Another Dead Clio

[Ross]

Driving home Friday, banging / popping noise started. Struggled to top 30mph which isn't a steep ask from a 2009 Clio Cup with 46k miles on the clock.

Garage today : Exhaust manifold is hanging off, "wear and tear" they say. £859.00 all in to replace.

To put things into perspective, last month i did 160 miles....over a whole four weeks. The car averages 20mpg as im stop starting to work and back..thats it. Never been on a track day, never driven fast enough.

Renault UK are currently looking into what they "may be able to do".

After 109 days of ownership i worked out it costs me £34.00 per day to own the clio (including fuel, insurance, service, tax...the lot) based on what i've spent on the actual car to the penny.

Is it really worth it? My dream car has always been a Clio V6 in liquid yellow, i went with the 197 as it was a decent second best and a lot cheaper to run...doesn't bloody feel like it at this rate.

Will update with the outcome shortly...:roy:

 

[Mentalpen]

Is this your first RS? or even Renault?

Does the car have full main dealer history?

Those are the factors RUK will look at when deciding how much the do or don't contribute in my experience.

The fact they are considering any contribution is good though.

its not cost you £34 a day though, tax, insurance, service etc is a yearly price not a daily price.

Also this £859 they quoted, did you not haggle?

If RUK won't help as if you can have parts at warranty price (usually 40%ish less) as a good will gesture and haggle on the labour with the garage.

 

[stuieplk]

Iv had an engine replaced by RUK. They where great, they said to me that they would pay a percentage of the cost according to mileage up to 100,000 miles. I had 27,000 on mine so they paid 73% of the cost, if you have 49,000 miles they should contribute 51%. They weren't too fussed that my car hasn't been main dealer serviced as long as it stamped from a proper garage. Hope you get sorted mate.

 

[930Tech]

Get in quick and buy this..

Then it's a slippery slope to car modifing.

 

[Ross]

urgh right, update time.

New manifold all in = £1,264.02
Renault agreed to pay 65%
My final bill all in = £442.41

Its splendid Renault are paying, i cant complain there as the car is outside warranty however, the manifold itself has a 100k mile / 7 year warranty.

Anyway the manifold...rolled tubular mild steel....theres your reason for the failure. With 10 years experience in the oil and gas industry supplying Stainless Steel to various corrosive environments with tough temperatures...we wouldn't ever use Mild Steel, end of story. I can see this happening again in the future, do i keep the car?

Also with regards to the £34.00 per day, yes this is what it costs me per day to own the car after 109 days ownership (that was a month ago so it could have gone down a teeny bit). None the less it sort of makes you question...is it worth it?

One final comment on Renault themselves, the lady i've been dealing with at Renault was fantastic, really helped out a lot and has kept me updated all the way through this. Keep in mind...if your a dick....they'll give it straight back to you.

I'm still a little sad as all i wanted to do at Xmas was have a drive up Saddleworth Moor on the 25th as i don't celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately now i'll be waiting till January for it

Thoughts?

 

[luke3]

I think that's fair enough, I suppose having to pay £400 odd is a lot better than 1000+

 

[Foxspeed]

overall not a bad result that!

 

[ryan197]

you may what to check for excessive movement in the engine, because not all manifolds break, i know mine didnt. but if there play in engine mounts this could cause the manifold to break. just an idea

 

[Mentalpen]

^^^^^^

Good point and a nice result, well if you can call £400 a nice result.

 

[GrumpyTwig]

£34 a day is quite excessive, rough estimate mines cost me £20 a day for the last 2 years but that is every single cost or track day and addon etc.

 

[Ross]

aye it sucks but thats the reality im faced with, cant do much to change it right now. Its annoying, check all my posts on here and youll probably see i have every other car you can acually get except for a few of the RS models, shame they've let me down

Thankfully work have given me their L200 truck....not quite as agile as the 197

 

[Andreas187]

urgh right, update time.

New manifold all in = £1,264.02
Renault agreed to pay 65%
My final bill all in = £442.41

I don't think that's right. The manifold shouldn't need replacing so they should at the very least be paying 65% of their cost price because it's costing you 45% of 1264 but it's actually costing Renault a fraction of that because they're not buying it for 1264.
Your 45% probably covers their cost price

 

[930Tech]

Your 45% probably covers their cost price

These are my thoughts.

I've just paid 15% of costs for recaro replacement cover.

Renault paid £452, i've paid £75.62

Renault charge you £1300 for one recaro, so thier costs are £527 for just the back rest and cover, thats 60% of cost for just one part of seat.

Theres the frame, base, plastic back, cables and airbag left, i bet they would'nt sell you that lot for 40% of the cost.

 

[R27Ritch]

These are my thoughts.

I've just paid 15% of costs for recaro replacement cover.

Is this for the bottom section of the seat? Like all of them my bottom bolster has worn through and Renault quoted £400 to repair it. If you can tell me where you got it for this price that would be awesome.

On the subject of problematic Clio's. I've recently got mine back from the garage where it spent 4 weeks. Shot piston rings. Basically needed an engine rebuild. Total cost £2100 Renault agreed to pay 40% of the bill. However after the work was done on the test drive the fuel pump failed costing me another £280 ( I haggled the price down from 380). When I got the car back I was told the front tires were badly worn. I checked these out my self to find 3mm of tread across 90% of the tire and bold on the inside shoulder. They simply told me I needed new tires. I questioned the unusual tire ware, tracking? Nope after they investigated on my request they found the track rod end had failed.

All this at a Renault dealer on a completely standard R27 with only 27k on the clock and full Renault service history 5 stamps. I've owned 3 Renaults most of them RS models and I love them but reliability is shocking.

 

[930Tech]

It was the back/upper part of the seat i had replaced.

Through renault warrenty.