How much should a replacement engine cost?

I own a five year old Renault Scenic with 36,000 miles on the clock. I've owned it from new and had it fully serviced by the same dealer. It has covered 36,000 miles. A few weeks ago the car, with no prior warning signs, the car refused to start. The problem was eventually diagnosed as failure of the timing belt. The remedy was a new engine at a cost of around £5000.

The dealer suggested the manufacturer would probably make a significant contribution. Further contact with Renault (up to Managing Director level) resulted in them offering to pay 60% of the cost, and no more, with us paying the remaining 40% ie £2000.

We feel unhappy with this given the circumstances – loyal customer, extremely unusual event (we are told), relatively low mileage, car fully serviced by main dealer. What do you think, is the 60% reasonable, or should we be looking for more? And if so, how do we go about it?

Asked on 27 April 2016 by Ken77

Answered by Honest John

I guess the engine is the 1.5DCI because most Renault engines are now chain cam. It's fairly rare for a timing belt to fail at this sort of mileage, but it's also normal to replace them, plus tensioner and waterpump at 4-5 years old or before 60k miles, whichever comes first. Renault has shown some goodwill in not charging too much for the replacement engine in the first place, as well as contributing 60%. I don't think you can reasonably take this any further.

Tags: diesel engines engine replacement

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