Kgh
Let’s go already!
Hello all. I am an American working in Germany. Saw this as a chance to get a nice Defender. We bought a Land Rover Certified Defender 110 SW, 2013 Model accoriding to TOPIX. It had 37,000 kilometers when we bought in earlier this year.
We take the Defender everywhere, all as part of a gear up and shake-down strategy. The plan is to work until I am tired of it, and then convert to living on the road.
As a Certified car, the selling dealer provided us with paperwork from "Real Garant", a division of Zurich insurance.
CAVEAT EMPTOR: JLR Warranties in Germany on Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are not JLR! Please check before you decide to by that cool Land Cruiser, Rover, or whatever else we cannot get in states. YMMV. Obviously, ask more questions than I did.
We had some issues recently, some of you with Puma Defenders may recognize:
Loud and jarring clunk from gearbox when changing gears. (Likely Intermediate Shaft spline failure)
Gearbox chatter at idle (Clutch Springs are likely broken)
Leak from motor coolant overflow reservoir (Either tank seam or cap is defective)
The J-clips holding doen the back floor have broken, allowing screws for the floor to become loose (C'mon! Just replace the chaep clips!!)
The door glass bangs loudly when driver's door (LHD) is closed. (An adjustment is needed)
Paint flaking off the lower grille vents (it is an aircon grill)
Headlamp retainers rusty and flaking
Inside rear view mirror will not hold position.
And a few other things.
Again, this is a "Jaguar Land Rover Approved" car, 136 point preinspection, etc etc.
I took the car to the local dealer, as the selling dealer in 200 kilometers away. The local dealer's service advisor said I would need permission from the selling dealer, which I obtained via email, with all parties on the email.
What we did not know is that here in Germany, it appears that the selling dealer is responsible for the warranty, and other dealers cannot work on the car under warranty. This is, to use a phrase, foreign to me. In the US, LRNA covers you at any LR dealer. Buy it in Oregon and get it fixed in Kansas. Or Alaska. Or Hawaii.
The local dealer service rep called me this week to tell me nothing was covered under warranty, that the clutch was probably bad, and it would be 1,600 Euro to fix. Any discussion of possiblly faulty clutch springs I brought up was met with "the clutch is worn out, not covered". And that none of my concerns were covered under warranty or by JLR.
I called the warranty company, they looked up my warranty number, and stated work must be done at selling dealer. Even though the warranty paperwork states that the selling dealer can allow other dealers to do work under the warranty (that is using a translation app, the Warranty is in German.
I have read the forums. I have seen that the fastensers on the driveshaft flange out of the gearbox look shiny and newer than the rest of the undercarriage (it has been opened up before, obviously).
I am very frustrated. We are in the process of kitting the vehicle with roof rack and tent, Hesch or similar cabinetry, and all other manner of gear for extended travel. The reason I bought this specific Defender was that it was a low mile car, local to the selling dealer, and HAD A WARRANTY. Now I find out that the Warranty is basically worthless for wishing to use the Defender as anything other than daily transportation.
Hopefully I can locate a JLR Customer Care rep for Germany who speaks English and can advocate for me, not deliver platitudes and evasions. (SSM71952 and other SSMs/Tech Bulletins were not difficult for me to locate, how hard can it be for an authorized JLR dealer???)
We love our Land Rover, but are starting to hate Land Rover.
We take the Defender everywhere, all as part of a gear up and shake-down strategy. The plan is to work until I am tired of it, and then convert to living on the road.
As a Certified car, the selling dealer provided us with paperwork from "Real Garant", a division of Zurich insurance.
CAVEAT EMPTOR: JLR Warranties in Germany on Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are not JLR! Please check before you decide to by that cool Land Cruiser, Rover, or whatever else we cannot get in states. YMMV. Obviously, ask more questions than I did.
We had some issues recently, some of you with Puma Defenders may recognize:
Loud and jarring clunk from gearbox when changing gears. (Likely Intermediate Shaft spline failure)
Gearbox chatter at idle (Clutch Springs are likely broken)
Leak from motor coolant overflow reservoir (Either tank seam or cap is defective)
The J-clips holding doen the back floor have broken, allowing screws for the floor to become loose (C'mon! Just replace the chaep clips!!)
The door glass bangs loudly when driver's door (LHD) is closed. (An adjustment is needed)
Paint flaking off the lower grille vents (it is an aircon grill)
Headlamp retainers rusty and flaking
Inside rear view mirror will not hold position.
And a few other things.
Again, this is a "Jaguar Land Rover Approved" car, 136 point preinspection, etc etc.
I took the car to the local dealer, as the selling dealer in 200 kilometers away. The local dealer's service advisor said I would need permission from the selling dealer, which I obtained via email, with all parties on the email.
What we did not know is that here in Germany, it appears that the selling dealer is responsible for the warranty, and other dealers cannot work on the car under warranty. This is, to use a phrase, foreign to me. In the US, LRNA covers you at any LR dealer. Buy it in Oregon and get it fixed in Kansas. Or Alaska. Or Hawaii.
The local dealer service rep called me this week to tell me nothing was covered under warranty, that the clutch was probably bad, and it would be 1,600 Euro to fix. Any discussion of possiblly faulty clutch springs I brought up was met with "the clutch is worn out, not covered". And that none of my concerns were covered under warranty or by JLR.
I called the warranty company, they looked up my warranty number, and stated work must be done at selling dealer. Even though the warranty paperwork states that the selling dealer can allow other dealers to do work under the warranty (that is using a translation app, the Warranty is in German.
I have read the forums. I have seen that the fastensers on the driveshaft flange out of the gearbox look shiny and newer than the rest of the undercarriage (it has been opened up before, obviously).
I am very frustrated. We are in the process of kitting the vehicle with roof rack and tent, Hesch or similar cabinetry, and all other manner of gear for extended travel. The reason I bought this specific Defender was that it was a low mile car, local to the selling dealer, and HAD A WARRANTY. Now I find out that the Warranty is basically worthless for wishing to use the Defender as anything other than daily transportation.
Hopefully I can locate a JLR Customer Care rep for Germany who speaks English and can advocate for me, not deliver platitudes and evasions. (SSM71952 and other SSMs/Tech Bulletins were not difficult for me to locate, how hard can it be for an authorized JLR dealer???)
We love our Land Rover, but are starting to hate Land Rover.