Should I pay £400 to a main dealer to fix my Clio?

jamesw4

On Sunday I was driving home from visiting a friend when the driver's side electric window in my 52 reg Clio 1.2 16V Extreme started to misbehave... first of all it would wind up without me pressing the button, then, when I got home, the window would go down but not up! (not great as I have to leave my car on my street in London, plus it was blowing a gale!)

I checked all the fuses and poked at the wires that lead from the dashboard to the door, but nothing could make the window go back up. After a fairly sleepless night I took the car to my local Renault Minute and after inspection they say they have checked the wires + switches and believe the problem to be with the ECU ("electronic control unit") and have quoted approx £385 (inc parts and labour) for a replacement. Ouch!!

It seems like an awful lot of money, and it's money I really don't want to spend if I don't have to. I called an independent garage in Wembley who specialise in Renault servicing and that I've had recommended to me, but they said that usually only main dealers can replace the ECU as it is coded to the specific car. I'm happy to pay to maintain my car and know it's just part of owning a car that these little unexpected surprises occasionally crop up, but I don't want to pay £400 unless I know I can't get it sorted it for less!

Has anyone had a similar experience with having to replace a fairly major piece of kit for what, on the surface, appears to be a really small fault? Main dealers are notoriously expensive, but one expects them to be trustworthy in their diagnosis - has anybody got any stories of whether this is usually the case or not!? i.e. should I get a second opinion, and if so, who from if it really is something that only main dealers can fix.

Finally - and most importantly for my wallet which is now facing a bit of a looming crisis! _pale_ - does anybody know anyone in or around West London (W4) that may be able to fix this little fault in my Clio for less than £400?!

Thank you!! :beer:

piggeh

Get it checked again. They're not the best at remedying faults. Had a Laguna go in for grinding noise near brakes - had to go back to be sorted again as they didnt sort first time. Had another with radio troubles - had to go back 3 times. Took my megane in for an oil leak & poor running. They diagnosed oil leak in wrong place and told me to replace TDC sensor for poor running. Timing belt snapped two weeks later.

Saying that, ECU replacement is expensive I think, and needs to be coded to the car, so probably can only be carried out at a Renault garage unfortunately. However, I would have doubts as to whether it's the ECU anyway. Ask on the parkers.co.uk forum in their 'ownership problems' section. There should be a 50 page thread on Clio problems and the answer may be there already.

piggeh

I don't see why any signal from the controls to the motor would go through the ecu. I would think it's entirely independent and that the ECU is just for the Engine & Ignition tbh.

ArsenalFC

I would get the independent garage to check it out first. I had an old toyota where my driver electric window works only intermittenly, then not at all. It drove me nuts for a while, I eventually took out the door panel and found that some cables were corroded, replaced them myself and was perfect.

I would assumed its either corroded cables or faulty console switch as this is where the windows are operated. Try to open the door panel yourself to see if there is any damaged to the cables from the console switch.

jamesw4

Thank you for all your feedback.

(If I can ever get through to them on the phone...) I'm going to arrange to pick up the car later on and take it to the independent garage to get a second opinion. I agree that it seems more like a dodgy connection somewhere than a major ECU problem!

I shall take out the fuse for now so that the windows don't go down on their own in the middle of the night :shocked: and hopefully the other garage will be able to offer a cheaper solution! If all else fails I can always take it back to the main dealer once I've saved up some money.

Thanks again,

J :j

jamesw4

Aggh! They want to charge me £99 for an investigation charge.

What should I do? I feel like I'm trapped now as if I pay the full £382 to get the ECU replaced I probably won't have to pay the "investigation charge" (or maybe I will?!...) _pale_

I wasn't told there would be a charge and, even though they have had to spend time looking at my car (fair enough) isn't a labour charge of £99 per hour a bit steep?! Also, I'm not even convinced that the problem is with the ECU and that's why I want to get a second opinion. Is it fair for them to charge me for a diagnosis which I don't even know is correct?

Help!!!

ArsenalFC

As they didn't inform you of the charge at the time, they have no right to get money off you. Maybe someone with better knowledge can tell whether this is the case. Phone up renault uk and complaint about that dealership.

jaws77

As said ecu doesn't control the electric window motor in the door. More likey to be a short, dodgy switch etc. Disconnect the window switch, if fault still occurs then be worth taking off the door card and trim tracing the wiring, looking for a fault/short in the wiring somewhere.

jamesw4

Thanks guys.

I'm going to try and find out for definite how likely it is that the ECU is involved as it does just sound like a simple short circuit or dodgy wire to me!

I'll definitely protest the charge as it doesn't seem fair to ask so much money just to take a look at the car, especially as I wasn't aware it would cost me anything at all. I thought it was a case of "take a look" then if there's chargeable work they give you a call to agree the cost before going ahead.

I've tried to register on parkers.co.uk but their automatic forum registration is down at the moment. Will do some more hunting online tonight when I get home. If anyone knows any Renault Clio experts that could confirm if the ECU is involved at all that would be great!

Thank you!!

J

xzibit

https://www.cliosport.net is a good place to ask. You don't have to have a sporty clio, people on there with all types.

Sounds like a window regulator to me though. GFS car parts, take the door card off, 3 bolts, and a connector and you're done. Hopefully that's all it is. Can't see it being the ecu, they will probably just say that, then when it doesn't cure it blame something else!! I know quite a lot of people with many makes of cars this has happened too!

piggeh

£99 to hook it up to thier computer...lol. They charged me £45-ish to 'diagnose' (or mid-diagnose as the case may be!) the poor running of my car and to 'find' the oil leak. The only work I gave them was to change the spark plugs and came to £80 in total.

TBH I would speak to their manager and object to it. If they get funny (they can keep your car till you pay I think), then say you'll pay it but only on the written assurance that they have diagnosed the problem correctly, and that you would expect a full refund of the amount if you take it elsewhere and it turns out to be something else. You can at least use their hesitation if they refuse to then bargain for a reduction. And if they refuse still, then take it to their area service manager.

Or, if you have the time to be without your car (potentially), then start writing letters, and CC in trading standards. They should charge an amount comensurate with the work done. If they're overcharging then TS would probably tell them to reduce the amount. And keep copies of your travel costs and start invoicing them for any extra costs it's incurring you.

Also if you get a copy of a haynes manual, it should have wiring diagrams in there. Have a look to see if the ECU is in anyway connected to the window controls. It probably wont be - having a look at my Renault Megane mk II haynes manual, it's entirely independent. Maybe this is also worth showing to the garage and ask them for an explanation?