On 10th Nov 2014, there was a minor damage to the owned vehicle- Renault Duster due to the impact of the vehicle bumper to a dog that came suddenly, was no major damage to the car except for the bent in the bumper, inter-cooler assembly and condenser. There was no damage to Radiator and no traces of coolant leakage were found at the incident place.
Vehicle was driven for about 13 kms; smoke was noticed in the front & stopped the vehicle. We were surprised to see the smoke, called 24X7 road side assistance and arranged the vehicle to get towed to RENAULT Whitefield, Bangalore.
At the service center we were shocked to hear from Technician that the engine is seized without any inspection. As this was 18 months old and comes under warranty period.
The complainant made a complaint at the customer care of the Renault India, complaint number: 4-00226700 dated 13Nov2014.
This complaint is regarding the request for investigation by the opposite parties on the Engine failure especially valve door melting lead to Vehicle STOP and Engine seize. Melted Valve door cover photos attached.
Renault India & Trident Renault Bangalore did not investigating and also not providing the root cause, failure modes for the Engine valve door cover melting.
Both the opposite parties playing a safe game because engine comes under warranty and behaving arrogantly during our visits, telephonic call and not replying to the email communication. Service manager from Trident Renault agreed that failure is not so common checked with other Engine Manufactures confirms the same.
Believe that whatever information that I have requested was sensible and as a customer I got a Right to ask because we have paid for the vehicle.
More over the information that I am seeking is non-proprietary in nature and need to explain to customer if they asks.
Estimate for repair from Trident Renault costs 2.29 lakhs is almost 38~40% of the vehicle cost(8.75 lakhs). Based on the estimate and Arrogant behavior we decided to take back the vehicle from Trident Renault and putting this in consumer court.
Renault India & Trident Renault failed to provide the complete report, failure modes even after the repeated requested done by us.
I’m suspecting the Quality of the plastic material used for the valve door cover that led to failure of engine.
The Renault Duster embodies a bold, sporty and masculine character but quality of material is so cheap and we need to think twice before purchasing!