Thumb Grips under warranty?

[bucks76]

My Clio 172 Cup is two months shy of being 3 years old. And just when I think about selling it the thumb grip starts to split - methinks the car is upset I'm letting it go. Now I've read the forums and found this is quite a common problem on the 172 but I was just wondering if people could let me know;

1. Have you had this problem?
2. Did you manage to get it replaced under warranty?
3. If yes, what's the name of your dealership?

My dealership have told me it'll be £300 for a new wheel but I've read the forums and seen that there's quite a few of you out there that have had it done under warranty so I just want some ammunition for when my dealership come back to me after speaking to Renault UK.

 

[Rich]

A few on here have had them sorted, give them hell till they back down.

 

[fizzy_drink]

At 48k, mine's still fine, so therefore I don't see how it can be a wear and tear issue.

Give them hell, as Rich said.

 

[Gareth]

at 38k mine is fine also.

 

[bucks76]

Yeah mine's at just short of 25k so it's pretty poor really. Maybe my hands are acidic! Thanks for your responses. Keep them coming folks.

 

[WayneG]

i had my steering wheel replaced when the car was eighteen months old. They also managed to break my indicator cancelling thingy so had to argue with them about that til they eventually replaced it too.

 

[RobertCL]

Not thumb grips, but the leather (or whatever kind of imitation stuff it is) started to kind of melt and wrinkle just by the thumb grips and went all tacky. Got the wheel replaced under warranty - car was about 2.5yrs old at that point.

 

[jayxx83]

My has split roundabout its one year birthday.

 

[Fletcher]

Mines done 54K and hers are fine.

 

[The Hoff]

Mines done 53k on a 53 plate, and the right hand rubber has spplit just today, however prior to this it's already came unstuck twice (but not torn/ripped) and i've basically just superglued it down.

Not fking happy about it tearing though, it looks s**t, its annoying as i now keeping catching my hand on it. Rubber has like perished or something.

The only thing i can think of is that the sunlight has caused it to perish. Anybody else claimed on warranty for this stuff? Im going to kick up a stink about it, but i can see a fight ahead of me.

Fking renault quality.....sh!t!

 

[The Hoff]

Baaaa Hump!

 

[R20 CWH]

mine split last weekend, just shy of 36k where itll be getting replaced. Iv tried once already, but they said no, if its a no this time, it'll be onto reno customer services for that and my drivers seat which is all bolly. 2.5 years old. 53 plate

 

[brisa4984]

mines done 36 k ... and the right one split slightly.. about 5 mm.. now.. its grown and split others.. glue it or somthin before it gets bigger.

 

[R20 CWH]

glued mine back on, but the white line is still evident and its ill fitting. Mines getting replaced as its not good enough it splits AND its in warranty.

 

[downs523]

mine on the right side has ripped off hoping to get sorted nxt weekend dunno what caused it, think it might be the sun??

 

[The Hoff]

^ Aye i think its the sun too mate. Just perished the rubber. Mine is quite brittle now.

Im going to Renault UK over the phone before i take it the dealer, as usually Renault UK phone ahead and argue it for you.

 

[downs523]

renault uk? whats there number any1?

 

[JonJon]

My steering wheel looks like its melting. I'm sure it's not the sun and it was in good condition when I bought it being just under 3 years old. I find when my hands start to get sticky, especially on long journey's they seem to melt into the wheel.
I think it's something to do with the sweat some people give out. Mine must be really acidic or something.

 

[The Hoff]

Renault UK - 0800 0723372 / 01923 895100

Take your pick, they're usually very helpful.

 

[Clio 1.216v Dynamique]

They dont sound too good then, Glad I havent got them on mine

 

[The Hoff]

Well when they work as they should they are very comfortable and nice to grip onto. But their longevity seems to be questionable at best.

 

[DynamiqueDebz]

If this problem is covered by the warranty but the dealer is refusing to fix it, take your complaint to your local 'Officer Of Fair Trading' , if the dealer is indeed responsible for the repair, they will tell you exactly what to say to make them comply. Good Luck!


P.s. I did this recently and got a very good result.

 

[edde]

Its wear and tear and covered under warently mine went at 55 k or so and this new ones going at 66k and will again be done under warently.

 

[tameracingdriver]

Mines started to split already - just 13,500 miles on the clock. Its not too bad at the moment so i'll leave it until it gets a bit worse... in fact until i read this thread, i thought it must have been something i'd done.

