Renault breakdown nightmare
Today I am going to go slightly off the usual topic of Renault key cards, although as usual it is going to be connected to the subject in one way or another. I am sure that any owner of a secondhand car will understand my struggles.
As you can imagine daily our teams make long distance journeys to assist our customers and having a reliable and working car is essential. On Friday last week one of our teams had broken a record. They have travelled a total of 350 miles assisting 8 customers. On their way to the last booking their Renault Megane gave up. Clutch stopped working while they were travelling on the M5. Thankfully nothing happened to the team and they were able to stop safely. Then the ordeal of calling for the roadside assistance begun. To cut the long story short it turned out that it wasn’t the clutch itself but a clutch master cylinder. The gentleman from the roadside recovery was able to fix it on the side of the road to allow the team to go back to their home, however the repair had to be done straight afterwards.
At that point clutch master cylinder didn’t seem like a big deal. There were two options to choose from – repair or buy a new part. I have decided on buying a new part as I wanted to be sure that the car will be safe to drive. That’s when the horror begun. Throughout the week I have visited nearly thirty garages and God only knows how many parts shops. I was calling around and trying to obtain the part, no one could help me. The only answer I was getting was – you need to go to the main dealer to have the part ordered. I was not very happy with this solution as being in a business I am fully aware on how Renault dealers overcharge customers for parts and labor. Out of curiosity I have decide to call around and find out about the prices. I was shocked to say the least. The best quote I have received was £265.38 plus VAT and 3 working days wait. Just to amuse you I had quotes exceeding £500 and ten working days wait. My frustration was growing with the number of calls made and one team was unable to work because the car was unusable.
I was close to giving up and ordering the broken part with Renault when one of my colleagues told me about a polish workshop near Newport. Apparently, it was an old school garage and the guys working there believed in repairing rather than replacing parts. I was hesitant at first as I prefer using well known garages just in case. On the other hand, I was so desperate that I have decided to have a chat with them and see what they can do to fix my problem. I must admit I was very impressed with their skills and knowledge from the very first moments I have stepped my foot in their garage. Without even making phone calls the guys knew that the part needed is on the back order and few days of wait would be unavoidable. I have asked if they can repair the part. The answer was yes, no problem! Finally! The answer I was waiting for. I have called the guys and asked them to bring the car over to the garage. Around 2 hours later our Megane was back on the road and ready for action! How much was it you will probably ask… £35 total… beat that Renault!
