My Cup tale of woe

[The_Gza]

Someone asked what problems youve had with your Cup?



Well, Ive been keeping pretty quiet so far, but here goes...



My car is 5 weeks old, has done 1900 miles in that time and so far this is what has gone wrong or been replaced in 7 visits to the dealer:



Trip Computer - stopped working on 1st day, stalk eventually replaced 2 weeks later (after dealer replaced it with the wrong one first attempt)

Heater Air Direction control (broke on 3rd day of ownership - replaced after 3 weeks at 3rd attempt by dealer)

Passenger Seat Subframe/Runners - replaced due to rattle

Alarm/Central locking - Alarm started going off for no reason and the "door open" indicator was staying on. Diagnosis - Car though it was a 5 door and the back doors were open! Required replacement of the HCU unit which apparently controls the relays for the whole car. The keys needed to be recoded as a result - this is apparently a known fault with the Cup

Oil Level Warning - Oil sensor replaced

Nearside rear light cluster - replaced

Gear lever/selection - sticking in 2nd gear, no cure as yet

Paintwork - pinholes through to base metal in roof, dirt/dust under lacquer on roof and bonnet, scratches under lacquer across whole car. Lacquer seems to show scratches very easily - paintwork generally very poor.

Resonance - from behind centre console around 4k revs. Dealer claimed this had been fixed and the cause was power steering pipe. Its still there...

Centre console trim - replaced in attempt to cure above (although they didnt mention this). I noticed tonight that the replacement centre console was the smooth plastic version, rather than the rubberized version that you get in the 172/Cup. So back in again to get that sorted....



I have rejected the car in a letter to the supplying Renault dealership - I await their response tomorrow.



Im not going to say any more in the event that I prejudice myself should legal action be required. The above faults are a 100% factually accurate statement.



Ill let you know the result!



Anyone looking for lucky white heather or some suggestions for lottery numbers??

PS Tea and sympathy welcome. Or alternatively, if youve rejected your car Id be interested to hear from you too

 

[swelch]

I had a new HCU unit too as my window had a mind of its own on day 2 onwards. They never told me a needed the keys re-coded so had to visit again with the spare.

Also had the belt and pulley replaced as it kept squeeling.

Now my drivers seat doesnt go forward as the lever jams, so Im booked in again ?

Are the blue side trims on your Cup very dull and almost rough to the touch. I think mine have the base colour paint only and no laqueur ?

 

[SoLow]

as long as you have given the dealership adequate time to fix faults then you are entitiled to reject the car up to one year of ownership, i think

 

[Pugboy]

gza & co.

youve got me paranoid now, have you got a friday nighter or should i expect to walk out to a pile of rubble anytime soon??? and i was whinging about a vibrating panel on the dashboard! it seems ive been somewhat lucky up to now.....perhaps i should have bought the mini after all! lol

pugboy

 

[Slugger]

Quote: Originally posted by swelch on 31 January 2003


I had a new HCU unit too as my window had a mind of its own on day 2 onwards. They never told me a needed the keys re-coded so had to visit again with the spare.

Also had the belt and pulley replaced as it kept squeeling.

Now my drivers seat doesnt go forward as the lever jams, so Im booked in again ?

Are the blue side trims on your Cup very dull and almost rough to the touch. I think mine have the base colour paint only and no laqueur ?

Thats how the side strips are on the cup.

 

[Dansta]

im happy to say, no problems so far, apart from a chip on the door! which i probably did myself but they resprayed the whole door!

i get the odd rattle, and i think the passenger seat may rattle when goin Right. might have that checked, but im happy.

Sorry to hear about your woes!

Dan

 

[The_Gza]

Thanks for the replies so far guys

Ive to take the car to a Renault Approved bodyshop for an inspection (hopefully tomorrow)

 

[scott8629]

My car is going fine its done 1800 miles, apart from the car came with no 172 cup badges and the front splitter was missing. Parts are on order.

One thing that does worry me is that the car whines on start up but it goes away after a drive, do they all do this?

Oh the boot light has stopped working...

Scott

 

[swelch]

scott8629

We all seem to get the whine on start up. It goes after about 1 min and the general opinion is that it is something to do with the power steering.

 

[monkeymagic]

Mines been very well-behaved. Just seem to have some rattling when shooting round corners at ridiculous speeds, but this could be my mobile phone kit.

My luck seems to have run out though.
Unfortunately my car was violated from behind this morning.

A beemer driver obviously hadnt seen the long queue of stationary traffic and slammed into the car behind me with enough force to ram it into the back of me too. Luckily just a scratched bumper to get fixed although a thorough inspection will be made when I get onto my insurers.

Although my neck is starting to ache as well

 

[RobFenn]

The joys of renault ownership!

