Renault

[daz90]

Why is it Renault can build a double F1 World Championship car (05/06) but cant build a run of the mill family saloon properly?

Last October i was deluded enough to buy a 2002 Laguna 1.9DCI, however so far, and in the past five weeks i have had the dreaded electical gremlin stike me more than once, first off five weeks or so ago i kept getting a little warning light on the dash telling me that there was a glow plug/electrical problem with the car, the light would come on and the car would switch itself into safe mode, i would pull over switch off the engine and restart, all was well with the world again then. I took it to the local renault dealer for them to plug it into the electric gizmo's they have, it turned out the problem was the glow plugs, all four of them completly shot, this cost me £150 for Renault to fix it. I could have got that cheaper i know, but i was lazy.

Then last week the tyre pressure sensor started playing up, it was telling me one tyre was flat, but it wasn't, this is a very stupid design and utterly useless, i have now fixed this warning light, by pumping all of the tyres up, the one that was flashing was not the problem.

Then this week, the blower packed up completly, it turns out the whole plastic gubbins that has all the dials and switches has burnt out! for the unit alone it will be £195 + vat.

I implore all of you, never ever buy a Renault!

The joys of motoring :(

[GridGirl]

Well Renault didn't do a good job of designing this years f1 car, it has some pretty fundamental issues, but we're on about road cars here and not the f1 version.

My other half 's dad had a 52 plate Laguna 1.9 diesel, but the estate version untill last month. I know he had problems with the tyre pression sensors almost constantly on it. I dont think Renault could ever fix it even though there was never anything wrong with his tyres or pressures.

[daz90]

You can fix it, the tyre pressure gizmo can be turned off all together, deactivated via a computor thing at probably any diagnostics specialists.

Something i shall do soon enough, unless i get rid of the car first.

[GridGirl]

My other half's dad got rid of the car, that that he was disillusioned with it like you seem to be. I've always found if you stop likeing or careing for you car, its best to get rid.

[Iain]

I had a Clio for almost 3 years. Fantastic little car, really nippy and handled superbly, but it was quite unreliable at times. It developed an electrical fault after some water got into the fusebox somehow, which took about 3 months and 3 trips to the garage to fix. That was the worst of the problems I had with it, the rest were niggly things that went wrong like the window regulator and the coilpacks. At least I didn't have my bonnet fly up in my windscreen like they all seem to be doing at the moment!

As much as I loved that car, it's put me off buying a French car again.

[CarlMetro]

I have had 2 Laguna's, both of them from new and both of them nothing but trouble. I remember when you brought it Daz, I was going to say something then but you seemed so pleased with it. My first was a 51 plate 1.8 petrol Dynamique. Several problems with tyre pressure sensors, 2 new ecu's within the first six months on the road but the final straw was when one of the aluminium tyre inlet valves decided to detach itself from the wheel, leading to rapid deflation of the front tyre whilst I was doing 75mph on the M1. A common fault with the earlier models, so I'm told, so much so that Renault changed them to rubber ones.

My second one was a 1.9 diesel, I'd had a 406 previous and was expecting to change it to a 407 but just before I changed the company I was working for at the time changed to Renault cars and the only choice we got was which colour. Various electrical faults including full lights failure on a 'b' road, a couple of fuel feed problems where it would enter into safe mode and could only be reset by the Renault dealer, the radio packed up and within the first 1000 miles it developed a rattle on the gearstick at 3000 revs. I only stayed with the company another 7 months and then left, not just because of the car, but it was a contributing factor.

[Daniel]

How did you find your 406 Carl? My 406 seems rather strong, doesn't rattle at all and just goes along at 80+ on the motorway part of my journey quite happily. Before I got the 406 I did test drive a Laguna of a similar age to the 406 and it just felt like it was 5 years older inside, didn't pull like a 2l petrol car should and just felt rather woolly.

The only problems I've ever had with my 406 was some problems starting but I think that's more down to some bad diesel I got because as soon as I put fuel from a different garage in it started much easier :) Then there's the fact that the rev counter only works about 1 in 3 times the car is started. Another minor problem was some terminal understeer I got going uphill one day which was quite scary. 2 seconds I'd sorted out where I was going I put my foot down to get going again and it just started spinning both front wheels for a good 30 ft or so. But that's not the cars fault. It's got Tigar tyres all round and they're rubbish. http://www.tigar.co.yu/tigar.php?str=100&lg=en I think they're Serbian or something :mark: The only tyres I've ever paid money for were Michelin's.

