*WARNING* to all Renault owners!

*WARNING* to all Renault owners!

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Discussion

gez c16b

Original Poster:

182 posts

172 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
This is more so for people who have bought new/pre-reg/still within warranty.

I bought my 2012 Clio 200 new from Renault.

4 years warranty etc as any other new Renault.

Just 6 months into ownership I had an alternator failure- replaced under warranty.

In total the car has had;

New alternator
New exhaust manifold- waited 6 months for!
New gearbox
electrical fault with drivers door
New drivers Recaro
aux input
a/c failure

Now to say that's a fair list on a car that's only just turned 2, is an understatement. The car is a proper 'Friday built' car.

The car has FULL Renault service history and 34,000 miles

So this takes me up to now, a/c failure happened just 4-5 weeks ago, a/c completely lost all gas after a pressure bang, then an instant hissing through the dash board, phoned Renault and they advised to bring it in.
Car was ready for collection and they said all it needed was a re-gas, I started the car and there was still an a/c pump whine (sounded like a worn bearing noise) so I asked a mechanic at Renault to come out in the car and listen to it, to which he replied "all Renault a/c pumps are noisy" even though I questioned how was mine silent before hand the pump released all the gas, to which he replied "it'll probably quieten down after a while, now there's gas in it again" and he assured me it would be fine and I don't need to worry. So listening to the 'professionals' advice, I accepted the car back.

1,300 miles later, leaving work to come home, I was met with a quick misfire and then the car cut out. Phoned the AA breakdown that is included with the cars 4 year cover, and the car was collected,
AA report; 'alternator belt shredded and jammed up into timing casing.

So, an engine failure now....

Spoke to customer services at RUK and advised them what's happened with the car and that once and for all, with all the problems it's had, I'm rejecting it, that I want an exchange car or a refund.

RUK completely agreed with me on the Friday I broke down, then coming Mondays phone call, a complete opposite response off RUK. "Our mechanic has looked at the car and it seems a stone has hit the crank pulley and caused a dent in it, and that has caused the failure! So our warranty doesn't cover it, The cost will be left to yourself, maybe we'll do a little good will on it due to the issues the car has had, but it's not warranty covered"

so I've outright refused to take that as an excuse! A stone!? There's no damage to any of the arch lining, under-tray, paint work within the engine bay or surrounding area, so it's impossible that a stone has done such a dent to the 'crank' pulley and entered/exited the engine bay without a trace..
So, it's either the a/c gas failure has caused the dent as the gas has released with the pressure OR a mechanic (even unknowingly) has damaged it while it's had the extensive work done to it (the list above). To which I've had a reply of "iv'e spoken to he mechanic, and he said he hasn't damaged it"

of course he's going to say that!

So the car is sat in Renault with the top end stripped down, it's suffered 5-6 bent valves and a dented 'crank' pulley, now the reason I've added the ' to the 'crank' pulley, is that the picture they have said is the crank pulley, is actually the a/c pump pulley! So they're trying to pull a fast one in my eyes.

I've had the bill forwarded to me that Renault are expecting me to pay for a top end rebuild and other parts...

£5,504!

and funnily enough one of the costs is for a new a/c pump!! £978!

My argument is, If a stone has done that damage, then the car isn't fit for purpose and shouldn't be on the road,
it's a ticking time bomb until another stone does this damage and costing a further £5,504, how many engines am I expected to buy/replace?

These cars are advertised as a car ready for track, and offer Renaultsport track days to enjoy the car, how can they offer them if a stone can do such damage? Especially with all the gravel traps around on tracks if these cars are susceptible to stones entering the engine bay.

I have spoken to everyone and anyone at Renault, my next steps now are an engineers report and push towards court action against them.

So, anyone buying/bought a Clio in warranty just needs to be made aware that the warranty isn't worth paying the extra for a Clio, you're better off buying an older 200 out of warranty, and put the money that you've saved from buying older into funds for a rainy day..

I'm completely gob smacked with the service I've received from them, they're even pushing me to pay this bill ASAP or otherwise they want the courtesy car back ASAP!

The car is in an Independent, family run dealership.

Expanding on the a/c issue just 4 weeks ago; just so people can see;

Just 4 weeks ago My a/c made a bang and released all gas and I had a hissing noise through the dash board.

All they did was "a simple re-gas" so they have obviously missed something and handed the car back. So they've admitted they didn't even change the aux belt as a precaution.

When I questioned why the pump was still noisy through, the reply I had was "all Renault pumps are noisy, it should hopefully quieten down now there's gas in it again too" even though the pump was silent beforehand...

Also, I made a mechanic come out in the car with me so I could show him the issue, after they apparently 'fixed' it.

The manager of the dealership then told me that they would not change the pump, and if I wanted it changing, it would cost me £180 as there's no reason to fix it.

Now on my sheet of parts to fix the car, there's an a/c pump on there for just under a thousand pound!



Edited by eybic on Monday 2nd June 15:11

AGK

1,601 posts

154 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
None of that shocks me to be honest.

My 200 spent more time at the dealers than in my possession in the month and a half that I owned it.

RUK were a shower of ***** too and washed their hands of it so I just sold it on. It was also brand new when I got it.


My mates engine also blew up at 2200 miles, really not the most robust cars despite being described as "track focused".

patmahe

5,744 posts

203 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
These sorts of threads are why I don't consider Renault/RenaultSport cars a viable choice. I'm sure some people's experiences have been better than those listed here, but to be honest for me (with limited disposable income) it just isn't worth the risk.

