Megane 2010 cambelt failure 35K Miles

[bandito22]

Hi,

 

My 2010 Renault Megane decided to stop on the way to work this morning.

 

Recovery vehicle took it to a garage and diagnosed a cam-belt failure / rebuild costing minimum £1500.

Having looked around on various motoring sites some people suggest this will have damaged the engine and require potentially, a whole new one at £4000+

 

I have full Renault service history and got them to do a 40 point check before the warranty expired in March of this year. I was told everything was fine.

 

So my question is... Where do I stand legally on this as I know Renault will say 'Sorry, out of warranty'.

 

I have never been entirely happy with the car and taken it back a few times to get them to take a look but always been told it's fine.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Thanks.

[citizenkain]

you should go to renault first,if you have had all your services done there they owe you a bit of brand loyalty for sticking with them,contact their head office in the uk if you dont get any joy with your local garage,they might not pay the whole lot but hopefully they should pay a percentage

[dx100uk]

what is the recommended mileage to change it?

 

ideally you should contact the dealer that sold it.

 

outside of warranty is nothing to do with this

its extra to your rights under

soga or the selling of goods act anyhow

 

unless you've passed the change date?

 

and the car was new on purchase

then you should be ok.

 

dx

[oddjobbob]

Good point from DX, its not just mileage its TIME as well. If the recommended change date is 3 years / 60,000 miles then youre within the 3 years.

 

But a contribution from Renault is in order whatever the time, it shouldn't go at 35k

[bandito22]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Recommended change is 70K miles and/or 5 years.

[dr fox]

Friend of mine had a Golf Tdi and the turbo had packed in. The dealer didn't want to play ball so he wrote a complaint letter directly to VW and they had a new turbo fitted.

 

Best of luck

[raydetinu]

Agree, keep on at Renault;

The Renault garage where it was regularly serviced should assist in claim.

Service book must be 100% Renault stamped and up to date for them to help though.

Citroen paid 75% to replace heater matrix after 4 years use and garage paid other 25% as good will, as 100% service by Citroen. All handled by garage I did not have to do anything.

[Conniff]

Renault UK - [email protected]

[bandito22]

So, here's the outcome.....

 

When I spoke to Renault Customer Service they corrected my assumptions for cam-belt change and said it should run for 90K or 6 Years!!

 

They said as the warranty had expired anything they agreed to do would be just a goodwill gesture.

I briefly mentioned the Sales of Goods Act and how that would apply to this case and that I expect Renault to cover ALL of the cost of any repair.

 

Anyway, they asked me to get it to the local Renault garage for inspection. The garage confirmed the cam-belt failure to RCS.

 

To my utter amazement, RCS did not even contact me to discuss my options, they have simply instructed the garage to replace the entire engine at ZERO cost to me, and have also organised a courtesy car for the week while it gets replaced.

 

That's over and above what I was expecting and excellent customer service.

 

Thanks for all your advice.

Edited October 11, 2013 by bandito22

[raydetinu]

:-)There you go, well done!

[Conniff]

I bet someone gets the sack over that.

[citizenkain]

Thats great,nice to see a company supporting brand loyalty and standing by their product,very rare in this world!,well done Renault!

[dx100uk]

well done

 

dx

[dr fox]

Yep, well done to Renault........and I bet your glad

 

Well done

[bandito22]

Yep, restored my faith that some companies still offer proper customer service!

[noddy997]

Yep, restored my faith that some companies still offer proper customer service!

 

 

That's great news mate.

 

They could have been awkard about it but as the car is 3 years old and stil running on its first belt which snapped - is no fault of your own.

 

 

And cam belts for modern cars are recommended upto 80-100k!

[AlanJames78]

I appreciate this is old but I had heard a rumour of an issue and I found a link to the DVSA for Non Code Action Bulletins, basically faults that don't necessitate a full recall. I suspect your car fell within it I've posted this in case anyone else googles the issue. I can't post the link annoyingly but it is code NCA/2014/010, this is the entry in the 1/1/14 to 30/06/14 bulleting: NCA/2014/010 Renault - Clio III, modus, Kangoo II, Megane III, Scenic III, Langua III 01/09/2009 ~ 30/06/2010 VF1BT0A0642242712 ~ VF1J22B0D43787470 There is a risk that the Timing belt may snap prematurely and cause damage to the engine. This is due to a misalignment of the fuel pump which may cause the belt to rub against other components. The remedy is to re position the fuel pump as outlined in Renault's procedures.