Thread: Anyone else spotted rust in their Puma Defender?

The first thing i did when i got my puma was to have the whole vehicle coated in a wax coating my local panel shop uses on hot rods. Its amazing stuff and so far so good. In saying that i had an el cheapo roof rack (which has been replaced) that started to corode the guttering where it was bolted. Cheap roof racks will do that.

One other tip is to give the rear cross member a good clean, let dry and then penetrol once a month. Worth the time

Originally Posted by nate_110

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.

Hey Nate, how's your warranty claim coming along? It's been three weeks for me now, called the dealer to give them a hurry up on Friday and it doesn't sound like it has progressed any further.

Originally Posted by Mjt084

Hey Nate, how's your warranty claim coming along? It's been three weeks for me now, called the dealer to give them a hurry up on Friday and it doesn't sound like it has progressed any further.

I've started calling every other day. The "warranty" lady has been away. I've started dealing with Jake and he's actually pretty good. He said on Thursday that they have finally sorted a body shop and now have a massive backlog of jobs. Frustrating but there might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel - hopefully before there is a hole under my windscreen that i can see light through! Ha!

Originally Posted by 1nando

One other tip is to give the rear cross member a good clean, let dry and then penetrol once a month. Worth the time

I give ours a coat of WD40 once in a while,..seems to do the job.
Pickles.

l use ACF50 liberally and that seems to work.

Yeh just found a spot driver side front window on the outside, taking it back under warranty. 2014 Puma.

Originally Posted by nate_110

I've started calling every other day. The "warranty" lady has been away. I've started dealing with Jake and he's actually pretty good. He said on Thursday that they have finally sorted a body shop and now have a massive backlog of jobs. Frustrating but there might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel - hopefully before there is a hole under my windscreen that i can see light through! Ha!

Any advance on this nate?

I was told the same thing when I picked my car up from it's service in October, didn't hear anything more from Jake so emailed him last week, seems the deal with the local repairer fell through. I think Jake says a lot but does a little.

Another ongoing issue is the deterioration and chipping of the rubber on the factor side runners. On the last visit i was told it was a wear and tear issue, the rubber alone could not be replaced but I could purchase a new set of runners for around $1500. I have told them to rethink this opinion in light of the 'fit for purpose' requirements of consumer law.