Begening to hate my 197

[Jason S]

What the hell..

1 month ownership - three breakdowns not including keycard fault

Car has 36k with FRSH (that may be why) Renault deserves a http://www.clio197.net/forum/images/smilies/chair.gif

This time Camshaft position sensor "A" circuit (bank 1 or single sensor) from ECU and Brake fault on dash - Turns over but wont fire and TDC sensor already replaced under a year ago.

Mine has been so unreliable and feel like http://www.clio197.net/forum/images/smilies/bash.gif

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

What's the age/mileage and where did you buy from Jason?

And what have the faults been and have the garage put them right?

 

[weebob]

Dude that sucks.

Hope you get it all sorted.

 

[Roy]

Feel for you mate when you get a car like this and it goes wrong from day one it's hard to see why you bought one
I had the same years ago with a Rover 25 nothing but trouble for the first 4 months then 5 years later it was the best runner I have had till the 197
Hopefully you will stick with it and all will come good in the end:thumbup1:

 

[Chris197F1]

Ive had my car around 6 weeks now and started to get a bit annoyed the other week because of all the knocks and creaks it has (brakes squealing being the biggest annoyance lol). BUT....I then took it out over Snakes Pass with my mate in his Focus ST and fell in love with it again. They can be a pain but battle through and then take it for a country blast, thats my advice!

 

[Jason S]

Friday will be one month ownership -

Bought - From Spirespeugeot dealer (spire automotive group)
Year nov 2006 with mid 35k at the time and full renault history
Time of purchase - New brakes all round (disc+pads), 3 tyres, service and cambelt.

Faults

6 days after ownership - Camshaft sensor fault, Canister purge (couple of other temp traction ones, but cleared and likely to be my 1st week driving style) - RAC got it going.

11 day of ownership - Depfaser curcuit failure, Camshaft positioning sensor - Tralered back from Manchester to Mkeynes to Marshalls renault who took 9 days in total to look at and give the car back. (1hr labour cost to say dephaser circuits checked and all is well)

20-21 days - drove ok

Day 21 - keycard failed (both) Renault wanted to book in again and I got sorted myself with great advise from a keycard mobile specialist FOC.

Today - day 27 - Camshaft position sensor "A" circuit (bank 1 or single sensor) this is generic code read from OBD torque app and bluetooth connector I have though as Renault cant look at until Monday.

Pathethic really. Its spent more time off the road than on and I should be applying for a road tax rebate lol and also just worked out why some 197 have such low miles..

I was cool with the running cost and fell in love with the handling, but the constant reliability issues is telling me to cut my losses asap. I can see this becoming a money pit!

I did say to Renault UK who I'm having a moan at that they should include a complementary match or lighter with the sale of their cars haha

 

[deadmau5]

Don't you get 3 months warranty when bought from a dealer?

 

[aemskelley]

Wow... that's some really bad luck dude

Maybe a sign of shoddy workmanship done on it? I don't know enough about cars to know though...

I've had my 197 a couple of years now, not a single thing wrong - guess it's luck of the draw sometimes!

Hope you get it sorted

 

[Jason S]

Add brake fault on the dash now when trying to start..

Renault should rebrand to Fix Or Repair Daily but that would be an insult to ford as Ive had no major issues with past Ford Rs lol.. plus Renault will never be able to repair daily as they seem to be on a week lead time to look at anything. Cheeky bum pirates offered to recover and look at on Monday and charge me for the 3 miles recovery when they just looked at the car a week ago with same fault.. muppets.. Think every clio with non renault service history should be worth more lol

 

[Tom]

That's bad luck man. If you sell up now, you might be jumping out the pan and into the flames...

Be patient, once you see these teething stages through, I'm sure it'll be fine...

 

[Jason S]

yeah I have a 12 months warranty + Gap insurance - problem is the ball ache I have to go through as nearest trusted garage according to members here is alyesbury and I cant get there.

Thinking this is just a very bad apple - my 19v chamade and 16v williams was spot on..

I could go down the warranty route but legally my statuary right takes precedance under sales of goods 1994 section 11 for eg and could ask for money back or like for like replacement.. thing is time to argue, I still lose out fighting it.

Main thing is I totally lost faith in the car. Its been one after the other..

Will sleep over it and mull over options.

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

You could reject the car potentially under Sale of Goods Act. If you're genuinely not happy then get on to the Citizens Advice Bureau - they have an online form you can fill in and they'll get back to you outlining your rights and giving you some advice.

 

[mdking]

I hope you get it all sorted mate. There are some good Renault dealers around but they are few and far between.

Also, if your purchased the car by HP finance, get onto the company. They will have more weight behind them, Speak to RUK and inform them of all the problems you are having.

 

[RalphyBMW]

Several of your issues seem like they could be related to the timing belt. Perhaps the supplying Peugeot dealer cocked it up?

 

[Tom]

Well, if all Renaults were that bad - do you think we'd all be here?... It's hardly like there's a similar KIA community.

ClioSport is pretty massive too.....

I'd honestly try to see past this...

 

[Foxspeed]

it needs to be diagnosed by a proper renault specialist....sounds like wiring issues or something along those lines i would say

someone to spend some time on it putting it through a few proper tests etc

 

[Jason S]

yeah will decide tomorrow - either the independent garage recomended on here tomorrow or car goes back.

I know not all dealers are bad and had enough cars to know when i'm holding a bad apple or soiled lol

Its more the hassle and need for a reliable car that is the major ball ache. I'm back to cabs and especially screwed with kids and ex wife come the weekend.

Hard to see past this when you own a car for a month and only drove it for 480 miles and half of the time it has been off the road. 3 of the 4 beakdowns resulting in non starting.

Not slating the 197. I bought it after all over other choices because the smile i get from driving it and on the flip side, its diheartening when it repeatedly fails - For the area i'm in and dealings with my local renault dealers in Herts and MK, I just think they are rubbish.

Fingers crossed and I'm tempted to see if there is a camshaft sensor in stock and replace the damn thing myself as its just a 10mm bolt.. error relating to camshaft sensor have come up twice on the breakdowns.

 

[Jason S]

Yeeeaahhh.. finally

A strong to the point letter to the dealer spirepeugeot with clear points detailing why I am rejecting the car for a refund + cost and shortly after - three 3 calls back, we want to resolve and will take ownership.. gits!

They are having it recovered and taken to Bucks automotive and covering all cost right down to a taxi to get me to Buck automotive from Mkeynes. This is agreed on the basis that it is one final attempt to put the car right.

Got additional data on the car too and looks like Renault had it twice in from the previous owner due to smillar faults - Shame on you Renault.

Decided to give one last go as I bought it for the handling after weeding through various.. although the brera was nice too.

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

Well, at least you've got everything in writing and the understanding that this is a last attempt to fix matters. No offence but it's got previous it sounds like a duffer to me

Hope you get it all sorted to the best outcome for you though Jason.

 

[Jason S]

cheers mate.

Dudes at Bucks have been good and although I gave the dealer spirepeugeot the full list of fault codes, they only reported one to Bucks when the booked in for repair. Guys at BucksAuto promised to get all feedback of faults from me for a full picture.

I'm no longer cheesed off as dealer agreed last chance to fix in writing. Worse case now i get my money back if it fails again or not fully fixed in two weeks and I get to find a better one with the reca seats ;-). Ball ache messing with the plates again etc.. hope for the best

Never know, Bucks Auto could hand me a nice 200 as courtesy car. i can dream.