When warranty isn’t really warranty?
Discussion
I have a 3 month old Renault traffic with a grand sum of 5000 miles on it now. Today while on the motorway there was a sudden noise and upon pulling over I found the fuel pump protector had ripped off at the front and was dragging on the road. I undid the last remaining fitting which was finger tight and headed to the dealer which is 2 min from home. When I walked into the service section I explained to the guy this cover had just fallen down on the motorway and ripped off... his reply was golden. It wasn’t covered because it had fallen off ! Errr that’s the whole reason it should be covered no ? I didn’t think they designed things to randomly fall off near enough brand new vans.
The worst of it is the fixing points are part of the main fuel tank and so a new fuel tank complete is required in order to be able to fix a new protection cover. Guy at dealership says no, I could have hit a tyre on the motorway ..I didn’t. There are ZERO marks on the cover apart from the fresh scratches from dragging on the road. There is one fixing at the rear which was loose, one on the front which had ripped out and was still attached, and a second on the front totally missing.
From the dirt and witness marks on tank and cover it would appear the front one that’s missing had worked loose and come out at some point, or was never there. The recess is dirty on the cover with no clean sections from contact with the tank. The tank fixing hole again is dirty as if a fixing was either never there or long time missing. The other two fixings have very clear witness marks where they were in contact with the fuel tank as would be expected.
Also the fuel tank protector is higher than most other gubbins under the van so certainly not the first thing to make contact IF anything was hit yet nothing else has any signs of contact. I am super miticlous with my cars and know 100% I have not driven over anything to rip the cover off. From all the marks it appears fixings vibrated loose, wind got under cover on motorway and bobs your uncle. I escalated it with Renault UK but they want to speak to the guy who said no for his opinion, well I doubt he hasn’t changed it since my visit so I expect a ‘computer says no’ situation.
What’s people’s thoughs with the photos below ?
Leading edge with damage faces forwards on van. Fitting at the top right of pic was missing totally and that’s the one which I suspect came out a while back or was never there
Next three photos are off the same fixing on both sides of the cover and then the fuel tank
Missing fixing on fuel tank and dirt inside showing missing for a while or never there
Next three pics are both sides of the other front fixing on the cover and then the matching one on the tank
And now the rear fixing which was still attached but finger tight
A general pic of the tank
And a few of the cover with no marks at all apart from the dragging ones
The worst of it is the fixing points are part of the main fuel tank and so a new fuel tank complete is required in order to be able to fix a new protection cover. Guy at dealership says no, I could have hit a tyre on the motorway ..I didn’t. There are ZERO marks on the cover apart from the fresh scratches from dragging on the road. There is one fixing at the rear which was loose, one on the front which had ripped out and was still attached, and a second on the front totally missing.
From the dirt and witness marks on tank and cover it would appear the front one that’s missing had worked loose and come out at some point, or was never there. The recess is dirty on the cover with no clean sections from contact with the tank. The tank fixing hole again is dirty as if a fixing was either never there or long time missing. The other two fixings have very clear witness marks where they were in contact with the fuel tank as would be expected.
Also the fuel tank protector is higher than most other gubbins under the van so certainly not the first thing to make contact IF anything was hit yet nothing else has any signs of contact. I am super miticlous with my cars and know 100% I have not driven over anything to rip the cover off. From all the marks it appears fixings vibrated loose, wind got under cover on motorway and bobs your uncle. I escalated it with Renault UK but they want to speak to the guy who said no for his opinion, well I doubt he hasn’t changed it since my visit so I expect a ‘computer says no’ situation.
What’s people’s thoughs with the photos below ?
Leading edge with damage faces forwards on van. Fitting at the top right of pic was missing totally and that’s the one which I suspect came out a while back or was never there
Next three photos are off the same fixing on both sides of the cover and then the fuel tank
Missing fixing on fuel tank and dirt inside showing missing for a while or never there
Next three pics are both sides of the other front fixing on the cover and then the matching one on the tank
And now the rear fixing which was still attached but finger tight
A general pic of the tank
And a few of the cover with no marks at all apart from the dragging ones
750turbo said:
Get straight onto Renault Customer Services.
They will almost certainly cover that!
Literally put the phone down to them 10 seconds ago. They will almost certainly cover that!
Not covered because the dealership say the van was all muddy underneath so has clearly been abused !!! When I asked how I should prevent the van from getting dirty underneath and making parts randomly falling off... no answer for that.
Looking at £1500ish for new fuel tank
fastbikes76 said:
Literally put the phone down to them 10 seconds ago.
Not covered because the dealership say the van was all muddy underneath so has clearly been abused !!! When I asked how I should prevent the van from getting dirty underneath and making parts randomly falling off... no answer for that.
