Renault SUV Range

From what I can gather, this era of Renault uses an electronic steering lock unit which physically locks the steering column when the car is not being driven. But this unit can fail and refuse to either unlock, or will unlock but fail to send a message to the car’s computer that it is unlocked. At which point, the car won’t start.

A lot of Renault owners overseas fit what’s called a steering lock emulator, a small electronic device which takes over communication to the computer. The emulator sends the `unlock’ signal that the computer needs to allow the car to start, and away you go.

The catch is the emulator sometimes means the steering now won’t lock at all, so your insurance company might have a bit to say about this. But at a lot less than the $3000 you previously paid to fix the same problem, it’s clearly a tempting path to take.

The best place to start for some professional advice is a transmission specialist. They’ll probably inspect the transmission in your car and will be able to work out whether it can be fixed or if it needs to be replaced.

If you do need a replacement CVT, there are three main ways to go. You could buy a brand new replacement CVT which is likely to be the most expensive course of action. The second alternative is to have the transmission shop recondition the one you already have. This will also be quite expensive.

The third option is to find a good, tested second-hand CVT from a wrecked Koleos and have that fitted. This will be by far the cheapest way to go. But the gamble with option three is that the same problems might happen again, and you’d be back to square one.

I agree that a 2016 model-year car is too new to be thrown away, but failures of CVT transmissions are more common than they should be. It’s something car makers need to look at when they consider future designs and engineering.

According to the official test, the Arkana has a combined (city and highway) consumption figure of 6.0 litres per 100km which is pretty decent for this type and size of vehicle. CarsGuide’s road test, however, showed that, like the vast majority of cars out there, the Renault will use a bit more than that in the real world. A mix of country, city and suburban work as well as a helping of highway and motorway driving netted a figure of 7.5 litres per 100km. Still pretty good, to be honest.

The other factor when considering running costs is the type of fuel required. Here, again, the Arkana scores well as it will happily run on the cheaper 91-octane fuel rather than the premium stuff.