Thread: Puma... What else can it leak!

So here's an update.... I think it's fixed! Well no rain inside last night. The new dealer I've taken it too has far exceeded my expectations.

The Service manager took a special interest in this vehicle and worked with the panel shop to make sure they got all of the leaks. The major leak being in the roof seam. The rusty water coming from some metal swarf that was sitting under the dash. I suspect you can tell a decent dealer because they don't put damaged fasteners back, most of the plastic clips and the dash screws had been replaced. Previous dealer couldn't be bothered with that.

But I wanted to close the loop on this thread and let you know that if you find a good dealer, then Defender ownership from new is doable.

Excellant news! Gives me hope.
Who's the dealer?

My new dealer is ULR in Malvern.

Originally Posted by BilboBoggles

Had to "beg" Land Rover assist to come and pick it up. No way am I driving it with oil pouring out everywhere. As a special "once off" favour they took it to the dealer that is also going to do the other warranty work, the last of the three dealers. I ****ing hate how they talk down to you, "As a special favour to you we'll do this extra deal and get it to your dealer".....

Oh I should be so grateful, the bastards are taking it back to fix it....

Ah yes Land Rover assist - when visiting Melb for work one time it went something like this "my gearbox is noisy and needs repair" But sir has it broken down! The ULR service manager then got on the phone and said "Its noisy and could fail at any time, let me do the repair" But sir, it is not broken down!

My word "well you can pick the thing off the side of the road then you (well things went downhill from there but you get the idea)............"

And later that week, 6 km on the NSW side of Orbost 5th gear goes bang, and in my effort to return to town, 4th, 3rd and first also dissapear! Then I get to make the phone call .

Well for the cost of a hire car for a few days they got to put me up overnight and then a tilt tray to Bairnsdale who when finding out which dealer worked on the car last refused to work on it. So my car and I got returned to Canberra by tilt tray. The dealer was forced to put a complete new box in. Oh theunoffical cause (from the apprentice who knew my son - the mech doing the job forgot to put a circlip in when they were doing a syncroh change the week before). This was one of six returns on tilt trays that year (that stopped when I stopped using that dealer by the way).

And back on thread - my Defender still leaks after ten years and my wife has a right foot gumboot in the car that she wears when dring in the rain, its so simple a fix, and cheap too!

You guys have just convinced me to hold onto my 96 300TDi 110 Def and spend the money fixing the leaks myself. Other than that, I've got the usual rust in the bottom of the doors and passenger footwell and slow acceleration and that's about it. I think I'm blessed. I just couldn't bear parting with over $50K for a car that leaks and has such reliability issues. LR should be ashamed to keep producing an icon with such basic faults, especially given their loyal following.

Originally Posted by BilboBoggles

My new dealer is ULR in Malvern.

Cheers and dammit.

Originally Posted by Didge

You guys have just convinced me to hold onto my 96 300TDi 110 Def and spend the money fixing the leaks myself. Other than that, I've got the usual rust in the bottom of the doors and passenger footwell and slow acceleration and that's about it. I think I'm blessed. I just couldn't bear parting with over $50K for a car that leaks and has such reliability issues. LR should be ashamed to keep producing an icon with such basic faults, especially given their loyal following.

I agree, stick to the devil you know and you'll probably be happier.
LR should be ashamed of the troubles they've had with defenders but they're not; they simply don't care. If they did they would not consistently be near the bottom of customer satisfaction surveys the world over year after year.

Originally Posted by solmanic

I thought I should post some pics of the front firewall-gutter leak fix just in case anyone else is looking for the same fix from their dealer...







It's not pretty, but it seems to have worked.

Hi Solmanic, my right shoe gets soaked going around a left-hand turn after a heavy downpour. I have replaced the vent seals so I'm assuming I have a leak in the front firewall. I'm keen to investigate this issue further - any chance of re-posting the pics?