Renault 5 - worrying experience
Discussion
Mods - I am posting this in the EV forum so other R5 drivers are made aware - but burying this elsewhere in another forum where it will get covered in spider's webs. I would appreciate it if this is not moved.
Had my R5 since October, leased from Renualt (Mobilize) through a lease company. Absolutely loved the car until last weekend.
You remember the summer of 2026 i.e. the three hot sunny days last week. Well, it seems that the optional black painted roof that looks so good with the Pop Yellow paint, has been affected by the hot weather. There are speckles all over where the black paint has let go, showing primer from below. I gave it a good wash by hand at the weekend, and spent hours on the phone trying to actually book it in somewhere to have it looked at. My experience of the Renualt dealership network has been very trying. None of them have body shops any more either so I discovered.
1. one dealer said bring it in and we will have a look - but the guy only visits the dealership one day a week on a work day. Probably my best option.
2. Another (big name dealer) - it took me numerous calls over the space of 2 days before I even managed to speak to anyone. Promised returned calls were not made. Finally, they offered me a booking in 2 weeks time to drop the car off for the day, and they will inspect it. I wanted to just bring it in, get some photos done, drive away - but their computer cannot seem to handle that through a dealer wide booking system. They sent me a text message to confirm, Text message says if you want to change the booking 'call this number', but there is no number
3. Lease company refer me to Renualt dealers
4. Renualt dealers refer me to the Lease company
I have wasted hours this week, In the long run, I think I might take it a body shop and pay the £350 they quoted to repaint it. It will be better than the factory standard I am sure.
It is a great car - but it is 7 months old, 5750 miles, but the yellow paint is prone to chipping and the black paint on the roof looks like it just needs to be flatted back all over and refinished.
So all those R5 owners out there - please beware. The roof paint is made from chocolate.
Had my R5 since October, leased from Renualt (Mobilize) through a lease company. Absolutely loved the car until last weekend.
You remember the summer of 2026 i.e. the three hot sunny days last week. Well, it seems that the optional black painted roof that looks so good with the Pop Yellow paint, has been affected by the hot weather. There are speckles all over where the black paint has let go, showing primer from below. I gave it a good wash by hand at the weekend, and spent hours on the phone trying to actually book it in somewhere to have it looked at. My experience of the Renualt dealership network has been very trying. None of them have body shops any more either so I discovered.
1. one dealer said bring it in and we will have a look - but the guy only visits the dealership one day a week on a work day. Probably my best option.
2. Another (big name dealer) - it took me numerous calls over the space of 2 days before I even managed to speak to anyone. Promised returned calls were not made. Finally, they offered me a booking in 2 weeks time to drop the car off for the day, and they will inspect it. I wanted to just bring it in, get some photos done, drive away - but their computer cannot seem to handle that through a dealer wide booking system. They sent me a text message to confirm, Text message says if you want to change the booking 'call this number', but there is no number
3. Lease company refer me to Renualt dealers
4. Renualt dealers refer me to the Lease company
I have wasted hours this week, In the long run, I think I might take it a body shop and pay the £350 they quoted to repaint it. It will be better than the factory standard I am sure.
It is a great car - but it is 7 months old, 5750 miles, but the yellow paint is prone to chipping and the black paint on the roof looks like it just needs to be flatted back all over and refinished.
So all those R5 owners out there - please beware. The roof paint is made from chocolate.
the-norseman said:
When I opened this thread I was expecting something like the throttle got jammed on or the car wouldn't let you get out or something, not some paint has come off.
Just drive to the dealer, walk in and grab a member of staff and say come look at this.
Worrying is indeed subjective, term, but I did not say dangerous. My point is that this is a disappointing discovery on a new car model, of which tens of thousands have already been made. It could be an isolated incident, but one of the dealers that I eventually managed to have a phone call with, jumped in as I was describing and said 'the paint has come off'.Just drive to the dealer, walk in and grab a member of staff and say come look at this.
Its a popular car because it ticks lots of boxes and is fun. The gilt has rubbed off though, along with the paint. It will be a concern for anyone with a R5 with a black roof who is trying to seek assistance from Renault dealers who do not want to know.
Decky_Q said:
Just out of curiosity, is the roof metal or plastic/composite material?
Metal. The rear spoiler portion is plastic, on top of the tailgate.The black paint on the roof does seem different to regular bodywork paint. Thin but still lacquered. Very peely.
It is a shame as I was thinking of keeping the car after the lease. However, we have an excellent local body shop that works on quality cars that can probably lay down a better finish than the factory. I might just pay and be done with it, knowing that it is sorted for the future. However, the yellow paint seems very prone to chipping. The leading edge of the bonnet would benefit from PPF.
I had a paint issue one of my Meganes a few years ago.
You'll find none of them have paint shops - I'm not really against that as a proper body shop will always do a better job. I've had a local place do some touchups for me out of warrantee, and they literally do all the main dealer work for Toyota, Lexus and BMW locally.
The Option 1 is the right path. Get it looked at, they'll book it in and sort it out. Honestly they fixed the corrosion on my car along with a scratch next door and I could never have told the difference.
You'll find none of them have paint shops - I'm not really against that as a proper body shop will always do a better job. I've had a local place do some touchups for me out of warrantee, and they literally do all the main dealer work for Toyota, Lexus and BMW locally.
