So, as some of you know our First Edition has had quite a few issues since we took delivery in August. In fact, they picked it back up Monday the 21st to take it back in for the third time to hopefully find and fix an annoying moaning sound. Our first edition has been back to the shop 5 times now. Ours has a build date of 04/2020 and has the Explorer Pack that was dealer installed. But my wife is in love with this thing and wants them to fix it at all costs.

The loaner we are driving is a 2020 S Model with the 4 cyclinder engine. It has a build date of 09/2020. While ours has more features and bells and whistles, this S is equipped similarly minus a few things. But this car is night and day different. This car does not make any noise inside, where ours rattles and pops and cracks. This car doesn't have the annoying moan ours has. The only thing wrong with this one is the A Pillar rattle that most seem to have.

With the holiday, we have put almost 500 miles on this thing since we have had it, and no complaints other than the A Pillar. In fact, I actually enjoy driving this thing a lot. It is very quiet and comfortable. The power is very smooth and linear feeling for a turbo 4. While I probably wouldn't buy one for us, the turbo 4 is plenty for day to day driving. It isn't nearly as loud as our 6. Overall, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I actually like this vehicle. My only hope is that they can find the problem with ours. While my wife's happiness is important, so is having a car that don't make unnecessary noises.

 

Nice story......does give me more faith in the Defender that I have on order.....thanks

 

You said you have the explorer pack. Can it be the roof rack and ladder installed too tight or loose making those sounds. The moaning could be wind noise? The A pillar sound is as expected as you can see it tunnels water away from the windshield however the gap or crevice I think is the one making those buffeting sound. I haven't driven my X at speed but I think it's that design.

 

We do have the rack and lunchbox, but the sound didn't start until about 2500 miles and we already had those, so it's not those. We even had the dealership take them off and test drive it, the noise was still there. They called me today and told me it was ready, but they were going to keep until tomorrow because they wanted to test drive it tomorrow before we get it back. But they didn't tell me what it was or what they think it was. So I guess we will find out tomorrow.

 

Great feedback; I'm getting in the queue for a base model Defender myself, and my test drive was that the 2.0 isn't lacking at all - just seems bonkers on such a big car!

 

Yea I was super surprised about the 2.0 power. Very smooth, and plenty for tooling this big vehicle around.

Now, for the bad news. We got ours back today, and they worked on numerous things. My wife left the paperwork at her job so I am not sure what all they did, but it isn't fixed. Noise is still there! I drove it and once it hit 48mph, bam. Moaning sound still apparent. So we will call again in the morning to schedule another appointment. I am seriously at a loss. I was so hoping they could fix it this time and enjoy this thing for what it is. But I just can't with this noise. If it were as simple as a rattle or some other lil noise I would be ok. But this sound is really annoying, and sometimes it so high pitch that even the radio won't drown it out. Back to the drawing board for us, I will keep trying to get to the bottom of it, so wish me well.

 

Tires? Do you have the A/T tires?

 

Great question. The sound being described could be the fault of one or more of the specific tires due to a defect in production or in their mounting. I had that occur with a set of Pirelli's a while ago -- one bad tire which above its natural frequency could not be made happy. Changed it and all was fixed.

Has anyone driven beside the vehicle with windows down and tried to externally pin point the source?

Trying to help ... definitely a mystery.

 

Very good and practical suggestions......it must be something simple which often causes a big problem!!!

 

We do have the "off-road tires" from GoodYear. I wouldn't think it would be the tires since they were also on since day 1 but maybe. I don't think anybody has ridden beside it to see if they can pinpoint it, I know I haven't.

I talked to the dealer today and they are at a loss too. They are coming to get it again Monday next week. It's not that they aren't trying to find it, they just can't. They have fixed trim pieces, A pillar pieces, some ac lines where the gap between them and some pulley wasn't right, they even found a bracket rubbing on the skid plate and fixed that. Still the noise remains. I understand the wind noise will be higher since we have the rack and lunch box, and I am ok with that, but this one annoying noise is just terrible. I am hoping to find a solution. I want to enjoy this vehicle since I know how comfortable they can be. Thanks for the advise and suggestions, hoping we get to an answer soon.