Caution-Do you own a Renault Clio ??

[Vlad_Dracul]

I expct some of you may have heard of an issue with certain models of Renault Clio. It is a regular feature on BBC Watchdog. Apparently there have been a number of incidents of bonnets flipping open when the car is in motion leading to some nasty accidents and damage to the car.
As it happens my partner has a Renault Clio. Its only four years old. I examined it recently and took some photos. When i operated the bonnet release I am fairly certain that the secondary catch wasnt operating and the bonnet could be opened. A closure insection revealed a lack of lubrication. Renault are saying that the problem is due to lack of maintenance. Althuogh the mechanisms are a bit lightweight and couldnt possibly be compared with that found on my VW Golf, i would tend to agree that if they are maintained and lubed properly then they will do their job properly. If you own a Clio,you would be well advised to check yours now or have it checked if your not sure!

see
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dooper786/clio.htm

[mr_bo]

This makes my blood boil when I see it on Watchdog becuse it is ultimately down to the owner of the vehicle to keep their vehicle maintained, not a manufacturing fault.
I have worked in a Renault dealership and seen loads of examples of poorly maintained Clios with this fault that is easily rectified by having your car serviced.
Besides, I wouldn't own a French car ever.

[Xaccers]

Wasn't there something similar with Xantia handbrakes?
The cause was drivers not applying it enough.
The fix was for the garage to grind off the first 3 teeth of the handbrake lever.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by mr_bo

This makes my blood boil when I see it on Watchdog becuse it is ultimately down to the owner of the vehicle to keep their vehicle maintained, not a manufacturing fault.
I have worked in a Renault dealership and seen loads of examples of poorly maintained Clios with this fault that is easily rectified by having your car serviced.
Besides, I wouldn't own a French car ever.

So why is affecting Clios (of a certain age) and no other Renault in the range? And why are there no specific maintainance procedures to avoid such a problem printed in the manual?

[Graham M]

WD40 ftw!

[mr_bo]

Originally Posted by andygrif

So why is affecting Clios (of a certain age) and no other Renault in the range?

What difference does that make? it is solely due to an unserviced mechanical item. All door/bonnet/tailgate catches should be serviced on all cars.

Originally Posted by andygrif

And why are there no specific maintainance procedures to avoid such a problem printed in the manual?

Aren't there? Can't comment as I have never read a Clio manual tbh but how about paying a garage to service your car like they are meant to for a specific maintenance procedure, just like paying a sparky to wire up your house or get your boiler serviced by someone Corgi reg, only thing is you have to do that but you can do a diy service on your car by reading the manual.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by mr_bo

Aren't there? Can't comment as I have never read a Clio manual tbh but how about paying a garage to service your car like they are meant to for a specific maintenance procedure, just like paying a sparky to wire up your house or get your boiler serviced by someone Corgi reg, only thing is you have to do that but you can do a diy service on your car by reading the manual.

In fairness though, you don't tend to hear about boilers flipping up at 80 miles an hour

[mr_bo]

Originally Posted by Nugget

In fairness though, you don't tend to hear about boilers flipping up at 80 miles an hour

Depends if it is on a Clio bonnet
Seriously though, that is half the point I'm trying to make here regarding diy servicing and how serious it could be if not done properly - just like your boiler serviced by someone not corgi reg, you are running a certain degree of risk and breaking the law.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by mr_bo

What difference does that make? it is solely due to an unserviced mechanical item. All door/bonnet/tailgate catches should be serviced on all cars.

I think you're making the point for yourself. It is and unserviced item, even when you have a service done by a main dealer.

Originally Posted by mr_bo

Aren't there? Can't comment as I have never read a Clio manual tbh but how about paying a garage to service your car like they are meant to for a specific maintenance procedure

It's been on Watchdog, something you criticised earlier, for several sucessive weeks now. There is nothing in the manual about routine maintainance of the catch in the manual and renault are still advising customers that there is no problem, despite hundreds of instances of the problem being reported.

So in this instance, although you might not like Watchdog reporting the fact, in fact it has been quite a useful public service making people aware of something that Renault did not.

[bob_a_builder]

but how about paying a garage to service your car like they are meant to for a specific maintenance procedure

Oh come on, its difficult enough to get garage bods to look at items you request, let alone the book stuff when they are incentivised to beat the 'book' time to achive their bonus

Watchdog confirmed that there was no reference whatsoever to maintenance/checking of this item in the user manual

The statistics of this issue (1000+ problems, only specifc age range Clios, plus later models have a redesigned catch) clearly point to a specific design issue with this model

Renault doing their brand image/reputation no favors by sticking their head in the sand

[keithwalton]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Wasn't there something similar with Xantia handbrakes?
The cause was drivers not applying it enough.
The fix was for the garage to grind off the first 3 teeth of the handbrake lever.

It wasn't entirely the drivers fault more of a design fault of the car.

The handbrake on the xantia operates the front brakes. Which if you brake aggresively shortly before you park up they will be quite hot.
If you then park on a hill the hand brake will bite and hold the car at quite a low setting.
The problem was you would go away for a while and come back to find your car at the bottom of the hill / into anything that was in its way.

This was because as the discs cooled down (being vented doesnt help matters) they shrunk slightly, just enough to release some hand brake pressure and enough for the 1.3 tonnes that is a xantia to pull itself down the hill.

The solution is to allways leave it in gear on a hill, and really pull the handbrake on as hard as you can.

[Xaccers]

Took the keys for my old house back to the letting agency yesterday, just as the agent turned up (really nice woman).
She mainly walks everywhere so her old megane wouldn't start (flat battery), and my girlfriend and I gave her a jump start.
The locking mechanism on her bonnet was rusted so wasn't staying shut.
Very dry, no sign of grease at all (my older Cits have still got grease on theirs!).
So it's not just Clio's, and probably not just Renaults.
Perhaps everyone should check their cars just to make sure there's plenty of grease on the bonnet lock?

[altis]

Thanks dooper for the heads-up about the bonnet catch. Mrs A has a 52-reg Clio van provided for her by work. Originally, it was pretty cheap to buy but in just over four years it's had: a new aircon radiator, a new wheel bearing, a new starter, a new alternator, a new wiring loom (£1000!) and two new clutches. And all this despite being serviced regularly at an authorized Renault dealer. I doubt very much that she'll be given a Renault next time!

[Osem]

For some reason the word 'caution' and the name 'Renault' have always been strongly associated in my mind......