Renault 5 Etech - more woes at 12 months
Discussion
As much as I like my R5 Iconic Comfort, I have experienced another problem, this time, noise coming from the front.
Pulling out of a junction into a gap in the traffic, I noticed a clunk/clicking sound from front right corner. I thought at first it may be traction control cutting in from making brisk hard turn. During last week, I noticed it again several times.
Yesterday was first service (12 months and 8500 miles) at Renault dealer. During the service they looked at it, confirmed a problem, contacted Renault and received authorisation to replace each of the front driveshafts (£556 + VAT, each), plus other components, seals, as necessary. The parts total £1700, plus labour to go on top. If it was not a warranty claim, it would be a circa £3000 fix.
I am happy that this dealer has gone with the flow and pushed the claim through, with no resistance from Renault. It will be delayed though as only some of the parts are available from UK inventory, at least one is on backorder from France it seems.
So - the bad, is that at 1 year and less than 10,000 miles, there is a repair that costs some 10% of the purchase price of the car. The good - is that Renault warranty will hopefully put it all right. Still, it takes time from me to go back and forth to dealer to get this sorted.
As great as the R5 is, there are clearly some quality issues during Year 1 of production and I suspect given Renault's eagerness to fix it, they know about this fault.
Pulling out of a junction into a gap in the traffic, I noticed a clunk/clicking sound from front right corner. I thought at first it may be traction control cutting in from making brisk hard turn. During last week, I noticed it again several times.
Yesterday was first service (12 months and 8500 miles) at Renault dealer. During the service they looked at it, confirmed a problem, contacted Renault and received authorisation to replace each of the front driveshafts (£556 + VAT, each), plus other components, seals, as necessary. The parts total £1700, plus labour to go on top. If it was not a warranty claim, it would be a circa £3000 fix.
I am happy that this dealer has gone with the flow and pushed the claim through, with no resistance from Renault. It will be delayed though as only some of the parts are available from UK inventory, at least one is on backorder from France it seems.
So - the bad, is that at 1 year and less than 10,000 miles, there is a repair that costs some 10% of the purchase price of the car. The good - is that Renault warranty will hopefully put it all right. Still, it takes time from me to go back and forth to dealer to get this sorted.
As great as the R5 is, there are clearly some quality issues during Year 1 of production and I suspect given Renault's eagerness to fix it, they know about this fault.
Edited by TUS373 on Friday 23 October 16:15
Impossible to say, was it a defective batch/manufacturing defect. Has there been any recall on this item etc.
I'd say all new car models have issues, it's why I tend to wait a year or two of that models lifecycle to avoid being the guinea pig. It is impossible to test every conceivable use case and every component to failure, and I doubt something as obvious as a drive shaft failing at 8500/12 months is probably unlikely, the fact that the parts are not all available within the UK would suggest it's one of two things, it's a huge problem and spares are in demand, or it isn't and there's no reason to stock them.
The good news is that the supplying dealer and Renault have approved the claim, it's just the inconvenience of getting it fixed.
I'd say all new car models have issues, it's why I tend to wait a year or two of that models lifecycle to avoid being the guinea pig. It is impossible to test every conceivable use case and every component to failure, and I doubt something as obvious as a drive shaft failing at 8500/12 months is probably unlikely, the fact that the parts are not all available within the UK would suggest it's one of two things, it's a huge problem and spares are in demand, or it isn't and there's no reason to stock them.
The good news is that the supplying dealer and Renault have approved the claim, it's just the inconvenience of getting it fixed.
B5mike said:
I think mine has the same problem (early 2025 car)
Mine is the first this dealership encountered, but there was another post here on Pistonheads and some sporadic reports in France. I got mine 10.25 so assume built around August.If you have suspicions, then worth a visit to dealer for peace of mind or a fix. Mine is leased and my view is not to keep it beyond but send it back, but still needs to sorted out.
I have seen this posted once or twice before on one of the Renault facebook groups. Heard most obviously at full lock and in both cases it was the driveshafts and replaced without quibble under warranty. Both were also first year cars. Could have just been one dodgy batch fitted to a few. There are over 19k registered in the UK alone now and there was 100k across Europe at the beginning of this year. I expect if it was a bigger issue it would be much more widespread. Every time I see something like this happen though I make a note of it in case I need to refer back in the future.