Looking at £1500ish for new fuel tank
Do you need a new fuel tank? Or just a new cover?Not covered because the dealership say the van was all muddy underneath so has clearly been abused !!! When I asked how I should prevent the van from getting dirty underneath and making parts randomly falling off... no answer for that.
Looking at £1500ish for new fuel tank
No being annoying, just wondering why you couldnt get a new cover and reattach it to the fuel tank, I've obviously missed something.
fastbikes76 said:
750turbo said:
Get straight onto Renault Customer Services.
They will almost certainly cover that!
Literally put the phone down to them 10 seconds ago. They will almost certainly cover that!
Not covered because the dealership say the van was all muddy underneath so has clearly been abused !!! When I asked how I should prevent the van from getting dirty underneath and making parts randomly falling off... no answer for that.
Looking at £1500ish for new fuel tank
Facebook, Twitter, Auto Express, Daily Mail (with House Value), even local press naming the Dealer?
It is a miniscule amount for them, and they know that the buil quality can still be s
t. (I have had a LOT of dealings with RE UK Warranty Auditors).Trim isn’t covered for this exact reason. Anything could have happened to that cover tbh, you don’t know any more than renault what’s happened to it.
Someone else may have lost theirs and tried to nick yours.
I personally would find a way to fix that back in place (clips, cable ties etc) and carry on.
Someone else may have lost theirs and tried to nick yours.
I personally would find a way to fix that back in place (clips, cable ties etc) and carry on.
BAM225 said:
Do you need a new fuel tank? Or just a new cover?
No being annoying, just wondering why you couldnt get a new cover and reattach it to the fuel tank, I've obviously missed something.
New tank, the cover ripped the fixings out the tank which are moulded in. Only way to fix a new cover is to replace the tank too. No being annoying, just wondering why you couldnt get a new cover and reattach it to the fuel tank, I've obviously missed something.
BAM225 said:
fastbikes76 said:
New tank, the cover ripped the fixings out the tank which are moulded in. Only way to fix a new cover is to replace the tank too.
Ah! Well you're in a truly st situation OP, renault UK a strong worded email?Did the Service Advisor do anything other than immediately tell you to go away?
For instance did he, at the very least, consult the dealer warranty manager/controller to ascertain if they had ever encountered previous incidents of this issue? It could be a known issue that is covered. There may be a Technical Bulletin that covers it.
If not then he needs sacking, as I have banged on about on here many times, the dealer is not the decision maker.
What he should have done is to help build a case on your behalf and with some skilful wording such as "fastener failure" as the cause this could well have been authorised by Renault Warranty.
A switched on warranty manager at a dealer, who has a good relationship with the manufacturer warranty dept, should be able to get these sort of issues sorted under warranty, and should be "on the side" of the customer and pro~actively try to get claims through.
In your shoes OP I'd be making an appointment with the dealer service manager and/or DP and asking some awkward questions.
The main one being ~ "Please show me the returned claim from Renault Warranty showing the reasons for refusal."
Ultimately you may not get anywhere but for a £1500 potential repair bill its worth a fight I would have thought.
For instance did he, at the very least, consult the dealer warranty manager/controller to ascertain if they had ever encountered previous incidents of this issue? It could be a known issue that is covered. There may be a Technical Bulletin that covers it.
If not then he needs sacking, as I have banged on about on here many times, the dealer is not the decision maker.
What he should have done is to help build a case on your behalf and with some skilful wording such as "fastener failure" as the cause this could well have been authorised by Renault Warranty.
A switched on warranty manager at a dealer, who has a good relationship with the manufacturer warranty dept, should be able to get these sort of issues sorted under warranty, and should be "on the side" of the customer and pro~actively try to get claims through.
In your shoes OP I'd be making an appointment with the dealer service manager and/or DP and asking some awkward questions.
The main one being ~ "Please show me the returned claim from Renault Warranty showing the reasons for refusal."
Ultimately you may not get anywhere but for a £1500 potential repair bill its worth a fight I would have thought.
MDMA . said:
I'd be inclined to just bond it back on with some Sikaflex. Hold in position for a day with some Gaffa tape. Looking at the pics, looks very dirty for 3 months old. Have the 5000 miles all been off-road? 
5000 miles of country lanes yes, I only work in rural area’s so usually lots of mud on the roads. I will reply to other comments in a bit but the short of it was the guy who said no did so before even looking at van and said so on the grounds they had never had one come off before. He was the service manager and we didn’t get on from the word go as he said no before I had even explained the situation to him.
The annoying this is I am so pedantic about my cars and van the insinuation that the van has been off-roaded and abused couldn’t be further from reality. That and it’s geh first ever brand new vehicle I’ve ever owned means it’s pampered better than most people ‘s car
valiant said:
Cover looks a bit bashed but relatively intact.
Might be worth saving yourself the aggro and find a way of refitting it.
