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2200 miles and its going into the dealership already!



Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
update on this, car went back into dealership. bonnet now fits, exhaust still blows, car still pulls all over the road, car is extremely dangerous under hard braking, lurches massively to the left snatching the wheel from your hand, passengers side disc has a big lip on both sides, drivers is like new.

their basic tracking machine cant find any fault with the suspension geometry even tho the specialist found massive issues, its going back into the specialist now for another check over since they recon they have fixed it now. even though they clearly havnt.

normal driving around town or under 70mph the car drives pretty well. so arnold clark are telling me their is no issues and i shouldnt be going above 70mph or doing extreme braking so they cant see what the issue is.

got a test drive in a golf GTD this weekend, if i like it, bye bye renault!!
 

imprezaworks

ClioSport Club Member
  Mk5 Golf GTI :)
What an absolute pain mate, it would put me off buying another tbh and even if they sorted the issues i would stiil have niggling doubts about the car. Hope you sort it though.
 
normal driving around town or under 70mph the car drives pretty well. so arnold clark are telling me their is no issues and i shouldnt be going above 70mph or doing extreme braking so they cant see what the issue is.

FLOL @ this. Reminds me of the time the service manager told me the problem was caused because I was revving it past 2.5k. He then told RUK that I drive it like it's an F1 car. Asshat.
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
What an absolute pain mate, it would put me off buying another tbh and even if they sorted the issues i would stiil have niggling doubts about the car. Hope you sort it though.

yeah it has mate, im that sick of cars after it i just want another diesel to nip about in, really like the megane coupe dci160 but im not buying another renault, and im definately not buying another car from arnold clark!

family business is now doing the same moving away from renault and arnold clark after 15yrs of arnold and 10yrs of renault.
 

Christopher

ClioSport Club Member
  Z4M
Iffy.

You couldn't pick a more dull car than the GTD (had one as a rental car in Spain), but then as long as it works I bet you're not that bothered. lol.
 
shocking its still not right

have you looked much into maps on the 170cr :cool:

as much as i quite fancy a gtd id be more inclined to go for a octavia vrs change left for mods

or the new ibiza fr with the 2.0 143bhp tdi(185 - 190hp and 315 - 320lbs/ft) :D
 
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shocking its still not right

have you looked much into maps on the 170cr :cool:

as much as i quite fancy a gtd id be more inclined to go for a octavia vrs change left for mods

or the new ibiza fr with the 2.0 143bhp tdi(185 - 190hp and 315 - 320lbs/ft) :D


Wouldn't bother with a map on the CR170's tbh.
 
  320d
Its a shame its gone so sour. I don't think you were ever going to like it anyway because its not a diesel but these problems really can't of helped.
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
Its a shame its gone so sour. I don't think you were ever going to like it anyway because its not a diesel but these problems really can't of helped.

i love the car mate, or should i say i love the clio 200 just not this one. its going back in on friday for one final attempt at getting put right, however if its not sorted by monday morning then they can refund/replace or reposess i dont care, what ever happens it wont be coming back to me!
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
Update:

so a brief bit of a recap, Car goes in for new engine, full subframe removed to do this, car comes back pulling all over road, i choose to take it to suspension geometry specialist to have it rectified 100% at my cost as i take all my cars there and was planning a trip anway, puts car on machine and finds out N/S side of the subframe is 7mm closer to the rear of the car than the O/S is. so doesnt touch it as its arnold clarks issue.

car goes back into arnold clark to be rectified, me and service manager have a bit of a discussion as he says there cant be 7mm of movement in the subframe, i say their must be as there is clearly 7mm somewhere!! he agrees to strip it down and investigate it/rectify it.

1 week after coming back in i get the car back, they say the alignment has been re done and cured the problem and they couldnt find any movement in the subframe., car is driving a bit better but still not 100% so i take it back to my suspension specialist.

Car goes on the lazer machine, still 7mm out, by this point im loosing the plot ready to burn the car when john @ Progrip asks if i want him to loosen the subframe and see if he can find movement, i agree to this and he starts loosening it, as he loosens the N/S bolts the full subframe suddenly jumps forward as it was under that much strain, he loosens the other side and it jumps back.

Tightens up all bolts again, re checks alignment, now sitting spot on.


so my car was in for 5 days last week to have what i had explained and the alignment report explained was a squint subframe, yet they didnt even bother to loosen it.....
 

is1

  Integra Type R DC2
But they have lots of shiny cars and desks and posters and (possibly) a pretty girl on the front desk ..
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
they sure do, however im not sure arnolds customer services department are going to appreciate the letter im sending attached with the sales invoices of over £150,000 worth of cars we have bought from them for our family business in the last 10 years from this dealership which will now be being purchased from elsewhere lol!
 
yeah it has mate, im that sick of cars after it i just want another diesel to nip about in, really like the megane coupe dci160 but im not buying another renault, and im definately not buying another car from arnold clark!

family business is now doing the same moving away from renault and arnold clark after 15yrs of arnold and 10yrs of renault.

I have the Megane Coupe dCi 110. Not had any issues what so ever with it, quite torquey for the size of engine but I can see why you have been put off Renault, what a nightmare! Hope things improve for you mate
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
warranty isnt worth it when it causes this much hastle, considering taking a week off work and ripping it apart, putting an F4RT in it and building it back together properly myself!! LOL!
 
  350z, Subaru Legacy
How long have you had it.

