Fight Renault or Swiftcover ?

stuntkisser

My car broke down last Friday (13th !). All the dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and it became clear it was an electrical/electronic fault. Green Flag could not fix the fault so agreed recovery. As the main Renault dealer was closed for the weekend and I was unable to lock the car since the central locking is operated by the electronic control uniI i opted to be recovered to my home about a mile away (three miles from the Renault garage). I booked the car in to Renault on Monday morning and asked them to collect it which they said they could not do that. Green Flag refused to move it again on the same fault so i forked out £80 to have it moved 3 miles. Renault did full diagnostics and found various faults listed all related to low battery voltage. They found the battery had a dead cell and replaced it. The invoice details this and says "now all okay". I drove home and the car ran like new. When I got up to go to work next day the car wouldn't start. Renault reluctantly sent out their technician who diagnosed water damage to the ECU and loom on the the side of the road. How come he could do this on the side of the road yet in the comfort of a workshop with full renault diagnostics they identified the fault as a dead battery cell. Anyway to cut to the chase Renault have the car again today and have suggested that if it is ECU/Loom damage it coulkd cost around £3000. The service manager suggested that i might want to claim off my motor insurance if it is confirmed. When i asked him why he thought that was appropriate he said the water contamination could only have been caused by driving through water. I know that this is definetly not true as I only use the car for work and the roads have been dry since the snow melted at the beginning of last week. Should I persue this with Renault even if it may jeopardise an insurance claim? The car is just 4 years old and was supplied and has been serviced by the same Renault dealer. Any advice on how to proceed will be very gratefully recieved.

Quentin

As you know an insurance claim would fail (you know you haven't driven through water), then Renault are your only target, though if the warranty has ended, then they may reject any approach out of hand unless the dealer supports you.

dacouch

Try posting this on the Motoring and Public Tranport Forum as well as there may be some bods on there that can help with the legalities of the warrantie etc.

When you post on their it will save time if you note how long you have had the car, what type of dealer you bought it from and whether it has a full renault service history