Thread: Hi all... Is my Defender a lemon

there are alot of cars out there way over the 10k, it adds up very fast, everytime you complane of a water leak,, they take time to find and maby fix,, that cost money,,, that all gose to LR,,, and LR get that money from the cost of the cars new

have a engine swap,, thats about 15k, gear box,, maby 9k,

all those problems and over the 3 yrs it adds up very fast,

Well I can attest to the woes of a new Defender.
Mine is an MY16 and have had clutch replaced,5 hub seals , new ignition barrel,rear door lock, window tint repair,and latest rear diff banjo section(still trying to find parts and in LR's own words a very unusual failure(masses of metal as rear diff ate itself).

I'm hoping it becomes more reliable as I work my way through the issues.

Originally Posted by Rolly

Well I can attest to the woes of a new Defender.
Mine is an MY16 and have had clutch replaced,5 hub seals , new ignition barrel,rear door lock, window tint repair,and latest rear diff banjo section(still trying to find parts and in LR's own words a very unusual failure(masses of metal as rear diff ate itself).

I'm hoping it becomes more reliable as I work my way through the issues.

Geezus, I have a 2016 build 110 with no issues at all (touch wood), how many kms have you done? I’ve done 22K.

Cheers,

Greg

Originally Posted by briggsy

On both occassions I was sent off without the dealership resetting my stereo (requires a code if the battery has been disconnected).

Defender issues aside, that burns me up. In the days i did this stuff I used to take a note of radio presets. It takes a couple of minutes. These days, every decent shop uses a code saver battery, 'cos the computers remember far more than just radio prefs. Find another dealer if you can. Your guys appear to be lazy.

Unfortunately not an unusual list. With the exception of body repairs i have done all these jobs on many puma defenders over the years. I would say try another dealer or an independent as it is possibly a stumbling block at the point of repair... all these issues are easily rectified you shouldn't have to be going back and back again. I recently had a 2013 in at less than 60k with multiple dealer histories and not once had the cascade of red dusty rust coming from out of the telltale extension housing hole from the worn coupling been brought to the owners attention, nor the clutch rattle at idle, never had any drivetrain oils changed etc etc. They were most taken aback that there is shortly a rather large bill looming...😣

I get the niggly stuff being annoying.
But 1 clutch and 2 starter motors in 8 years?? Not that bad as they are consumable wear items. Unusual for 2 Starters that quick, either faulty units or another problem
Having said that my TD5 2000 is still on the original starter, but has had 2 clutches during its life 1 under warranty (previous owner) and 1 by me, plus new gearbox, new head and is due for a trans box overhaul.
The smaller things are the most frustrating.
What is the warranty period on these? 6 years max?
Seals?? Defenders have seals?? I have given up on seals they last maybe 2 years max before tearing and falling apart.
The major concern is the power loss, that does need to be tracked down. You need to invest in a diagnostic tool.
Ask Nissan Drivers how many clutches similar year Nissans go through.

Originally Posted by Greg4427

Geezus, I have a 2016 build 110 with no issues at all (touch wood), how many kms have you done? I’ve done 22K.

Cheers,

Greg

42000Km's. The wife Craptiva has 110,oooKm's and its been without issues. Frustrating!

Having read most posts in Defender, Technical chatter etc about Puma woes, I think it fair to say some are plagued with problems, some a few & some, none at all.
That said, all are fixable.
So, to answer your question honestly, in my opinion, yes you have a lemon.