I purchased a new Renault Austral early 2024 on PCP. For the first year, other than a niggle with a fuel gauge issue, the car was amazing. Things changed a few days after the cars first service with the car having now broken down four times since then, in each case with the car being totally immobilised, and have resulted in the car being at the dealership for many months since January.

Three of the breakdowns have reported exactly the same error messages (Impossible Restart, Check Electrical System and 12v Battery Backup). After the second time this fault happened, I raised complaints with the dealership, Renault and the finance company. My initial thoughts were to get the vehicle replaced but after suffering a third case of the same fault I am at the point where I don't feel able to trust a vehicle with the same hybrid system so am pushing for a refund.

I appreciate the car is well past the 30 days and 6 months dates covered by the Consumer Rights Act but am currently paying a fair amount of money each month for a car I don't have and can't rely on when I do have it. The stance from Renault Customer Care is that each of the three breakdowns where the car has suffered the Impossible Restart issue are actually different faults despite the symptoms being identical on each occasion.

Is anyone able to tell me what the legal definition of a fault is in this case? To me the car displaying the same symptoms means it is the same fault but this seems to be at odds to what Renault Customer Care and the dealership are saying.