Should I Complain!!!!

[*Clare*]

Right bit of a long story (sorry!!!)
My car has been in to renault today for the 5th time regarding the same problem (and a few other things) main thing is the service and esp light. This comes on every now and again either at the start of the journey, middle or end, if I am stuck in traffic, driving across the bypass doing 70mph or in a 30mph zone. No matter how I am driving the car it comes on. The only way to get rid of it is to pull over and switch the engine off and back on again. According to the renault handbook you should contact your renault dealer asap.. Last 4 times it has been in they tell me there computer cannot find anything wrong with the car!!!

Today I take my car in at 8.15am.. 4pm havent heard anything from them, So I phone them.. Some sarcastic idiot called Luke tells me again there is nothing wrong with the car. I say there must be as the light does not come on for any reason! He then tells me ' the esp light comes on for a reason, it is a warning light, your driving is causing the light to come on'
err ok I reply. I am a 25 year old woman, yes I put my foot down occasionally but I do not rag or drive my car like an idiot. If it happens again I will bring it back, his reply 'if it not broke we cannot fix it'
I asked him about my drivers window rattling, only to be told there is nothing wrong with the window, he then says 'you have a sporty car, there are bound to be a few rattles'

Not only this has annoyed me, but I was waiting 15 mins at the service desk waiting for someone to come and see me, the other guy there was on the phone swearing his head off at someone and completley ignored me.. He did apologise for his language after, but thats not the point.

Do I write to Renault customer services and complain??? (rant over!)

 

[Fletcher]

I would definatley write to Renault Customer services to complain.

Also have you tried taking your car back to them with a male friend?

 

[*Clare*]

I would definatley write to Renault Customer services to complain.

Also have you tried taking your car back to them with a male friend?

yeah my boyfriend took it in once for me, and he came with me today (didnt have a courtesy car, so he had to run me up there!)
Funny thing is me and my boyfriend are friends with one of the sales guys up there, but he cant really get involved!

 

[sh33n]

Get your ass back there and ask to speak to the manager and go mad at him!!!!!!!!

It's not just the poor service, but damn right rudeness that is the problem.

 

[dick]

good idea fletch, taller and built as big as you can find!

 

[Limowreck]

I'm assuming this is all under warranty? Otherwise if they can't find the problems then you can't find your purse iukwim.

 

[Limowreck]

Forgot to say that you should take it up with manager without question! Do you think the intermittent lights are just faulty wiring/need re-soldering?

 

[chris-b]

I will never forget the reply I got from the service desk when I took mine in for a rattle behind the dash that kept coming back-"I'm sorry sir,but what do you expect?It's not a BMW."
Tossers.

 

[Fletcher]

Well when my girlfriend took our 172 up they basicly ignored her, i went up there and they couldn't help me enough.

It really pisses me off why there like it in the first place.

 

[Chris_H]

can't believe no one has ssaid this yet

. I am a 25 year old woman

any pics? lol

Anyway the problem here aside from renault franchises bad customer service, remember these are franchises not renault directly! When you phoen ren customer services they phoen the franshise, they have no direct power over them, they can however finacially penalise them.

You take the car in the light came on, not saying the light never came on but its not on now so theres no code stored so it really is 'fine'

Theres a million reasons why the light could come on, more than likely its something to do with a spurious siognal from the lambda when theres a slight missifre once on 1 cylinder at 4krpm (you would never know it happened) flags up the lights and then when it restarts its no longer an issue fault cleared.

Then we have the problem that its fine in the dealers and the, how can I say this without beign to derogatory? The 'fitters' plug in the clip and it says no faults, well not shite sherlock.

Fitters are no use for this sort of thing, it needs to be driven whilst hooked up to get the fault to occur. this will then tell them exactly what happened andf they can recitify the fault or not as is more likely.

They will not send a mechanic out on a live data trip as they won't spare him and they don't want the 17 yerar old YTS boy crashing the car.

So the sad fact is either live with it or go to an independant diagnostics specialist.

 

[*Clare*]

Its not the fact that they cant find anything wrong with the car, its the way I was spoken to that got to me.. The only way is to drive to Renault the next time this happens and show them that I am not making this up, There responce will be 'book it in' by this point the light will be off!!! I HATE RENAULTS SOMETIMES!!!!!! My aunty had exactly the same problem but with a different warning light, in the end she sold the car as she couldnt put up with the endless trips to Renault for them to tell her the car is ok.. She told me not to buy a Renault, should have listened!!!

 

[Fletcher]

I have given up with my nearest Renault dealer [where i purchased the car Martins Renault Winchester], they are a bunch of muppets, so if i have any problems now i take it to Mike@Rentech.

