Thread: A sad Day. Goodby Deefer.

I get it. Buying and fixing an old deefer is one thing and when you buy an old car, you anticipate it having issues.

But with a new car (and not exactly a 19k Kia) you expect some quality and service. The sad part for LR and you is that if they'd shown a bit of grace and extended the warranty, you'd probably be happy to overlook what is clearly some shoddy quality.

Having severe doubts about a relatively young car just outside of warranty is a very unenviable situation.

Good luck with whatever comes next!

JR

Originally Posted by PAT303

Harmonic balancers are $207 each,drive shafts are $386,fuel pumps are $100 for aftermarket,$275 genuine,indicator switch $116,not meaning to be smart but your along way from 70K and why did you change the same part 3 times twice?. Pat

I agree it does not sound remotely possible and it still would not get to 70k. My friend had a D2 which he bought new, and the fuel pump failed twice right at the start when it was still under warranty. He lived around 10km down a dirt track and he also needs to cross a river and the last bit the council wanted nothing to do with as it was just his drive but it was very long as his block is 45 acres and he built next to the river (same river he crosses on the way in) which is a fair way. Visiting him always involved locking in hubs ( my old Toyota) and engaging low ratio, in the wet it was a challenge to get to the house at all! He recently gave the old D2 to one of the kids as he and his wife have moved as he is in his 80's and the farm was getting too much for them. The D2 has over 280km on the clock he told me apart the fuel pump issue the only other problems where the fan blades hit the rad when he crossed the river when the river was high so he needed a new fan and a new rad (I guess he means aircon rad). The only other repair he had done was the transfer as his missus forgot to lock the central diff going up to the house in the wet and BANG. He tells me that was it apart oil changes, not bad for a car that got abused every day just to get in and out of the house! The transfer is not the fault of the car or LR it was driver error as was the fan problem crossing the river to get home he told me the water was over the bonnet so again drivers fault. So in reality the car just needed a couple of fuel pumps. Even better really as once I went to help him as as the car was having trouble starting. Ted is not the best at looking after cars, it took me a while to work out what was wrong as everything looked fine then I decided to have a look at the air filter . It was so blocked the engine could not breath. I asked when he last changed or even checked it, he could not remember. So this car was not looked after at all is my point so I cant believe someone had to spend 70k on one to keep one on the road.
Re the OP's Defender I wonder if his Toyota owning mates are half the problem? If his issue is basically a turbo hose which is such an easy fix and a good LP specialist could check the Defender over to ensure reliability from now on. Putting more money into something else that WILL have issues too seems nuts to me. Also it is worth noting that other brand 4x4's will be worth very little in a few years, but the Land Rover will hold its value. My friend just sold his 8 year old mint condition ute for 12 grand it cost him 44k new, how much is a mint 8 year old Defender worth??
Food for though
Chris
Edit, another friend has a Ford Ranger, gearbox jumps out of gear after only 100,000km, apparently a common issue and recently the timing belt ate itself even though it was changed at the correct service interval.

So with all this talk, Is the 2.4 better than the 2.2.
In my opinion Its slightly larger which considering it supposedly has the same power output would make it a little less stressed out.

I may have just opened up a can of worms.
MOOHAHAHA

Originally Posted by jr1983

I get it. Buying and fixing an old deefer is one thing and when you buy an old car, you anticipate it having issues.

But with a new car (and not exactly a 19k Kia) you expect some quality and service. The sad part for LR and you is that if they'd shown a bit of grace and extended the warranty, you'd probably be happy to overlook what is clearly some shoddy quality.

Having severe doubts about a relatively young car just outside of warranty is a very unenviable situation.

Good luck with whatever comes next!

JR

Lets put this into perspective,many members on here have had no problems with their LR's,many members have taken stock LR's all over Oz without problems,when you look what owners of other makes have to do,paying $3,000 for suspension/GVM upgrades on a sparkling new vehicle just so it will do what the manufacturer says it will do makes spending $120 on axle flanges seem a bit tame don't you think?. Pat

Another example being my mate's father's new Prado, which struggled towing a camper up the Bloomfield Track. It went in to limp mode, due to transmission overheating. End result was leaving the camper behind, driving back to Mossman, and fitting bigger/better (?) cooler, all at his own expense. As far as I'm concerned, all the advertising had lead me to believe that a stock Prado should be able to do this.

I drive a Prado or 200 all day at work, and every other variant of Toyota and its a nice car, I go home and I have a 20 year old Defender, been all over Southern and Eastern Africa and recently the CSR, planning South America and beyond in 2017, yes it costs me more money than I remember but I don't count it, I buy a car with my heart not my head, we have never been in danger and more often than not the vehicle invites conversation and assistance though never really needed.


More importantly it puts a smile on my face... most times...


I feel for people who have a multitude of issues, never nice, do I ponder why I drive a Defender..? Nope, I just do, cause I like it.


Don't like it sell it, do like it, keep it, easy... liking the thread but.


cheers


Tim

Originally Posted by Shoogs

I drive a Prado or 200 all day at work, and every other variant of Toyota and its a nice car, I go home and I have a 20 year old Defender, been all over Southern and Eastern Africa and recently the CSR, planning South America and beyond in 2017, yes it costs me more money than I remember but I don't count it, I buy a car with my heart not my head, we have never been in danger and more often than not the vehicle invites conversation and assistance though never really needed.


More importantly it puts a smile on my face... most times...


I feel for people who have a multitude of issues, never nice, do I ponder why I drive a Defender..? Nope, I just do, cause I like it.


Don't like it sell it, do like it, keep it, easy... liking the thread but.


cheers


Tim

Defenders do make conversations for sure, most positive. Interesting this morning when I replied to this thread I was racking my brains trying to remember the make of ute my friend sold recently to get his new ute, which I realized I did not know what brand that was either. It is gold coloured and it needs a much better suspension as it sags big time with his caravan on and it looks quite nice but it is one of the many all the same different brand same mold. I am sure if you ask all his friends what car he drives half or more wont know, ask my friends what I drive they will all get it right, nobody mistakes a Defender
Chris

True perfection seems imperfect,
yet it is perfectly itself.
True fullness seems empty,
yet it is fully present.

True straightness seems crooked.
True wisdom seems foolish.
True art seems artless.

The Master allows things to happen.
She shapes events as they come.
She steps out of the way
and lets the Tao speak for itself.




Lao Tzu (c.604 - 531 B.C.)