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- Renault Scenic 1.9DCi
- steveab's review
Have a picture of Renault Scenic 1.9DCi?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Martyn Bolton.
| Performance | 6/10   |
|---|---|
| Practicality | 7.3/10 |
| Reliability | 4.9/10 |
| Value for Money | 5.5/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 5.7/10 |
| Overall Rating | 6.1/10 |
By steveab
on 2nd May 2005
| Year Manufactured | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Length of ownership | 3 Years |
| Performance | 2/10 |
| Practicality | 5/10 |
| Reliability | 1/10 |
| Value for money | 2/10 |
| Overall value | 1/10 |
 steveab's recommendation | |
I am finally getting rid of it
After sales service,"LOOKERS" I have had the car for two years in that time its been in and out of the garage. After 8000 miles the brakes failed - I was doing 70MPH at the time.
This is s copy of a letter I sent to renault regarding the
Renault Scenic 1.9DCi People Carrier to which 12 months later I have yet to receive a response.
I am writing with regard to one of your Renault Scenics, which I took delivery of in September 2002.
Since taking delivery of the car I have been very disappointed with the service we have received from various Renault garages throughout the UK. Right from day one we had problems, and this has continued throughout our dealings with Renault
Summary
. I don't want the car, I don't feel safe in it
. The customer service from Renault, and Lookers is a disgrace
. Each time the car goes in it comes back filthy.
. Each time the car goes to be put right cost me money
. Renault tried to make us pay for a hire car and transportation for our car to when we had a serious fault that made the car unsafe to drive - costing us to loose two days of a long weekend
. I am worried about the safety of the car, having seemingly such incompetent engineers work on it.
. Renault Lookers has known about the vacuum assist fault for a while and I was left to drive an unsafe car and also my brother with his new Megane. How can they allow people to drive cars with failing parts? I can only think that Renault are worried about it affecting their sales figures if it came out.
. Due to the poor standard of service and after sales I would never buy another Renault or recommend one, which is a shame after having driven the new megane and megane scenic and thought that they were excellent
Renault faults
. Dirty interior and stained carpets on delivery, black tar on the carpets. Car had to go back to be cleaned.
. Rear windscreen wiper has never worked properly and has been to the garage several times in an attempt to repair it. The finish is unacceptable. After it was returned it had to go back to remove oil from the rear of the window and wiper. On return the car had been scratched and had to be repaired. After over a year, and numerous trips back to the garage, Renault decided to replace the motor. It still doesn't work properly.
. Rear door damper strut was leaking. We were told that "as long as is doesn't fall down its ok". When asked to put that in writing, Renault agreed to replace the struts, but they were just wiped clean. Had to go back a second time to be replaced.
. Dog guard was ordered. Went at a prearranged time to have the guard fitted. On arrival we were told it had been sold to someone else. We had to go back another day to have another one fitted, then it was fitted wrong way round, and tools were left in the car, which was left generally dirty.
. At this point I must say that Renault very rarely informed us of the situation. We nearly always had to call them.
. Servo on the brakes failed going down the motorway, 200 miles from home. Car had only done 12000 miles. Called AA out and were given the option of a hire car, which had to be returned to a place 60 miles from our destination in a couple of days - the car was going to take a week to fix as no-one had the part in. Had no option but to drive to destination with no servo. Took car to nearest Renault garage (Newhaven) first thing. Initially we were told we could only have a hire car for a couple of days and that it had to be returned to where it was hired from. My wife and I spent literally all day trying to sort out a way to get ourselves and the car back home. It took until nearly five in the afternoon for Renault to agree to let us have a hire car until our car was fixed so that we could get home, and the AA to agree to transport the car back to Manchester from Newhaven. Most of the ringing round my wife had to do as Renault stopped trying to help us around lunchtime. The AA would not transport our dog home humanely and Renault wanted us to pay for a hire car. No garage in the south of England had the part, so the car had to be shipped back to the northwest for repair. Initially Renault wanted us to pay for this. The first two days of a four day break were spent sorting out the car. I feel that this was disgusting when we had a major fault on a car that is less than a year old and still under warranty.
Once repaired the car started with an intermittent cutting out on acceleration. This fault caused great alarm, and was potentially very dangerous. This was put down to a crank sensor.