 

[anthonyj207]

Got rust appearing on the pneumatic arms that hold the tailgate open + think there is a rust spot of the hinge of the drivers door

 

[Sangy]

Mines been really good. the only grumble I have is everytime Ive taken it in to have the tracking done (too much hard driving!) they never put the steering wheel back on straight which is a pain in the arse for the indicators!

 

[RobFenn]

Sums it up though, no attention to detail

 

[Sangy]

I agree, if I didnt love the car Id never buy a Renault from the dealers round here!

 

[SoLow]

Renualt build quality aint that bad, relatively. My Vauxhall Astra has been back for about 15-20 faults so far, some major, some just me being particular. Would have refused it by now but its a company car and work dont care, so wont let me!

I had a few niggles with my Clio as new but (touching lots of wood) the last 6-7months have been problem, squeek, rattle and headache free. insurance is also cheap on mine so Im happy!

Still say that there isnt another car on the market atm in alot of the Clios classes that can come even close to the Renault. If you want impecable build quality buy a Jap car, no one can come close to their quality and "supreme attention to detial".

RENAULTS ARE COOL AND I LIKE THEM ALOT! (not often you hear people say it out load so I thought i would)

 

[FunkyASFunk]

At least you got your cup mines been in renault since last sunday! the gear box casting had cracked and failed very dramaticlly (spelling) on me on saturday night!

 

[paul172cup]

I thought my Cup was bad. Im on visit number6 and 7 on 5th Feb.

I got a result with my paint though. Complained to Renault that they are not going to produce a touch up paint and what happens to my paint work warranty, so they are going to sort out all my stone chips under the paint work warranty for free.

 

[The_Gza]

Well a quick update - took it to the Renault Bodyshop yesterday and the bodyshop manager inspected the car and agreed that the paint is faulty.

Ive now got to take it back and get a representative from Renaults Paint Company to have a look at it

Still - given that a Service Manager and Bodyshop Manager from 2 different dealerships have found it faulty, Im hoping they are going to do the decent thing and replace it ASAP.

 

[Rallye-King]

Picked my Cup up yesterday, a 52 plate with 3500 miles on the clock. Have to say its mint, no rattles ( apart from the tyre mousse in the boot ) Washed it today and the paintwork is faultless. Have to say I am happy !!

 

[mick_cup]

Had mine for 8 weeks,1900 mikes.Taken it to France,Belguim been faultless so far apart from alarm! Must book it in. No rattles very happy, best car ive ever had. Even got 2k discount...

 

[rwaterman]

Mick cup, if you dont mind me asking why/how did you get a 2k discount?

rob.

 

[Jellyhead]

Had mine for a couple of months, done 2550 miles.

I paid to have the engine oil replaced (with Mobil 1 fully S), renault replaced the gearbox oil FOC. Big improvment, particularly with the gearbox.

I too have had paint probs, but theyve sorted out the faults under warranty (a paint run on the tailgate and marks on the door A pillar) and agreed to do stone chips FOC. All now sorted

My passenger seat subframe is being replaced (rattles) as is the alternator which is missing the belt adjuster mechanism!! (Parts on the way) Apart from the seat I dont suffer any rattles/squeeks but I have removed the interior!!!

OK, this isnt good for a new car but Im still very happy. My local dealer provides exceptional after-sales and quite rightly support their customers when/if things go wrong.

 

[FunkyASFunk]

gearbox catastrophy!!!!!!!

 

[swelch]

My Cup went in yesterday for a jammed front seat adjuster and a pulsing sqeak at 6 - k rpm. They have just called to say they have the Alternator in bits because they heard a whine, they think there is a problem with they pulley adjuster (already had one replaced 3 weeks ago) and they think the squeak is coming from the exhaust !

Is this thorough or do they think my cup is a lego kit to practice on ?

Needless to say I am not picking it up today, or even this side of the weekend !

 

[Pugboy]

i get that squeak at 6k plus, think its just a bit of resonance in the exhaust, sounds quite cool in a pseudo-turbo type way.... is your whine all the time or just for a minute or so after start up, i get it but it stops after a minute, seems to be a common thing.

do you get knocking when the wheels spin in first/second? some say this is an engine mount, others say its normal

pugboy

 

[swelch]

You seem to have the same noise as me between 6k & 7k rpm. Like a quiet dump valve but pulsing. Does sound good. You dont think it is something wrong then ?

I get the whine for 1 min then it goes (Power Steering pump is what everyone seems to think it is).

Renault said they didnt hear it 4 weeks ago and now today they say they here a whine and dismantle my alternator ! I didnt even mention the whine this time as it seems typical to 172s and the Cup.

Maybe its some sort of revenge on their part (6 visits so far and the car is 9 weeks old).