I do not know if this is the correct Forum section to post this in but here goes .......

Bought a car in a private sale through a mutal friend i.e. my friend’s mother and a firend of hers. He is a mechanic and when I first saw the car it had no roof on it. It is a Reanult Megan Cabriolet - a banger to learn to dirve here in. However, I informed him when I took over the car that the electircs were no working properly, that my windos were not secure, the interior light above the rear view mirror, no speedomter, mileage clock, window wipers not working, washer jets, door jamming ... minor problems as I kinda saw them obviously the exception fo the spooedomet and meleage guage not working ....

He has taken the car twice now to fix the above the first time he was waiting on parts and the second time he broke his arm. Desperately need help with this issue as I paid good money for the car. I have the appropriate documentation and I am now thinking that the car is a right=off.

Where can I go to get help with this and I assume I need to ifnorm the police for this matter. It has supposedly passed an ITV and is in date until August 2011, but I am thinking that this car is a death trap.

In Britain we would take this to the Citizens Advice and get information from there. No one please say that I am a plonker as my friend and his mum are horrified as am I ... Her name (nameless at this point) let’s call her Mummy for now, has been bendning over backwards to have her friend, the mechanic, whom I bought the car from to fix it, but it is like banging your head against a brick wall….

I would appreciate any input on this matter, but I am thinkning that I shoudl take both the car and the paperwork to the Police and have them check out all the details as I am suspecting that the paperwork has been falisfied and that I am now driving a death trap of a car ...

I am extremely worried and all I can do is cry ... the cost of the car shall remain private at this time ... I feel like a lemon as it is ... but I bought it in good faith and did not /  have no reason to doubt my friend and his mother’s word ....

Please help ...

Thanks in advance ...

It’s difficult to give you an accurate reply to your problem because you say you bought a “a banger to learn to dirve here in” which to me implies a few hundred euro and if that’s the case then no consumer organisation will give it too much of their attention.

Private sales are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get any legal remedy for faulty goods - Caveat Emtpor (buyer beware)

However, you state that you think the car’s paperwork has been falsified and if that’s the case then go straight to the police and they will deal with it. As for your friend’s mechanic pal then if you mention to him that you are going down the police route, check his reaction, and then see if he gets active. It could be that he is just as innocent a buyer as you - or not.

You could first take the car back to the garage which carried out the test and ask their opinion on your concerns but all in all I think you might as well just have to put this whole thing down to experience.

The car is a banger to me but it was not just a couple of hundred euros ... thanks for the thoughts though ... very much appreciated ... any other suggestions ...

detty_2000 - 20 December 2010 07:00 PM

The car is a banger to me but it was not just a couple of hundred euros ... thanks for the thoughts though ... very much appreciated ... any other suggestions ...

Well, are you going to take any of the advice and actually do what I suggest?

Complaining is one thing but that won’t fix your problems and as I see it you have 2 issues:

1) MECHANICAL: - If I were in your position right now I would be looking to find a mechanic that can put my mind at rest regarding the physical condition and perhaps fix some of the problems to at least restore some confidence with the car in general.

Any mechanic worth his salt will tell you immediately if the car has been in a serious accident and been badly repaired

The problems seem to be mainly electrical and with all those electrical things not working in my experience it is probably a fuse or a module requiring replacement and shouldn’t be a hard job to fix at all.

The body on any convertible motor car flexes more than a normal vehicle simply because there is no roof to keep the body rigid - hence it feels a lot more bumpy to drive and the doors can sometimes stick a bit after a while.

2) LEGAL: - You refer to dubious documentation, don’t hesitate in getting that checked out because if you continue to use this vehicle and something like an accident occurs then you may find yourself with some or all of the blame because you never acted on your suspicions - Do it now if you are so worried!

I don’t think there will be a problem with the paperwork though as I am inclined to think that you are reacting to the host of mechanical issues with the car so that’s where I would start.

All of the snags you mention are actually known problems with all variants of the Renault Megane.

Basically its crap wiring…

The electric window winders are an absolute classic. Renault in the UK would normally charge you around ?230 for each one whereas in reality its a little plastic bracket that costs less than 50p to manufacture that causes the problem. A non-Renault garage can sort these out for less than 100?.

In your case its the speedo /mileage counter that’s failed; in my case its the rev-counter; non-essential so Im carrying that snag and will probably never repair it.

Windscreen wipers and washers; crap wiring and a dodgy pump on the washer tank. The jets are notorious for getting blocked; don’t use water use proprietary windscreen washer fluid.

Beware also panel illumination, also the door mounted switch that controls the wing mirrors; if its 3 position switch that sits in a recess like a bowl about 1” across its a known fire hazard. its permanently live even with the ignition switched off; if it gets rain water inside it then you can have a problem…

The light above the mirror is probably just a blown bulb but may also be down to crap wiring standards.

Look out too for broken rear shock absorbers; cheap enough to replace but they should never have been used in the first place. There are far better designs on the market.

If its a diesel, the 1.9 DCi and 1.9TDCi will ultimately suffer from a blocked or mis-performing EGR valve; this can bring about some embarrassing experiences in traffic when you suddenly lose power and the car starts gasping like an old man whose had too many fags…

The whole Megane range stinks of controlled obsolescence; it’s designed to go wrong deliberately to keep Renault in business.

Ive had a Renault Megane Scenic now for five years and I think I have experienced all of the snags you have listed.

