Renault Problems

From the sounds of things, you need a vehicle that can accommodate the wheelchair as an actual seat in the car rather than having the chair folded and stored for the journey. With that in mind, a van or people-mover is by far the best best bet and the news is good, because there are plenty of choices. For a while there, people were converting Ford Falcon station-wagons for this task, but since the Falcon is no longer made, vans have become the new default vehicle to convert. Which makes plenty of sense.

There are specialist firms around that will carry out whatever conversion you require and tailor-make the ramps, lock-down points and grab-rails you need to make it work for you. Switched on companies will sit down with you and discuss your precise requirements and engineer something bespoke if necessary.

At the moment, the list of car choices is pretty long and includes the new Hyundai Staria, VW Caddy, LDV G10, VW Caravelle, Renault Kangoo, Renault Trafic, Hyundai iLoad, Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Toyota HiAce and, in case you need something really big, even the Toyota Coaster. Some of these companies are also registered as NDIS suppliers.

But don’t rule out a second-hand vehicle, either. There are websites around listing used wheelchair-accessible cars for sale. Some will be ex-taxis, but others can be relatively low-kilometre cars that might just have the exact layout you were looking for.

Conventional wisdom is that your should increase tyre pressures with increases in load and travelling speed. But in the Arkana’s case, the factory tyre pressure recommendation for either urban or freeway speeds remains at the 33 front and 31 rear psi you’ve noted on your tyre placard. Which suggests that the type of tyre Renault is using is happiest at those pressure regardless of average speed. Which, in turn, suggests that a load that varies only by a couple of passengers and a few pieces of luggage is likewise not going to affect the tyre’s performance.

A much better thing to concern yourself with is to keep a weekly eye on the tyre pressures. Tyres lose about one psi a month just sitting around, so keeping on top of that is very important in a safety sense. A tyre can be as low as about 12 psi before it will even look strange to the naked eye, so buy yourself a good quality tyre gauge and get into the habit of checking those pressures every weekend.

If there was a problem with the car that was logged with Renault while the vehicle was still covered by the factory warranty, then conventional wisdom says it’s Renault’s problem to put right. That’s what’s called a pre-existing fault and even though the car may now be out of warranty, if the problem was there before the warranty ran out, it’s still a warranty claim.

However, what would help your case no end would be independent proof that the problems you experienced in warranty were the same ones that ultimately caused the entire transmission to fail. Perhaps having the transmission inspected by a specialist would give you this information.

The issue will be that this transmission, in many cases, exhibited jerky performance even when it was brand-new. It’s likely Renault would point to this and tell you “they all do that,” suggesting that what you complained about back in warranty days was nothing to do with the failure. But you never know, Renault may wish to admit that this gearbox has known faults and flaws and look after you on the basis of customer care. Certainly, there are plenty of other Renault owners out there with similar stories to tell. Clutch-packs and the dual-mass flywheel have all been found to be wanting in this transmission.

A: The whole dual-clutch transmission in the Clio RS is made by Getrag, so I’m not sure what the Renault dealer you contacted is talking about. Perhaps the actual clutch plates are made by one of Getrag’s suppliers, but fundamentally, this was a Getrag designed and built transmission. Renault Australia did, indeed, slice the warranty on its Sport models from five to three years effective May 1, 2018, and I agree that that would have sent alarm bells ringing for existing owners of these cars.

What really sends shivers up the spine is that the six-speed DCT in the Clio Sport is closely related to the unit Ford used in its Fiestas and Focusses. And that transmission, known as the Powershift, was a total abomination, leaving Ford customers high and dry with broken gearboxes and Ford Australia with millions in fines and being labelled by the ACCC as conducting itself in an `unconscionable’ manner after Ford tried to blame owners for the failures. Eventually, Ford Australia was forced to offer owners of these vehicles a very sweet trade-in deal on the new model Focus and Fiesta, effectively buying back the appalling DCT-equipped models.

One of the major causes of transmission failure was the dry-clutch engineering which saw the clutch-packs wear very prematurely. Renault Clio Sport transmission failures don’t seem as common as those in the similarly equipped Fords, but that’s possibly a simple matter of there being so few Clio Sports on the road here. Perhaps the Renault version of the transmission is built to a different level of quality and materials (the same transmission is built in factories in different parts of the world, so that’s possible) but we’d potentially be doing you a disservice by not highlighting the problems with this transmission. Some owners have reported trouble-free runs, but others have experienced gearbox faults and failures at low kilometres. It does seem a bit of a lucky-dip. For the record, Getrag’s wet-clutch seven-speed transmission was a markedly better unit, but that’s not what’s fitted to the car in question.

If you do go through with the purchase, demand a full service history to prove that all the maintenance and factory software upgrades have been applied to the car and then take it for a proper test drive that includes urban and highway driving. If the transmission displays any shuddering when taking off, any slipping between gears, takes a long time to select each gear or switches to limp-home mode, there’s good cause to suspect a worn or faulty transmission.

It’s not something I’ve heard of, to be honest, but there are really only a handful of ways to get wet carpet. The first is that the windscreen or side glass is leaking and allowing water in. The other chance is that there’s a rubber bung or seal missing from the floorpan that is allowing water splashed up under the car to dampen the carpet. I’ve even seen worn or damaged door seals allow rainwater to be sucked into a car on the move.

The first thing I’d check would be the condition of the door and window seals and make sure there’s nothing stuck to them. Even a tiny twig or piece of leaf-litter can break the seal and allow water in overnight.

If it’s none of those things, then you have to start looking at possibilities such as a leak from the heater matrix. This is a serious hassle as often the whole dashboard has to be removed to replace the matrix. But your car should still be under factory warranty, so I reckon it’s back to the dealership and an in-depth look at what’s going on. Don’t forget, too, that even though the water is pooling in the passenger’s footwell, it could be entering the car elsewhere.

I contacted Renault Australia about this, Trevor. But it seems they need to know the trim level and precise model before they can offer an answer. Apparently, different specifications across the Koleos range meant that some variants had a different clock in a different dashboard which required a different technique to reset. Have you asked at a dealership?

It sounds like you have a bit of a thing for French cars right now, Carmel. In fact, you could argue that the French brands are experiencing a bit of a resurgence in Australia, particularly as each brand gets its quality act closer to the mark and the factory warranties have never been better than right now.

All three of the cars you’ve nominated have their strong points, and it will really come down to your personal preferences when it comes to which one is right for you. And let me guess; it was the Peugeot 2008’s odd dashboard/steering wheel relationship that put you off. That’s particularly true for shorter folk who have trouble looking over the wheel at the instruments. But then, such quirkiness has always been part of the charm of French cars, no?

In any case, it would also be wise to sample the Japanese and South Korean contenders at this end of the market, too, as there are some interesting offerings there as well. The Toyota C-HR would be one, the Honda HR-V another. Don’t forget, either, the Hyundai Kona, Nissan Juke and the Mazda CX-3. All have their strengths and weaknesses, but all are worth short-listing.

As for the MX-5, it’s true that Mazda has stuck to the original formula for the new latest little convertible. And, yes, that dictates a small, low car that is huge fun to drive but isn’t for everybody physically.

In terms of life expectancy and durability I would expect both to be about the same, but I would expect the Polo to have slightly better resale value than the Clio. Both are good cars, but I would choose the Renault because of its longer warranty.

You should try to haggle, you’ve nothing to lose, the dealer can only say “no”. I would try to beat him down on the delivery costs.

If there are any common problems and complaints about Renault's reliability or faults, they'll likely show up on our Renault problems page. You can also calculate a car's projected resale value via our price and specs page.