[IvorETower]

I wrote a letter of complaint to the Director whose name appears on the letters sent out with the brochures. This morning I received a reply from Customer Support inviting me to phone to discuss the matter further.

The letter stated that Renault were "sorry" that what should be an exciting time (buying a new car) has proved to be "disappointing" (a bit of an understatement, to put it mildly!). It also goes on to say that demand for manual transmission far exceeds that for auto and therefore they are unable to supply the car as quickly as they would wish. (Why? If demand for auto is so low, why can't they be made in the same timeframe as manuals?). They go on to say that they value my custom, despite me having to endure an "unwelcome wait".

As I had the day off work today, I took the opportunity to telephone. Initial response from Renault was along the lines of "tough, you have to wait 20 weeks". Reluctantly I got them to concede that it's unintended discrimination against those with a leg disability who require an auto as they are taking about 8 weeks longer to satisfy orders than for manual transmission cars.I don't know if they are correctwhen they say that they make cars in batches of manuals then autos (I used to work in the automotive industry and I havevisited several factories, albeit none were Renaults, where manual and auto, and engines of different size, are all mixed in the production process).

The fact that this is my second bad experience out of 2 when attempting to buy a new Renault did not sway the outcome, which is basically that it is unfortunate that you have to wait 20 weeks for an auto, but there is nothing that Renault UK will do about it. They won't intervene to speed things up. They could also not offer any assurances that delivery would not slip any further.

I also pointed out all the marketing stuff on the internet and press etc from Februaryregarding the offers for finance deals if cars were bought and registered before the end of March, yet nothing in the small print stated that no automatics would be available on these offers. The inference from the response I got was that "Marketing" are a separate entity and Renault UK Customer Support were unable to change the ad wording but would pass on my comments. Itherefore contacted the Advertising Standards Authority after my conversation with Renault UK.




So, in a nutshell Renault have hopelessly underestimated demand for the Captur and even after a year you face a long wait for one, and if you want an automatic you face an even longer wait.

What I can't understand is that if the cars are only supposed to be built to customer order, how come there is this "pool" of unallocated/unsold cars with manual transmission from which you can choose if you want to take advantage of the finance deals.

Meantime I've been to look at the new Kia Soul which comes as a 6-speed diesel auto according to my local dealer. Because of the 20 week wait for the Captur I have been told I can cancel at any time and get my deposit back, something I told Renault UK this morning, and I'm now very tempted to book a test drive of the Soul. Delivery is put at 2 weeks maximum, as it's a brand new model and there are plenty of new unsold cars about at the moment. (However being a new model, that means that discounts will be difficult)

 

[Ythsie]

I could understand the wait for the auto when it was launched, but it's disgraceful that this has extended rather than speeded up!
Saying that, I'm delighted with what I feel is the best model of the three at initial launch....I suspect that the diesel auto will also be a big hit!!

Edited by: Ythsie

 

[awq]

I hope that Renault (not just the UK division) take note of what their customers are saying. However, in my experience, these super huge companies think they can afford to be somewhat arrogant in response to the views of "Joe public".
The biggest gripe when buying my Capture was the uncertainty of the delivery date. I had to buy a "off the peg" model to qualify for discounts and to avoid huge waiting times.
I said at the time that I would never buy another new Renault and to date, nothing has changed (despite me being delighted with the Captur).
Whatever happened to customer service and customer satisfaction. Surely someone from Renault's head office, or should I say "Renault's Ivory Tower" must have concerns that future sales of Renault's cars could be jeopardised by this present fiasco.
Sorry Renault, but I personally found the process too stressful to ever go there again !!!

 

[Ythsie]

I don't blame you awq...My wait of 14 weeks was bad enough...but it was AS PROMISED..and I could track production and delivery through my deaker..Your circumstances in the UK are quite different and a disgrace!!

 

[awq]

IvorETower - Just looked at the Kia Soul. Looks a bit "boxy". Captur is a nicer looking car I have to admit.

 

[IvorETower]

IvorETower - Just looked at the Kia Soul. Looks a bit "boxy". Captur is a nicer looking car I have to admit.

