Rattling Noise from car steering column (still within 3-year warranty) | Reanult refusing to fix it!

Anonymous868

I bought a car from one of Renault's official retail dealerships, Bristol Street Motors (Bradford), 9-months ago.
The car was under 1.5 years old & had done under 2,000miles.

A few weeks after I bought the car however I noticed a rattling noise coming from the steering column.
I thought this may be just temporary, and would fix itself, so I ignored it for a few months, however it became more noticeable.
*Specifically when the car is static, when you un-latch the steering column (to asjust the height of it), if you shake it there's a rattling noise, sounding as if there's a lose part inside it. | And thus when the car is moving, especially over uneven ground, the rattling can be heard.

I took the car into the dealership a 2-months ago and reported this issue, however when I returned to pick the car up 7-hours later at 5pm they just told me ''the mechanic couldn't replicate the noise issue''.
(They were closing at 5pm / And I had a 4-hour drive back home :: So I didn't argue any further that day)


The car was due for it's service today though, so I took it back there to be serviced, but also reported this fault again.
They tried the same tactic again, but so I insisted on actually getting the mechanic to come out from the back, sit in the car with me, and showed him the fault!


He however claimed:
''That the rattling sound when moving the column when the car is static is just the sound it makes''.
I responded by asking him if that was true, why none of the other cars in the showroom have a rattling noise when you shake their steering column?
-He just ignored my question.

''That Renault's warranty apparently only covers 'shakes & rattle noises for a few months', and so any investigation & repair into this wouldn't be covered by the 3-year warranty''.
I asked him where this ''few months coverage for noises was stated in writing?
-He again just ignored my question.

He then said:
''You need to let the issue/sound develop until it becomes louder, then to bring the car in for them to look at :: Since currently the noise is too faint for them to be able to diagnoise what the fault is''.
I didn't understand what he meant by ''let it develop'', so asked him to clarify what exactly that meant?
He clarified more clearly that I needed to ''Let the fault get worse, and then they would have an easier time to identifying what was causing it.

At that point, when it became clear he was just lazy, incompetent, or both, I decided to not waste any more of my time trying to deal with him, and so just left!


I however have no desire to ''Let a fault with my car become worse, before hoping that the dealership will then actually even bother unscrewing the steering colum & taking a look inside''...
But so wondered if anyone on this forum can give me any advice on what steps (legal if necessary) if should take next in regards to this matter?

My current plan was to take the car to my local Renault dealership in 2-weeks time and have them look at the issue. If they again refuse to look and/or fix it, I would escalate it to the Motoring Ombudsman.
But I wasn't sure if that is the best strategy / If I am missing-out on taking any other important actions?

daveyjp

As its under a Renault warranty take it to your local dealer anyway.  No point driving miles for the supplying dealer to look at it.

Anonymous868

daveyjp said:

As its under a Renault warranty take it to your local dealer anyway.  No point driving miles for the supplying dealer to look at it.

Thanks.

The only reason I took it to the supplying dealership for the service is because the next available slot for a service at my local Renault dealerships was 5-6 weeks away, however the service due-date was this weekend, and so I needed to get it serviced within the date or else the warranty would be voided.


I already have an appointment with my local Reanult dealership booked for early December though.

Grey_Critic

You could of course contact Renault Customer Service

https://www.renault.co.uk/contact/customer-support.html

NSG666

Annoying for you but difficult for the dealer - if they can't find a fault to fix then they don't get paid and if they cannot replicate the symptoms then they won't know whether they have cured them.

"*Specifically when the car is static, when you un-latch the steering column (to asjust the height of it), if you shake it there's a rattling noise, sounding as if there's a lose part inside it. | And thus when the car is moving, especially over uneven ground, the rattling can be heard."

Creating the rattle as per the first part of the above would not be accepted as a fault as you are doing something outside the scope of normal usage. How easy is it to make it rattle just by driving normally? When you say uneven ground do you mean on or off road?

Anonymous868

NSG666 said:

Annoying for you but difficult for the dealer - if they can't find a fault to fix then they don't get paid and if they cannot replicate the symptoms then they won't know whether they have cured them.

"*Specifically when the car is static, when you un-latch the steering column (to asjust the height of it), if you shake it there's a rattling noise, sounding as if there's a lose part inside it. | And thus when the car is moving, especially over uneven ground, the rattling can be heard."

Creating the rattle as per the first part of the above would not be accepted as a fault as you are doing something outside the scope of normal usage. How easy is it to make it rattle just by driving normally? When you say uneven ground do you mean on or off road?

Hello and thanks for your reply.

The 1st part (displaying the rattle when moving/shaking the steering column whilst the car is stationary) surely shows that there is a component inside the steering column specifically which is causing that sound?

Given that in all the other cars, when you move their steering columns, there is no sound | That surely shows that this noise isn't ''normal'', and instead is due to some component inside there making that sound, when it shouldn't be?


And in regards to uneven-ground, I simply meant on any normal city road (that's not of freshly tarmacked smoothness).
*To display this I drove the car (with the mechanic in the passenger seat), for 1-2 minutes, on the roads infront of the dealership | During which time the mechanic could hear the constant rattling sound, eminating from inside the steering column.


He however said that ''because it was not especially loud, I would need to let it develop (worsen), then bring the car back in''.

NSG666

Ah ok I didn't realise you'd driven with him in the car. As you are booked in at your local Renault dealership anyway I'd wait to see what they say and I wouldn't mention anything about your experience with the supplying dealer to them and their unwillingness to try and fix it

Anonymous868

Thankyou - I will follow your advice.

I will also drop the Renault customer-service department an email tomorrow though regarding this issue though | As hopefully they will be more helpful in getting the issue investiagted & resolved, compared to the dealership branches.

NSG666

Any manufacturer operates via it's dealerships so all they will do is refer you to your local dealer. I'd keep contacting customer services up your sleeve until you've given your local dealer an opportunity to fix it.