 

[bucks76]

In terms of gluing it back together as a temprorary measure I found rubber solution from a bicycle puncture repair kit to be the best. Make sure you do it as soon as it goes though as the heat will just make it worse.

It would seem that there's plenty out there with the problem. I should hear back from my dealer today and will let you know what they say. Did anyone have much luck speaking with Renault UK?

 

[MarkCup]

Its wear and tear and covered under warently mine went at 55 k or so and this new ones going at 66k and will again be done under warently.

Mine went long ago...but I'm at 63k now...and thought that the standard Renault warranty was only for 3yrs/60k miles?

Anyone had them replaced within 3 years but at over 60k miles?

 

[bucks76]

Had an update from the dealership and they've been speaking to renault UK who asked for various bits of information about the car. Apparently it has to go to a manager who'll then make the decision. That'll either be a no, yes or potentially goodwill offer of paying part towards. May hear more later, they're waiting for a call back.

 

[brisa4984]

dam,.my grip is in such a mess i have to either...

1) buy a new wheel
2) super glue it some more
3) or take it off and make my own with some tennis racket grip thing..

mines not covered under warenty.. reg 51 and 36k miles. so its a bit of a shitter.

 

[bucks76]

We need someone who can create rubber mouldings and get them to make grips you can replace the faulty ones with. Renault must've used someone to make them, but I bet there's a company out there that could do it. They could get on a nice little earner here; colour coded options and such.

 

[edde]

Mine went long ago...but I'm at 63k now...and thought that the standard Renault warranty was only for 3yrs/60k miles?

Anyone had them replaced within 3 years but at over 60k miles?

I'll tell you tomorrow.
Mine was I'm sure at 55k or so. I've the extended warently so it will be covered I'll check though.

 

[bucks76]

I had to take mine in for photos yesterday at the request of Renault UK. Keeping my fingers crossed now.

 

[The Hoff]

I'm not fking happy. Mine has split and a chunk of it has fallen off.

Spoke to Renault UK today, asked me a few questions regarding milage etc (53k/53 reg) and the s|ag on the other end of the line basically point blanc said:

"sorry, were not prepared to help you with this issue sir, the item is classed as wear and tear"

I basically argued that if that was the case, this part is built using inferior materials, to an inferior standard. And if wear & tear was the case then, why do they fail within 2.5 years.

She then repeated her robotic "sorry sir we cannot help you..."

I then blasted her with another barrage of speech basically questioning to standards of which this wheel is designed to. The fact that i've never known a car of this age to have such ridiculous issues with the wheel at this age.

Ended up getting the address, but im determined to get these stup1d f***s to honour their warranty on something which could potentially cause a safety issue, if the rubber got caught on my hand for instance.

P1ssed off at their selfish " we dont want to know nature though" especially given the car is well within warranty and others have had success.

Going to phone my dealership now about it, and then failing that i'll be writing some lovely letters to these fk's.

ARRGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Somebody give me some ammunition to fire at them!

 

[al]

You can fire my sunroof at them if you like, it only lasted 8 months!

 

[The Hoff]

Hmm... just spoke to my local dealership and i've booked it in for it to be looked at. I refuse to pay for stuff like this, thankfully and for a change they seemed a lot more reasonable than Renault UK who are normally helpful - maybe i spoke to some useless bint on her period.

 

[Frasers Cup]

Ive had two wheels replaced under warranty so I must have really sweaty hands or nails like talons!

 

[Gaz_]

mine too has also split, again on the right hand side, it felt funny for ages (compared to the left one) ive just taped it up with black tape before chunks fell off it

mines on 52k but 3.5 yrs old

got a small sexy momo on order :evil:

 

[philmots]

Maybe its down to what type of driving you do. With lots of motorway miles, generally you wont be touching the thumb grips so not getting any wear.???

 

[MarkCup]

Mine's got both thumbgrips blistered/craked/falling apart.

Also, where my hands rest (at quarter to three), the leather has "metled" on both sides. didn't go suddenly due to heat, but has got progressively worse over the last 6 months.

this is at 2.5 years old and 63k miles.

 

[uzi-spray]

renault southend will replace the thump grips just say they have excessive wear and they will replace them

 

[The Hoff]

When you say replace the thumb grips, is that all they do? I'm expecting a complete new wheel tbh.