Argh! My 200 f***** by the wind!

MarkCup · Apr 16, 2012

Opened the drivers door, a huge gust of wind gets hold of it, I grabbed the handle...but with no leverage it got ripped out of my hand and then the door proceeded to try and meet the front wing

Door closes and locks OK, but needs pressure to close it properly. Doesn't seat as it should around the top of the door, and the leading edge of the door now catches on the trailing edge of the front wing whenever it's opened or closed.

Looking at where the hinges are mounted on the body, looks like the mounting area may have been deformed/bent outwards a little.

Anyone ever had this sort of problem?

I'm guessing a simple undoing/redoing of the bolts wont cure it. Bodyshop required to work on the mounting points?

Insurance job?

Silent_Scone · Apr 16, 2012

Unlucky fella, I doubt your insurer would cover it really, although I could be wrong. If you know anyone with a body shop it's your best bet really. Wouldn't take long to sort

(I'd still call your insurer first though)

Aydon182 · Apr 16, 2012

Gotta love French cars

Matt Cup · Apr 16, 2012

Happened to my mums 197, birchdown managed to adjust it in about 20 mins, hope yours isn't too serious.

dudes45 · Apr 16, 2012

Aydon182 said:
Gotta love French cars

+1

Scrooge · Apr 16, 2012

Aydon182 said:
Gotta love French cars

What is being French go to do with it, the wind caught hold of it and Mark didn't catch it in time.

Bad luck mate, hopefully it won't cost too much!

theduck · Apr 16, 2012

Saw a 197 at BTM the exact same thing had happened to it. Id be gutted if it happened to me.

MarkCup · Apr 16, 2012

Scrooge said:
What is being French go to do with it...

The French bit is due to them putting a door grab handle so close to the door hinge that it's of little or no use.

Have struggled with it in the past...I just didn't expect it to get ripped away so violently.

My own fault really despite the unique Frenchness!

Daz_RT_04 · Apr 16, 2012

Take it back to Renault (if under warranty) and play dumb?!

Deny anything other than suspect build quality lol

Renault Wolverhampton · Apr 16, 2012

check straps part of bottom hinge

Rob · Apr 16, 2012

Daz_RT_04 said:
Take it back to Renault (if under warranty) and play dumb?!

Deny anything other than suspect build quality lol

TBH I'd go with this.

"Hi there, my passenger door is really hard to close"

Revels · Apr 16, 2012

Daz_RT_04 said:
Take it back to Renault (if under warranty) and play dumb?!

Deny anything other than suspect build quality lol

A shameful plus one for that TBH.

MarkCup · Apr 16, 2012

I like that thought...can't see it doing anything other than failing hard though.

Car's done 24k miles now...not likely it's been doing it since it left the factory. Worth a try though maybe.

Will get Rentech to cast an eye over it this weekend, see what options I have.

Revels · Apr 16, 2012

Is there anything else wrong with it?

Take it in for service/warranty.

When you get it back, that's when the door problem has developed.

.Adam. · Apr 16, 2012

Surely they'd fairly quickly be able to suss out that something was wrong and it wasn't just a case of "my door won't shut properly"?

Silent_Scone · Apr 16, 2012

Lol, Renault will get out of anything they can, that includes s**t they've done themselves let alone someone elses handy work.

You can't con a con-man. That said as above what do you have to lose

LOL

theduck · Apr 16, 2012

Tbh couldn't you claim it as a design fault as the door shouldn't open far enough to contact the body work?

Ollie82. · Apr 16, 2012

Mark, if the door is catching the front wing then it'll have definitely shunted the hinges forward a fraction. The clearance between the two is tight at the best of times. Try loosening the bolts and shimmy the door back. That'll prob help cure the issue at t'other end as well.

Worse case scenario is that its bent the hinges/check strap.

Kane. · Apr 16, 2012

This happened to me in my Clio, luckily (or unluckily) the door hit a lamp post instead lol.

Unlucky though, must be gutted.

Matthew · Apr 16, 2012

Do not call your insurers!

It will register a black mark against your name even if you dont claim...

Kneel · Apr 16, 2012

look on the brightside, when this happened to me in mk mk2 the door wrapped itself round and creased the door skin

ColinG · Apr 16, 2012

I could never understand why the 200 doesn't have a door grab in the door card like the mk2's

I always feel in mum and dads 200 that the handle used to shut the door is too far forwards and very flimsy!

Darren S · Apr 16, 2012

Aw m8 - I feel your pain. I had EXACTLY the same thing with a passenger in my Punto GT - less than one week into ownership of it too.

