Thread: Anyone else spotted rust in their Puma Defender?

Are you having your annual corrosion checks done at the dealers?

Originally Posted by Tombie

Are you having your annual corrosion checks done at the dealers?

Tombie,

That's another issue all together.....

The Alpine window corrosion and rear bar rust were picked up by the dealers at the last service and a report was supposed to be made to Land Rover HR. When I enquired about getting these issues addressed while the car is in for its current service I was told that the service manager had since left and there was no record of the issued either at the dealer or on the online service record system.

I won't mention any names but looking at my location I'm sure people can work out which dealer it was, now the car is out of warranty I won't be taking it back for any further servicing.

the corrosion around the alphine windows is a bit oh so common, it seemed to have been addressed after the 2014 ish model as I havent seen older than that with issues.
The corrosion on the back chassis member and to be honest all under on the chassis on the 2007 models on can get bad.

Both examples are a bloody disgrace as the previous model (TD5) didnt suffer this poor quality. I can see a lot of chassis replacements on the last model Defender very quickly in places such as U.K

Regards
Daz

Damn, it took more than 15 years for rust to show under the alpine windows of my D1. They fixed that particular issue with new window rubbers on the D2, so I wouldn't be at all happy if my late model Defender had rust there.

Spotting rust in Pumas is something of a pastime for me; I don't enjoy it, but it is interesting. I think the accountants got more and more say as the Defender neared the end of it's life; problems not seen in 30 years of 110s are starting to arise only on the newest of them.

IMG_3383.jpg

Oh yes. My 110 (2014) has the standard issue rust on the rear cross member, little spots on a couple of the side doors at the ends of the window scrapers, on the spare wheel (HD Steel), INSIDE the bulkhead at the windscreen frame attachment point and has bubbling/flaking paint on the faux windscreen hinge covers. It also has bubbling paint on the outside of the driver's side sliding window catch and most of the paint has long since gone from the lower grille mesh. There is also discolouration in various places on the chassis that could signify the onset of corrosion.

My partner's 90 (2013) has the rusty cross member, bubbling/flaking paint on the faux windscreen hinge covers and bubbling paint at the lower corners of the windscreen, at a point half way up the passenger a-pillar and under both alpine windows. Most of the paint has also peeled off the lower grille mesh. Fortunately, her car was undersealed when new, so the chassis appears to be okay.

I have also had a similar experience to Mjt084, with a dealer service manager stringing me along with empty promises then departing suddenly. Unfortunately, the dealer is now quitting the franchise, leaving me with a raft of unresolved faults and LRA's answer is to go to the next closest dealer, who happen to be 500km away. It's really not good enough.

Hi,
if the car is a 2014 model it has corrosion warranty until 2020 as long as it has had a yearly inspection by the dealer--one reason to still have some dealer servicing. My understanding is that the paint etc warranty side is for a total of six years so you should still be well covered as long as you have had those dealer inspections. We have two pumas and thankfully no corrosion issues at all but we do still have dealer servicing/inspections too, and have to admit that warranty issues have always been excellently resolved--including some quite major ones. Hopefully your dealer will be as good in their reporting of issues to HQ. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Mjt084

Tombie,

That's another issue all together.....

The Alpine window corrosion and rear bar rust were picked up by the dealers at the last service and a report was supposed to be made to Land Rover HR. When I enquired about getting these issues addressed while the car is in for its current service I was told that the service manager had since left and there was no record of the issued either at the dealer or on the online service record system.

I won't mention any names but looking at my location I'm sure people can work out which dealer it was, now the car is out of warranty I won't be taking it back for any further servicing.

Mate I'm also in newcastle and use the obvious dealer - am in the middle of chasing this rust nonsense up as we speak. Defender is 2 years old, rust found at both annual checks. Stuffed around after service manager left then they didn't have an approved repairer. Corrosion warranty is 6 years (as long as its had its annual inspections?), so don't take no for an answer and hassle them 24/7.