Yup, the new Soul launched this month (April 2014) is just as boxy as its predecessor. It's definitely not as nice to look at as the Captur. There is a diesel auto but it's not as CO2-friendly as the Captur; £160 or £180 annual road tax against £20.
However, at least they are available in a reasonable timeframe unlike the Captur. I'd have thought it should be othe other way round - initial demand for a new car can cause a backlog of orders, but after it's been on sale for a year they should be in plentiful supply.
My last experience of buying a new Renault was bad, blighted by delays, and the Captur is even worse. Not only have Renault failed to learn, but they have got worse.... yet they've had 16 years to consider and improve.

The Captur auto is for my wife to use on a daily basis. I am hoping to finally get my hands on some inherritance money that I've been waiting for, for over 14 years, and I don't want to have to wait for another 6 months for a new car to replace my own 2001 model once I get the inherritance money through. I was initially hoping to get another Captur for me, but I don't want to have to endure another long, long wait plus Renault UK's unhelpful attitude again.

 

[helart]

IvorETower - Just looked at the Kia Soul. Looks a bit "boxy". Captur is a nicer looking car I have to admit.

Yup, the new Soul launched this month (April 2014) is just as boxy as its predecessor. It's definitely not as nice to look at as the Captur. There is a diesel auto but it's not as CO2-friendly as the Captur; £160 or £180 annual road tax against £20.
However, at least they are available in a reasonable timeframe unlike the Captur. I'd have thought it should be othe other way round - initial demand for a new car can cause a backlog of orders, but after it's been on sale for a year they should be in plentiful supply.
My last experience of buying a new Renault was bad, blighted by delays, and the Captur is even worse. Not only have Renault failed to learn, but they have got worse.... yet they've had 16 years to consider and improve.

The Captur auto is for my wife to use on a daily basis. I am hoping to finally get my hands on some inherritance money that I've been waiting for, for over 14 years, and I don't want to have to wait for another 6 months for a new car to replace my own 2001 model once I get the inherritance money through. I was initially hoping to get another Captur for me, but I don't want to have to endure another long, long wait plus Renault UK's unhelpful attitude again.

Dothey both have to have auto?

 

[IvorETower]

The first one does, for my wife who has leg/back muscle issues and does a lot of stop=start driving as a house-visiting carer. If I buy another Captur within the next year to replace my car, auto would not be essential. The manual Capturs are only 5-speed and I'm used to 6 speeds. When I borrow daughter's 05 Fiesta, I keep going for the non-existent 6th!

 

[Ythsie]

I don't know if you had a test drive in the auto.....it's a dream box! Well Worth waiting for...very, very smooth and effortless with the 1.2 engine.

 

[ianfreeman]

Totally agree, the auto is well worth waiting for. Smooth and responsive. My car was promised for six weeks ahead, drifted back by a week but I got a load of extras thrown in for nothing and I have nothing but praise for the dealer here in the UK.

 

[HTP99]

To be fair IvorETower the Captur that you have ordered isn't delayed it just has a long lead time; there is a difference.


Anyway as for going for something else due to the long lead time; you are spending alot of money, so what if the car you wanthas a longlead time, it is better to wait for what you want rather than going for something else that you aren't as keen on just because you can get it sooner; is it not?

 

[IvorETower]

So long as the present car doesn't expire in the meantime. I'm having to add water/coolant to the Scenic on aregular basis.. not much, but it's going somewhere, and I just hope it lasts out until the Captur arrives.

As I've said before, I don't mind waiting a "reasonable" time, and previously I have waited 3 months for a new car, but 5 months for something that isn't hand-built, or in low-volume production is taking the mickey, especially when it seems that production of autos is being deliberately held back in preference to manual transmission cars. This penalises anyone with a disability who has to have an auto (fortunately this is not my case) - and why is Renault spending so much time and money on advertising the Captur when they don't need to, if production is sold out for at least 5 months?

