Thread: Did I make a mistake ?

wont know if you made a mistake until you KNOW you made a mistake lol, unless you're psychic other than checking the obvious and less obvious things you can't know if a car is riddled with gremlins or not till you have it a while

As mentioned by others - the engines are out there in almost plague proportions, and doing there thing well. I drove a transit van for 10 years and the last 2 were powered by these engines. If they were weak, then we would have killed them for sure. In my area, there were about 10 of these in the company - driven by Sparkies and Mechanics who flogged them every day - never saw a major failure in all that time (with the engine anyway). The worst I saw was a low power issue that took Ford a week to sort out - it was a split intercooler hose.

I wouldn't be concerned with the engine at all - pretty damn reliable from my experience.

Cheers - Gav

From what I was told 2.4 Puma needs to do work, the ones that don't seem to have the problems. I think this is true for most diesels.

I'll be honest, I've skim-read this thread... BUT....

The thing about this forum, which (if I'm reading you correctly) is where, aside from you're previous bad experience, you're sentiments are coming from, is that it's 'warts'n'all'.

I'd say there are more people who come to this forum looking for advice BEFORE any other forum, workshop, dealer, etc.. I do.

Even on other 4wd forums that I frequent, there is an understnding that this forum "tells it like it is" more than pretty much any other marque's. And that's a bloody good thing as far as I'm concerned. It doesn;t mean that the vehicle is bad, just that most of the members here will stop by to share their experience - good, bad or indifferent. Not too many other forums have that... maybe the Jeep ones....

T

Originally Posted by Dockstrada

Ok so it looks like the initial question has been drowned by certain comments made in my first post that has sparked a bit of tension

You didn't create any tension, whether it's true or not you just sounded like a bumbling fool who can't make up his mind and is very insecure with his own decision making process.

So just to recap the question, well it was actually 2 of them for those who missed them, they were as follows.

1: Did I make a mistake?

Here we go again, see my above comments for the answer to how you have portrayed yourself because seriously only you can decide if you have blundered or not in buying the Puma. Why give that responsibility to others and then get upset when you get answers you don't like?

2: I have read that this 2.4 engine may not be such a great achievement by Land Rover (ford) should I be concerned?

Now another after reading more threads re problems .

3: Is there a drive line problem eg: clutch,tranmission,diff's ?

Now in saying that I have only had the Defender for a few days which it still has a short amount of warranty so I’m just searching around for any information pre warranty ending date. It doesn’t seem to have any noticeable problems, though I ‘m certainly concerned based on the information I have read on this form and my past history with Land Rover.

Now these are good questions worthy of answering by those who are in the know. But seriously it might have been a better idea to do your homework before buying it. Because no matter what it is to late now, you can't go back on your decision other than selling it if you don't feel confident in the vehicle.

I’m certainly accustom to dealing with inherited manufacturing problems this is for sure I own several Ducati’s and it’s a never ending maintenance schedule .

It is fair to say you have bought the Ducati of 4x4's, it will cost you money, so either you will love your Fender or you will end up hating it, just like most first time Ducati owners do with their Ducati's and either end up buying more of them or can't wait to get rid of it and never buy another.

So all in all I’m just here like every other member trying to get a consensus form a community in regards to my Defenders reliability.

Good luck with it but as others have said after reading your comments your more than likely heading down the path of a 'self fulfilling prophecy' because you will eventually end up having some issues sooner or later. It you want another vehicle that can do 200,000 k's without ever seeing a workshop then you more than likely have purchased the wrong vehicle, but who knows, maybe you will be lucky.

You decided to buy a 4 year old SVX Puma which is a very nice bit of kit with lots of flash add on's. But for not a lot more you could have bought a brand new 110 with heaps of warranty. Time will tell if you made the right decision or not.

As I said good luck.

