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My new Renault Twingo has not met my pre-delivery specification - is there anything I can do?

Earlier this year, my daughter bought a Renault Twingo which was made to her specification over ten weeks. She ordered what she believed to be the top model with the Cup chassis and Black Pack as extras. Upon delivery in September, it soon became clear that items shown in the literature were missing, in particular the Multifunction Display and the Automatic Pack.

Following correspondence with Renault and, ultimately, Motorcodes, she has been told simply that specifications are subject to change and she therefore has no redress. She has asked for the items to be fitted but Renault have said it is not possible to have them fitted retrospectively. Is there anything she can do?

Asked on 3 October 2012 by AM, Boston, Lincs

Answered by Honest John
This was reinforced by the courts on Johnson v HWM Motors 1997. It is actually impossible for manufacturers to guarantee to build a car precisely to the specification in a brochure because of the vagaries of components supply. If they were compelled to, then the supply of many cars would have been shut down entirely this year due to components shortages created by the tsunami in Japan and the subsequent floods in Thailand, where a lot of Japanese electronic parts production had been moved as a result of the Tsunami damage. Remember, Renault/Nissan is half Japanese. Not only that, Renault has massively contracted its UK range now and the only facelifted Twingo available is the 1.1-litre Dynamique.
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