It's also (IMHO) very misleading the way that the adverts were worded - from mid-Feb, the ads were running on the basis that special finance deals were available to cars ordered and delivered before the end of March - that would suggest that there were many cars available and that most people would be able to get something close to what their ideal spec would be within the 6 weeks of the offer. To find that there were absolutely no automatics available was disappointing; to further find out that they were on 12-16 weeks lead time was doubly disappointing. To even further find out that your colleague at another branch was wrong on this (and on the finance offer terms), and that it was actually 20 weeks for an auto ..........

 

[IvorETower]

Also... the Scenic is due for its annual service, MoT and road tax in August. I would have thought that ordering a new car in February should have given plenty of time for a European manufacturer to produce a car for me (if there wasn't one in stock) if I ordered as early as February.

In the 1990's I worked for a now-defunct Tier 1 automotive supplier (and Renault was among our customers). The target at the time was the "14-day car" - no more than 14 days from customer placing order to his factory-built car being delivered to him; this was the stated aim of many European manufacturers including Renault, I believe. Over 10 years on, this still looks like a pipe-dream.




Questions: What do you consider is a reasonable time to have to wait for a "normal" new car?

What are the current lead times for other new Renault cars? Clio, Megane, Scenic ?
Edited by: IvorETower

 

[graham59]

must be very frustrating for you ivor, although the delivery problems are not just an issue at Renault as my daughter just bought a new Kia pro ceed last week and has to wait 10-12 weeks for it to be delivered ,

 

[IvorETower]

10-12 weeks is what I would consider "reasonable". My parents have bought Volvos since 1973 (most of them being automatics) and they've never had to wait as long as 20 weeks for one to be built to order

 

[HTP99]

I understand your frustration Ivor however you haven't been mislead regarding the lead time and you made the decision to place the order and to; so far, stick with it.

Regarding my colleague; well people do make mistakes, it wasn't a big one and anyway you managed to place an order elsewhere at a vastly cheaper price than we could have done even with the end of March offer.

As for the "registered by the end of March offer", it wasn't misleading; you wanted a car that couldn't be obtained within the timeframe that was stated in the advertising, some models, engines, colours, trim etc could and and some couldn't; yours fell in to the latter category.

Manuals outsell autos by a very large margin, of course Renault will prioritise what sells, I can't comment on if they are deliberately holding back the production of autos however they are in business to make money and they will go the route that nets them the most profit who wouldn't, whatever route they go someone will get upset, currently Expression and Expression + Captur's aren't being produced and haven't been at all and production isn't expected to commence until at least wk 26, I'm sure there are people out there who aren't happy as the cheapest Captur starts at £14995 so will have to move on to a more affordable car for them; that's life I'm afraid.

Renault have been caught out by the success of Captur and they are working to sort it however it takes time, they haven't done this on purpose I'm sure they would love to get the cars to their customers quicker.

As for lead times on other cars; order a factory Clio and you are looking at August, I'm not sure on Megane or Scenic.

When the Roomster and Yeti were launched lead times were 6-9m and I believe Peugeot are having similar issues to Captur with their 2008 at the moment; god knows why as it is a hideous looking thing!

Having said all that I don't disagree with you about the long lead time though, it is too long, we are losing customers, I hate losing customers and it is frustrating. Edited by: HTP99

 

[IvorETower]

Thanks; I don't know how the 2008 sells; I spent some time in the Pug showroom at Aldershot and nobody approached me to see if I was interested in the car. It's not very pretty, and there is a huge sill over which you have to lift your legs to get in and out - very stressful on leg and back muscles! Plus, the cabin doesn't seem to have much headroom. Never got to ask for a test drive, and as no sales person approached me, I was never asked. That garage seemed to be depending on Royal Mail and parcel couriers to keep busy; there were plenty of liveried vans being ushered around their par cark and into the workshops when I was there

 

[Tuckerz]

It's not only the Captur the same is happening with the clio. Seems renaults face lifts have caused several problems. So the face lifted Megan's will probably be the same. And the new twingo is the next to be affected.

 

[Tyrfelin]

Happy to play some "soul" on my medianav! Oh yeah!

 

[Ythsie]

Is it logical to assume that with this demand for Capturs, they will hold their market value well...as previously suggesyed?