It's here! And needs rust proofing...

[BilboBoggles]

Well I picked up my new PUMA yesterday!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aUpcVw5ziNxagOibhzHNdg?feat=directlinkhttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/12/248.jpg

First impressions

1 - Well it presents itself "Very" nicely, The dash is very good. The seating is great.

2 - Gearbox is great in comparison to the R380, it's comparatively easy to get it into gears, and it's not crunched yet at all!

3 - A/C is brilliant.

4 - There is a new steel cage that sits under the rear tub, and this makes it much easier to attach child restraints.


Things I don't like.

1 - There is no rust proofing underneath at all. And already some of the fasteners and welds are rusting. This vehicle was constructed only 6 weeks ago.

2 - Just about everything has been rationalized. As an example the bonnet support on the TD5 for the very light aluminum bonnet is a complex welded thick tube. The PUMA is a bent bit of light wire. There seem to be many bits of trim that have just been left out of the PUMA. There is an awful lot of plastic panels in and around the body. There are plastic panels underneath, the inner wheel arches are plastic. There are bits of rubbishy light weight plasticy foam attached to the inner mud guards that will deacy in about 2 weeks. I swear that the chassis is much thinner than the TD5. All of the A/C boxes in the engine bay are plastic. The side mirrors are tiny compared to the TD5. I think they have given every part back to the accountants and tried to make them as cheaply as possible.

3 - The doors and the bonnet are now steel - Compared to the TD5 I think this is bad from a weight perspective.

BUT overall I do like it - a lot - It's just so much nicer to drive - and it smells nice!


One question though - Does any one know a decent place I can take it to to get it rust proofed properly?

[Blknight.aus]

if welds are rusting you take it straight back to the dealer and have a go at them under the "anti corrosion" heading.

tell them you dont want it if its going to rust its welds in a couple of days as thats structurally bad. make sure that you drop a line that the rust was found by someone whose a certified welder and has all the gear to xray and ultrasound welds.

[Xavie]

I seem to recall that the rust proofing was an option. I think it should be done anyway and others will know better then I but I'm pretty sure they package dealed it with tint and fabric protector stuff for 1200 bucks.

I could be wrong but they definately put something over the underside that was goey and cost to much.

[spudboy]

The early ones came with rust protection under the body. Mine has a gooey black spray which took about 6 months to set/harden.

I have heard on a UK forum that the newer models don't get this spray unless you ask for it. Go figure :(

Slightly off topic, but I'd have loved to be able to order a galvanised chassis straight from the factory. Pity they've never offered this.

[dullbird]

paint protection is an option

they usually spray all that sticky black **** underneith it for that.....ares gets a dose every time it goes into the garage I hate the stuff yours should have it too if you have only just picked it up

[Pedro_The_Swift]

rusty already??
after 4 weeks on a boat
who'd a thunk?
:p

[Bushie]

Maybe Land Rover have taken the crown from Toyota.

They used to reckon Toyotas came over as deck cargo on submarines.

Going rusty already - not good. :twisted::twisted:


Martyn

[Chucaro]

If you are able to do the work yourself get POR 15 products and will be good for ever.
Try the grey undercoat for marine purpose first and when touch tack then use their chassis paint.
The dealers never are going to use this top quality paint

[spudfan]

I put three coats of heavy duty black stuff on my chassis, waxoyled the interior of the chassis then taped over the side chassis holes with black Duck tape.Enjoy your Puma it is a fabulous machine.

[Rangier Rover]

I have Rovers here from 1950 and no complaints on rust or plastic junk on under body. What have they done:eek:. I guess trying to keep the weight down.
I would say something about the surface rust to the dealer. As others said ... the boat trip:eek: Bit like English salted roads.

I hope it turns out ok as they seem nice.

Tony

[Blknight.aus]

the paint protection (the goopy crap that just hides the problem) is an option....

landrovers used to have a limited corrosion resistance guarantee Id accept some rust on the heads of bolts but not on something structural especially something like welds.

This doesnt bode well for your steel doors or some of the underbody fittings..

[BilboBoggles]

I did some more looking last night - well it's only one or two welds that are rusting - just happens to be the first couple I looked at - looks like a few pin holes. I'm not too worried about it now.

I've got a 4liter can of Tectyl 506 I'm going to blast over it this morning. I plan to take the front bumper off and shoot it down the chassis as far as a I can, then squirt some into the various chassis holes. I don't have the proper underseal spray gun but only an engine degreaser, which I think will work OK.

I suppose one advantage of the plastic bits is that they won't rust... And rather than weight saving I think this is really an economic choice - otherwise they would have aluminium doors and a aluminium bonnet still.

I did a little offroading in my backyard track - and you can tell that it's got sway bars front and rear - somewhat less axle articulation than the TD5. (the TD5 will walk up a 12-16" step at 45degrees without the center diff lock. The Puma seems to lift it's wheels and get stuck, but a bit of diff lock and welly fixes it.