Something which bugs me about French cars is that they're trying to be very gadgety these days. My 504 back in Australia (which was incidently assembled by Renault in Australia) was a simple thing. It didn't rattle, it handled well for a 30 year old car, did everything you'd ask of a car and had no fancy gismos in it other than 4 wheel disc brakes and independant rear suspension which were both big things at the time. Other than the ABS in my 406 which sometimes interferes if I brake hard on a narrow lane and there's a bit of manure or soil around or if I put a wheel off the road but I can forgive it for that it's just like my 406 except it's 20 years newer! The 205 was a popular car not because of being loaded with mindless crap or "alive with technology" as one manufacturer would say, but because it was just a good car and didn't try to be anything more than just a car. Perhaps the frenchies have forgotten that :(

[CarlMetro]

How did you find your 406 Carl?(

I've actually had three of them, in fact my first was a '98 2.0 petrol GLX and was the last car I owned privately. I bought it with 5k on the clock as an ex-demo and after a few trips back to the dealer because of water ingress into the boot I had no further problems with it. Just a regular service and a set of tyres.

My next was a 1.9 diesel LX estate on a W plate. I got it second hand when I started with a company, it already had 60k on it but drove superbly. I put another 57k on it in under two years and then had to replace it with my 2nd Laguna.

My last one was a '53 plate 2.0 diesel Executive with the 110bhp engine and I would have to say that apart from the Passats I've had (I'm on my second already) it was the best all-rounder I've ever had. Very fast, comfortable and a decent spec inside too.

Out of all of them, not one of them let me down once, all of them just the basic stuff like tyres and exhausts. The difference in build quality between Renault and Peugeot is chalk and cheese. If they ever produce a decent car again, because what's on offer from them at the moment is pants, then I would consider spending my own money on a Peugeot.

[oily oaf]

THE MECHANICS. An everyday story of greasy folk.
A one act play by O Oaf.

Scene 1 A small East London boozer oft frequented by a merry band of Honda technicians as well as a bunch of lads from Ren***t and a well known German manufacturer.

Curtain rises as the Honda lads down another pint and then launch into a series of muscle stretching exercises.

O. Oaf. Righto chaps who's up for an inter company footrace down to Tower Bridge? Last one back buys the grog.

Renault Mechanic. (puff pant wheeze gasp) Vous etes 'aving a larf msieur. Je suis knackered!

O. Oaf. Fair enough Serge. What about you Audi boys? Fancy it?

Audi bloke. Vorsprung Durch Off you flash monkey!

O. Oaf. Don't be like that Helmut. We just fancy a spot of exercise before we go back and sit outside the workshop smoking and making inappropriate remarks to passing totty.
Ah sod 'em! C'mon chaps last one to the bottom of Mile End Road is a Renault starter motor.

(sprints out of door)

Curtain falls

Get my drift? ;)

[wedge]

The French make cheap affordable cars for the masses, so you gets what you paid for!

But this day and age, the French really need to pull their finger out!

I've owned a few Peugeots so far, 3 106s and a 206. All reliable except for dodgy build quality - interior and wing mirror falling apart.

There's something special about French hatches. Apart from the styling, it must be something to do with the rear torsion bar!

[Daniel]

Wedge. Only problem is alot of the new French hatches don't have independant rear suspension. That sucks majorly.

[daz90]

I have had 2 Laguna's, both of them from new and both of them nothing but trouble. I remember when you brought it Daz, I was going to say something then but you seemed so pleased with it.


The thing is i did do my research on the Laguna before i bought it, i knew they had some electrical gremlins, but i chose to ignore the facts and bought it anyway, too late now grrrr. I was won over by the equipment on the car, half leather, all electircs, (mirrors, windows, sunroof) its even a decent car to drive, and to look at. Cheap tax was also a bonus, 110 pounds for the year, compared to a diesel Mondeo (which i should have bought) at 190 pounds.

Its due another trip to Renault again next week, the orange glowplug light came back on last night, i paid Renault 150 pounds to fix this, and the bloody light has reared its ugly head again, same thing, light comes on, engine goes into safe mode, i pull over restart the engine and all well again, its either a dodgy (new) glowplug, or the engine is knackered at only 51,000 miles. Either way i will not be paying for it to be fixed again.

I also had it valued today against a Ford Focus diesel, the Focus had done 110,000 miles, and was up for 4 grand, i was offered 3250 for mine, the garage must be aware of how crap the Laguna is :) needless to say i wont be letting it go for as little as that.

