Rejecting a Brand New Car - unfit for purpose

Rotti

[FONT=&quot]We bought a new Renault Wind 1.2 GT Line on the 28th April and after 10 days and one 300-mile round trip rejected it as unfit for purpose (as a convertible), returned it for a full refund and got our 08 Tigra back. It is NOT a convertible for serious driving and is aptly named as the wind turbulence and noise inside the car is so horrendous you can't hear the radio, Tomtom or each other AND suffer a 50% increase in fuel consumption. Even with the roof up it is noisy and turbulent at speed – a little like turbulence on a plane. Armrest is too low to lean on and storage space nil but you would put up with this if it was a nice drive - it's not! The dealership were brilliant but are still reeling from the shock - never had this happen before with a new car. Cancelled out the finance and insurance and only lost £70 on the whole deal - better than being stuck with a £17k French design disaster!
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Auntie-Dolly

Good for you, but did you not drive it before you bought it?

Amanita_2

Rotti wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]It is NOT a convertible for serious driving and is aptly named as the wind turbulence and noise inside the car is so horrendous you can't hear the radio, Tomtom or each other AND suffer a 50% increase in fuel consumption. Even with the roof up it is noisy and turbulent at speed – [/FONT]

Sounds like pretty much par for the course for a convertible to me! ! I have an MX-5 and conversation at motorway speed with the roof down is "difficult".

Did you not test drive it in open top mode to see if you liked a convertible?. It certainly isn't for everyone.

Forwandert

From the OP's post it does just sound like most convertibles.

DCFC79

Forwandert wrote: »

From the OP's post it does just sound like most convertibles.

which a test drive surely would have came upon this issue

Forwandert

DCFC79 wrote: »

which a test drive surely would have came upon this issue

Depends on the test drive, like the OP said it was the 300 mile round trip that put them off, if it was motorway driving it can get quite noisy whatever position the roof in, a normal around town test drive wouldn't have picked up how motorway driving would be.

[Edit] Just to add it is several years since i owned a convertible so the designs may have changed a little to improve on things.

redped

As others have said, what sort of test drive did you have? Was the roof down, were you testing it at motorway speeds, etc.? I had a Z3 for 10 years, and loved it - yes it was noisier than other cars due to the rag top, yes you couldn't hear the radio with the roof down on the motorway, yes it was a comprimise (like most other convertibles, especially ones with soft tops), and yes it was great to drive on a sunny day.

It doesn't sound like you would be suited to most other convertibles, tbh.

What were your specific arguments for it not being fit for purpose? It's a car, so it gets you from A to B; it's a convertible, and you were able to put the roof down. What exactly was it that the garage agreed wasn't fit for purpose?

Outpost

Pretty little car though.

NeilF3485

I have a new Audi A3 Cabriolet, with the roof down on motorway at above legal speeds it is no noisier than you expect (as in quieter than driving with the windows down in non-convertible) and handling is perfect, likewise not windy although did buy the wind deflector to prevent this. Fuel consumption also hardly reduced at all. Little difference in noise levels with the roof up vs. a non-cab but I do have the insulated headliner. Get what you pay for I guess.

Back on Renaults, my old man had the Megane Coupe Cab hard top and this was not louder than you expect with the roof down either - guess it depends on how loud you expect a car without a roof on a motorway to be!

Agree - if the car was not fit for purpose then they would be recalling all of them. Obviously know they can still sell it as brand new, put the 300 down as delivery miles, and sell it 10 times over.

Rotti

Unless you test drove this car at any kind of decent speed you would not get the full horror of it - it is unfit for purpose as it cannot be driven as it should at anything over a maximum of 40mph with the roof off by anyone who has any feeling (or sense) from the neck up! It is also unacceptably noisy with the roof up at speed. We have enjoyed every mile in our Tigras (2 over 6 years) and can drive in the winter, at night, whenever at whatever speeds we like and do not get any significant wind noise or turbulence due to the good design and the windbreak behind the seats. We have our music on, can hear the Tomtom and can hold a conversation too - none of which is possible in the Wind. If you want to get blown about to cool down on a hot day it's optional - you put the window down! With the top down and windows up it is a cosy cabin whatever the temperature outside, which is how it should be - you don't even need to tie your hair up! The Wind would suit a headbanging boy racer who likes the cold, exceptionally loud music, a flippy roof to play with and has never driven a proper convertible so knows no better!

Pollycat

What sort of test drive did you do?

Did the dealer let you take it out on your own on a route of your choice?

We bought a new Toyota Yaris SR (1.8) 3 years ago to replaced our beloved Yaris T Sport and the dealer sent us off with the car and said "make sure you do a really good test drive".

Which we did - along the motorway, along roads with potholes and speed bumps, through a city centre, we drove round Sainsbury's car park, reversing in & out of parking spaces etc and were gone for 2 hours.

They were quite happy with that.

You could have done something similar and maybe found out enough of the flaws you later found before you committed £17K.