Compared to my TD5 it's a much nicer long distance toarer - but I think the TD5 will be very slightly better offroad. (Mind you my 83 Range Rover is even better than the TD5 as an offroader!)

[dullbird]

the paint protection (the goopy crap that just hides the problem)
is an option....
landrovers used to have a limited corrosion resistance guarantee Id accept some rust on the heads of bolts but not on something structural especially something like welds.

This doesnt bode well for your steel doors or some of the underbody fittings..

wasn't always we never optioned for anything on our car and we get it ;)

[BilboBoggles]

Spoke to the service manager today - They no longer under seal these at all. My extreme 2003 had three layers of underseal including a pvc undercoat. This is no longer done as of Oct this year. He reckons the factory found it made no difference at all... Well perhaps not for the life of the warranty. More likely ther saved $22.53 on the total cost of the vehicle.

I rechecked and whilst only a few welds have started to rust - ALL of them have cracked paint. And all of them show bare metal. To get it undersealed by the dealers costs money he reckoned at least a couple of $100

I just finished the second all over coat of tectyl 506. It's dried nice and hard. At least I can still see any forming rust issues....


fyi - The Land rover rust warranty only covers penetration. So it will not cover the surface rust until there is a hole...

[solmanic]

When I got mine a year ago there was a lot of talk about the "Waxoyl" coating underneath which many people were complaining had a poor or non-existent covering. Land Rover generally argued that it was applied for transportation only and was not to be seen as any form of long term rust proofing. Perhaps their solution to this confusion has been to simply do away with it altogether.

In any case, I got my dealer to do their own (ie through their usual mob) rust proofing but there was a catch. It needed to be done straight off the truck. The moment your vehicle hits the road then any rust proofing place will insist that the vehicle has a full underboday clean.


fyi - The Land rover rust warranty only covers penetration. So it will not cover the surface rust until there is a hole...

As long as the vehicle has its annual bodywork inspections then Land Rover are pretty good with this warranty. I had an entire back door replaced when some rust bubbles appeared under the paint and I also got both front footwell floor panels replaced because there were rust spots on them from swarf trapped under the mats on my previous Td5. The rust doesn't actually have to have made a hole right through. If there is surface rust now, then it is pretty pointless to wait for 10 years until it has rotted away completely then get it seen to. My dealer was happy to have it dealt with early.

[spudfan]

I had my 200Tdi waxoyled on the chassis more than once but I still got corrosion from the inside out.I found that the waxoyl when applied makes the chassis look absolutely awful and makes it impossible to see any corrosion or dirt sticking to the chassis.When I picked up the Puma Defender I painted the chassis with three coats of Triflow.It is a paint like substance used for garden railings etc.It is fairly thick straight from the tin and doing the
nether regions of a Defender is not the easiest job in the world.
I then waxoyled inside the chassis and rear crossmember with waxoyl.To keep as much water out of the chassis I put ducktape over the side holes in the chassis.
The chassis is nice and shiny and I can tell when there is stuff still sticking to it after it has been cleaned.Waxoyl makes it difficult to tell whether it is completely clean or not.
Us Land Rover owners are always thinking to the future when we buy our cars.It is always about corrosion that could have an effect in ten years time or if the electronics will play up in years to come.What other car owners think this far ahead for their car's lifespan?Land Rovers are not perfect and they never will be but they are probably the best at what we expect this type of vehicle to do.
People -me included- have often spoken of the desire to have a galvanised chassis from the factory.Then there would probably be other things we would say are not lasting as long as the chassis.I do not think we will ever get the everlasting vehicle we want.Whether my experiment with the triflow stuff on the chassis works I will let you know in ten years time.
Always enjoy the site as it is always full of positive stuff.

[bat]

Hi everyone down there in OZ!
We also get them a little rusty from new and they have just to cross the Channel between GB and the European mainland ;). Here in Austria (and i think not just here) we use oil/grease for the cables of cablecars to protect the chassis. It sticks like hell and stays on the chassis (and in it) for a year or two before you have to get your hands dirty again. It is very efficient. Especially in weather and streetsituations like we have now in winter. Roadpatrol uses tons of salt to keep the roads from getting slippery. You can imagine what that does to our trucks :(

Regards from frosty Austria
Thomas

[Scallops]

Mine also had cracked paint in some welds - I made the dealer fix it. They did. Inspect every inch of your vehicle especially the gutters - mine had no paint whatsoever in the driver's side gutter. Also check underside of seat boxes - mine had a 1 inch diameter hole above the fuse box. :eek:

Any rust - get it fixed, as Solmanic said - it isn't just going to go away, it will get worse.

I've driven mine to Hell and back across Australia. Rocks smashing inside wheel arches etc. Nothing broke, it held up well. The steel doors actually have a design which results in less corrosion issues than the older style aluminum doors. The bonnet rubbed a hole in my Brake Master Cylinder reservoir but only after a few thousand km of severe corrugations! Watch for rubbing on bottom intercooler hose too - it rubs on the steering knuckles on the steering column eventually.

But enjoy your new Puma - like any LR, they are somewhat problematical, but great fun - I love mine.