RE: Bee in their bonnets
Discussion
Here's the text from the Renault press release:
RENAULT UK RESPONDS TO BBC WATCHDOG
Renault UK is a responsible manufacturer and prides itself on safety with more five-star Euro NCAP rated cars than any other manufacturer. The safety of its customers is of paramount importance to Renault UK
Without question, Renault conforms to all strict legal procedures outlined for the motor industry. This includes incidents of drivers reporting that the bonnet of their Clio II has opened whilst the car was being driven.
Renault has liaised fully with the UK government enforcement agency, the Vehicle and Operator Service Agency (VOSA), on the issue and both Renault and VOSA have concluded that the bonnet catch mechanism on the Clio II has no design or construction defect.
Since Watchdog’s original broadcast, Renault has monitored and analysed every case we have received and a dedicated Task Force of more than 30 of Renault’s worldwide experts has investigated this issue, including carrying out vehicle inspections. VOSA has been kept fully informed throughout.
In co-operation with the relevant authorities including the DVLA, Renault is writing to all Clio II owners, more than 400,000 people, inviting them into their nearest Renault dealership, where the opening and closing mechanisms of the bonnet will be checked to ensure the correct maintenance is being undertaken. If poor maintenance is detected, the appropriate corrective action will be carried out at no cost to the customer as a gesture of goodwill.
Renault refutes BBC Watchdog claim that it is ‘putting lives at risk’
Renault has found no construction or design defect with the bonnet catch mechanism of the Clio II. Renault is a responsible manufacturer. To say we would endanger our customers is categorically untrue. We are recalling all Clio II owners into the Renault network as part of our reassurance plan.
The bonnet catch mechanism of the Clio II is safe, reliable and fit for purpose providing the vehicle is maintained correctly and the bonnet is closed as prescribed.
This issue is a maintenance issue.
Renault refutes BBC Watchdog’s whistleblower ‘cover-up’ claim
There is no ‘cover-up’. Renault always takes any customer complaint extremely seriously and we have escalated reports of this issue to the highest level within Renault. The fact that we are writing to all Clio II owners demonstrates how seriously Renault takes any customer issue and illustrates our openness with the customers.
Renault is sorry that Graeme Holt, former Press Relations Manager, Renault UK, has issues with the company. However Renault’s priority remains its customers and communicating with them.
Renault refutes claims that issue due to a design fault
There is no design fault with the bonnet catch mechanism on the Clio II. Graeme Holt has no accredited technical expertise with which to make such a claim.
This issue is a maintenance issue pure and simple. In its investigations, Renault discovered several cases of poor maintenance where the bonnet had opened whilst the car was being driven.
Immediately following Watchdog’s original broadcast, Renault UK instructed its dealers to check the bonnet catch mechanism on Clio II free-of-charge for customers and we have now formalised this by adding a check to the service schedule.
A check of the bonnet catch mechanism is already included in the annual MOT test required for vehicles more than three years old.
Clio Campus
There are no reports of this issue on Clio Campus. Renault dealers have been provided with correct maintenance instructions for this vehicle and it will be applied to all Renault vehicles, including Clio Campus as reassuring our customers is Renault’s priority.
geez there is nothing wrong with the secondary catch its lack of maintenance if your bonnet flew open because it was seized blame the person who services it simple as that most of the people posting on this thread have never even seen a clio bonnet catch assy so how can you possibly comment on how the design performs. lol does make me chuckle, as already mentioned it has a normal catch and a secondary hook which seizes if not lubricated its not a complicated design or a huge mistery lmfao if you havnt shut it properly then thats down to you
loose cannon said:
geez there is nothing wrong with the secondary catch its lack of maintenance if your bonnet flew open because it was seized blame the person who services it simple as that most of the people posting on this thread have never even seen a clio bonnet catch assy so how can you possibly comment on how the design performs. lol does make me chuckle, as already mentioned it has a normal catch and a secondary hook which seizes if not lubricated its not a complicated design or a huge mistery lmfao if you havnt shut it properly then thats down to you
That has to be the new World Record for the longest ever sentence......
So for the bonnet to come up BOTH the primary AND the scondary catch must have failed to perform their function???
No design fault???
Yeah, right.
"...We are recalling all Clio II owners into the Renault network as part of our reassurance plan."
That's "manufacturer speak" for "...we've been caught good & proper but we don't want to admit it because we'll get our butts sued off".
and
"...The bonnet catch mechanism of the Clio II is safe, reliable and fit for purpose providing the vehicle is maintained correctly and the bonnet is closed as prescribed..."
Well if it doesn't tell you to carry out periodic checks and lubrication in the handbook, that's not much help is it? We don't hear of doors flying open periodically and I'm not sure that many handbooks tell the owner to periodically inspect and lubricate door locks!
I'm afraid I'm still of the opinion that unless this is a problem on EVERY type of car out there, the only logical assumption is that those cars on which it DOES occur are in some way less well designed and/or maintained than those that don't suffer from it.
No design fault???
Yeah, right.
"...We are recalling all Clio II owners into the Renault network as part of our reassurance plan."
That's "manufacturer speak" for "...we've been caught good & proper but we don't want to admit it because we'll get our butts sued off".
and
"...The bonnet catch mechanism of the Clio II is safe, reliable and fit for purpose providing the vehicle is maintained correctly and the bonnet is closed as prescribed..."