The wind caught the door and thankfully there wasn't another car at the side or else it would have given it a proper wallop. Instead, it went right back on its hinges, creasing the passenger door and removing the paint from its leading edge. It cost £320 to put right - but that was back in '98.

Insurance should cover that. But you'll be bummed on premiums for years afterwards....

D.

rich-6 · Apr 16, 2012

I suspect it'l have pulled the door where the hinge bolts on, I'd find it hard to believe it'l have pulled the Apost as its a structural part of the shell

Gaz_ · Apr 16, 2012

Darren S said:
Aw m8 - I feel your pain. I had EXACTLY the same thing with a passenger in my Punto GT - less than one week into ownership of it too.

The wind caught the door and thankfully there wasn't another car at the side or else it would have given it a proper wallop. Instead, it went right back on its hinges, creasing the passenger door and removing the paint from its leading edge. It cost £320 to put right - but that was back in '98.

Insurance should cover that. But you'll be bummed on premiums for years afterwards....

D.

I was thinking the exact same thing, MK1 Spiritos were renowned for it!

Anyway bit of a shitter, should have got a Cup, they have handles in proper positions

tw0hats · Apr 16, 2012

Had similar in my 197, parked on top level of a car park (open air). Lucky for me it got stopped by a concrete pillar that creased the whole door instead :dapprove: Had it less than a year. Booked the car in to be fixed and a couple of days before it was due to go in someone drove in to the same side and finished it off good and proper! :dead:

Martin_172 · Apr 16, 2012

ive had a few close calls with this, My GT DCi went in to get fixed under warranty after my dad managed to pull the door handle off the doorcard lol its far to close to the hinges

Brett · Apr 16, 2012

Bad luck Mark. The wind got hold of my 182's door last month but it hit a wooden fence instead so it was ok.

Hopefully it will be a pretty simple fix.

Ricardos · Apr 16, 2012

Matthew. said:
Do not call your insurers!

It will register a black mark against your name even if you dont claim...

Yep, this was on Watchdog a while back. An enquiry about a potential claim with your insurance company can go against you....

Chili Red · Apr 16, 2012

Very unlucky, I'm sure we've all had similar happen. Hope it doesn't cost much to get it sorted.

MikeoftheQuays · Apr 17, 2012

Ricardos said:
Yep, this was on Watchdog a while back. An enquiry about a potential claim with your insurance company can go against you....

Really? My God, they really are complete b******s aren't they!

Christopher · Apr 17, 2012

I'd be tempted to mention it at the next service or even pop in to Renault and play the stupid card.

I know it's not exactly best practice, but it's one of two options. The second is reaching into your own pocket and paying a bodyshop.

It can't hurt, right? And to be fair, the door grabs are in a retarded position! lol.

Silent_Scone · Apr 17, 2012

If its not damaged the paint you'd get charged minimal to sort the door out tbh

The Boosh! · Apr 17, 2012

Mark my 182 has exactly the same problem currently.

I was setting up for FCS last year at rockingham. Parked the car, opened the door and all of a sudden a warp speed 5 wind got a hold of the door and ripped it out my hand.

Doesn't close properly at all now and I daren't take the door to pieces to try and fix it.

Gally · Apr 17, 2012

Any crease on the leading edge of the door? Good chance the A post and hinges will be damaged, especially with the door not lining up at the top, hing position could be in.

Insurance would 100% pay for it just so you know.

The Boosh! · Apr 17, 2012

In my case I don't think the hinges have moved because i've compared them angle wise with the OK door. I've not got a clue why it won't line up.

Christopher · Apr 17, 2012

It's more likely to be the structure that's deformed, rather than the hinge itself.

A small deformation at the pivot point would make a fairly big difference at the leading edges of the door.

JCC · Apr 17, 2012

The only advantage of buying a Cup over a normal 200, the grab handle is attached to the upholstered part of the door, MK2 style.

MarkCup · Apr 17, 2012

JCC said:
The only advantage of buying a Cup over a normal 200, the grab handle is attached to the upholstered part of the door, MK2 style.

Really?

Pics? Retro fit to a non-Cup possible?

JCC · Apr 17, 2012

MarkCup said:
Really?

Pics? Retro fit to a non-Cup possible?

Indeed:

The lower spec level Non-RS models have them too. Main problem you'd run into swapping them over is there would be nowhere for the electric mirror button to go.

Argh! My 200 f***** by the wind!

Formerly Mashed up egg in a cup

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