If less than 6 months, insists on a full return and refund.

This.

Catastrophic failure simply isn't good enough. Once repaired you will probably always question whether or not it is 'right'.
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
yep ive rejected the car to the dealership demanding a full refund.

phoned arnold clark customer services to make them aware of the issue - a complaints manager is contacting me today along with (apparently!) the dealership manager
RCI finance are aware and a case manager is ment to be contacting me today although i dont see this happening if past experiance with them is anything to go by.

RCI finance told me refund/replacement isnt an option until i pay them £190 to have the car independently inspected. i told them thats fine im canceling the payments on it, come get it, ill see you in court to claim back what ive already paid. so thats why its now been passed onto a case manager.
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
as per my post on the official renaultsport forum...

further update from the dealership today.


they cant find an issue with the brakes, if its pulling to the left then its a characteristic of the car (i find it hard to beleive the motoring press havn't noticed the fact that when you use the brembos it pulls so sharply to the left the ESP comes in?)
as for the subframe being squint, their wheel alignment machine is showing my car is fine so as far as they are concerned this is not an issue and the suspension specialist im using to have it double checked is wrong (this is the same specialist arnold clark renault stirling send Clio V6's to be setup as they cant do it)

service manager was rude and told me there is nothing they can do for me from here, i said thats fine put me onto the general manager, he then responded "im not sure if hes in today - ive not saw him about"

overall a complete disgrace, im currently persuing it as high as i possibly can with arnold clark customer services.
 

yeecup

ClioSport Club Member
  mk8Fiesta ST,172 cup
Have u lodged a complaint with the finance company with your issues?
 

R-Sport.

ClioSport Club Member
  Mint 1*2's for sale-
Just keep refusing to take it back- you will get there in the end...

Best of luck

Steve
 

Advikaz

ClioSport Club Member
as per my post on the official renaultsport forum...

further update from the dealership today.


they cant find an issue with the brakes, if its pulling to the left then its a characteristic of the car (i find it hard to beleive the motoring press havn't noticed the fact that when you use the brembos it pulls so sharply to the left the ESP comes in?)
as for the subframe being squint, their wheel alignment machine is showing my car is fine so as far as they are concerned this is not an issue and the suspension specialist im using to have it double checked is wrong (this is the same specialist arnold clark renault stirling send Clio V6's to be setup as they cant do it)

service manager was rude and told me there is nothing they can do for me from here, i said thats fine put me onto the general manager, he then responded "im not sure if hes in today - ive not saw him about"

overall a complete disgrace, im currently persuing it as high as i possibly can with arnold clark customer services.

I imagine they're checking the alignement via lazers.. This can be an issue because lazers only show alignment issues from point to point I.E the wheels & tend not to show any underlieing issues elsewhere, sounds as if the problem is further in by what you've said. We used to track our Karts & race cars with Lazers until we learned this then we went back to the trusty old fassioned string way.

This is discraceful tho chap hope you get it sorted, typical dealers, getting the money and running.

As above I'd refuse to take the vehicle back, it's a brand new car FFS go down the "not fit for purpose" route.

All the best tho pal.
 
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  BMW 330D
Just read through this mate I couldn't be more disgusted in that dealership, that service manager and the general manager shouldn't still be in their jobs.
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
got a meeting with the general manager on friday morning @ 10am after i told him i was being forced to go down the legal route with this car as it was not fit for the purpose in which i intend to use it!

so far today the general manager couldnt have been any nicer.

service manager was a disgrace, i explained that when the subframe was loosened it was under that much tension it jumped forward back towards where it should be sitting and he replied "i cant see that as i removed the bolts myself and there was no movement in them"
 
Just read through this mate I couldn't be more disgusted in that dealership, that service manager and the general manager shouldn't still be in their jobs.

X2

And to OP, hope your meeting goes well Friday, I personally would lack confidence in driving the car how it was intended after continuous problems and lies, good job your independant guy sounds to have been great!
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
being honest i dont think im going to get anything out them, the legal route looks long winded and expensive. been having problems now for 3 months and its getting to the point where if i dont get anywhere with them after this meeting then i think im forced to trade it in for something else. its a shame as i love Clio 200's and id take another no problem but if im trading in and loosing a fortune then it certainly wont be for another renault due to the lack of support by RUK with this issue.

ive spent over £30k in 16 months with this dealership on my 2 cars and our family business has bought around 10 clios/twingos from them in 10yrs plus 10yrs of servicing. None of us will set foot in the dealership again!
 
  RB FF 200 CUP
Hope things go well for you Martin - can't be nice driving a car you have no confidence in
Dissappointed with RUK's lack of support too
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
copy and paste from my post on renaultsport uk forum

well just had my meeting with the general manager, sales manager and service manager all in on it.
they still stand by the fact that there is no issue with my car, the miss aligned subframe isnt an issue as their alignment machine is showing the wheel alignment as corect even although it doesnt measure axel differences etc.

because the car drives ok on the road then as far as they are concerned its fine. the car is not a race car, it should not be on a race track, its not designed to be on a race track and warranty does not cover it on a race track, regardless of renaultsport UK organising the track day or not. the onboard lap timer is a "gimmick" and not a functional feature for using on track.

they are passing it onto renault technical to see if they want to take a look at the car but they are not sure if they will take it up due to the fact the car performs ok on the road under legal speeds, where it was designed to be used.
 


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