Well if it doesn't tell you to carry out periodic checks and lubrication in the handbook, that's not much help is it? We don't hear of doors flying open periodically and I'm not sure that many handbooks tell the owner to periodically inspect and lubricate door locks!
I'm afraid I'm still of the opinion that unless this is a problem on EVERY type of car out there, the only logical assumption is that those cars on which it DOES occur are in some way less well designed and/or maintained than those that don't suffer from it.
as a Clio 172 owner, I'm still not sure what the cause of the problem is (i didn't see the 'Shock! Horror! Renault Are Murdering Bastardos Who Will Kill and then Eat Your Children!' episode of Watchdog).
Assuming I slam my bonnet shut - properly shut - it's not going to burst open on the m-way, right?
If that's the 'fix', then I think I can probably skip a trip to dealer for him to squirt a bit of WD40 on it...
g
Assuming I slam my bonnet shut - properly shut - it's not going to burst open on the m-way, right?
If that's the 'fix', then I think I can probably skip a trip to dealer for him to squirt a bit of WD40 on it...
g
Avocet said:
So for the bonnet to come up BOTH the primary AND the scondary catch must have failed to perform their function???
No design fault???
Yeah, right.
"...We are recalling all Clio II owners into the Renault network as part of our reassurance plan."
That's "manufacturer speak" for "...we've been caught good & proper but we don't want to admit it because we'll get our butts sued off".
and
"...The bonnet catch mechanism of the Clio II is safe, reliable and fit for purpose providing the vehicle is maintained correctly and the bonnet is closed as prescribed..."
Well if it doesn't tell you to carry out periodic checks and lubrication in the handbook, that's not much help is it? We don't hear of doors flying open periodically and I'm not sure that many handbooks tell the owner to periodically inspect and lubricate door locks!
I'm afraid I'm still of the opinion that unless this is a problem on EVERY type of car out there, the only logical assumption is that those cars on which it DOES occur are in some way less well designed and/or maintained than those that don't suffer from it.
No design fault???
Yeah, right.
"...We are recalling all Clio II owners into the Renault network as part of our reassurance plan."
That's "manufacturer speak" for "...we've been caught good & proper but we don't want to admit it because we'll get our butts sued off".
and
"...The bonnet catch mechanism of the Clio II is safe, reliable and fit for purpose providing the vehicle is maintained correctly and the bonnet is closed as prescribed..."
Well if it doesn't tell you to carry out periodic checks and lubrication in the handbook, that's not much help is it? We don't hear of doors flying open periodically and I'm not sure that many handbooks tell the owner to periodically inspect and lubricate door locks!
I'm afraid I'm still of the opinion that unless this is a problem on EVERY type of car out there, the only logical assumption is that those cars on which it DOES occur are in some way less well designed and/or maintained than those that don't suffer from it.
Thing is, if a door lock fails its generally when youre closing the door and it just bounces open again. If it doesnt close then you get someone to sort it out. Most people dont bother pulling the bonnet or checking the release lever is on its stop before closing.
There are hundreds of cars where the bonnets have opened and hit the screen, just the owners realised they were probably at fault through lack of maintenance. In this case it has been highlighted by Dogwatch and every man and his dog suddenly says "it happened to me like this" As to the " unless this is a problem on EVERY type of car out there", well there are a large amount of drivers that look after their cars and dont just assume things are ok.
How many Mk2 clios have been made against the number of bonnet openings? I bet its a tiny amount, there must be hundreds of thousands of them in europe.
I believe you can MITIGATE against the effects of a poor design by diligent maintenance - indeed, I wouldn't want to ever discourage anyone from doing this - even if they then find it isn't needed! That said, unless Clio owners are unusually careless in their maintenance habits compared to the owners of most other makes of car, I can't understand why Renault should have been picked on in this respect if it really COULD happen to "any" car.
The Donster said:
Here's the text from the Renault press release:
RENAULT UK RESPONDS TO BBC WATCHDOG
Renault UK is a responsible manufacturer and prides itself on safety with more five-star Euro NCAP rated cars than any other manufacturer. The safety of its customers is of paramount importance to Renault UK.....
There are no reports of this issue on Clio Campus. Renault dealers have been provided with correct maintenance instructions for this vehicle and it will be applied to all Renault vehicles, including Clio Campus as reassuring our customers is Renault’s priority.
! And what the hell has VOSA been doing all this time? Remember that it's we, the tax payer, who pay them to look after our safety interests. I know full well that VOSA had more than two letters concerning this problem.
More to the point was the gagging of their PR manager, Graeme Holt. In over two years he never answered a single question on the 1.9dCi (F9Q) turbo failures - and their number was legion and life threatening.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't boast about their 5 star searchlights and then undress with them on.
www.sniffpetrol.com/AdClioBonnet.jpg
Edited by nickliv on Wednesday 11th April 20:56
Edited by nickliv on Wednesday 11th April 20:59
nickliv said:
This was the first I heard of the national problem then recalled seeing a Clio on the M27 with its bonnet smashed back against the windscreen only a fortnight ago.
Sniffpetrol = legendary
does that have to do with Clio's bonnets?
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