Tailgate Rust & Perforation Warranty

[Johnnyknox]

I just wanted to share my experience with you guys.

My car is an 07 plate Clio 197. I have had the car for two years and it's in lovely condition overall, apart from rust which had developed on the rear tailgate, just under the rear window wiper.

This car is 11 years old but covered by a 12 year perforation warranty, so I tried my luck with my local dealer - Renault Leicester.

I got what I expected to begin with from a main dealer...general confusion on the warranty, was it 5 year, 7 years, no 10 years??...

To which I had to clarify a number of times...no it's definitely 12 years!

Anyway, after that was all worked out, I managed to get put through to a service engineer who really surprised me and seemed like he genuinely cared. He took photos of the issue and sent them on to Renault UK.

Renault UK were actually awesome and I wasn't expecting that. They kept me up to date with developments along the way and eventually approved my repair work.

The cost of the repair is about £800! So I am happy that it's covered!

Just thought I would share and let you know that if you do get rust on this part of your car and you're still within your 12 year warranty, you should try your dealership and if they give you problems, engage Renault UK because you are probably covered.

I think the things that they look at when approving the work are:

* Full service history (mine was not all main dealer)
* The overall condition of the car. If you've kept her nice I think that helps your case and shows that rust should not be popping up here.

The tailgate rust issue is not a "known fault" but it certainly isn't an unknown one. It usually occurs when the seal around the window gets worn and then the rear window drops, allowing the glass to rub on the metal and then wear away and cause rust.

 

[lewishunter98]

I noticed the other week that mine has a slight bubble in the paint in this location. Now my car has tonnes of service paperwork, but it isn't all stamped in the book, some of it is literally just paperwork. Do you think that this will affect my chances of them repairing it or not? (Not all dealer history either but car is in good condition, few bits of work from Ktec in there also) Sorry if that seems like a stupid question haha!

 

[Johnnyknox]

I noticed the other week that mine has a slight bubble in the paint in this location. Now my car has tonnes of service paperwork, but it isn't all stamped in the book, some of it is literally just paperwork. Do you think that this will affect my chances of them repairing it or not? (Not all dealer history either but car is in good condition, few bits of work from Ktec in there also) Sorry if that seems like a stupid question haha!

All I would say is take all your paperwork and all the history you do have to the dealer and have the car looked at. Tell them that you know of other owners that have had this work approved under warranty by Renault UK. If the dealer gives you resistance then try contacting Renault UK directly yourself:

customer.services@renault.co.uk

 

[lewishunter98]

All I would say is take all your paperwork and all the history you do have to the dealer and have the car looked at. Tell them that you know of other owners that have had this work approved under warranty by Renault UK. If the dealer gives you resistance then try contacting Renault UK directly yourself:

customer.services@renault.co.uk

Sweet thanks for the advice mate. Did they take your car for a drive before hand? If they do I hope the crunchy 3rd gear doesn't put them off fixing it [emoji23][emoji102] Although I have plans to get that sorted soon anyway

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

 

[Johnnyknox]

Sweet thanks for the advice mate. Did they take your car for a drive before hand? If they do I hope the crunchy 3rd gear doesn't put them off fixing it [emoji23][emoji102] Although I have plans to get that sorted soon anyway

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

No problem. I have been lurking on this forum for ages, draining it of information...about time I gave a bit back.

No they didn't drive my car, just visual inspections.

Good luck with it

 

[Doogle]

Ill add my 2 pence, my local dealer (Vospers, Plymouth) were crap. Completely and utterly. Taking it to them (through appointment) he took a few photos and wasnt even bothered by the service history. Took 2 months of me chasing. Finally I contacted Renault UK direct and the next day I had a phone call. Luckily Vospers work was better at bodywork than customer service.

I am going to try for the subframe soon though.

 

[-Eddie-]

The people in Renault UK customer relations aren’t the people who approve these requests. It seems to be a common misconception that they also have some sort of influence on what is warranty and what isn’t. All customer relations will do is have the car appraised properly. The final decision ultimately lies with the anti corrosion and perforation warranty team, if they say no then Renault UK can reverse that decision. Though Renault UK may decide to contribute or cover the repair from their own pot.

It seems to be very much dealer dependant on what is covered and how these cases are dealt with. If a good case is put together then these claims won’t be rejected (I’ve seen so many examples on forums of people having these claims rejected in the past). I’ve also seen some people have had corrosion remover and the tailgate repainted and others have the entire tailgate replaced (myself included).

Good luck to anyone who has this issue though. If the tailgate hasn’t been painted before and you’re car is less than 13 years then there shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[Johnnyknox]

I don't pretend to understand the intricacies of Renault UK or know which internal team approves what but the points that I wanted to raise have been touched on by you guys in that...

The dealer will likely do their best to dissuade you from your claim in the beginning and if they do, you should go direct to Renault UK and see what they can do for you.

Renault UK offered to contact my dealer on my behalf, so if you're struggling to get traction with your claim, they might be able to nudge your dealer and get things moving a bit.

I was lucky in that Renault Leicester were pretty decent to me throughout the whole process.

 

[Johnnyknox]

Ill add my 2 pence, my local dealer (Vospers, Plymouth) were crap. Completely and utterly. Taking it to them (through appointment) he took a few photos and wasnt even bothered by the service history. Took 2 months of me chasing. Finally I contacted Renault UK direct and the next day I had a phone call. Luckily Vospers work was better at bodywork than customer service.

