Clio Bonnet Recall - Incident happened

fivetide

Have you tried the media?

Watrchdog or even local press? Watchdog did a good piece on the digital dash failings in Renaults a year or so ago.

ILW

It is a ten year old car.

albionrovers

Vote with your feet I'm afraid.

I bought a 53 plate Megane brand new (I know, I know ... ) ... never ever again. We sometimes laugh about it but not very often ....

misssarahleigh

fivetide wrote: »

Have you tried the media?

Watrchdog or even local press? Watchdog did a good piece on the digital dash failings in Renaults a year or so ago.

Ha yeah. I did in my strop ring the daily mail but never got a call back.

That is one of the reasons renault used. I asked if they were willing to help as "Good Will" and they specified that they wouldn't in the slightest as this would be contrude as acceptance of blame.

I then questioned as to why they were spending thousands sending the NON RECALL letters out to car owners, and the reason he stated was that because a few incidents have been reported in the media, thats why they have taken action, and it's basically them being nice in remindeing you to look after your car. (Because obviously it's clio owners that are stupid and this is why it happens lol)

pulliptears

misssarahleigh wrote: »

although I understand the theory of this, before this event I have NEVER heard ANYONE talk about a bonnet catch. I can change my oil, water, check tyres, etc etc, however, I don't have the knowledge to check these types of parts.

I drive old cars, have for many years and the bonnet catch is part of routine checks, I used to sit and watch my Dad do his weekly car checks in the 70's and 80's and again bonnet catches were as important as oil and water.
It's not mentioned much these days because people don't seem to like taking responsibility for checking their own vehicles anymore. I can count on one hand how many of my friends check their oil and water levels, they seem to think that 12 months between services is just fine and that is something a garage should do.

You say you don't have the knowledge to check? Buy a Haynes manual and learn, but how difficult is it to smear grease on a bonnet catch?

patman99

My mate's partner's dd had a bonnet catch fail when she was driving down the motorway at 70. When he told me, my reply was 'Renault Clio by any chance?.'. He replied 'No, Peugeot 306'.
I remember the first recall on the Clios well. I had a Espace at the time and as I checked the fluids, I also checked the bonnet catch. It was almost seized, so I spent 10 minutes freeing it off & then checked it every week as part of the normal routine.

misssarahleigh

pulliptears wrote: »

I drive old cars, have for many years and the bonnet catch is part of routine checks, I used to sit and watch my Dad do his weekly car checks in the 70's and 80's and again bonnet catches were as important as oil and water.
It's not mentioned much these days because people don't seem to like taking responsibility for checking their own vehicles anymore. I can count on one hand how many of my friends check their oil and water levels, they seem to think that 12 months between services is just fine and that is something a garage should do.

You say you don't have the knowledge to check? Buy a Haynes manual and learn, but how difficult is it to smear grease on a bonnet catch?

It's not. But then again as far as I'm aware it's done on the service (how often would i require to smear grease on it).

However, the issue you would get into is although to you the bonnet catch is rather important, there are a lot of other checks that could be taken place. Breaks, steering fluid, etc etc. Even if I were to carry out 20 mins worth of pre start checks on a car before setting off it doesn't mean something isn't going to fail.

Your knowledge has clearly come from your upbringing. For most, this isn't the case. For example, I can happily tell you how to mend a VCR, tune TV's, wire up satalite etc and tell you that your TV isn't working because your arial port had a dry joint which is something thats quite common, and wiggling your arial will make your picture come on and off. To me, this is quite a common problem and the fault easily found, however, I wouldn't expect you to have the knowledge to know that, as not everyone has been brought up with a mum and grandad as engineers.

It's not a matter of taking responsibility. If I speed, it's my fault, if I run out of petrol, my fault etc. The bonnet catch has failed on a LOT of clio's and I believe that the catch is faulty. No amount of grease will cure the fact that the catch will fail due to a design fault (although grease may slow the process down)

ILW

It must take two separate catches to fail for the bonnet to fly open. It seems likely the one would have been faulty for some time and should have been picked up if a full service and safety check had been carried out to dealer spec.

Has your mechanic confirmed with you that he did check and lube both catches as part of the service?

misssarahleigh

ILW wrote: »

It must take two separate catches to fail for the bonnet to fly open. It seems likely the one would have been faulty for some time and should have been picked up if a full service and safety check had been carried out to dealer spec.

It kind of implies that as it wasn't dealer serviced the job was't done well enough. I trust my garage man. He works because he loves cars, small familiy company and always helps where he can.

Although, I've read many stories where the car is dealer serviced, and the answer from renault is still, it's your fault.

Rolandtheroadie

It happened to a family member once but there was warnings before disaster.

She'd been having problems getting it to stay down. Having to slam it, play about with the catch/cable, give it a spray with wd40.

The bonnet could look down, but if you tried to lift it up it would come up again and catch on the secondary latch.

Eventually the second latch sticks in it's unlatched position and you know the rest.

Hers done it on the way home from the MOT. Garage replaced windscreen and fixed bonnet but only as a goodwill gesture.