So far I have:
1. Driveshaft is a recall/warranty item. Knocking sound on full lock.
2. Condensation in R5 bonnet light
3. Actis 88626 update for IOG deep sleep issues
I have been keeping a tab of OTA updates too:
Electrical Converter 1.1.0 - from December '25 (Not received and unlikely to be needed on mine)
Thermal Comfort from March '26 Not received
Openlink 2.4.0 from April '26 Not received
Electric engine 4.2.0 from April '26 Not received
Front camera from May '26 Not received
Inverter 1.1.0 - from August '26 Installed 30/08
Depending how Renault have updates applied in the factory mine was a February build. Most of these could be included and built in with my base software for all I know. Been patiently waiting for them to trickle through.
Early days and mine is only knocking on 7 months old but nothing has happened yet, fingers crossed. No failed charges, no entertainment bugs and nothing mechanical. I have already done 11k and took out the 1 year extended warranty to cover me up to 4 years/72k miles. I will be far ahead of the average R5 owner in miles so it will be interesting to see how it all holds up as an early(ish) adopter hitting the bigger numbers before most. The plan is to take it to 100k and beyond. I also have guinea pigs, so I may as well be one for the R5 lol.
Got its first big(ish) single trip in December with our annual drive to Bruges. The biggest unknown and compromise for me is that the first 220 miles to Le Shuttle we always do as an unbroken 3.5 hour drive usually. We will need a stop around Harlow at Ionity for 20 minutes. It's 150ish miles to there and should get there fine even on the motorway but this is the first winter. Interesting to see how much the range does drop, if rapid charging really slows down when it's very cold and if I will need to compromise on speed to be able to make it. I usually set to 70 and crack on with heating etc on and drive it exactly like I would any ICE car. I only do a couple of public charges a month and had no issues at all. Praying it doesn't encounter any issues on the way down with stuck chargers etc. Saw somebody post on facebook today the red light and the car not releasing the cable. Would be less than ideal at 6am in a cold December with my wife. Another charge while we have breakfast waiting for the train and should get to Bruges with no more stops. The underground car park we have always used has 80+ chargers so we can leave with a full charge at the end of the trip. It should be much cheaper than in my C63 last year haha. Although I will miss the massive estate for all the beers to bring home!
So far I have:
1. Driveshaft is a recall/warranty item. Knocking sound on full lock.
2. Condensation in R5 bonnet light
3. Actis 88626 update for IOG deep sleep issues
I have been keeping a tab of OTA updates too:
Electrical Converter 1.1.0 - from December '25 (Not received and unlikely to be needed on mine)
Thermal Comfort from March '26 Not received
Openlink 2.4.0 from April '26 Not received
Electric engine 4.2.0 from April '26 Not received
Front camera from May '26 Not received
Inverter 1.1.0 - from August '26 Installed 30/08
Depending how Renault have updates applied in the factory mine was a February build. Most of these could be included and built in with my base software for all I know. Been patiently waiting for them to trickle through.
Early days and mine is only knocking on 7 months old but nothing has happened yet, fingers crossed. No failed charges, no entertainment bugs and nothing mechanical. I have already done 11k and took out the 1 year extended warranty to cover me up to 4 years/72k miles. I will be far ahead of the average R5 owner in miles so it will be interesting to see how it all holds up as an early(ish) adopter hitting the bigger numbers before most. The plan is to take it to 100k and beyond. I also have guinea pigs, so I may as well be one for the R5 lol.
