Your vehicle left Land Rover as a standard Defender. Before it reached you it was stripped back and rebuilt with around forty additional parts, the majority of which are bonded, clipped or taped to the bodywork.

That process is what gives the vehicle its look. It also means it will never behave in exactly the same way as a factory standard vehicle. Panels expand and contract with the weather, bonded parts move fractionally at speed, and some trims settle in over the first few weeks of use.

We would far rather tell you about this now than have you find it later and wonder whether something has gone wrong. Below is an honest list of the things we see most often and why they happen.

This is the single most common item on any modified Defender, and it affects genuine Land Rover arches every bit as much as aftermarket ones. Arches are bonded to the body. In hot weather the arch expands at a different rate to the panel behind it, and the leading edge can lift away.

The important thing to know is that this is almost always temporary and weather related. Once the temperature drops, the arch will usually pull back and sit into place on its own. Our advice is to leave it and give it time before doing anything with it.

If it is genuinely unsightly and you cannot get on with it looking like that, it can be bonded back down, or taken off completely and refitted with double sided tape. Any good local body shop or trim specialist will be able to do this for you.

You may also notice faint dimples along the edge of the arch where the fixings pull in against the body. This is normal and is present on factory fitted arches too.

Some pods whistle more than others. We bond them as heavily as we can, but the pod sits in clean airflow at the front of the roof and the shape of the moulding means air passing over it can generate noise on one vehicle and nothing at all on the next.

Two pods from the same batch, fitted the same way on the same model, can behave completely differently. It is usually most noticeable at motorway speed and in a crosswind, and it often settles as the vehicle is used.

It is a characteristic of the product rather than a fault, and it has no bearing on how securely the pod is mounted.

Canards will not always sit perfectly flush along the top and upper side edge. This comes down to the tolerance of the mould, and in some cases the shape of the wheel arch behind them rather than the canard itself.

If your vehicle has been wrapped, the film is prone to a small amount of lifting or bunching at the edges, whatever the colour or material. The Defender is particularly prone to it around the bonnet and side vents, because Land Rover designed those plastics to sit directly against the panel, so the film is rubbed every time the panel flexes.

We recommend having the wrap looked over between two and four weeks after collection. Catching a lifted edge early is the difference between a two minute fix and re-wrapping a panel.

Your wheels will have been removed at some stage of the build, whether for caliper painting or for fitting new wheels. Please check that all wheel bolts are tightened to the correct torque specification for your vehicle as soon as it arrives with you, and check them again after the first 50 miles.

If your calipers have been painted, the finish continues to harden for a short while after fitting. Try to avoid pressure washing directly onto the caliper for the first couple of weeks.

Where the seat conversion has been carried out you will see scratches and marks on the plastics inside the rear doors. This is completely normal. The vehicle leaves the factory as a commercial with a plywood ply lining fitted, and that plywood rubs against the plastics from the moment it goes in. In almost every case the marks are already there before the vehicle reaches us.

Unless you have opted for the Alcantara trims, there will be a strip of adhesive residue running around the rear window, left behind by the factory van panels that used to cover the glass. This is standard across the Defender seat conversion industry and every converter leaves it the same way.

Our optional Alcantara trims cover it completely and give a far cleaner finish.

None of the above means there is anything wrong with your vehicle. These are the normal characteristics of a heavily modified Defender, and most of them settle down or stop being noticeable once you have lived with the vehicle for a few weeks.

If you are ever in the North East or passing Utopia, you are very welcome to call in or book in and we will happily take a look at anything that has come loose.

Most of our customers are a long way from us, so if something does need attention sooner, a local body shop or trim specialist will be able to sort it. If you would rather have a go yourself, that is entirely your call and we are always happy to advise on the right products and method. Please bear in mind that we cannot accept responsibility for any damage caused by work carried out by yourself or by others.