Advice needed with a £1300 Renault problem

[vonfluff]

Dear all,

Apologies if you are a member of the Parkers forums ...because this is sort of a cross-post. I'm looking to get any advice I can - I'm not knowledgable about all things car.

Model: Grand Scenic
Plate: 54
Engine: 1.6 VVT
Mileage: 25k


Bought it in 2007 when it had 6k on the clock (Former Motability car) and needed the pencil coils replacing within a few months. No problems since until a few weeks ago ...when the cam shaft needed replacing (Car kept stalling when changing down gear).

Now ...my wife went to start the car in Tesco's carpark to come home and it came up with a "Steering Fault" error message. Thankfully (worth remembering this!) Tesco have a contract with the RAC ...so a top patrolman called Pete came out and tested the fuses/alternator/battery etc before towing me home.

We contacted Renault customer services who took a look at the car and said that the electric steering system has failed and that it would cost £1,320 to repair it. After some moaning by me - they have agreed to pay 60%.

This would leave me with a bill of £528 or thereabouts and I don't really think that this is fair. I understand that running a car costs money and as such I told Renault that I would be willing to pay the labour costs if they paid for the part. My logic here is that the steering shouldn't fail after 4.5 years/25k miles.

I am now in a stalemate with Renault. I am without my car - I'm paying to hire a car for my wife and I'm just so p!$$3d off with Renault.

I don't feel that I'm being treated fairly - I haven't done anything to cause this part to fail so prematurely (By this I mean, I haven't ragged the car or anything to that effect.) Surely to God - the steering on a car should be made to last longer than 4 years!

My wife works P/t at Subway (we have children) and as such, we worked out that it would take her 5 weeks work to pay for the repair on the car.

Are there any grounds on which I might be able to tackle Renault? It's a pretty vital piece of the car that's failed ...and whilst it may be beyond the 3 yr warranty - the failure of this bit has rendered the car useless.

Hope someone can help,

John

As an aside - if you can't help ...please don't just reply with a pithy remark. I'm stressed to hell about this at the moment and I need help ...not banter.

[goldspanners]

there may have been a recall issue with this seen as they are offering to pay half the bill, check honest johns website for your cars make and model.
if not then i would bite the hand off the dealer offering to pay half the bill, you bought a second hand renault 2 years ago, things are bound to go wrong and be expensive. either way its your car, your problem im afraid.

[The AA company representative]

This is really distressing, but Goldspanners is quite right in saying that you should accept the offer as soon as possible.
At the AA I've dealt with lots of post warranty claims and in some cases manufacturers have withdrawn the offer if the customer tries to push them too far. A manufacturer's responsibility ends when the warranty finishes (except for safety recalls, issued through VOSA).

This is a very sad case, but don't lose out on the offer, which is very generous.

[AdrianHi]

It's a good offer (and a goodwill offer) from Renault considering the warranty has expired, take it on the chin and move on. Best not sour the goodwill you have.
You could have paid for an extended warranty, but that would have set you back around £400 for a decent one.

[vikingaero]

I would concur with everyone else.

The car is around 5 years old and out of warranty. Do you have a full Renault main dealer service history?

Sometimes on cars with low mileage things can go wrong if they are not used often enough.

The other main problem is that you bought a French car. Sad to say but so true.

[harveybobbles]

Check the VOSA website for recalls. Not heard of a steering fault on Scenics to be honest. Usually it's the EGR/injectors/glow plugs that we do. And handbrakes. And ABS sensors. And starter motors. And bonnet catches. And floor cuppy hole switches. And keys. And window regulators.

I think Renault are being quite good offering you 60%.