Cover is totally unmarked apart from road rash today. IF there was an impact enough to rip the fixing from the tank, why is there not even a hairline scratch on the cover itself ? Might be worth saving yourself the aggro and find a way of refitting it.
The remaining fixing was finger tight which I undid on the side of the motorway. I presume the others had worked lose and that’s when wind caught under the cover and ripped it down
Hammer67 said:
Did the Service Advisor do anything other than immediately tell you to go away?
For instance did he, at the very least, consult the dealer warranty manager/controller to ascertain if they had ever encountered previous incidents of this issue? It could be a known issue that is covered. There may be a Technical Bulletin that covers it.
If not then he needs sacking, as I have banged on about on here many times, the dealer is not the decision maker.
What he should have done is to help build a case on your behalf and with some skilful wording such as "fastener failure" as the cause this could well have been authorised by Renault Warranty.
A switched on warranty manager at a dealer, who has a good relationship with the manufacturer warranty dept, should be able to get these sort of issues sorted under warranty, and should be "on the side" of the customer and pro~actively try to get claims through.
In your shoes OP I'd be making an appointment with the dealer service manager and/or DP and asking some awkward questions.
The main one being ~ "Please show me the returned claim from Renault Warranty showing the reasons for refusal."
Ultimately you may not get anywhere but for a £1500 potential repair bill its worth a fight I would have thought.
I’m actually ex motor trade to with roles as Service advisor, Service manager and Workshop manager for Vw and Toyota. In all previous dealerships I’ve worked for this wouldn’t have been questioned as there is zero damage to constitute abuse or imapct. For instance did he, at the very least, consult the dealer warranty manager/controller to ascertain if they had ever encountered previous incidents of this issue? It could be a known issue that is covered. There may be a Technical Bulletin that covers it.
If not then he needs sacking, as I have banged on about on here many times, the dealer is not the decision maker.
What he should have done is to help build a case on your behalf and with some skilful wording such as "fastener failure" as the cause this could well have been authorised by Renault Warranty.
A switched on warranty manager at a dealer, who has a good relationship with the manufacturer warranty dept, should be able to get these sort of issues sorted under warranty, and should be "on the side" of the customer and pro~actively try to get claims through.
In your shoes OP I'd be making an appointment with the dealer service manager and/or DP and asking some awkward questions.
The main one being ~ "Please show me the returned claim from Renault Warranty showing the reasons for refusal."
Ultimately you may not get anywhere but for a £1500 potential repair bill its worth a fight I would have thought.
The guy was service manager and a grade A bell end. We fell out over it and eventually a tech walking passed agreed to put van in workshop and look at it. He too concluded it must be abuse as the under side is very dirty and muddy.. we it’s dirty yes, caked in mud.. no. He couldn’t explain how the missing front fixing has no witness marks of ever touching the tank like there should be, or where the fixed disappeared too.
Zero procedures were followed and Renault UK are backing the dealership because ‘they have to go with what their dealer network says’ . He said I’m welcome to get an independent report , which they won’t cover costs for, or try another dealership and see what they say. Next nearest one is 15 miles away.
fastbikes76 said:
I’m actually ex motor trade to with roles as Service advisor, Service manager and Workshop manager for Vw and Toyota. In all previous dealerships I’ve worked for this wouldn’t have been questioned as there is zero damage to constitute abuse or imapct.
The guy was service manager and a grade A bell end. We fell out over it and eventually a tech walking passed agreed to put van in workshop and look at it. He too concluded it must be abuse as the under side is very dirty and muddy.. we it’s dirty yes, caked in mud.. no. He couldn’t explain how the missing front fixing has no witness marks of ever touching the tank like there should be, or where the fixed disappeared too.
Zero procedures were followed and Renault UK are backing the dealership because ‘they have to go with what their dealer network says’ . He said I’m welcome to get an independent report , which they won’t cover costs for, or try another dealership and see what they say. Next nearest one is 15 miles away.
Gotta be worth the 30 mile round trip surely. The guy was service manager and a grade A bell end. We fell out over it and eventually a tech walking passed agreed to put van in workshop and look at it. He too concluded it must be abuse as the under side is very dirty and muddy.. we it’s dirty yes, caked in mud.. no. He couldn’t explain how the missing front fixing has no witness marks of ever touching the tank like there should be, or where the fixed disappeared too.
Zero procedures were followed and Renault UK are backing the dealership because ‘they have to go with what their dealer network says’ . He said I’m welcome to get an independent report , which they won’t cover costs for, or try another dealership and see what they say. Next nearest one is 15 miles away.
eltax91 said:
Gotta be worth the 30 mile round trip surely.
Indeed, next step for me now. Only thing is obviously the underside will get more dirty so any witness marks on the pump to correlate what actually happened will be gone by then, so all I will have is a knackered trim which they will naturally say ‘ you must have ripped it off mate’ 
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