Would I buy another? NEVER!

Would I buy another Renault…again… NEVER!

By the way, if you do have cause to visit a Renault Dealer for spares or repairs you will need to take the vehicle documentation with you…they won’t sell you anything without it.

So far as the ITV cert is concerned; I’d say its probably legit. Unlike MOT garages in the UK the ITV authority is government run and don’t have an axe to grind by inventing snags to get more work; the chances are that the rest of the documentation is also straight because when you book an ITV test the computer checks the VIN number against the registration and this is again checked during the test also the cumulative mileage is checked against that taken at the previous ITV test. If the documentation you have carries a legit ITV station stamp and signature / date its probably good. if its not stamped then beware…

fb

fb

detty_2000 - 20 December 2010 12:05 AM

I informed him when I took over the car that the electircs were no working properly, that my windos were not secure, the interior light above the rear view mirror, no speedomter, mileage clock, window wipers not working, washer jets, door jamming ... minor problems as I kinda saw them obviously the exception fo the spooedomet and meleage guage not working ....

And these faults weren’t present when you checked the Vehicle out ?
Anyways…
Googled your troubles, and yes, these models are plagued.
However, I’d say at the least you have a Vehicle Main Earth bad.
To loose so many circuits.
I seem to recall their being a braided earth strap on the back of the cylinder head to the rear of the engine firewall.
( could be loose or broken / disconnected )

DSB.

Detty ...
I feel for you. Nothing worse than a crap car and also being hoodwinked that it was roadworthy/in Ok nick.
You bought it from a certified mechanic right? And so you might be lead to believe the car was at least in OK condition.
(Apart from minor work that could be rectified easily. Especially as you paid top dollar).

Sadly, if the mechanic is just unscrupulous (and they do exist here like everywhere). Then SHAME ON HIM/HER! 

I was also the victim of a ‘trusted’ mechanic (who had had good money out for me for six years on the trot), only to sell me a car that needed so much doing to it in retrospect that I am also shocked that it had passed its ITV.  But my probs were ‘down to it being an older car’ he told me when I first went back. Not something he bothered to point out at the time of sale! *And like you I seem to have paid over the odds!

I did think of trying to get some satisfaction by at least shopping him to the local Consumer Office. (Every town has one, just go along to your town hall and get their address). Basically you have to ask the vendor for the ‘Hoja de Reclamaciones’ (complaints book) if he will not put right all the bits and pieces, you then take this form (he has to legally produce it/fill it out or you can call the police on the spot if he refuses)... to your local Consumer office and they arbitrate from there. If they are not able to help (as they cannot always call someone to book), then sadly it will be a Civil Case in court. (But don’t hold your breath for any action/satisfaction there!).

I am just about to buy another second hand car and am holding my breath (and putting my trust in my new mechanic who seems to have no reason to lie to me as he seems a decent sort). 

Good luck in getting this sorted.

But also sounds like you will have to cope with the inherent problems in the model/make.

Any change of getting the vendor to take it back????? (Sorry, don’t mean to upset/offend. I regretted within a week of dealing with my old ‘trusted’ mechanic!)  Arrgggghhh!

Thanks for all the help here guys ... the car is actually going into the garage this thursday for a check up and to see a complete list of faults or things wrong with the car ... so here is hoping ...

Foxbat ... extremely helpful indeed, very sympathetic and a lovely lovely lady adn what a horrendous experience like mines ... however, some people are a little rude, but helpful nontheless ...

Just a small piece fo information required regarding the rev coutner ... as it is the only thing I have at the moment ... could any of you be so kind as to supply the legal spped limits of 30m 40, 50, 120 kilometes per hour on a rev counter please ... not ideal but can’t do anything about it until it comes out of the garage on thursday ....

Mnay thanks again ...

Detty ...

detty…

...could any of you be so kind as to supply the legal spped limits of 30m 40, 50, 120 kilometers per hour on a rev counter please ..

Interesting way of doing it but unfortunately it’s impossible to say without knowing whether its petrol or diesel, turbo or non-turbo, the engine size, the wheel and tyre size and of course what gear you happen to be in at the time you take the rev counter reading; there are just too many variables.

If you have the drivers manual for the vehicle there will be a table in the back of the guide which may give some kind of indication.

If you send me your email address by private message, I can email you a PDF copy of the Megane Drivers Manual, this particular version is for the Scenic but the basic information will be relevant for all Meganes… you will of course need a PDF reader of some kind like Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Hope this helps…!

fb

detty; got your pm;

please check your email…

fb

detty_2000 - 20 December 2010 12:05 AM

I am extremely worried and all I can do is cry ... I feel like a lemon as it is ...

Please help ...

Thanks in advance ...

If I came across as rude then I apologise.

However,  your post implied urgency and I responded with the best advice I could to help you quickly and put your mind at ease. I have been in the motor trade for over 35 years so I felt I could help somewhat but your response seemed a bit ‘airyfairy’ and that was ‘rude’ seeing that somebody with the experience you lack was willing to give up their time and knowledge for free.

Sorry if I have offended you .. lots of things on my mind Ian ... I am sorry about that but i have taken your advice as you can see and the paperwork has been checked and he had not paid the gestoria bill and I do appreciate your time and your information that you supplied… I have taken it all on board and it is being remedied this week by a visit to another mechanic for a complete health check…

Thank you ....