Clio Bonnet Recall - Incident happened

misssarahleigh

My partners clio bonnet flew open while doing 60 down the motorway and smashed up the windscreen/bonnnet and roof.

Common clio problem after a google search

Spoken to Renault. They seem to think they sent a letter recorded delivry (Positive this hasn't been received) less than a month ago (they are looking into finding a signiture)

He asked me what I wanted, my reply was the car fixed. He's gone off to investigate. The internet is littered with the issue. Although helpful at some parts he kept repeating that the faulty catch needed maintaining (hinting it was my own fault for not looking after/noticing a faulty catch)

Anyway, if nice mr renault man comes back and says he won't do anything whats my next step (So I'm prepared when he rings back rather than accepting the answer and phoning back later to abuse him lol)

I assume he's looking for the letter to say e.g. You should have gone and got it sorted, had you done so the incident wouldn't have happened therefor we are not liable.

He won't find a signiture (postive) Any thoughts? or know of anyone who has sucessfully claimed all repairs?

Elliott_Fox

That sounds terrifying! What year is the car?

misssarahleigh

2003..............

OddballJamie

Renault have known about this fault for years and lots of recalls have already been done. I would be asking "Why has it taken them so long to contact you?"

maninthestreet

How long have you owned the car? As other have said, this is known issue and has been known about for years. Why have Renault waited until the car is 10 years old before trying to contact the owner?

misssarahleigh

OddballJamie wrote: »

Renault have known about this fault for years and lots of recalls have already been done. I would be asking "Why has it taken them so long to contact you?"

Fair point. Bought the car in 2010. They said there were letters in 05/07. I suppose one argument would be that the fault has clearly been on the rise if they felt the need to mail everyone again.

Actually spoke to somebody from the windscreen place to get an idea of what it would cost if and they knew the fault, fixed a car last week for the same thing and done a few in the last few months.

bigjl

There will be a database of all the affected vehicles and as you didn't own the vehicle when the recall was issued I would suspect the previous owners didn't do it.

I had a recall on my V50 for the clutch master cylinder and some checks to be done on the wiring near the washer bottle.

I was sent two letters last year, would have to look for them but I am certain they were from VOSA.

I meant to take it in but forgot.

I got a reminder from Volvo UK a month or so ago an booked it in and had it done on Monday.

You can't really blame Renault for this as they would have done the recall with the help of VOSA.

This was never a hidden issue and I would suspect your Clio has not been anywhere near a Renault dealer since prior to the recall, if it had been it would or rather should have shown up on the Renault system.

You might be able to convince Renault UK to contribute but if you get indignant and give it the I know my rights speech they may not.

If you expect Renault to make good the damage or contribute you need to keep them on your side.

I am surprised it was not done to be honest.

But it is always possible it was done and the subsequent failure is due to accident damage repair since the recall was done.

If you contact VOSA I would think they will have a database of cars whose owners didn't comply with the recall letter.

I would suspect that due if the recall has not been complied with you may be on your own, which makes it even more important to keep Renault on side as any money they may contribute will likely be on a purely good will basis.

Horizon81

My mate had a recall letter for this issue in 2008 and had it done at Renault. He then randomly got another letter (recorded delivery) last month for the same issue.

So are they saying the first fix isn't permanent, or did they just not keep a log of the fact that it had already been done (5 years ago!)

warwick_hunt_2

I witnessed this happening to an unfortunate soul on Monday.

Dual carriageway 65-70mph, lane 3. Clio bonnet flew up. Managed to steer left across 2 lanes and go through a 20ft or so gap in the metal barriers (good luck or good management?) Coming to a halt on the grass!

Scary stuff!

misssarahleigh

According to the call this morning they stated that the 'recall' was not a formal one. VOSA agreed it wasn't formally required but they are doing the work "Out of the goodness of their own heart" so to speak.

I cannot speak for what happened to the car before we bought it but we have not had a letter from them specifying anything about a recall.

Although quite a common issue and many people know, it's not something I keep an eye out for. Especially since the first recall was before either of us had passed our tests lol

The car had always been serviced and maintained well by a local garage as I prefer to support reasonable local businesses than get charged 4x the price at dealerships.

bigjl

If there has been another, unofficial recall, recently that you were not told about there may be a case for a contribution by Renault.

The only things I would be considering is how much damage was caused to the vehicle?
How cheaply could it be fixed to make the car safe to use?
Is the value of the vehicle such that the car is not economical to repair?
I would.certai my join up to some owners forums in future so you have half a chance of finding out things like this before they affect you.
They are also a good source of info to keeps these little cars on the road cheaply, but safely.
Maybe now is a good time to buy a newer Clio?
The newer one, 2006 onwards, is a much better car than the old one.

And they are around for £2k upwards, less if it has high miles.

My wife's Clio DCi has been nearly faultless, just a sticky rear brake that meant a new drum had to be fitted.

Is now on over 100k.

But I would have another one if I was looking for a little runaround and one came my way for the right price.

We have out 74k on it in just under 3 1/2 years.

Road tax of £30 a year and 60mpg.

Hope you get your car fixed.