Thread: Puma frustation

I'd like to put my hand up as another relativly happy owner. Its been almost 12 months now and I've on ly had a few problems.
- Central locking not working on front pax door.
- Drivers power window falling out.
(dealer thinks that these were the fault of the window tinter, but fixed them anyway)
- Door seal on rear drivers side door at the bottom at the angle bit.
which will be fixed next service.

I hope I'm not jinxing it now. but so far so good.

Craig

I'd just like to say that all the problems that people have had like the hoses rubbing through and vac pump drama's etc are just as common on other makes.I have maintained fleets of vehicles for a while now and dash warning lights coming on,faulty parts,recalls etc are a weekly thing.LR have done a very good job,and thats not biased it's the truth when it comes to reliability and it is proven by the number of LR's now owned by mag editors etc which would not have happened 10 years ago.They are assembled by people so they do have issues. Pat

Originally Posted by Craig

Drivers power window falling out.
(dealer thinks that these were the fault of the window tinter, but fixed them anyway)

There's been a few through here with that have had the window bolts fall out. It seems they haven't been tightened on assembly.

For the record, I am also a happy owner! No breakdowns here - only cosmetic niggles and early response to the more major issues as I get even a sniff something is untoward.

The main issue with the Puma Defenders is the same as it has been with ALL Previous Defenders - build quality. We all know the reasons - hand built unit and all that - but it doesn't stop us from exercising our rights as consumers to expect a 100% perfect product. And we also know that if things aren't put together absolutely straight, true & tight then who knows what can go wrong down the track.

Sure, there are failures with components that are part of the new 07MY package, but I will be very surprised if any of these survive three years of warranty attention.

Originally Posted by solmanic

For the record, I am also a happy owner! No breakdowns here - only cosmetic niggles and early response to the more major issues as I get even a sniff something is untoward.

The main issue with the Puma Defenders is the same as it has been with ALL Previous Defenders - build quality. We all know the reasons - hand built unit and all that - but it doesn't stop us from exercising our rights as consumers to expect a 100% perfect product. And we also know that if things aren't put together absolutely straight, true & tight then who knows what can go wrong down the track.

Sure, there are failures with components that are part of the new 07MY package, but I will be very surprised if any of these survive three years of warranty attention.

We bought a new BMW MINI in 2002. It was one of the first Cooper S off the line. However they had been building them for 11months when ours rolled down the line and we hoped it would be enough to get things sorted.

Well, as it turned out it wasn't. The car was plagued with all manner of minor and major faults and niggles. That car had literally dozens of visits to the dealer and spent months away from us. I would estimate that BMW sank well more than 10k in warranty cost into that car! To give you some idea they replaced three front door trims because the silver was painted on and it kept dissolving unless you washed your hands before you closed the door! Each door trim had a warranty cost of $1400 plus fitting !

Anyway, despite all this we did love the car. However with the arrival of the second child it just couldn't stay so we sold it after 4 years. At the point of sale it was a good ship and we hoped it would treat the new owner well. So - to your point solmanac - we have kept in contact with the new owner and he just texted me this morning as he is trading it on a new JCW. How many problems did he experience over 2.5 years that were related to the cars troubled beginnings? 1 minor glitch.

So, it shows ride the dealers hard and get it fixed under warranty and you should have a trouble free car.

As an aside it amazed me that a handbuilt defender could be better put together than a MINI built by BMW!

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

As an aside it amazed me that a handbuilt defender could be better put together than a MINI built by BMW!

Yes, but some of the BMW mini parts are manufactured at the Land Rover factory .

Originally Posted by solmanic

Yes, but some of the BMW mini parts are manufactured at the Land Rover factory .

I know a guy who apparently assembled my left hand front door and he told me that they stamp the panels for MINI. I'm not sure whether they did the bonnets or not - but the blurb said they were the largest/most complex pressing on any car... which sounds like a big claim. For the record, my front left had door has been trouble free

I'm pretty sure ALL the mini panels are pressed at Solihull. It's one of the reasons BMW invested so much in a new pressing facility there. Seen them there myself.