182 steering wheel problem....advice needed

[chris_m182]

My 182 is an '04 plate and is currently on 28k miles, its been out of its warranty period for about 5 months now but over the last 2 months the rubber steering wheel grip on the right hand side has perished and split, forcing me to have to pull it off. The rest of the steering wheel is also starting to corrode slightly aswell.
I spoke to my local renault dealer to get a price for the part, and it turns out they don't sell the rubber grips seperately, only a complete steerin wheel assembly, which, part only costs over £300 before fitting and labour costs.

Im pretty sure im right in thinking that this shouldnt be happening on a car which has only covered 28k miles, so what should i do? I dont fancy paying to get a whole new steering wheel!

I really look after my car, inside and out, and i dont use any products on the steering wheel which would cause the materials to degrade in such a way.

The guy from renault said that it could have been caused by putting alcohol on my hands?!! Muppet!

Im thinking of writing a letter to renault UK customer services to try and get them to cover the cost of replacing the steering wheel, purely based on the fact that the car is only on 28k miles and only just out of its warranty period.

Im just looking for people's advice and opinions really. And would be interested to hear if this has heppened to anyone else.

cheers

 

[Ian_182]

Thats pretty fast to wear out like that

 

[chris_m182]

my thoughts exactly!

 

[Rob Clark]

I was in a similar position. Local dealer wasnt interested. Complained to customer services and they offered to pay 80% of the cost which was great considering the new sterring wheel was £360. Eventually got to speak with a manager who was very helpful in sorting it.

 

[chris_m182]

I was in a similar position. Local dealer wasnt interested. Complained to customer services and they offered to pay 80% of the cost which was great considering the new sterring wheel was £360. Eventually got to speak with a manager who was very helpful in sorting it.

how far out of your warranty period was the car at the time bud?

 

[Rob Clark]

month or two. was this year and my main argument was steering wheel had already been replaced once uder warranty and was less than a year old but still wasnt covered. Was higher milage tho @ 40k+
Make out youve been trying to get the dealer to sort it for some time (months) and that it wasnt as long out of warranty when 1st reported.
I didnt want to pay my 20% but didnt have much of a choice and was told that as i was paying 'some amount' i would get 12 months warranty on that part

 

[chris_m182]

ah rite, cheers bud! Don't suppose you've still got the address for renault customer services?

 

[Rob Clark]

Might do
Renault Customer Services 0800 072 3372
To be fair, there were actually quite good to talk to and almost helpful, pity the dealerships dont have the same recruitment policy.
If you dont get the right answers just ask to speak to a manager.
I had another issue in that my local dealer still wanted to charge me over £100 for my 20% and said 'the details were classified' when i queried how that price was derived ! Ended up using a different dealer nps.

 

[chris_m182]

cheers bud