Regards,
Terry

Dockstrada,

I also have a 2008 Puma, although not an SVX - mine's a 110 wagon by the name of "Monty". I also had a Ducati so I share your love of head scratching and getting covered in oil and grease of a weekend.

The engine in Monty has been wonderful - it's done 100,000kms now and a lot of the more recent ones have been off-road and with plenty of weight in the back. I've had no engine complaints other than the EGR valve getting sooted up and the warnign light going on, but that issue will go away when I get a re-map done next year.

Fuel economy is good, the torque is excellent - I have towed my mates' Toyotas out of sticky bogs several times and the engine hasn't complained once. When I'm on the road, cruising at speed in 6th gear is fantastic...and surprisingly quiet (for a Defender!).

The thing with internet forums is that you'll always hear more about the negatives than the positives....it's human nature to voice our complaints and concerns and seek assistance; the normal day-to-day operation that people are happy with doesn't get spoken about.

I did a pre-warranty expiration check at an independent LR specialist in Brookvale and they found a couple of little things that LR sorted - leaks and tings like that. Otherwise, Monty's been just fine and keeps on doing whatever I ask of him...and looks awesome too.

Hope this helps mate.

Bobby

Originally Posted by The Cone of Silence

Dockstrada,

I also have a 2008 Puma, although not an SVX - mine's a 110 wagon by the name of "Monty". I also had a Ducati so I share your love of head scratching and getting covered in oil and grease of a weekend.

The engine in Monty has been wonderful - it's done 100,000kms now and a lot of the more recent ones have been off-road and with plenty of weight in the back. I've had no engine complaints other than the EGR valve getting sooted up and the warnign light going on, but that issue will go away when I get a re-map done next year.

Fuel economy is good, the torque is excellent - I have towed my mates' Toyotas out of sticky bogs several times and the engine hasn't complained once. When I'm on the road, cruising at speed in 6th gear is fantastic...and surprisingly quiet (for a Defender!).

The thing with internet forums is that you'll always hear more about the negatives than the positives....it's human nature to voice our complaints and concerns and seek assistance; the normal day-to-day operation that people are happy with doesn't get spoken about.

I did a pre-warranty expiration check at an independent LR specialist in Brookvale and they found a couple of little things that LR sorted - leaks and tings like that. Otherwise, Monty's been just fine and keeps on doing whatever I ask of him...and looks awesome too.

Hope this helps mate.

Bobby

Thanks very much Bobby I'm starting to get the vibe of this forum now.

Ducati's Phfffffffff, if only you know my pain but I still keep buying them. What model did you have?

Things are flat out at work at the moment but I plan on heading down the Becroft Track next weekend, let’s see what the Defender thinks of that.

I’m just drawing up rear bar on CAD at the moment; the defender doesn't have much rock protection on the rear quarters, let’s wait and see what comes of it. Any suggestions to what attachments I should include ?
?

Originally Posted by Dockstrada

Thanks very much Bobby I'm starting to get the vibe of this forum now.

Ducati's Phfffffffff, if only you know my pain but I still keep buying them. What model did you have?

Things are flat out at work at the moment but I plan on heading down the Becroft Track next weekend, let’s see what the Defender thinks of that.

I’m just drawing up rear bar on CAD at the moment; the defender doesn't have much rock protection on the rear quarters, let’s wait and see what comes of it. Any suggestions to what attachments I should include ?
?

This forum is awesome for finding expertise and advice from people who really care and know a lot about their vehicles - and much of the time it comes out of someone's unfortunate problem or issue...but stick around, you'll soon see quite a few threads started by people who just want to know more and ask questions like you. Monty is my first 4x4 vehicle so I'm pretty new to it all.

Ducati - I had a Monster 620 - it was my first bike. Loved it. Sadly it has gone to a new home but once I've sold my classic car and sorted the Defender, I'd like a classic bike to tinker with.

Rear quarter protection - well the Mulgo bumperettes look pretty sturdy and are on my shopping list. Is that what you meant by attachments to include?
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