Breedon said:
That's what the young girl in the office said the other day when I said that to her! She's got Renault Twingo that's given her monstrous grief. It kept dying, wouldn't start or do anything, and the dealer kept telling her it was now fixed. After a year she'd had enough and demanded her money back. The dealer refused but she wouldn't take the car back so it's been parked at the dealer's for about two months while this dispute carries on.
She's having to borrow cars top get to work and is still having to pay for the non-working Renault parked at the dealer's. It's real shame, her first car and it's been a nightmare.
A family at church came out after the service to find their Renault people carrier would not start. The latest of many incidents. Last year a guy at work went out to his Laguna to find that most of the dashboard wouldn't light up! Car started and drove ok so he took it to the dealer who said "Yeah, they can sometimes do that when it's cold"!! It wasn't that cold. A few days later his son's Megane did exactly the same thing!
Folk next door had two Clios and the boys pal along the road also had one. All three developed the same starting problem, reluctant to start then a puff of big smoke when they did fire up. By the time the car had driven to the dealers though it was fine so dealer said there was nothing they could do. My neighbour left the car at the dealer's overnight so that they could see the problem. It had failed to start properly every day for two weeks yet dealer said that it started fine! They now drive Two Hondas and a Seat.
My bosses daughter came out of the shops to her Peugeot with her two kids and shopping to find it would not open. Central locking did not work and the key wouldn't open the door. Dealer had to lift it onto a lorry.
Used to be friendly with a guy who's family owned a Nisssan dealership. Turned out that they had previously been a Fiat dealership but got sick of having to fix their cars all the time. They would often have to repair brand new cars before they could be sold. One car arrived without the rear tow hook and a new boot floor had to be welded in before the car could be sold. I asked if Renault buying Nissan had made any difference to reliability and he said "Yes, noticed it fairly quickly". Straight away Renault had substituted cheaper parts and changed suppliers and made the cars less reliable. They were now getting problems, with things like washer bottles, that had never ever given trouble before.
Mate of mine got a Fiat as his first company car, despite me urging him not to. Man the trouble he had with it! Electrics were hopeless, engine was so noisy they eventually changed it and the glove box kept falling open. It was a shambles.
All of these cars were bought brand new and the faults occurred within the first year or two. I'm sure they make the odd good car but I wouldn't risk it!
