Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 11:45
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Hi I am new here but I thought it may be of interested as to my predicament.

I took my Dacia Duster into the supplying dealer for the first service in August 5000 on clock and asked them to look at the heater variable direction control.I collected the car to find the repair had not been carried out. I complained and was asked to return for an inspection.

I was then told the heater control cable was kinked and a new cable would be ordered and was told it may take a few weeks.

I was contacted and asked to take it in on the 22/08/14.

Later that day I was told that there was a fault on the air bag and it was unsafe to drive. Now having been in the motor trade for fifty years I was a little surprised that when I took it in it was OK and the vehicle was usable.I was told I could have a courtesy car for a few days.

When I inspected my vehicle I could not believe that the air bag had been deployed and slashed to remove it and also the steering wheel was damaged.

I was told that they would order the parts but it would take time, are you with me so far ?, because it gets better; later that day Renault rang me to ask why my vehicle wanted all these parts. I referred them to the garage responsible Renault Main dealer In BURY Lanc's.

The total is, it is now 40 days since it was taken in and although I have been offered a courtesy car by Renault which I refused so as not to cause any damage due to my rather large dog that travels in the rear.I have rang the garage several times and the reception promise to ring back. I am still waiting.The last time I spoke to them , weeks ago, the service manager was off hand and told me it was not his fault and the car was in the way I told him if they had not f***** it up it would not be causing them a problem.

Now if it had come to me in the past when I was in the trade I would have inspected it and then ordered the parts as the car was perfectly usable.I am now told it wants a new heater, air bag and steering wheel

Like I say it is now over 40 days and still no sign of the parts being available The customer service relation at Renault keeps me up to date; in fact yesterday 30th of September, I received a text :still no parts available and so the saga continues.

What do you think of that for service? not a very good advert saying they are advertising vehicles on TV like there is no tomorrow but no mention of the abysmal back up service

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 11:54
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - skidpan

Work colleague went to look at a Ruster (sorry I meant Duster) at the weekend. Dealer said they had none since all had been recalled due to the rusting issue.

Perhaps yours has simply rusted away.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 12:18
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - RobJP

The phrase 'cheap for a reason' comes to mind.

Basically, you bought cheap. Dead cheap. But then you expect the vehicle quality, service levels and competence as if you'd bought expensive.

Something's got to give.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 13:08
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - HandCart

Phew! That's a bit sour!

The cheapest Duster was still about £9k. Would you be similarly dismisssive if you'd spent £9k on a Toyota Aygo or VW Up ?

"Oh I can't really complain that they don't have any parts in stock, seeing as I only spent £9k of my personal money with them."

Some parts may well be obscure and have long delivery times - I imagine a whole heater is not something you'd normally expect to have to replace. But a steering wheel airbag should just be a pop-it-in-the-post and snap-it-into-place item.

Dacia are relatively new to this country, and I dare say haven't finished getting their act together (not that that's an excuse, but it's what happens in reality). Do we know whether they're significantly worse than Renault themselves in this respect?

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 15:31
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - madf

Dacia may be new to the UK but Renault are not. A well run organisation would plane to hold a stock of key parts and airlift anything vital in 24-48 hours.

But since when did Renault care about customer experiences?

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 15:44
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - HandCart

Kinda what I said - maybe not so much buying 'cheap' as buying 'Renault' ?

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 15:50
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - 72 dudes

Yes, a bit harsh RobJP.

OP, have you thought of rejecting the car? 40 days off the road for a car just over 12 months old (my assumption) due to no parts availability could be regarded as unfit for purpose.

Why not write to Dacia/Renault HO, copy in the dealer, give them a date of say October 10th for everything to be fixed and the car returned to you in satisfactory condition, or you will reject it under the Sale of Goods Act.

But keep to the facts and leave out any rants!

Or get one of the car mags involved - Auto Express, Autocar and What Car all have consumer experts to help.

Good luck and keep us updated.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 17:12
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - madf

Yes, a bit harsh RobJP.

OP, have you thought of rejecting the car? 40 days off the road for a car just over 12 months old (my assumption) due to no parts availability could be regarded as unfit for purpose.

Why not write to Dacia/Renault HO, copy in the dealer, give them a date of say October 10th for everything to be fixed and the car returned to you in satisfactory condition, or you will reject it under the Sale of Goods Act.

But keep to the facts and leave out any rants!

Or get one of the car mags involved - Auto Express, Autocar and What Car all have consumer experts to help.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Agreed.

And never buy a car from Renault again: as you have been in the trade you must be aware of how bad they are

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Thu 2 Oct 2014 21:29
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Thanks for the reply not heard from Dacia or the dealership that butchered it 6 weeks tomorrow.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 16:51
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

I dont call £16000 cheap

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 16:55
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - bathtub tom

Have you considered posting your tale on the dealer's, Dacia's or Renault's facebook page?

It can have quite an effect!

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Thu 2 Oct 2014 21:27
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Thanks for replying, have taken your advice but as yet no reply from Dacia or the dealership that butchered it thanks

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 16:55
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - thunderbird

What do you think of that for service? not a very good advert saying they are advertising vehicles on TV like there is no tomorrow but no mention of the abysmal back up service

Do you honestly think any maufacturer would advertise the fact they are rubbish at aftersales.