 

[Toypop]

All I know is that when you start getting warning lights on Renaults they never ever seem to fix it properly.

My mates went in what must have been a dozen times (literally) during its warranty and each time they supposedly fixed it. I told him to take it in just before the warranty ran out and get it in writing from them that they had identified the root cause of the reoccuring fault and fixed it.

He didn't take my advice and is now paying a fortune to get it "fixed" everytime it goes wrong now the warranty has expired. And yes it is still going wrong on a regular basis with the same fault that started when it was just a few months old.

I have had lights coming on in my car in the past and although it hasn't happened for a while I seriously doubt I will keep my car past the warranty expiry date.

 

[RobertCL]

^ Surely you don't need it in writing that it has been "fixed". (Although that was good thinking - shame he didn't take your advice really) Shouldn't it be somewhere in the records they keep about your car that they've had it in for so and so and it's been fixed?

 

[Munson]

This is a known fault. My dealer diagnosed it within minutes when I took my 182 in for the 24k service. Its a faulty brake pressure switch which needs replacing.

Do Renault really have any system that tells their dealers about known faults? It seems to be a lottery FFS

 

[Toypop]

^ Surely you don't need it in writing that it has been "fixed". (Although that was good thinking - shame he didn't take your advice really) Shouldn't it be somewhere in the records they keep about your car that they've had it in for so and so and it's been fixed?

Their records would mysteriously erase themselves if they suddenly had to repair it their cost. Also their idea of a fix is resetting the ECU.

I figured it would force them to idenfity the root cause rather than keep resetting the ECU and changing a random sensor. They would be reluctant to put it in writing without really doing a proper job and if they refused to put it in writing at all then you can say "so you are saying you can't claim to know how to fix your own cars". Then I would go to my local newspaper saying "Renault dealer doesn't know how to fix Renaults".

If they do put it in writing and it breaks down with the same fault out of warranty I would be waving their written confirmation that it was fixed in front of my local newspaper again. I would make them fix it at their cost on the grounds that they failed to fix it the first time under warranty - local newspaper may suspect that they deliberately didn't fix the root cause so they could keep making money out of the car with endless repairs once the warranty expired...

Every time my car has been into a Renault dealer it has come out with more wrong with it than when it went in. I usually end up fixing most of it myself!

 

[AliasOmega]

I am a 25 year old woman

Got any pictures..


I hate renault. I hate my car.


Ive had so many things changed, its probably amounts to a new car.

 

[Nik]

This is a known fault. My dealer diagnosed it within minutes when I took my 182 in for the 24k service. Its a faulty brake pressure switch which needs replacing.

Do Renault really have any system that tells their dealers about known faults? It seems to be a lottery FFS

Yep spot on. This problem is one of the common faults, loads of people have had it, myself included. Yet somehow the numptys at Renault dealers can't solve it.

I had it "fixed" several times on mine, apparently the connectors for the ABS sensors needed cleaning up they said. Finally on the 3rd trip back to the dealer Mike (now owner of Rentech) got to look at it and diagnosed it properly as the faulty brake switch. Problem solved. All it takes is for them to spend a little time diagnosing the problem properly.

Go back and tell them the fault is caused by a faulty brake pressure switch, and they need to order and fit you a new one.

 

[Clio 1.216v Dynamique]

f**king play f**king hell, f**king renault are f**king c***s

 

[Munson]

These things wind me up. Am I really considering a 197 or 225? The dealers will still be s**t!

 

[Kneel]

sounds like you might be best off getting the problem diagnosed by a specialist (eg rentech) the taking it to renault, and also writing in complaint that an independant company could find the fault but renault themselves couldn't. they will get it fixed and you may be able to kick up enough fuss to recover costs from rentech?

 

[LadySarah]

Why don't you suggest one of the service guys comes out with you in the car so he can see for himself? That's what I ended up having to do when they wouldn't fix a problem for me... proved to them that it wasn't my dodgy driving or just 'usual clio rattles'.
And definitely take your boyf with you again, for some reason they don't always take you seriously being a girl... Good luck

 

[*Clare*]

Definatley going to write a letter of complaint. Might get my dad to come along with me next time. He was asking me for the tel no last night so he could call them (how embarassing) I didnt give it to him though!!!!

Off to the car show at ExCeL today, so will write a letter later when I return..
Will NOT be looking at the 197!! (Well maybe a little look!)

Where abouts is this rentech??? (I live near worthing/brighton)

 

[Munson]

Dude, the answer to your problem is on page one

 

[Saner]

Johners, others have told you what the problem is, so you can get it fixed. Mike, who owns Rentech, knows about this and is based in Portsmouth.

