Sorry, this is long but if you have or know someone who has a Renault with an IDE engine it's worth a read.

Someone I know has a 2002 Renault Laguna. It's a nice car but it has a fault, a fault which Renault have known about since shortly after the type of engine in this particular car was introduced in 1999, right through until they ceased production of the engine in 2004. The engine was fitted to Meganes and Lagunas during these years.

The engine is a direct petrol injection unit, known commonly as the IDE (for Injection Direct Essence) and coded as the F5R. The fault it suffers is that the fuel pressure regulator, which on this engine has to handle very high pressures more commonly found in diesel engines, sticks and causes the fuel pressure to rise dangerously high. When this happens, the engine management system senses the excess pressure and shuts the engine down to prevent damage or injury.

Ever since the unit first went into production this fault has existed and to this day, some 11 years later, Renault have been unable to have the regulator redesigned so that it does not stick. What this does is effectively render cars fitted with these engines useless when the fault arises until a new regulator is fitted. When one is fitted it often only lasts two months or so before failing again. So another one is fitted and the car driven for a while, then it fails again and so on ad-infinitum. Owners are stuck with a car which has an easily fixable fault but which cannot be trusted not to give up on them without warning.

All a bit of an inconvenience you might think, and you'd be right. Only it's worse, Renault are no longer able to supply the replacement parts on a reliable basis, so cars are left off the road for prolonged periods of time and their owners left to find their own alternative arrangements for travel whilst also wasting the money they have spent on road tax and insurance whilst their car is lying crippled either in their driveway or at their Renault dealer. All this in spite of Renault having a policy of supplying spares for vehicles up to 10 years old. Keep in mind that the newest cars affected by this problem are still only 6 years old and you see that it's not a particularly satisfactory situation.

Going back to the person I know with such a vehicle, their particular plight is as follows. They last had a replacement fuel pressure regulator fitted to their car in August 4 th this year, 2010. It failed on October 5 th of this year. They contacted Renault to order a replacement to be supplied free of charge under the 12 month warranty provided on the part only to be told that there were none in stock at their local dealership. So, they tried further afield and still none were to be found. At this point they tried Renault UK, who told them that there were in fact none in UK stock whatsoever. Indeed there were none in stock with Renault in France either. They enquired how long they might take to arrive with their dealer and were told that it would be on October 26th, some three weeks away and that somewhere between 300 and 400 were due into the UK to ensure that would be the case. Obviously this was all a bit inconvenient for the owner of the vehicle since they have a 30 mile round trip to work and there is no viable public transport option to be used. However, they did their best and struggled through the three weeks without a car whilst they awaited the promised delivery of parts.

Fast forward to the 26 th October and the call is made to the dealer to arrange to collect the part. Only there's a problem, the dealer has none and cannot say when they will have. So, a call is made to Renault UK to seek more information. 'Yes, there is a problem', Renault UK admit, 'we only got 19 sent from France and there were some three to four hundred on back order in the UK.' The next question asked of Renault UK is when will some more arrive in stock. They don't know, but have no date as yet, so it is likely to be weeks, possibly months. Now the owner of the car is running out of patience, as you might expect.

Facing the prospect of another wait for the part, and a wait of unknown duration at that, in addition to the three week wait they've already tolerated, they think that perhaps the best option is to renew the vehicle rather than possibly have it unusable for a further period which may run into months for all they know. So, they approach their Renault dealer, tell them how they need a reliable vehicle to replace their otherwise perfectly serviceable Laguna which is off the road only because of the inability of Renault UK to live up to their promised policy of supplying parts for vehicles up to 10 years old and enquire about their trade in options on either a new or approved used Renault. Now, you might think that the a Renault dealer, representing the brand as they do, might be sympathetic to this 'customer's' plight since it's caused entirely by their parent companies failures, but no!

What they are in fact told, and yes, it beggars belief, is that the dealer will not take their existing Renault in part exchange since it has the well known IDE fault present! This person's car, which is also Renault's low mileage, dealer maintained 8 year old product remember, is only worth scrap they're told!

So, they are essentially stuck with a car which cannot be used and which may not be usable for weeks or possibly months until Renault can organise themselves sufficiently to fulfil their own policies and which, their Renault dealers has effectively told them, is not even fit to be considered for part exchange due to Renault UK's inability to provide their promised spares support for the vehicle.

Renault dealers, Renault UK and Renault Worldwide, step up! You win the How To Drop Your Customer's Like Hot Potatoes Award!

You couldn't make it up!

Edited by simondjuk on 27/10/2010 at 14:14