Also Renault Newhaven, changed the oil while were there saying it was required, but they couldn't do anything to help us get our car repaired.
I am also aware that many Renaults have been recalled for servo faults. This was mentioned and the manager said that this was for the vacuum assist pump. When asked is that not the same thing, he pointed under the bonnet and said it's under there somewhere.
Having the brakes fail on a brand new car was a very traumatic experience, one that could have been much worse than it was, yet nobody at Renault at any point wanted to deal with the fact. We were threatened all the way through the ordeal by Renault that we would have to pay £300 to have the car transported to the northwest.
. My wife and I are both engineers and as such have an understanding of how things work on a car. Renault mechanics try so hard to explain what the problem is an all I can do is stand and listen to the rubbish.
. We ordered a spare key, went to collect it, and were told that the computer system was not working so the key could not be programmed. We agreed to have it posted onto us. After a week phoned to ensure the key had been posted, but were told that we have to go in and have the car programmed. Yet another unnecessary journey.
. Intermittent cutting out while driving. Returned to Renault diagnosed the fault. Told they couldn't get the part until next week. Told the car was safe to drive. How can a car that cuts out going down the motorway be safe to drive?
. History: two members of my family also have Renaults, one a new Megan the other a 1998 Espace.
o The 2003 Megane went in for a faulty airbag which took four months to repair. Then it went in for a warranty repair, and Renault did no more than took a part from his car to repair another. After many problems with the car and Lookers he ended up being given a different car in exchange.
2004 and still the problems continue
. Programming the new key, three months after we ordered it and two months since they have had it. Renault Macclesfield took the car saying it would be one day and that they program the new key and fit the new trim on the rear wiper housing that they had previously damaged. They also said they would look where the water was coming from on the passenger side footwell which was by now flooded.
On arrival was told that the car would be in for a couple of days. At 5:00 pm a couple of days later we call Renault again to find out what position the car is in. It will be a few more days! Couldn't we have been told this earlier?
. Eventually on Thursday, ten days after the car first went in; The phone call arrives to say the car is ready. On arrival at Renault Macclesfield we are made to wait. After ten minutes the new service manager, introduces himself and explains the problems or "mess" that have been left by the leaving of the previous manager. The car was a disgrace with the following problems
Dog guard not put back - "It's not a Renault part so we are not going to refit it." After saying that it wasn't up to Renault specification, I explain it was a Renault part.
Scratch on the rear door
Roof lining not put back as original
Roof lining full of oily finger prints
Oily foot prints on all the carpets
Water damage on the carpets and mats
. The service manager tried several times to explain about why he would not put the dog guard back where it should be. He said that where he wanted to put the dog guard, if there was an accident, the airbags would shatter the dog guard and this was safe. I have children in the back seats of the car and I now worry that the dog guard could kill them if we had an accident.
. They tried to refit the dog guard while we waited, but it was fitted wrong - the engineer saying he didn't remove it someone else did and had a dental appointment to get to.
. We only got it back on Thursday and on Monday it had to go in again to put right the faults caused by Lookers Renault.
. Missing work again we took the car in told it would be an hour, collecting the car after an hour the faults
Dog guard not put back right, fell out two mile down the road.
Scratch on the rear door
Roof lining full of oily finger prints
Water damage on the carpets.
Intermittent cutting out
. I am still waiting for the above work to be done. Because of incompetence shown many times by Lookers Renault I am extremely reluctant to take it there again.
I have paid good money for this car and have been inconvenienced greatly by the unhelpfulness and incompetence of your garages. I want to know how you intend to address these issues and I am equally sure you will be keen to ensure my faith in you as a reputable car supplier is rebuilt.
I look forward to your prompt reply.
Regards
Alison Booth
PS Regarding the airbags
Should my family and I be unfortunate enough to be in a collision and the airbags do not deploy properly or as stated by the manager at Lookers Renault "the airbags will shatter the dog guard". If an injury of any sort is caused by the failure of the airbags or the dog guard shattering. I will hold Renault and Renault Lookers solely responsible
Important, please be aware that:
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Total Respect: +1
Andy R
on 25th Aug 2005
ozz on 10th Jan 2007
philstar10
on 11th Jul 2008