Got its first big(ish) single trip in December with our annual drive to Bruges. The biggest unknown and compromise for me is that the first 220 miles to Le Shuttle we always do as an unbroken 3.5 hour drive usually. We will need a stop around Harlow at Ionity for 20 minutes. It's 150ish miles to there and should get there fine even on the motorway but this is the first winter. Interesting to see how much the range does drop, if rapid charging really slows down when it's very cold and if I will need to compromise on speed to be able to make it. I usually set to 70 and crack on with heating etc on and drive it exactly like I would any ICE car. I only do a couple of public charges a month and had no issues at all. Praying it doesn't encounter any issues on the way down with stuck chargers etc. Saw somebody post on facebook today the red light and the car not releasing the cable. Would be less than ideal at 6am in a cold December with my wife. Another charge while we have breakfast waiting for the train and should get to Bruges with no more stops. The underground car park we have always used has 80+ chargers so we can leave with a full charge at the end of the trip. It should be much cheaper than in my C63 last year haha. Although I will miss the massive estate for all the beers to bring home!
Edited by Goatwidcoat on Friday 23 October 19:41
Goatwidcoat said:
I have seen this posted once or twice before on one of the Renault facebook groups. Heard most obviously at full lock and in both cases it was the driveshafts and replaced without quibble under warranty. Both were also first year cars. Could have just been one dodgy batch fitted to a few. There are over 19k registered in the UK alone now and there was 100k across Europe at the beginning of this year. I expect if it was a bigger issue it would be much more widespread. Every time I see something like this happen though I make a note of it in case I need to refer back in the future.
So far I have:
1. Driveshaft is a recall/warranty item. Knocking sound on full lock.
2. Condensation in R5 bonnet light
3. Actis 88626 update for IOG deep sleep issues
I have been keeping a tab of OTA updates too:
Electrical Converter 1.1.0 - from December '25 (Not received and unlikely to be needed on mine)
Thermal Comfort from March '26 Not received
Openlink 2.4.0 from April '26 Not received
Electric engine 4.2.0 from April '26 Not received
Front camera from May '26 Not received
Inverter 1.1.0 - from August '26 Installed 30/08
Depending how Renault have updates applied in the factory mine was a February build. Most of these could be included and built in with my base software for all I know. Been patiently waiting for them to trickle through.
Early days and mine is only knocking on 7 months old but nothing has happened yet, fingers crossed. No failed charges, no entertainment bugs and nothing mechanical. I have already done 11k and took out the 1 year extended warranty to cover me up to 4 years/72k miles. I will be far ahead of the average R5 owner in miles so it will be interesting to see how it all holds up as an early(ish) adopter hitting the bigger numbers before most. The plan is to take it to 100k and beyond. I also have guinea pigs, so I may as well be one for the R5 lol.
Got its first big(ish) single trip in December with our annual drive to Bruges. The biggest unknown and compromise for me is that the first 220 miles to Le Shuttle we always do as an unbroken 3.5 hour drive usually. We will need a stop around Harlow at Ionity for 20 minutes. It's 150ish miles to there and should get there fine even on the motorway but this is the first winter. Interesting to see how much the range does drop, if rapid charging really slows down when it's very cold and if I will need to compromise on speed to be able to make it. I usually set to 70 and crack on with heating etc on and drive it exactly like I would any ICE car. I only do a couple of public charges a month and had no issues at all. Praying it doesn't encounter any issues on the way down with stuck chargers etc. Saw somebody post on facebook today the red light and the car not releasing the cable. Would be less than ideal at 6am in a cold December with my wife. Another charge while we have breakfast waiting for the train and should get to Bruges with no more stops. The underground car park we have always used has 80+ chargers so we can leave with a full charge at the end of the trip. It should be much cheaper than in my C63 last year haha. Although I will miss the massive estate for all the beers to bring home!
Useful info thanks. I suspect your Feb '26 build includes all the "missing" updates - likely that the OTA retrofit process lags factory builds by a few months.So far I have:
1. Driveshaft is a recall/warranty item. Knocking sound on full lock.
2. Condensation in R5 bonnet light
3. Actis 88626 update for IOG deep sleep issues
I have been keeping a tab of OTA updates too:
Electrical Converter 1.1.0 - from December '25 (Not received and unlikely to be needed on mine)
Thermal Comfort from March '26 Not received
Openlink 2.4.0 from April '26 Not received
Electric engine 4.2.0 from April '26 Not received
Front camera from May '26 Not received
Inverter 1.1.0 - from August '26 Installed 30/08
Depending how Renault have updates applied in the factory mine was a February build. Most of these could be included and built in with my base software for all I know. Been patiently waiting for them to trickle through.
