Renault Battery Lease Hostage

Simonjt · 4 February at 8:41AM

I bought a 2016 Renault Zoe secondhand in 2019. I’d had a 2017 Nissan Leaf from new on a 2 year lease prior to the Leaf and was very happy with electric cars, so decided to buy the secondhand Zoe outright after the Leaf went back, and signed up for the £89 battery hire as I didn’t know much about battery hire, so agreed and went ahead with it; I also took out the £799 4 year extended warranty, even though after many years of constant problems with the car; Renault often reluctant to pay for problems under the extended warranty, saying ‘it’s wear and tear’ etc; never buying Renault again due to their awful customer service, and general poor quality of Renaults. The car on a good day, after a full charge, gave me a range of 75 miles on average, depending on the weather, which was fine as I only do local distances, and use my wife’s car for 100+ journeys. I’m finally looking into getting a new one on a 2 or 3 lease due to the Zoe’ range dropping to 58 miles after a full charge after the last few recent charges. I regularly use an OBD-II reader and the Canze app to check my cars holding charge, and it is currently saying it’s on 80% and has been for the last few charges, and know Renault will not replace the battery until it has dropped below 75% holding charge I believe, and they would also want me to pay £150 for them to check the battery's holding charge before replacing the car’s battery, as they won’t accept my figures obtained from the OBD-II reader. I’m going to a local MG dealer on Friday to discuss getting a new MG on 2-3 year lease, and explained about my Zoe, and they’d said they assess it regarding a part-ex price, but am not expected much, or indeed anything particularly due to the battery hire, as I’d resigned myself to just running it until it gives up completely.Any thoughts on a new makes/models and buying on lease? My Dad has recently bought a BYD EV outright and seems happy with it, but not sure of the quality etc.

diveunderthebonnet · 4 February at 7:25PM

What happens to the lease if the car is written off in an accident or catches fire ,if they cannot repair the vehicle then the battery becomes obsolete , not suggesting you go out and have a crash or torch your car only curios.