[oily oaf]

The thing is i did do my research on the Laguna before i bought it, i knew they had some electrical gremlins, but i chose to ignore the facts and bought it anyway, too late now grrrr. I was won over by the equipment on the car, half leather, all electircs, (mirrors, windows, sunroof) its even a decent car to drive, and to look at. Cheap tax was also a bonus, 110 pounds for the year, compared to a diesel Mondeo (which i should have bought) at 190 pounds.

Its due another trip to Renault again next week, the orange glowplug light came back on last night, i paid Renault 150 pounds to fix this, and the bloody light has reared its ugly head again, same thing, light comes on, engine goes into safe mode, i pull over restart the engine and all well again, its either a dodgy (new) glowplug, or the engine is knackered at only 51,000 miles. Either way i will not be paying for it to be fixed again.

I also had it valued today against a Ford Focus diesel, the Focus had done 110,000 miles, and was up for 4 grand, i was offered 3250 for mine, the garage must be aware of how crap the Laguna is :) needless to say i wont be letting it go for as little as that.

The fault you describe may be a glitch in the engine management.
Try the following:
Disconnect battery earth lead with engine cold and wait approx 30 seconds
Reconnect and start engine. Allow to idle until normal operating temp is reached
Run engine at about 1200 rpm for approx 2 mins
Take vehicle for a short drive around 4 miles in order to replicate various road conditions to complete ECU mapping.
If this works and no further problems occur place petrol soaked rag in filler neck, light and then claim off the insurance and dont forget the old adage "French bad Japanese good"

[daz90]

Good advice on the petrol bit mate :)

[BDunnell]

A friend of mine once had a 405 that had a complete electrical failure and major blow-up all at once. Understandably, he wasn't happy. Why he then bought a Rover, I have no idea.

Talking of French cars, every year myself and some colleagues are official photographers for a major event in the UK, for which we are provided with courtesy cars. Often, they used to be Rovers. They were OK, and had the odd problem, but nothing was worse than the Peugeot 306s we had on one occasion. They were from the manufacturer's fleet, so of course we had no idea of the level of their previous use, but even so their build quality was appalling. The passenger side door of one ended up with a broken hinge, for example, after just a few days' benign use. There were numerous other mechanical problems too — I forget exactly what, but we're talking several. And I had never appreciated how appalling the headroom in a 306 is in the back or the front for anyone over 6ft tall.

Last October i was deluded enough to buy a 2002 Laguna 1.9DCI, however so far, and in the past five weeks i have had the dreaded electical gremlin stike me more than once, first off five weeks or so ago i kept getting a little warning light on the dash telling me that there was a glow plug/electrical problem with the car, the light would come on and the car would switch itself into safe mode, i would pull over switch off the engine and restart, all was well with the world again then.

Then last week the tyre pressure sensor started playing up, it was telling me one tyre was flat, but it wasn't, this is a very stupid design and utterly useless, i have now fixed this warning light, by pumping all of the tyres up, the one that was flashing was not the problem.

Then this week, the blower packed up completly, it turns out the whole plastic gubbins that has all the dials and switches has burnt out! for the unit alone it will be £195 + vat. (

Sounds like you bought my fathers old car.




Sucker.

[Daniel]

The fault you describe may be a glitch in the engine management.
Try the following:
Disconnect battery earth lead with engine cold and wait approx 30 seconds
Reconnect and start engine. Allow to idle until normal operating temp is reached
Run engine at about 1200 rpm for approx 2 mins
Take vehicle for a short drive around 4 miles in order to replicate various road conditions to complete ECU mapping.
If this works and no further problems occur place petrol soaked rag in filler neck, light and then claim off the insurance and dont forget the old adage "French bad Japanese good"
Meanwhile on planet earth :p :

Caroline's Japanese car is having "check engine" light issues and my French oil burner is running as smooth as anything :cheese:

[Dave B]

My old Megane had the same electrics as Apollo 11. Lovely chassis, terrible workmanship.

[oily oaf]

Meanwhile on planet earth :p :

Caroline's Japanese car is having "check engine" light issues and my French oil burner is running as smooth as anything :cheese:

Patience my trusting young friend. Patience.
Was it not Confucious himself who said "All good and fearsomely expensive electrical faults come to French car owner who waits"

As to Carrie's stricken chariot. Who's to say that the electrical looms were not installed by a hungover bloke in Sunderland whose ancestor stormed the beach at Hastings in 1066?
Ha! Answer me that one. Eh eh eh eh?

PS Question my sagacity again and a boiling blast of beef stock will lay your frail young body waste. :batman:

[Daniel]

Oh you've asked for it now :angryfire

I know that French and Italian chariots are more likely to have electrical problems but the thing is I've owned a Fiat 131, an Australian built 504 (a recipe for disaster if you ask me!) and now a 406 and other than the fact that the cigarette lighter hasn't worked in either pug I've never had an electical problem.

