Mending cars....

[Spinney]

I bought a Renault Megane estate a couple of years ago, and it has just run out of warranty. It is a real Friday-afternoon car (and I stupidly did not consult reliability info on the website before choosing a Renault!). It has been in for repair under warranty at least 9 times since I got it - almost all minor things, but still...

Anyway, it is now showing a 'check injection' warning (which I suspect is a sensor problem as the mpg is not affected). So now I am wondering whether to cut my losses and trade it in for a new car (NOT a Renault) before the value of this car goes down any further (due to age/mileage), to just lump it (although I have no confidence that it won't continue to display mostly minor but annoying problems), or perhaps to pay for a warranty.

There is a firm on-line who would charge around £300 a year for repairing all future breakdowns/faults (other than normal service items). I was wondering if anyone had any experience of this kind of warranty. At the moment, I think the warranty would be cheaper than the repairs I am likely to need, although as the car gets older I guess the price of the warranty might go up.

 

[fossyant]

Disconnect the battery for a while - like 10-20 minutes, and see if that clears it....if it doesn't, and remains on for a number of 'drives' then there is a problem. Issues usually clear after a set number of 'drives' without the fault re-registering.

Otherwise - well extended warrenties are usually a rip off - probably better off saving the money for repairs, and finding a good local garage.

 

[Panter]

I would chop it in for a German car, even an older one, personally.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Don't know about the warranty but Mrs 3BM had one of those Renault Migrains years ago. 'Friday-Afternoon' is a standard model - we flogged ours in the end as it was such a liability. Hope you get it sorted out ok.

 

[Spinney]

Disconnect the battery for a while - like 10-20 minutes, and see if that clears it....if it doesn't, and remains on for a number of 'drives' then there is a problem. Issues usually clear after a set number of 'drives' without the fault re-registering.

Otherwise - well extended warrenties are usually a rip off - probably better off saving the money for repairs, and finding a good local garage.

It has been an intermittent problem for about a week - so I will definitely not rush into getting it 'fixed' esp. as the local Renault Dealers (must not start another rant) supposedly fixed a 'check ignition' problem earlier this year.

 

[Spinney]

And if I do decide to flog it, I'm thinking of a Skoda Octavia estate - any warnings about that while I'm polluting this forum with talk of cars!

 

[Panter]

No, no warnings, superb cars

 

[Mr Pig]

I would get rid of the frog-mobile pronto and buy a Japanese car like a Mazda or Honda. If I typed out the stories I know about people who've had problems with French cars I'd be here for hours. They are heaps of crap.

I know a few people with Skoda cars and they seem pretty solid. Not very exiting but well built and take the miles well. Don't know what parts prices are like but I wouldn't think they'd be above average, don't know though.

 

[Spinney]

I need an estate for the amount of stuff I take on holidays (including bikes!), roof rails for carting the kayaks around...and the point about the Skoda is that it is a lot cheaper than the equivalent Japanese models!

 

[tyred]

Get rid of it ASAP. Renault are probably the worst cars you could own. Fall apart suspension components, poor quality wiring, fragile gearboxes and a nightmare to work on. They are a poor long term prospect.

Buy German (or Czech!) I know I drive an old Peugeot myself but the 205 was very simple with little to go wrong and cheap and easy to fix myself if it does. Modern French cars are a mechanics nightmare.

 

[Norm]

To put the other side of the story, we've had a lot of Migraines over the years, and loved them all. I think we've had the whole range, two hatches, an estate, a Scenic (which is now 10 years old, happy birthday for last month) and two CCs, we even had a 225 for a while.

You need to look carefully at the reliability surveys, a small difference can move a car up a lot of places. Even supposedly "bad" cars score 75%, which means that three out of four owners are perfectly happy. Manufacturers like Honda, Toyota and Skoda are up at 90%, though, but that means "only" 15% of Renaults are likely to be more duff than Hondas.

Worst car I've ever had was a 2008 Toyota Auris. Design was shite, much of the interior seemed to have been put together by someone who really didn't like cars very much. I'd take the risk of a dodgy car over the guarantee of something unusable.

Anyway, back on topic, the AA have a warranty scheme as well, which costs a lot less than £300. Obviously, check the small print to compare the relative benefits.

 

[mad al]

We've got a PT Cruiser and a Rover 416Si. The Rover @ £225 in a local farm sale, cost about 10% of what we bought the PT for and guess what, it knocks spots off the PT, in just about all areas.

The PT was fine up until April of this year when I decided to ask a pal ( 1st class mechanic) to check out why the ABS light was on continually, fit a new cam belt and do what ever was necessary ready for the MOT

That was seven months ago and the car is still off the road, shed loads of electrical faults and more than a few mechanical issues and to get parts for the beast and Chryslers??????

They are generally a heap of crap in my opinion, but the Mrs loves 'em

 

[thomas]

Otherwise - well extended warrenties are usually a rip off - probably better off saving the money for repairs, and finding a good local garage.

It depends what they cover. Certainly, if you have a larger part of the car go they can be good!

 

[Mr Pig]

That was seven months ago and the car is still off the road, shed loads of electrical faults and more than a few mechanical issues

Guy at work had a Chrysler voyager, same story. Electrics were a nightmare and it had numerous recurring mechanical problems. Terribe car.

Obviously not all Renaults are bad, the odd one does work ok! ;0) But honestly, it's a risk. There are a lot of duffers and if you do have problems the after sales tends to be crap as well.

If you talk to people who buy them the conversations tends to go something like this: "Yeah, I know they're not the best but I looked at Hondas and they are quite dear. I went to the Renault garage and the guy gave me a good trade-in price and a good deal on the new car so I went for it"

It's not complicated, they can sell the cars cheap because they are cheap! You get what you pay for, if you're lucky. I'd buy a used Honda over a new Renault any day.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I'd spend about £300 on one of those big square Volvo 240s, and be prepared to spend about the same again on it (or just run it as it is). An invincible (albeit thirsty) car for well under £1000.