Sorry this is so long. I wanted to avoid drip-feeding.
In 2020, a week before lockdown was declared, I bought a van — an ex-demonstrater — from Renault. It was first registered in 2019 and had 500 miles on the clock. The handover was very basic: masks, keeping a distance. I'd never had a Renault before and this one had AdBlue technology. I was told I should get at least a year or two of driving out of the van before I needed to worry about adding more AdBlue fluid.
A couple of months later, in the thick of lockdown, while I was 140 miles from home delivering a component for a job I was involved in, the AdBlue warning light started flashing on the van. I'd done 1,100 miles: there were 1,600 miles on the clock in total. I phoned Renault for advice and was told I needed to add the AdBlue. I didn't have any: I thought there was another 20k+ to go before I needed to do that. In the passenger door pocket there was a blue fabric bag containing a bottle of fluid. I was, I admit, in a flat panic. I assumed that this was the AdBlue I needed and poured it into the AdBlue tank, by the side of the road, in the dark.
It turned out that that wasn't AdBlue, it was oil. I felt like the most stupid idiot in the universe. I had to get the van low-loaded back to my Renault dealer where they had to replace the entire AdBlue tank, pump and so on. It cost £1500+ for the repairs. I felt so embarrassed about what I'd done that I didn't think to ask why the AdBlue tank had run out of fluid at 1,600 miles. I just absorbed the hit and tried to forget. Of course now that I'm wondering if they'd ever put any AdBlue in the tank in the first place.
Two weeks ago, with only 15,000 miles on the clock, (13.5k after the tank, pump and AdBlue had all been replaced) the AdBlue light came on again. I called the dealer in my area. They said it would be two weeks before they could diagnose the issue. I use my van most days: it's my only vehicle and my work depends on it. They refused to squeeze me in to carry out diagnostics. So after a couple of days I took the van to a well-established independent van specialist where Renault sends the excess work it can't deal with. By the end of the day they had diagnosed pump failure in the AdBlue tank/pump that had been replaced in 2020. I called the CAB who told me that although the part may be out of its guarantee period, they would advise I had a good case under the Supply of Goods and Services Act. They said that the parts fitted in 2020 would not be regarded as fit for purpose if they had failed after only 13,500 miles.
Armed with this information I went back to both the dealer and to Renault's central customer service. My dealer said they would need to carry out their own diagnostics and I'll have to wait another two weeks. They will not supply a replacement vehicle in the meantime, nor can they squeeze the van in for the hour required to diagnose the issue. Renault HQ are basically saying the same, with minor variations. The woman there seems to want to assist but says the local dealerships are a law to themselves. I am now on day 6 of corresponding/ phoning and trying to negotiate with them. I'm spending around 4 hours each day going round the houses, waiting for calls that never come and decisions that no one makes. I've documented every call and saved every email. I'm doing the old broken record technique and refusing to accept that they can't help me more. swiftly. I get the impression that a decision has been taken to block me at every turn in order to force me to wait and then pay for repairs (we seem to be talking £1800-2000 this time round).
I've checked my insurance, including my AA cover, my business cover and my motoring insurance, and nothing seems to offer support for a replacement vehicle to tide me over, or legal insurance to take this on. I've just been holding on for almost an hour for a CAB advisor but have had to take another call.
Can anyone offer any advice? I've always had VWs before now and a) I never had a breakdown and b) if there were any queries/ issues the dealership sorted them out very quickly and pleasantly. Is Renault always this bad?