Headlamp starter unit - £270!!

[Tinium]

Well, finally tracked down the mystery of why one of the headlamps sometimes fails to come on - the headlamp starter unit is playing up, and my local dealer want to deprive me of £270 for a new one!

As the car has only gone in for an MOT, do I really need one of these? The headlamps work 99 times out of 100, and even then, switching them off then on again sorts it out.

End even if I do need a new one, Renault claim "This isnt a warranty item". WTF? A bulb, a fuse, fair enough. But an essential electical item? How can that not be covered by warranty?

And to top it all off, somebody drove into the back of me at the start of the week, and Ive got a neck from hell, and Elephant are asking for another £100+ to renew my policy (after I got a quote last week, renew is on Monday).

As soon as a I get the repair and the MOT, its going back to Renault. Its been a fun 3 years, but I just cant justify the amount of money that Renault/Elephant et al get every year from me just to keep my car on the road.

Sorry about the rant, its just not been my week

 

[Pete]

Take a chance with the MOT you might get lucky.

 

[NIN-172]

Renault say anything isnt covered by warranty. Its just a sales scam to get you to buy the car.

 

[Pete]

If youre MOT is due Im guessing youre right at the end of your warrenty period too, guess thats why they are being awkward about it, Id ring Renault Uk to get an official answer.

 

[Tinium]

The dealers insisting that if its not replaced, itll fail the mot. Im currently awaiting a response from Renault UK as to warranty. The cars registerd on the 13th July 2001, so my guessing is theyll look into it until wednesday, then claim its out of warranty!

Otherwise I am tempted to take it to a small garage. Theyll turn the lights on, theyll work, itll pass

 

[tonk_172]

My starter pack went on one of mine xenons and as i had no warranty left i was exspecting to pay for them but the service manager told me they are covered by a 5 year gurantee and replaced it free of charge, not bad considering the car was an inport and havent use that dealer before.So it must be a first a good result from renault.

 

[gmdh555]

My dealer have just agreed to do this under warranty - took them a few days to get the okay from Renault UK. My 172 is 34 months old. Weird thing is the headlamps coming on all the time now...

 

[Mike@Rentech]

My advise is, if it works most of the time then take it elsewhere for an MOT, cause if the lights work at the time of the test it will pass OK.

Any MOT garage can carry out an MOT test on any car .