Renault customer service

MACacd

(Right here we go deep breath)

I understood when I took my car in for its 36k service that the Renault dealer service price was around the £250 price ( bad enough for starters ) but as a result of the service I have been informed about other problematic issues.

The usual stuff for a car of such mileage - break pads, shoes etc etc.

One thing I didn't bargain on was the blatant lying of the customer 'help' desk at my local dealership. This is A and that is B and it will be unsafe to move the car, this what it will cost. Now I hate help desks with a passion the total lack of any knowledge is the real problem I have, I always try to speak to someone technical for a clearer picture of what is actually wrong. I finally managed to be put through to a member of the engineering team and finally got some answers. It is true that A is broken B is damaged but save for a few thousand miles but totally untrue that driving the car is unsafe, it isn't advisable but would be save as long as A was fixed before undertaking any major trips.

The feeling of being backed into a corner and bullied into buying parts at a hugely over inflated price and paying astronomical prices for an hours labour even if the job takes only 15minutes really gets me hot under the collar.

I need to calm down now, im off to get my car in half an hour and need a clear head.

Pulse

Always speak to someone more technical if you can, to get a real picture. As for me, I bought my car a month ago, and it's been into Renault twice, but I haven't been that vothered, because they've fixed both problems for free under warranty, thank god! Good luck with picking the car up, and just think of.... fluffy clouds!

westernpromise

Did you use to post to alt.cult-movies.alien?

MACacd

westernpromise wrote:

Did you use to post to alt.cult-movies.alien?

Strangely enough I did, I haven't posted there in a long long time. I was having huge problems with Spam.

Also allot of the regular posters had left and the newsgroup went rather stale.

{edited due to spelling and grammar errors that made me look rather simple.}

wobbley

Renault aftersales is crap. Wife got a 17k Scenic a few years back. It had a slight vibration at high speed but fine at town speeds. I thought it was just a wheel or two out of balance so left it until the first service. Upon inspection they told us a wheel was buckled and needs replacing (Alloy - nearly £200). I told them it had been like that since new but they they were unmoved. I instructed them (not asked) them to do a warranty claim anyway and took it to two alloy wheel specialists who both said it was a manufacturing fault not user fault. They never budged and even the aftersales area manager for Renault UK couldn't care less. I should have taken them to court but at the time we had a lot on and the thought seemed daunting so we just got the new wheel.
As for paying for an hours labour for a 15 min job - that just shouldn't happen and they are ripping you off. When a technician does a job he will clock onto it and there will be a record, usually on the job card of how long this has taken. You can always ask to see the job card if you suspect you're being 'diddled'. If it takes 5 minutes then you should be charged for 5 minutes. Hourly charged retail labour rates for Renault are usually between £45 and £65 and this is quite in line with the rest of the industry. It may seem high to most people but remember you're not just paying for the tech's time, you're paying for everything connected to the service dept, admin staff, special tools, training, even the 'free' coffee you may be offered.
If you're in doubt or just don't understand something technical then ask to talk to the technician who actually worked on the car not someone who has just had the infomation passed on to them.

Davidboy

FIRSTLY BEFORE YOU READ THIS - PLEASE PLEASE SIT DOWN!!

I had to contact my local Renault Dealer cos I had lost the radio code (long story). Anyway phoned them and said it would cost £18 to apply to Renault UK for the code. Oh flip I thought, but can't last any longer without a radio.

Didn't make an appointment, just turned up, they asked for my Registration document, which I handed over and proof of identity, within seconds and a few taps on the computer he had my code. Ask if I could enter it myself, said not really, so out he came, showed me how he was doing it, job done. I asked how much he said,.... now wait for it.... nothing sir!!! I stood there a little stunned and said thanks very much, couldn't think of anything better.

Better still, I have a Laguna DCi and the service interval is 18,000 miles or two years, but have been told not to go more than 9,000miles without having the oil changed, (Renault insist it will go the 18,000 miles tho') I asked how much just to change the oil, he said...now wait for it..... we have a special offer on at the moment £29.99 incl vat & labour. Well 2 shocks in one day is a little more than I can take. But I drove away from the garage like I had won the lottery. By the way, I can't find anywhere where you can buy the oil as cheap as that, I've looked!

A good day or what!


D

tomstickland

£30 to change the oil?
You can buy the oil for £7 at a motor factors and change it for nothing.
Top tip: oil changes are the cheapest servicing you can do. Change it every 5-6K.

Davidboy

Hi TOM, sorry mate but for 8 litres of oil for 7 quid I dont think so, in any case as my daughter would say, I can't be arsed to do it myself.


D

Wig

MACacd wrote:

This is A and that is B and it will be unsafe to move the car, this what it will cost. . .......... It is true that A is broken B is damaged but save for a few thousand miles but totally untrue that driving the car is unsafe, it isn't advisable but would be save as long as A was fixed before undertaking any major trips.

So what was A & B ?

If you don't like wasting money at dealers buy a 2.5 - 3 year old car and service it at a smaller honest joe's back street garage.

The only way you can be sure you;re not gettin screwed is by learning about cars, and the way to do that is to do the servicing yourself.

damo101

just out of curiosity, if you were billed for an hours labour and the job took 15mins, i wonder what the garage'd say if you asked them for the mechanic to do another 45mins work (washing the car, cleaning the windows - stuff that needs no parts, just labour/elbow grease) seeing you've paid for it?

MACacd

Wig wrote:

So what was A & B ?

A & B were front pads and rear shoes. I had requested that they looked at the hand break and rear shoes as I had been having some recent problems with a sticking left wheel.

Well they wanted £60 for the front pads, £80 for rear shoes and £123 for labour. A nice grand total of £263. Well after arguing for a good 15 minutes about negotiating the labour and parts rate decided to rope a friend into helping me do the work.

Managed to get the parts for under £30, better quality break pads than standard Renault issue and I now have a break pad low warning indicator for the front break pads, an optional extra that costs £150 and its just a simple connecting wire.

Another thing that has really p***ed me off, the front break pads are in a worse case scenario 50% worn and Renault were going to replace them and there is a good 18k miles in them.

The rear left shoe was down to the metal, in my opinion this is a part quality problem and should have been replaced under warranty.

I am writing a letter to Renault customer services head office and complained about the inept service help desk at the dealership and thinking of how to word the break issues.

So me and a friend changed the rear shoes and rotated the wheels for the fraction of the cost.