Renault India — renault's hypocrisy - vehicle jerk and vibration at lower gears - trial and error fixes being attempted and enforcing customers to pay

Address:

EASTERN EXPRESS HIGHWAY, Thane, Maharashtra, 400601

Im taking this moment to escalate my three year trouble with Renault and how they had dealt with. Below is the communication i sent along with details of past communication and proof that i had reported my vehicle problem in the first year of purchase which is now reported as wear and tear. There is no guarantee to the solution yet as they made me spend for their product deficiencies earlier a week back and now wanting me to spend more. The reply i got was to pay 25% and close, when renault know that it is their product issue but conveniently put on customers.

"
To - rahul.[protected]@renault.com, gm.[protected]@renault-india.com, crm.[protected]@renault-india.com

Hi All,
I’m placing this complaint on record with some history and need your support. Please treat this as an escalation to address the current situation.
Background :
My vehicle Duster AMT RXL MH04HM 9456 was purchased in Jan17 from GenNext motors. I have been reporting a clutch jerk issue while driving on traffic conditions since my 1st service and thereafter continuously and during my scheduled maintenance services as well.
1. Feedback Renault Service during 1st service – The vehicle is new and will get adjusted as you drive, and we can resolve if the problem continues during next service.
2. Feedback for the problem reported during and after the 2nd service - Work was performed on clutch beading and it should not recur. The problem reappeared and the same was discussed with GenNext thane service and complaint was raised, discussed with Service Manager Mr.Faizal and the Vehicle was dropped at service center multiple times. Refer communication attached during Dec’17 and Mar’18
3. During my insurance claim in Oct18 followed by regular maintenance 3rd service the same was reported to Mr. Sushant (Advisor Benchmark Motors). Feedback – Similar clutch beading work done or rectified and should not repeat. The jerk issue was reported multiple times and no proper explanation nor resolution provided and was informed that I will get a call back to provide solution.
4. My 4th Service(Nov’19) was due and reported for service with Jerk issue to be fixed as it was getting aggravated. This time I raised this again with the advisor (Mr. Tendulkar ) and Mr. Viraj Service manager with Benchmark Motors Thane. After assessment it was reported that Flywheel must be changed and not covered under extended warranty.
My claim started here deeper and was insisting that Renault should bear the cost as it has been reported from the 1st year of purchase. This issue cannot be related to any wear and tear of the vehicle usage hence was not willing to pay for the Flywheel. Upon satisfactory guarantee by the Service team I was made to convince and pay 50% of the part discounted as goodwill. Costed 26K INR. Post taking the delivery of vehicle the problem re-occurred within a day and this was reported to Mr. Viraj.
The vehicle was further dropped at Benchmark thane last week of Nov for further test and assessment. Mr. Manish Technical expert did a test drive along with me and acknowledged the problem and assured fixes. It gave some hope and the service team came back to change the Clutch kit to resolve. Post the clutch kit change I did a test drive and feel ok but mentioned that basis the past observation the problem surfaces in few days and not on day 1.
The challenge now is that Benchmark service want me to bear the cost of Clutch kit replaced (INR 16 K) as it is not approved under warranty. I have been disputing this and requesting Renault to bear the cost as this is not a wear and tear issue and has occurred since beginning which was not addressed. Further the vehicle was duly serviced at appropriate time.
I understand that the service team had raised the request for necessary approvals with their authorities and has been waiting to get a go ahead on the same.
My Open questions / concerns / claims
1. Why was this not identified as a resolution since beginning ?
2. Why was this not supported during the early days of the problem, leaving this to be called a wear and tear after 3 yrs to disallow under warranty ?
3. Why should the customer pay for Renault being unable to know what need to be done for 3 long years on their own manufactured product ?
4. What is the guarantee that the two attempted solution (clutch and flywheel) will work longer and how long ? I was made to pay for flywheel and now clutch, what more I should expect?
5. Why is Renault pushing their flaws on customer and create inconvenience?
Every time I leave the vehicle I had to keep it in service center for 5-10 days causing additional spend at my end personally for local commute. Need some serious commitment to resolve faster.
6. Does Renault know what are the problems of their own products ?
Currently I had raised this with CRM escalations at Benchmark Renault service Ms.Preeti and requested the contact details to email out this concern. I have attached proof of this complaint raised since Dec 2017 and in 2018. My conversations, complaints were never heard of by Renault and I have no reason to pay any towards this fix or resolution as a wear and tear part replacement.
My claim – Request Renault to bear the cost of this replacement for Clutch as I have already paid for flywheel change (which I should not have). Both Flywheel and clutch are not necessarily need to be replaced as the vehicle has run only 30000 kms but the experts feel that’s the only area to fix for the issue basis the assessment. It is not a wear and tear in my view as the problem related to these part must have existed since beginning when they were brand new with the manufactured vehicle.
I will be really glad to see Renault take serious note of this issue and help address to cover the part replaced and approved 100% under warranty or on goodwill etc. I will not be interested in making the payment for this part change and would further like to take this escalation to the next level if there is an unreasonable response.
At the outset thank Mr. Viraj for helping and deploying the right personnel to fix the problem. I hope the resolutions stays and do not recur. As expressed to Ms. Preeti and Mr. Viraj, I have lost trust at the moment with Renault and on their product / service and it can only be gained when the service support improves.
Appreciate if the problem is read from the views of the customer for 3 yrs after spending 13.5 lac to buy a vehicle and not satisfied with its performance.
Request an immediate action and approval to allow part replacement without any cost.

Thanks
Jagannathan