Car with numerous faults detected inside warranty but fixed outside warranty

soteman

Hi there,

My mother has a 3 year old Renault Megane, which has done 19,000 miles, for which the 3 year warranty ran out in mid-November. She has had the Renault service every year. Previously, it has been recalled as the air conditioning didn't work, the handbrake failed and had to be replaced and all 4 tires needed replacing after 12,000 despite the fact she is the world's slowest, most economical driver.

In her first MOT, just before the warranty ran out, she had loads of trouble with them because their PC system went down and it took them 2 days to get around to doing it, and they didn't even bother to contact her or answer the phone to tell her it was done, so she had to get a lift there to check in person. The MOT report mentioned that the steering arms needed replacing but they said they couldn't fix them or do a service until this week just gone.

So now they have replaced the t-bars(?) at £150ish each, plus labour. But it is outside the warranty now, even though they detected the fault within it so the garage have charged her. Also, the passenger door has been leaking into the cubby hole storage thing, and they said it had all been fixed, but when she got there, they said it would cost £170 per door to fix. According to the invoice, their is a coded "active solution" for the problem and the man said that Renault have developed a bonding thing to fix the seals. And they insist she has to have both fixed, even though only one is leaking. Surely this implies that it is an inherant fault if they have developed a solution, and want to fix both even though only one leaks?

Ultimately, they are aiming to charge her about £1000, despite the fact that all the faults appear to be issues with the original build quality. They have given her a number for Renault customer care but she doesn't know much about cars or her rights? Any advice would be very much appreciated, especially this close to Christmas.

Oh and to top it off, they charged her £10 for the bottom of the range Clio courtesy car, and didn't bother to valet or wash it so the door didn't leak, even though that is included in the service price.

Thank you!

gordikin

What's your question then?

soteman

Should she really have to pay £300+ for the steering arms when they detected the problem when under warranty but couldn't fit her in until after the warranty ran out? And should she have to pay for the door seals given that they are a common problem on lots of Meganes according to a quick google search, and they have developed a solution as a response to the problem, and even insist that the non-leaking door is "repaired" too, thus implying it is a common problem?