You should still write a letter of complaint to Renaly CS

 

[Neil G]

Kunts

I'd definately write a letter of complaint...sounds like these people need a rocket up the a**

 

[jayxx83]

I have to say its the franchised dealers that sound like they are fucked up. My local dealer Renault Ilford (owned by renault) service was s**t 3 years ago when I purchased my dynamique brand new from there. Since giving them another chance, my 182 has had no probs apart from self destructing rubber steering wheel inserts and they are dealing with the issue in an excellent manner.

Top marks to them for the improvements.

 

[sara182]

This brake problem occurred on my car - they told me I was pretty much imagining it! (I also am a girl!!!) So took a picture of it the next time it happened - guys on here told me it was the break switch why it happens and exactly what renault had to do to fix it. So I went in to renault with written instructions on what they had to do - they laughed at me!!!- but after much 'discussion; they did what I asked and I've not had a problem since. Except that when i went to get my car they had lost my key! I also had a very sticky gear box and asked them to change the gear box oil. Then I had the same problem with being a girl when my engine mount needed replacing and they didn't beleive me said it was my driving oh interesting that because as soon as I made them go out in my car with me with their 'master tech' driving he noticed the knocking. They then gave me aload of old rubbish about what they'd done -so where was the record on the job card of that work being done?... Ummm! I spoke to the manager who tried to blind me with techno speak -ha ha boyfriend is a mechanic new exactly what he was speaking about and when I told him he was talking rubbish he looked at me with his mouth wide open! So had a good job done in the end with much complaining but we'll wait and see as it is booked in next week to have the rocker cover gasket changed and to fix my rattling driver's side window which apparently winds too far down which is why it rattles and needs to be changed as it is faulty. Also my other engine mount has gone so I can see another argument with renault on the way who will probably try to tell me that it is wear and tear and not under warranty!

Ooooh I feel better now.
Sara

 

[dazraffan]

i had the same problem took in to the steelers and the told me it was a known problem it would take about half an hour to fix and the did it there and then it was something to do with the brake pressure switch

while i went shopping the fix it and cleaned my car for me

 

[chiefsilverback]

I will never forget the reply I got from the service desk when I took mine in for a rattle behind the dash that kept coming back-"I'm sorry sir,but what do you expect?It's not a BMW."
Tossers.

That's spectacular! You can't fault their honesty!!!

 

[rich[182]]

Maybe ask the manager what his staff do with their arses when their not talking

 

[*Clare*]

Dude, the answer to your problem is on page one

I know!!!!

I didnt know where Rentech was though, hence why I asked, dont see why I should pay someone to look at it when the car has warranty.

 

[Fletcher]

If i had Renault warranty i would still pay mike@ Rentech [or another independent renault specialist] to fix the problem, everytime i used to take my car to my local Ren dealer it would come back still not fixed properly.

 

[Kneel]

I know!!!!

I didnt know where Rentech was though, hence why I asked, dont see why I should pay someone to look at it when the car has warranty.

Ideally you shouldn't but if a specialist can fix it when renault cant it may be your only option.

 

[Munson]

I know!!!!

I didnt know where Rentech was though, hence why I asked, dont see why I should pay someone to look at it when the car has warranty.

The idea was that you should tell the renault dealer what the problem is FFS. Dont mention it by the way :dead:

 

[*Clare*]

The idea was that you should tell the renault dealer what the problem is FFS. Dont mention it by the way :dead:

Sorry didnt realise that was your point..
I have added this in my letter that I have been advised that this is what the problem is.

 

[DynamiqueDebz]

Renault dealers never cease to amaze me at their arrogance and rudeness towards customers. Let's face it, if it wasn't for the fact that Renaults are so popular here in the UK, they wouldn't have a bloody job! I have had many arguements with Renault, the last one was when they ordered me the 'wrong' wheels for my Dads Renault 19. I of course complianed but basically got told 'tough sh*t', and was informed I would just have to keep them. I wasn't having it, I argued and they got really rude. I decided I was getting nowhere and took the problem to my local OFT (officer of fair trading) who informed me that Renault were indeed wrong and had to take the wheels back and give me a full refund. To cut a long story short, they got their wheels back and I got my refund.


If your car is still under warranty but they can not manage to fix it, you should definitely complain. As you have stated, you have written them a letter informing them of what you believe the problem to be. If they still can not fix it after this information, then take the whole matter up with your local OFT. It does generally appear that Renault are of the opinion that if they fob you off enough you will get fed up and eventually piss off. DON'T let them get away with it!