The Option 1 is the right path. Get it looked at, they'll book it in and sort it out. Honestly they fixed the corrosion on my car along with a scratch next door and I could never have told the difference.
Blimey, OP, it's just faded paint. 😀
Not the end of the world. Just get it painted and forget about it. It's a new car, new model. If they don't have any body shops the likleyhood of getting it sorted will be remote. You will be passed around more times than a girl from adultwork.
Not the end of the world. Just get it painted and forget about it. It's a new car, new model. If they don't have any body shops the likleyhood of getting it sorted will be remote. You will be passed around more times than a girl from adultwork.
Sheepshanks said:
Wife's friends R5 died on the road in early Nov 25, 6 weeks after she got it. Was recovered to the local supplying dealer. They said they would look at it in February!
Not good 
This thread and the 'ID7 - 190 days at the dealership' one in the car buying forum
make me wonder if there are any mainstream car brands that still offer a responsive
after-sales experience in 2026??
PBCD said:
Not good
This thread and the 'ID7 - 190 days at the dealership' one in the car buying forum
make me wonder if there are any mainstream car brands that still offer a responsive
after-sales experience in 2026??
The ID7, and the OP in this threads car, are both complicated by the car being leased. Wife's friends car was just a local dealer PCP purchase.This thread and the 'ID7 - 190 days at the dealership' one in the car buying forum
make me wonder if there are any mainstream car brands that still offer a responsive
after-sales experience in 2026??
She was put in a rental Hyundai Tucson which really didn't meet what she needed - and the car was fixed in Dec, after a month or so at the dealer. Turned out to be a quick fix once they looked at it.
INeedAHero said:
Blimey, OP, it's just faded paint. ?
Not the end of the world. Just get it painted and forget about it. It's a new car, new model. If they don't have any body shops the likleyhood of getting it sorted will be remote. You will be passed around more times than a girl from adultwork.
Its not faded, the paint is coming off. We had 32C heat here for 3 days. There are hotter places than the UK where the R5 is on sale. Its a mess and should not happen. Proving difficult to engage with anyone. Not the end of the world. Just get it painted and forget about it. It's a new car, new model. If they don't have any body shops the likleyhood of getting it sorted will be remote. You will be passed around more times than a girl from adultwork.
“ All new Renault vehicles, including the Renault 5 EV, are covered by a 3-year paintwork warranty with no mileage limitation, alongside a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty”
A shame that the dealers sound a bit rubbish.
Just got to grind them down, maybe raise an official complaint due to their lack of interest?
A shame that the dealers sound a bit rubbish.
Just got to grind them down, maybe raise an official complaint due to their lack of interest?
the-norseman said:
Just drive to the dealer, walk in and grab a member of staff and say come look at this.
...only someone who hasn't had any interaction with dealers in the UK for many years would suggest that. Especially on a car the dealer didn't know, and at a dealer the OP has no relationship with.
Cristio Nasser said:
Oh, the humanity! An extremely worrying experience, and a tale of great woe. U ok hun?
Definitely worth making a point to keep such a triviality in the EV section as a PSA!
Well, thank you for taking your time to make your valuable contribution. I know it is half term still. Definitely worth making a point to keep such a triviality in the EV section as a PSA!
PBCD said:
...
make me wonder if there are any mainstream car brands that still offer a responsive
after-sales experience in 2026??
My electric Ford bricked itself a couple of weeks ago and I managed to book it into the local Ford dealer within a week which I thought was pretty good (although it was half term so might have been quieter).make me wonder if there are any mainstream car brands that still offer a responsive
after-sales experience in 2026??
RotorRambler said:
All new Renault vehicles, including the Renault 5 EV, are covered by a 3-year paintwork warranty with no mileage limitation, alongside a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty
A shame that the dealers sound a bit rubbish.
Just got to grind them down, maybe raise an official complaint due to their lack of interest?
This. Contact Renault HQ and raise an official complaint. They will take it seriously, even if the dealer you tried, didn't. A shame that the dealers sound a bit rubbish.
Just got to grind them down, maybe raise an official complaint due to their lack of interest?
I've always found the Renault dealer network to be useless during my Zoe ownership. We had an Airbag issue caused by a door harness having a break in it, required a new harness under warranty which was on back order. Took weeks to even get an appointment to look at the issue and diagnose, then over 3 months waiting for a new harness to arrive. In all this time we had no airbags, yet were never offered a courtesy car or any kind of alternative. Eventually after months of chasing and getting nowhere I complained to Renault UK directly about the situation, and lo and behold a few days later the harness was now showing a delivery date and they wanted to book me in for the repair...
So your best bet might be to escalate to Renault UK if the dealers don't want to play ball
So your best bet might be to escalate to Renault UK if the dealers don't want to play ball
PBCD said:
Sheepshanks said:
Wife's friends R5 died on the road in early Nov 25, 6 weeks after she got it. Was recovered to the local supplying dealer. They said they would look at it in February!
Not good This thread and the 'ID7 - 190 days at the dealership' one in the car buying forum
make me wonder if there are any mainstream car brands that still offer a responsive
after-sales experience in 2026??
Hopefully Jaecoo and Omoda doing well will be the boot up the arse they need to get their act together...
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