Madrabbit

218 posts

232 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
Doh! I bought one last week.

Terminator Guy

19 posts

168 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
I served my apprenticeship in a Renault garage. I never owned one and and never will. I wouldn't take one if I got it for free. The only reliable french built machine is an Airbus...


jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
Terminator Guy said:
The only reliable french vehicle is an Airbus...
Don't they catch fire?

eybic

9,212 posts

173 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
I've edited the dealership name and names of people from your post due to N&S rules.

Terminator Guy

19 posts

168 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
jagracer said:
on't they catch fire?
You're thinking of the 787 Dreamliner...

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
Terminator Guy said:
jagracer said:
Don't they catch fire?
You're thinking of the 787 Dreamliner...
Aha, I knew that wink

framerateuk

2,730 posts

183 months

Tuesday 3rd June 2014
quotequote all
I know of someone else who's having big problems with the exhaust manifold on his Clio 200. It was replaced a year ago as it was cracked, but the replacement has also cracked and Renault seem to be unwilling to accept it's their fault.

I have to say, my Megane has been very reliable and the only issues I've had have been supply issues after an accident last year. That said, given it took Renault 3 months to source a roof liner and were fairly useless in dealing with the whole issue, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth and I've been put off from ever buying another. Shame, since they certainly know how to make a car feel exciting.

gez c16b

Original Poster:

182 posts

172 months

Wednesday 4th June 2014
quotequote all
It's worth people coming on here and reading about it

http://www.clio197.net/forum/showthread.php?43606-...

This is where all the main info is and updates.

Keep your eyes out on twitter, there's 100's of re-tweets of this already

Swervin_Mervin

4,429 posts

237 months

Wednesday 4th June 2014
quotequote all
Didn't the 1*2 generation have a number of aux belt failure that took out the cambelt, despite the fact that this shouldn't be able to happen?

I seem to recall RUK adopted a similar position in those cases as well.

Whilst I do find myself wondering what it would be like to have a 197 again, it's reminders of the owning experience like this that convince me that the right decision was to walk away from the brand completely.

davidc1

1,544 posts

161 months

Friday 6th June 2014
quotequote all
I had a 197 cup from new , mar08 to may12. Only things that went wrong was air con not cold enough when i collected and a bulb went on the ventilation panel. Both fixed at first attempt.great car for 21000 miles.
replaced by a 200 with cup. Only thing which has gone wrong is the interior mirror fell off , again fixed first time.
had its first service last week at 11k and it flies. Ride a step too hard though. 197cup ride was spot on.
maybe i have been lucky.
if i was spending megane rs money , i would walk onto the vw golf showroom for a gti pp... As i had gti t , v6 4motion , and r32 back in the day

good luck getting it sorted.

Lubermans

201 posts

174 months

Saturday 7th June 2014
quotequote all
Hi Gez

Sorry I've only just seen your response in the other thread.

Any updates? Hopefully the assessment will side with you on this (if they haven't done so already!).

If you want details of my complaint made to RUK about the dealership in question regarding warranty issues then by all means drop me a PM.


Martin_M

2,071 posts

226 months

Wednesday 11th June 2014
quotequote all
I used to have a 197 when they came out and frequented the official Renaultsport forum. Are you a member? There's a guy on there - Jeremey who works for RUK - he may be able to help.

warren182

1,088 posts

209 months

Wednesday 18th June 2014
quotequote all
Strange. I've had 9 Renault sports, not a single big issue with any of them over 350k miles. Obviously doesn't apply to the newish car initially mentioned, but generally if they are maintained they've been solid. Sadly at the cheaper end (172/182) people baulk at £500 belt services, skip them and have inevitable issues.

Qwert1e

545 posts

117 months

Friday 27th June 2014
quotequote all
IMO it's worth the cost of getting a solicitor on that one.

Biggriff

2,312 posts

283 months

Sunday 29th June 2014
quotequote all
Suggest you get an independent engineers report then simply take RUK to court. Coming on here is all very well as clearly you are frustrated and angry, but don't carry out any actions on camera so to speak. Give RUK a chance to respond then if the don't get Trading Standards involved.

renorti

727 posts

195 months

Sunday 29th June 2014
quotequote all
a stone hit it?surely they could show you the hole it made in the plastic undertray.
any excuse not to pay out it seems.worth going to court{cost about £120} i did with a peugeot 106d {years ago} when the cylinder head became porous,excuse with main dealer was as i was a driving instructor ,learner cars are not covered by their warranty,yet when i bought it was the "best car for your driving school",won the case £2100 bill paid by the garage.

GTID

146 posts

117 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
quotequote all
First and foremost sorry to hear about your situation. Not a nice experience for anyone.



Like has been mentioned already I would join the Renaultsport forum and post what's happened on there. I'm Sure you will get other peoples advice who are/have been in a similar situation as it's a pretty good bunch on there and the clio197 forum.

If I were you I would have an independent inspection/damage report carried out by a trusted local garage also as what Renault are saying does not add up at all. It would have to be a fairly substantial "stone" to damage the crank pulley! The A/C issue sounds like the more likely root of the problem especially if you were hearing a whining noise after it only being re-gassed.

I've had a Twingo 133 for the past 4 years and it's been back and forth the dealers a number of times now(Spark Plug corrosion in cylinder 1 due to water ingress and water pump replaced). I contacted Renault UK on both occasions who dealt with both my issues pretty well(covered cost for removal of Spark plug and sorted out the scuttle panel leak and then contributed 80% to the cost of the water pump replacement).

Let us know how you get on,

Good luck