Early days and mine is only knocking on 7 months old but nothing has happened yet, fingers crossed. No failed charges, no entertainment bugs and nothing mechanical. I have already done 11k and took out the 1 year extended warranty to cover me up to 4 years/72k miles. I will be far ahead of the average R5 owner in miles so it will be interesting to see how it all holds up as an early(ish) adopter hitting the bigger numbers before most. The plan is to take it to 100k and beyond. I also have guinea pigs, so I may as well be one for the R5 lol.
Got its first big(ish) single trip in December with our annual drive to Bruges. The biggest unknown and compromise for me is that the first 220 miles to Le Shuttle we always do as an unbroken 3.5 hour drive usually. We will need a stop around Harlow at Ionity for 20 minutes. It's 150ish miles to there and should get there fine even on the motorway but this is the first winter. Interesting to see how much the range does drop, if rapid charging really slows down when it's very cold and if I will need to compromise on speed to be able to make it. I usually set to 70 and crack on with heating etc on and drive it exactly like I would any ICE car. I only do a couple of public charges a month and had no issues at all. Praying it doesn't encounter any issues on the way down with stuck chargers etc. Saw somebody post on facebook today the red light and the car not releasing the cable. Would be less than ideal at 6am in a cold December with my wife. Another charge while we have breakfast waiting for the train and should get to Bruges with no more stops. The underground car park we have always used has 80+ chargers so we can leave with a full charge at the end of the trip. It should be much cheaper than in my C63 last year haha. Although I will miss the massive estate for all the beers to bring home!
Edited by Goatwidcoat on Friday 23 October 19:41
I will definitely be buying the extended warranty if I decide to keep my April '25 car beyond 3 years. Is it transferable to a new owner?
B5mike said:
Useful info thanks. I suspect your Feb '26 build includes all the "missing" updates - likely that the OTA retrofit process lags factory builds by a few months.
I will definitely be buying the extended warranty if I decide to keep my April '25 car beyond 3 years. Is it transferable to a new owner?
This was my thoughts too with the OTA updates. I believe the warranty and service plan stick to the car rather than owner. Also means no refund if traded in early. At least this was the case with a previous Kia service plan that was also facilitated through Emac who supply the Renault plans too.I will definitely be buying the extended warranty if I decide to keep my April '25 car beyond 3 years. Is it transferable to a new owner?
Goatwidcoat said:
B5mike said:
Useful info thanks. I suspect your Feb '26 build includes all the "missing" updates - likely that the OTA retrofit process lags factory builds by a few months.
I will definitely be buying the extended warranty if I decide to keep my April '25 car beyond 3 years. Is it transferable to a new owner?
This was my thoughts too with the OTA updates. I believe the warranty and service plan stick to the car rather than owner. Also means no refund if traded in early. At least this was the case with a previous Kia service plan that was also facilitated through Emac who supply the Renault plans too.I will definitely be buying the extended warranty if I decide to keep my April '25 car beyond 3 years. Is it transferable to a new owner?
I will investigate the details of the extended warranty (I'm not interested in the service plan)
OP here. On the subject of software, there are two 'Service Update' messages amongst the updates. They look exactly the same and are dated 23.10.26. I assume these were applied by the dealer at the service, but that took place on 22.10.26 I.e. day before.
When collecting and starting the car after the service, the start up splash screen advertised Gemini to me, but I thought that was already installed. I assumed again that that message was due to the Infotainment software being updated whilst at the dealer.
It is all therefore rather mysterious to me.
When collecting and starting the car after the service, the start up splash screen advertised Gemini to me, but I thought that was already installed. I assumed again that that message was due to the Infotainment software being updated whilst at the dealer.
It is all therefore rather mysterious to me.
TUS373 said:
OP here. On the subject of software, there are two 'Service Update' messages amongst the updates. They look exactly the same and are dated 23.10.26. I assume these were applied by the dealer at the service, but that took place on 22.10.26 I.e. day before.
When collecting and starting the car after the service, the start up splash screen advertised Gemini to me, but I thought that was already installed. I assumed again that that message was due to the Infotainment software being updated whilst at the dealer.