As for Caroline's chariot I don't think there's a big problem with it. The light was intermittently coming on when the car was cold a while ago then the battery in the car died and now it's on permanently. It still comes on boost and goes like a banshee though....... I suspect perhaps something similar to what Daz is experiencing has happened or perhaps there's a problem with the alternator. It does have great difficulty with starting though which isn't the best sign :mark:

[daz90]

My Laguna went back to Renault last friday to see what the glow plug warning light problem was this time, they told me what it was but i forget, anyway its some kind of valve i think, it will cost £36 but they wont charge for labour this time, it goes back to Renault in Grantham again on Tuesday to be fitted.

I have been looking at trading it in against a couple of other cars, and i have fount that local garages are somewhat unwilling to offer a decent trade price, when i have pushed them they have told me they are very wary of Laguna's, they always end up costing them under warrenty when some unlucky sod buys one.

[Daniel]

Oh you've asked for it now :angryfire

I know that French and Italian chariots are more likely to have electrical problems but the thing is I've owned a Fiat 131, an Australian built 504 (a recipe for disaster if you ask me!) and now a 406 and other than the fact that the cigarette lighter hasn't worked in either pug I've never had an electical problem.

As for Caroline's chariot I don't think there's a big problem with it. The light was intermittently coming on when the car was cold a while ago then the battery in the car died and now it's on permanently. It still comes on boost and goes like a banshee though....... I suspect perhaps something similar to what Daz is experiencing has happened or perhaps there's a problem with the alternator. It does have great difficulty with starting though which isn't the best sign :mark:

Can someone say deepsheet? Caroline's car went in about a month ago to get it's pads done and also to have this problem looked at and all up it cost £300 or so and still didn't bloody well solve the issue. So it then went in two weeks ago and stayed with Mr Mechanic (Henceforth known as lazy bar stud who couldn't fix anything) and when we got back from holiday Caroline was told that it needed a turbo and head gasket which was supposedly going to cost £1000 + labour :laugh: Now correct me if I'm wrong but a boxer engined car needs two head gaskets, if it's not blowing smoke/burning coolant and so on it doesn't even need it's head gasket done and it's unlikely that a turbo would cause a car not to start or idle badly when cold but still pull strongly when on boost.

So basically I did what I said I'd do 4 months ago and did the patented "Oily Oaf disconnect the battery and reset the ECU trick" and now the engine check light is off and the car starts first time and idles well and pulls even stronger on boost. So I could have saved a lot of bother and money by just doing this 4 months ago.

Of course the smarmy get is right because my 406 is now having issues starting :mark:

French bad, Japanese good. Oily Oaf always right! :mark:

[KILOHMUNNS]

I had major problems with my Megane Scenic, I always like the Scenic and jumped at the chance to get one when my last car was written off, unfortunately is was an automatic! The cars handling was terrible especially in the wet, i'd try and turned a corner tight but the car still wanted to go forward! Then the automatic gearbox went, it had only done 21K and cost me £1800 to replace. The garage I went to said he mainly did Renaults as they Auto boxes were crap (ratio of 3:1 on all other makes). Soon sold the car as other warning lights started to come on. Never a Renault again!!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Can someone say deepsheet? Caroline's car went in about a month ago to get it's pads done and also to have this problem looked at and all up it cost £300 or so and still didn't bloody well solve the issue. So it then went in two weeks ago and stayed with Mr Mechanic (Henceforth known as lazy bar stud who couldn't fix anything) and when we got back from holiday Caroline was told that it needed a turbo and head gasket which was supposedly going to cost £1000 + labour :laugh: Now correct me if I'm wrong but a boxer engined car needs two head gaskets, if it's not blowing smoke/burning coolant and so on it doesn't even need it's head gasket done and it's unlikely that a turbo would cause a car not to start or idle badly when cold but still pull strongly when on boost.

So basically I did what I said I'd do 4 months ago and did the patented "Oily Oaf disconnect the battery and reset the ECU trick" and now the engine check light is off and the car starts first time and idles well and pulls even stronger on boost. So I could have saved a lot of bother and money by just doing this 4 months ago.

Of course the smarmy get is right because my 406 is now having issues starting :mark:

French bad, Japanese good. Oily Oaf always right! :mark:


Should get yourself a reliable Italian car :erm:

:uhoh:

[Daniel]

Should get yourself a reliable Italian car :erm:

:uhoh:
Why don't you just write in every post "I have a new Punto and I'm in love with it" your constant twittering on about this rather ordinary car is getting ridiculous.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Why don't you just write in every post "I have a new Punto and I'm in love with it" your constant twittering on about this rather ordinary car is getting ridiculous.