I am going to try for the subframe soon though.

Are you going to try for the radiator mount or the actual subframe or both?

 

[-Eddie-]

Why would a dealer dissuade you from a claim? At the end of the day any warranty repair is money in the pocket of a dealer and benefits their bottom line. I’ve never understood that thought process.

 

[Johnnyknox]

Why would a dealer dissuade you from a claim? At the end of the day any warranty repair is money in the pocket of a dealer and benefits their bottom line. I’ve never understood that thought process.

I can only assume due to a lack of understanding or maybe they don't want to be "that dealer" that is popping up on the Renault UK radar for trying to approve warranty work all the time and incurring cost to the brand...I have no idea.

As I said, my dealer took a fair bit of convincing that the Clio had a 12 year perforation warranty in the beginning and that was due to a lack of knowledge about their product.

 

[Doogle]

Are you going to try for the radiator mount or the actual subframe or both?

Radiator mount is what I ment, the U shape. I have one bolt hole left intact for the bottom the bumper and one for the undertray, the others have rusted/snapped. Daftly, thats my motivation but I dont see why if its accepted I shouldn't go for it.

 

[Johnnyknox]

Radiator mount is what I ment, the U shape. I have one bolt hole left intact for the bottom the bumper and one for the undertray, the others have rusted/snapped. Daftly, thats my motivation but I dont see why if its accepted I shouldn't go for it.

Worth a shot

 

[Mfmman]

Its an opinion only but I feel that dealers aren't keen on warranty work as the rate the manufacturer pays is less then the rate they can charge retail customers etc. If the workshop is busy, then its better to be busy at 100 quid an hour rather than 50 (I don't know the actual rates)

A few years ago we had a window regulator fail on a Golf with a VW approved used car warranty. The dealer was prepared to stand there and tell my wife that they had contacted VW's warranty dept and the claim was rejected. She called me (rather shocked as the bill was going to be in the hundreds) and I rang VW customer services. No Warranty claim was on file! A short and one sided conversation ensued between me and the service reception manager and the car was back with us the same day, all fixed under warranty. Still there's a customer lost and what they didn't know was that I also told my boss of the time and his orders of half a dozen Transporters and Passats per year went elsewhere

 

[930Tech]

I had my tailgate repaired under warranty when it was 5 years old, I had a rust bubble underneath (seen when you open the tailgate) but was lead to believe it had a 7 year warranty on the bodywork.

The rust has come back worse than before just lately so thinking I was out of warranty I managed to find a new tailgate on eBay and we have a paintshop were I work so am about to get it painted there.

If I'd have known the warranty was longer id have put a claim in.

 

[Rishi]

I'm planning on treating/preventing a few areas against rust and came across this thread having a search for common issues. I started paying attention to the area of the tailgate where people are reporting rust bubbles and noticed water settles in the same spot.

I'm thinking as a preventative measure to clean the area, blow any moisture out and seal the gap between the windscreen and body with a wax. Seems to be an area that more people should know about to prevent it happening as seen a few on the forum.

 

[Johnnyknox]

I'm planning on treating/preventing a few areas against rust and came across this thread having a search for common issues. I started paying attention to the area of the tailgate where people are reporting rust bubbles and noticed water settles in the same spot.

I'm thinking as a preventative measure to clean the area, blow any moisture out and seal the gap between the windscreen and body with a wax. Seems to be an area that more people should know about to prevent it happening as seen a few on the forum.

I have heard from a few sources now, including the body shop that did my repair that the rust in this particular area of the car is often caused by the rear window actually dropping over time. There was no gap at all between the bottom glass of the rear window and the boot lid on my car, so the glass was actually rubbing on the metal.

Add to that, (as you stated) that this area is a collection point for water and over time you're going to see rust as the window wears the paint away from the glass rubbing the boot lid.

Worth just checking to see the gap that you have between the bottom of the glass and the boot lid. It should be the same as the gap at the top really but if not, then you're window is probably dropping as mine did.

 

[Rishi]

You're right, the bottom/central edge of rear windscreen is much closer to the tailgate panel than the rest.

There is a small amount of green mould growing at that point behind the window due to standing water but no rust (yet) so will try to maintain it myself with anti-corrosive spray and wax. I'll also remove the tailgate interior trim to have a closer look at some point and treat the area internally.

I'm having the front windscreen replaced soon so will ask an opinion on lifting the rear screen. I'm also going to try and have the radiator subframe replaced under warranty as the edges are rusting, so will comment on the rear screen dropping and see what the Renault workshop knows about a fix.

 

[Antti O]

That radiator subframe price is only approx 200£.
In finland they told me that is not part of the body and it is not covered by anticorossosion warranty.
My car service history was perfect, 11 stamps from dealer. Still no luck with boot rust or radiator support rust.

 

[Rishi]

I guess it's on a case by case basis, I saw MarcB had his replaced at 11 years onto warranty. My first plan was to refurbish the subframe as prefer do the work instead of a Renault garage, it would be hard to turn down a brand new subframe though.

I don't want to wait until the tailgate inevitably starts rusting and will try to find a fix soon. I notice if I push up on the wiper shaft the whole screen can move upwards slightly. I've sprayed some anti-corrosion treatment for now and will fill with wax once it's fully dry as a temporary fix.