I took an Infiniti to 165,000 miles.
I took a Toyota to 250,000 miles.
In neither vehicle, did I have gaskets or other rubber engine components fail.
It is happening with regularity on my Defender. Why?
What has Nissan and Toyota figured out that Land Rover cannot figure out?

 

Which specific rubber pieces are you talking about? What gasket has failed in your Defender?

 

First it was O-rings that affected fuel system.
The coolant system has had piping failures.
This week it was a membrane that also affected fuel.

 

Is this causing external fuel leaks?

That’s not good.

What coolant system pipes failed.

Would be great to know actual parts that failed from the work orders.

 

When the O-ring failed on the fueling system, it felt like a blown turbo. Sudden power loss and what sounded like grinding gears. Fortunately, I was able to coast to the shoulder of the road.
my coolant system has failed twice. The first time I was able to get to the dealer to fix it. The next time, the Defender went into limp mode in the middle of rush hour traffic.
The latest was a membrane that caused the Defender to run lean.
My ultimate point is Infiniti and Toyota make less expensive vehicles, I've put significantly more miles on those vehicles, and I did not have these issues.
Have Nissan and Toyota found better sources for gaskets, etc? Why can't Land Rover find similar, more reliable sources?

 

It is probably caused by the increased ethanol content of recent fuel. Older vehicles will have rubber that is degraded by this fuel and it is common to all brands.

 

There is thread in this forum with high mileage Defenders and if I remember correctly, there were no rubber or gasket related issues. I do get your point regarding Toyota and Infiniti, but it would be very helpful if you can post a copy f the repair order so that we can see exactly what failed and the replacement parts and components.

 

Yes but they have other issues. You can't spell Infinity without "CVT" and Toyota... well, I'd encourage you to look under my FJ Cruiser and tell me that they have any idea what they're doing when it comes to metal corrosion.

Any vehicle that you own is going to be a series of compromises. There is no perfect car. There is no maintenance-free brand (despite what the Toyota fanboys will tell you - their V8 is NOT bulletproof). There are endless amounts of youtube videos produced about how modern cars suck for a variety of reasons - most of them valid, some of them not.

 

What engine is it? If it's the V8 there were issues with the Y-Pipe and thermostat housing - both made of plastic - a mistake JLR sort of corrected but the ideal solution is the unit made of aluminum. It will last longer than the life of the car. If your engine is not the V8 i wouldn't know without more specifics. Some of the fuel systems in the Defenders use mechanical fuel pumps that are super reliable as they need to give over 2,100 psi on the supercharged models. The pipes are rated to over 5,000psi so no issues there but some o-rings could get compromised after so many miles under Texas extreme summer heat.

 

@L460_Rocks Do they make an aftermarket aluminum thermostat housing? I have the V8 and it would be nice to just take care of this before its ever a problem.