:uhoh:

Never mentioned anything about a Punto

[KILOHMUNNS]

:uhoh:

Never mentioned anything about a Punto

Would you want to admit it???!!!!

[daz90]

Hell no!! ;)

I still have the Laguna, and it has since suffered yet more problems, i must be mad to keep hold of it, but i have spent about 700 quid on it since last August. The heater contol panel burnt out, a front spring collapsed, and a front ball joint needed replacing, it also needs an anti roll bar. The suspension has been banging for a couple of months now, i doubt it will pass its next mot, but i am tired of spending money on it.

I hate it so much that i tried to kill it two weekends ago, by putting petrol in the fuel tank, (its a diesel) seemingly though i have escaped any major damage as the petrol mixed in well with what diesel was in the tank, and i had to get it syphoned out.

It has to go, i just dont know when yet.

[Daniel]

I hate it so much that i tried to kill it two weekends ago, by putting petrol in the fuel tank, (its a diesel) seemingly though i have escaped any major damage as the petrol mixed in well with what diesel was in the tank, and i had to get it syphoned out.

Well from my Engine Theory in university I can tell you that a diesel will run on petrol but if it's a common rail diesel as I suspect yours is it can do a bit of damage to the fuel system on the engine :p

[MattL]

The new Laguna is a key model for Renault. The last one had a lot of 'gadgets' and suffered some poor reliability. Renault are really pushing the quality message with the new one, so let's hope it lives up to the billing. The new Clio is a major step forward from the previous one, and Renault have a lot of new models coming in the next few years, so expect to see them working hard to overcome the concerns of people with experiences like daz90's!

[Stuartf12007]

French cars...lmao

[Caroline]

Why? Are they funny? If so, please explain? I am curious as to what prompted your post?

[CarlMetro]

Caroline just ignore him, most people seem to be :D

[Robinho]

French cars...lmao


as opposed to the thriving British car industry? oh no, thats right, we don't have one, we only build (mass market) cars for non-UK makes.

[daz90]

Well from my Engine Theory in university I can tell you that a diesel will run on petrol but if it's a common rail diesel as I suspect yours is it can do a bit of damage to the fuel system on the engine :p


I dont know what it is, its a 2002 model though, 1.9 DCI, so its a relativly new engine unit.

[Stuartf12007]

lol@what prompted me to laugh. lololol

[Robinho]

I dont know what it is, its a 2002 model though, 1.9 DCI, so its a relativly new engine unit.


the DCI is the common rail unit, the DTI is the normal Turbo Diesel unit, both available on the circa 2002 models (we've got a 52 Scenic which is a DTI)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

French cars...lmao

Japanese cars......... :| :z

[daz90]

the DCI is the common rail unit, the DTI is the normal Turbo Diesel unit, both available on the circa 2002 models (we've got a 52 Scenic which is a DTI)

Fair enough, either way its running okay despite the mix of petrol and diesel and the 30 odd miles i ran it on the petrol.

[Daniel]

Of course the smarmy get is right because my 406 is now having issues starting :mark:

French bad, Japanese good. Oily Oaf always right! :mark:

1 out of my 4 glow plugs was working :D

I should have my car tomorrow morning :)

[donKey jote]

I had major problems with my Megane Scenic, I always like the Scenic and jumped at the chance to get one when my last car was written off, unfortunately is was an automatic! The cars handling was terrible especially in the wet, i'd try and turned a corner tight but the car still wanted to go forward! Then the automatic gearbox went, it had only done 21K and cost me £1800 to replace. The garage I went to said he mainly did Renaults as they Auto boxes were crap (ratio of 3:1 on all other makes). Soon sold the car as other warning lights started to come on. Never a Renault again!!

May I suggest a set of decent tires for wet handling problems ? :p :

My automatic scenic has being going fine for the last 6 years, but the gearbox also had a problem when it was still fairly new. Not much to do with Renault, as the automatic gearboxes are built by someone else (ZF ?). After a lot of messing (2-3 visits to the Oily oafs), they did find the cause without having to replace the whole thing - some stupid little valve or switch or something. :)

My only moan about the Renault are the tire pressure control valves: they work fine, but until now they've only indicated pressure losses due to leaky pressure control valve O-rings. Not available separately :mad:

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[KILOHMUNNS]

May I suggest a set of decent tires for wet handling problems ? :p :


Probably nothing to do with the tyres, more like my driving (I must slow down). :D