Faulty Renault Espace instrument panel - inherent...

[vickieh1981]

The instrument panel has gone on my Renault. It keeps going off and sometimes will come back on and sometimes not.

I know that Watchdog investigated them regarding the scenic and they now fix this fault on them for £100 but they say it's not a problem on the espace and want £900.

The instrument panel on my car was already replaced once at a year old (17,000miles) and it is now 6 years old with 52,000 on the clock so I don't see how this can be normal.

I know 2 people just amongst my friends who have had this problem and just wondered if anyone else had and if there is anything I can do to not have to pay so much.

[Hintza]

The car has almost (7 years) reached the end of it's design life so I very much doubt it.

[anewman]

Panel from scrappie - bear in mind the immobiliser may be in the dash panel and may need some coding which can be gotten around by also taking the ECU from the same car. You need to ask someone who knows about Renaults (try Renault forums). That or you may try looking for an independent Renault specialist.

IMO a car should last 15 years or more, 7 years is pretty poor.

Have you checked the obvious stuff like fuses?

Also if you check the forums it is possible it is known about and there is a cheap "bodge" repair to get it working again.

[Hintza]

Originally Posted by anewman

IMO a car should last 15 years or more, 7 years is pretty poor.

Of course many will, but the design life is now supposedly 7 years.

I quote honestjohn with that figure.

That is why it s always best to see wat they are driving in Africa etc they tend to know which cars are viable over 10 years old.

[vikingaero]

Originally Posted by anewman

IMO a car should last 15 years or more, 7 years is pretty poor.

7 years is pretty reasonable for a French car.

[gerdo]

The same thing happened to my wifes 2004 Espace. We found that if you thumped the dash at a certain place it would come back on for a while. We were qouted £850 by Renault to fix it.

We found a really good auto electrician who fixed it for £90. He said he had done several Espaces, all with the exact same fault. So ring round some in your area, I'm sure you'll find one that is aware of the fault.

[bigjl]

Of course the HonestJohn website isn't populated with people with little mechanical knowledge, well not much. It is regarded as a joke to those in the trade, especially whe the recommend cars that have reliablilty problems that they ignore.

No car has a design life of 7 years, some parts may have, but not an entire car. The clocks in Espaces are a known problem, not just the Scenic, try and find a working used set at a dismantlers to see how common this is.

As Gerdo has stated find yourself a good auto electrician, I am sure it is an earthing or some other kind of connection problem. i know a few people that had these a few years ago, they now have Ford Galaxys, as soon as the warranty was up they got rid, too much hassle. They are a nice MPV and comfy, but do have their issues.

[knightstyle]

I seem to remember hearing about a quick fix for this problem which involved removing the panel, spraying the back with WD40, wiping clean and replacing it. Might be worth a go.

[Mankysteve]

Above poster is properly right.

[wilsonlongdale]

Hi
We have had the same problem and tried just about everything. We have resorted to having the dash fixed via an ebay advert (aarong06) and all for a fraction of the cost renault would charge. At last we have our display back. I don't understand why Renault are getting away with not accepting responsibility.
Good luck to everyone. It would be nice to hear from those who have been successful with Renault!

[anewman]

It works just after you pay your ££££ and up until the warranty expiry, that's all Renault care about.