It is all therefore rather mysterious to me.
I got Gemini a couple of weeks ago but it just appeared one day. It wasn't part of an update that needed installing or listed as such either.When collecting and starting the car after the service, the start up splash screen advertised Gemini to me, but I thought that was already installed. I assumed again that that message was due to the Infotainment software being updated whilst at the dealer.
It is all therefore rather mysterious to me.
I got a service update around 3 weeks after purchase. I think this is once the car is properly linked and registered on the Renault servers to allow you to buy service plans etc. Mine would not do this for around 3-4 weeks after registration which ties up to a similar time as the service update.
Hmm I think my 25 has this too at first I only noticed a tac-tac-tac on full lock but it's getting worse. Assuming Renault put it right it's just some annoying admin
What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
ashenfie said:
While it good it s been fixed relatively quickly , £3000 for some
Drive shafts is a joke. Would expect a dealer to be able to do this for less than £1k.
On the flip side it s good the 5 has a service schedule and it was pick up and thankfully a warranty job.
I think this is just where prices are now for new cars. It’s meaningless as a warranty claim since the ‘true’ cost to Renault is only the cost of the parts + labour, not their retail price. Drive shafts is a joke. Would expect a dealer to be able to do this for less than £1k.
On the flip side it s good the 5 has a service schedule and it was pick up and thankfully a warranty job.
Down the line it would be more of an issue but eventually there will be aftermarket parts etc as with anything else.
fooman said:
What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
Yes. Often get the map buffering. It should not do that, but it does. Happened straight after service again too.The other issue I had is the black paint on the roof. Coming off in places, after being in the sun. Renault dealers bodywork subcontractor said it was 'environmental' or 'birds'. They spent 30 seconds looking at. Renault dont want to know. I expect that whilst some areas of quality could improve in the future (non-chocolate driveshafts, on board software and apps that work), paint will stay the same now it is all water based.
Edited by TUS373 on Monday 26th October 08:27
fooman said:
Hmm I think my 25 has this too at first I only noticed a tac-tac-tac on full lock but it's getting worse. Assuming Renault put it right it's just some annoying admin
What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
Sorry to say, the warranty expired decades ago!What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
fooman said:
Hmm I think my 25 has this too at first I only noticed a tac-tac-tac on full lock but it's getting worse. Assuming Renault put it right it's just some annoying admin
What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
To be fair to the dealer the dash map not loading seems to have been a thing since first release and widely reported online. Nothing they will be able to do until Renault manage to fix it via a software update. You would think that they must know about it by now. Not noticed it on mine but I never ever use that view on the dash as I prefer the map on the main display.What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
Goatwidcoat said:
fooman said:
Hmm I think my 25 has this too at first I only noticed a tac-tac-tac on full lock but it's getting worse. Assuming Renault put it right it's just some annoying admin
What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
To be fair to the dealer the dash map not loading seems to have been a thing since first release and widely reported online. Nothing they will be able to do until Renault manage to fix it via a software update. You would think that they must know about it by now. Not noticed it on mine but I never ever use that view on the dash as I prefer the map on the main display.What other issues have you had? My dash map doesn't always wake up which needs a few additional button presses. I tried discussing this at service but they couldn't be less interested.
By and large the horror stories you read when it comes to other manufacturer systems, the Renault Google based one is pretty stable, with no real issues at all.
HTP99 said:
The dash map thing is an issue on all Google based Renault's, however it's not a constant, i.e. you can never encounter it, or it is very in frequent, just cycle through the various displays and when you come to the dash map one again, it tends to have sorted itself out.
By and large the horror stories you read when it comes to other manufacturer systems, the Renault Google based one is pretty stable, with no real issues at all.
My friend's Q6 Etron without fail every month will have a day where the dash never turns on at all and he has to guess his speed until it fixes itself for the next drive. Also went in for a software update and ended up bricked for a month while they sorted it. He despises the thing and it cost 3 Renault 5's! VAG group infotainment has been patchy for a decade now in both ICE and EV so I am not surprised.By and large the horror stories you read when it comes to other manufacturer systems, the Renault Google based one is pretty stable, with no real issues at all.
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