But a read of any customer satifaction survey would tell you Renault are exactly that and its Renault dealers who sell Dacias.

What would make you think that dealers offering poor aftersales on one brand would offer a perfect service on another.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 16:54
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

I dont call £16000 cheap that's what it cost total amount

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 17:28
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - BeeJay71

My Duster Laureate 4WD (also 16K) had it's 1st service on Monday. Ran like a bag of lose nuts & bolts when I went out in it today, reason? tyre pressures were 40psi all round, should be 29psi or app 2bar. So now I check the engine oil after giving it an hour to settle, I find it app 10mm over the "max mark" so I'm now waiting for the service manager to "get back to me"

After having had the car for just 1 month, I took it back for a b***** awful vibe at certain revs. A new CAT was ordered, 3mths later & a lot of emails from Renault C/S it arrived. It was slightly better, but I said to leave it till the first service (last Monday) Now a new "modified rear silencer is on back order??? PS still waiting for the manager to call me back.

Edited by BeeJay71 on 01/10/2014 at 17:32

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Thu 2 Oct 2014 22:05
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - daveyK_UK

A few things.

Renault are rubbish at customer service. During their dark day from 2001 - 2010 when they sold junk such as the megane and laguna, they denied everything despite their cars being put together with sticky tape.

I have a good mate who is a senior tech at Nissan, but they share the premsies with Renault & Dacia.

I showed him this thread.

He says

- since they moved production back to Romania and as Romania is building the face lift Dusters, could it be the steering wheel and possibly the air bag for your Duster are from the pre-facelift and as such they are short on stock or no longer being made (production wise)?

Is there a difference between your Laureate version and the new Laureate version when it comes to the steering wheel?

Alternativly, he points out it could be due to factory demand to build Dusters, they simply do not have the part availability.

However, he said dealers can get parts, it depends how much they want to get them. He heard of an incident where a part missing from a Sandero was sourced by speaking to a French dealer who delivered it. I suppose the dealer you have ben using are not interested.

In regards the heater cable, he says there is no reason why a decent tech couldnt repair or emulate the wiring as a short term measure - he puts this down to lazy technicians and a lack of control by the senior tech. They get money from warranty repairs, not from helping customers out!

He recommends you tell Renault customer service the deleer has cost them alot of money buy making the problem worse and not providing a temporary fix to your heater issue.

One thing I will say, he is a big fan of the Duster, says they are a doddle to work on and in some aspects well built.

He thinks the qashqai is a rip off in comparison.

Its worth pointing out, he only thinks the duster in the 1.5 diesel is good, he said the petrol 1.6 is gutless and 'wouldnt pull you out of bed'.

Regarding the rust issues, he expects the problems to have been unique to India and that the face lift models coming out of Romania will be good.

He is thinking of buying one for his wife once the Juke lease runs out.

Edited by daveyK_UK on 02/10/2014 at 22:10

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Fri 3 Oct 2014 13:09
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Hi Davy K thanks for your response,

I have no problem with the Duster 1.5 diesel either comfort or performance, it was good to drive before the iocal agent, Renault Bury damaged the parts and the service of the garage well this leaves a lot to be desired.During my days in the trade none of our staff treated customers like this and went out of their way to help,but this lot have not even got the decency to ring me and apologise.

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Fri 3 Oct 2014 13:22
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - oldroverboy.

Now that they have been out a while it seems that there ARE some problems, and fron anecdotal evidence all my instincts tell me to steer clear, or worst case 1.2 petrol sanderos as only option at base price and treat it as white goods, but most problems seem to be with dusters....#Still, fairly low on any of my lists.

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Tue 7 Oct 2014 18:08
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Still not heard a thing from either the garage responsible Renault Dealership In Bury or from Dacia

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Wed 8 Oct 2014 10:31
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Armitage Shanks {p}

www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=121313&c=Renault%20UK

go to the top man!!!!

Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 08/10/2014 at 10:35

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Wed 8 Oct 2014 12:49
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Thanks for your reply, I will try but not having much faith in this Company

I have been onto the garage responsible for the damage and also to Dacia who keep promising to ring back.

I have also written to the garage and the head branch but as yet no reply.

It is beyond belief how they treat the customer, is it any wonder Renault is in the Brown stuff.The Dacia was ok until it went into the garage and after they had their way the result is, there are no parts available and it is 7 weeks on Friday.

Dacia could not even begin to understand what it has cost me and the inconvenience.

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Wed 8 Oct 2014 13:06
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Thanks Armitage shanks for the info.

Edited by Duster Buster on 08/10/2014 at 13:10

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Wed 8 Oct 2014 20:24
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - daveyK_UK

Please write to autoexpress problem page

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Thu 9 Oct 2014 11:34
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - Duster Buster

Thanks davyK,

I did this yesterday but it does not appear to be online maybe because i mentioned the dealer Renault Bury who, surprise surprise, rang me yesterday. First contact in weeks to apologise for the damaged caused. Mind you this was after emailing the head of Renault UK after someone on here kindly supplied his email address and also after writing to them recorded delivery twice.

Told me they "may" have the parts this coming Monday but I won't hold my breath.

Regards,

ematt

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Sun 12 Oct 2014 11:42
Dacia Duster Laureate - Duster complaint - bananastand

Time to go legal and reject!!! Good luck, though it looks like the evidence is on your side!!

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