I hate my car !!!

tsgray70

tsgray70

tsgray70

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Joined
9 Nov 2006
Posts
272
Location
Leicester
A few months ago for financial reasons I had to sell my Renault Megane which I loved and never gave any hassle. I bought a Mplate Renault Clio 1.9 Diesel out of the paper to get me to work. Its done 110k but I thought we Diesels run for ever, right?

Started off I got her serviced, new cam belt and brake pads. Then she started to really Chug in the mornings when cold and threw out loads of smoke. Mechanic changed the thing that the fuel filter is attached to as the flange had a split. By this point you may have guessed that i'm not very mechanically proficient.

This made things slightly better but then came the overheating. I was sitting in traffic and she started to steam a lot and water was shooting out of the front. Next day mechanic filled her up with water again and says it really isnt worth spending any more money on it.

So now im stuck with a piece of crap until Jan when I will get a company car. Have to carry water in the boot. check water daily, and I look like a red arrow when i go down the street when shes cold. I HATE MY CAR.
 
What year was your old Megane?

Unfortunately, high miles and french cars don't really get on well. If you have £300 to spare, go out and buy a cheap Mondeo with MOT til January - should prove to be more reliable, and a nicer place to be than a clio.
 
Had three cars with that engine in the family (2 Clios, 95N and 97P and a Kangoo) and we got rid of both Clios at 8/9 years old when engine maintenance/repair costs were approaching the car's worth. The Kangoo's engine was OK but it had too many other gremlins.

The 1.2 petrols seem a lot better, the SPI in my first car and MPI in my Mum's 99V have been fine.
 
commited said:
Unfortunately, high miles and french cars don't really get on well.
Click to expand...

maybe renaults and high miles dont... but sure as hell citroens do :p

the amount of xantias and zx's i know off still chugging along fine at 150/200k+

edit: to OP, also sounds like your mechanic aint excactly 'mechanically proficient' either ;)... sounds like a simple rad leak you got... easy job.
 
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You know I wondered about that too. He has the contract for looking after the fleet cars where i work so I know he wont rip me off. It still really annoys me though that I cant just get the heap into some sort of working order that will just last 2 months.
 
well depending on where the leak is... a new rad doesnt cost the earth and neither does a hose or two if its them that are the culprit...

sure as hell mite be worth doing to save you the hassle of checking until janurary...
 
well time wise it all tallies up. my sis had a clio diesel van for a while, had a new belt put on and didnt run right... got it retimed and all was good
 
Yeah just called the guy and he insists that it isnt the timing. The thing is I've always trusted him because he looks after all of the company cars. He wouldnt want to jeopardise the contract but he doesnt seem to want to check it. Looks like i'm stuffed
 
with a diesel, they are so simple, they dont have ignition systems etc that can play up, the symptoms you say sounds like a timing issue and it sounds like such a coincidence that the belt was just done.

hopefully this doesnt have to be escalated further..
 
Ok spoke to the guy again adn he says that it isnt the timing or else it would chug all the time and not just when its cold, (after 5 mins or so it calms down) He claims it is more likely to be a compression problem which is going to cost more than the cars worth to fix.
 
Get a second opinion. What he says about it not being timing, is not right. A timing problem could be the reason for your cold runinng problem, even if it is ok when the engine is warm.
 
i remember my sisters AX diesel was running rough in the cold,

my dad changed the glow plugs i cant recall their proper name and changed the fuel filter (it had accumulated water or somthing) and it worked fine.. old diesels are chuggy and smokey by nature though.
 
with a problem i had with a local garage in the past that thought about trying to wriggle out of repairing a bodge they did on my car... my plan was to go to VW get them to diagnose it and quote a repair cost... go back to the original jokers who broke my car, ask them to repair thieir bodge because vw had diagnosed it as the same.

the alternative i gave them was for me to get it done at VW... at VW prices then take them to court for the extra expense

they fixed their bodge
 
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