new vehicle and I want everything perfect whilst it's still within original factory warranty. Non fanatics, such as the average joe who buys a Hilux, probably wouldn't have even noticed an issue.

At the end of the day, I've done 52,000km in mine - it's never broken down. I have taken it over the roughest, most remote tracks in Australia. I'm very glad I waited for a Puma rather than a Td5. It is, in my opinion, a far superior vehicle. Indeed, I agree with 4 X 4 magazine - it is the best Defender yet.

I hope these comments might partially quell your concerns.

It seems you are only reading about the issues. For sure like every other brand there are some issues.Some are common to the brand - all brands. Some are just luck of the draw. Remember, a warranty will sort out most problems. The only real issue I have had is the well known brake vacuum pump letting go.
You will find on this site some very passionate and honest views.
IMHO - you will not go wrong buying a Puma if you want a real 4WD with plenty of power and torque, and is geared extremely well.
I could have purchased a 2nd hand TD5 with all the fruit - they are a good 4WD. But, without turning this into a "mine is better than yours thread", the Puma is the better vehicle in many ways.
Just over 21K in 12 months - quite a few off road trips and I would thoroughly recommend one!

the thing with the defenders especially is that because they are mostly hand made it depends what day your car was built on, and you can really tell the Friday afternoon cars and the Monday morning hangover cars

its a luck of the draw really

but to what i think about puma's,, there are endless posts what i think about them

Originally Posted by SVX37

It seems you are only reading about the issues. For sure like every other brand there are some issues.Some are common to the brand - all brands. Some are just luck of the draw. Remember, a warranty will sort out most problems. The only real issue I have had is the well known brake vacuum pump letting go.
You will find on this site some very passionate and honest views.
IMHO - you will not go wrong buying a Puma if you want a real 4WD with plenty of plenty or power and torque and is geared extremely well.
Just over 21K in 12 months - quite a few off road trips and I would thoroughly recommend one!

But that’s my point, i can only read what is posted and to be honest what is generally posted is not putting the puma in a good light. What I am trying to do is get some balance and assuming that some puma owners who have no problems just don’t have anything to post about? you could also add to that that I assume new puma owners are not the get there hands dirty types compared to a 20 year old defender owner so maybe the overall attitude to what should or should not be fixed is a bit different, scallops touched on this point with if you have a warrantee use it to the max. As for comparing to other marks, who cares none are in the league or class of a defender

As you can see from my signature I moved from a Disco to the Defender. I bought the Disco second hand and without a warranty. In the 11 years that I owned it if anything broke (and quite a few things did) I'd either fix them myself or with help so I wasn't an "afraid to get my hands dirty type".

I reckon the Puma Defender is a great vehicle and I enjoy not having to get my hands dirty for a change. The few issues I've had with the Puma have been relatively minor and fixed without issue by someone else and not at my expense.

Clearly, you haven't read enough!
You should note that in life, one negative comment = ten positive comments!
It is important to note, forums tend to discuss issues and if other members are having them, and what the fixes are.
If you are put off buying one - then don't buy one. It will speed up the delivery for the guy waiting behind you!
I would suggest if you test drive one in both high and low range, you will come to a decision quickly.
In addition, I don't have the time nor the skill to get my hands dirty.
I just enjoy driving the thing on and off road.
The people that look in envy as I drive and pull up at the lights always brings a smile to my face.

Check this thread out: Defender2 - View topic - Just for the record - I'm loving my TDCi

There's a few Limeys (and Aussies) there almost moved to tears [of joy]...

You will love it - when you drive it you wonder why LR didn't do such a simple upgrade years ago (decent ventilation and gears were all around in the Transit et al 10-15 years ago).

I reckon had they done it, and more recently had they fitted airbags, (and maybe offered a better support network) people and companies who buy utility vehicles would ask themselves why would they even think of buying Toyotas.

But that's just my 2 pence worth...

Originally Posted by clean32

But that’s my point, i can only read what is posted and to be honest what is generally posted is not putting the puma in a good light. What I am trying to do is get some balance and assuming that some puma owners who have no problems just don’t have anything to post about? you could also add to that that I assume new puma owners are not the get there hands dirty types compared to a 20 year old defender owner so maybe the overall attitude to what should or should not be fixed is a bit different, scallops touched on this point with if you have a warrantee use it to the max. As for comparing to other marks, who cares none are in the league or class of a defender

well i love mine, and its not missed a beat yet...