*WARNING* to all Renault owners!
Discussion
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!
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
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
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
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