[zozo]

Hi all,

I've had my Zoe for a couple of months now. When I got it, the air con only blew ambient temperature, not hot or cold. I reported it to the dealer, and they said they'd fix it for me. Using Can-ZE, I could see that the system pressure was 0 and the compressor wasn't working.

It finally went back this week. All they did was regas it (I suggested they should probably look for a leak, but they said it was fixed). I collected it at 8am, checked and the system pressure was 27 bar. By the time I got it home, it was making a loud grinding noise when heating/cooling was on, coming from the compressor. Checked again and system pressure was down to 12 bar. Attempted to go out in the evening, and no noise, no heat - pressure was back to 0 bar.

Another issue is the battery - max 45 miles range. Can-ZE says 71% health, I just told them 'it takes a long time to get from 99-100% charge and range is low', but all they'll say is that's 'normal for the car'. I suspect it needs the BMS update, but they're not interested.

It quite clearly has a leak and possibly dud compressor. Is it worth giving them a second attempt at fixing it, or should I reject it? It's been more than 30 days, but less than 6 months and I part paid by credit card.

 

[dk6780]

Give them 10 days to resolve it on the understanding that you will reject it if both issues aren't resolved to your satisfaction. Don't waste any more time on it as it's a lemon.

 

[DrEskimo]

Go to a different dealer.

 

[BogieMan]

The problem was obviously there from day 1.
What year is the car and did you buy it from a Renault dealer.? Air con leaks are impossible (almost) for non Renault garages to fix, and sometimes close to impossible for some Renault garage to fix.
Have a look on CanZe to see the SOH of the battery, I expect it is low and if it is a hired battery ask for a replacement battery rather than the BMS update.
But if they can't fix the air con they need to refund you, it's not a usable car without it as the air con is needed for cabin heating and battery cooling.
The air con fluid is very expensive, if they keep filling it and it leaking it will cost many hundreds of pounds in fluid alone.

 

[zozo]

Go to a different dealer.

I would, but they've agreed the problem was there when I bought the car so they were willing to fix it at their cost. I've booked it in again for the next available slot (a little under 2 weeks time) but I don't hold out much hope.

 

[donald]

Hi all,

I've had my Zoe for a couple of months now. When I got it, the air con only blew ambient temperature, not hot or cold. I reported it to the dealer, and they said they'd fix it for me. Using Can-ZE, I could see that the system pressure was 0 and the compressor wasn't working.

It finally went back this week. All they did was regas it (I suggested they should probably look for a leak, but they said it was fixed). I collected it at 8am, checked and the system pressure was 27 bar. By the time I got it home, it was making a loud grinding noise when heating/cooling was on, coming from the compressor. Checked again and system pressure was down to 12 bar. Attempted to go out in the evening, and no noise, no heat - pressure was back to 0 bar.

Another issue is the battery - max 45 miles range. Can-ZE says 71% health, I just told them 'it takes a long time to get from 99-100% charge and range is low', but all they'll say is that's 'normal for the car'. I suspect it needs the BMS update, but they're not interested.

It quite clearly has a leak and possibly dud compressor. Is it worth giving them a second attempt at fixing it, or should I reject it? It's been more than 30 days, but less than 6 months and I part paid by credit card.

Reject.

 

[zozo]

The problem was obviously there from day 1.
What year is the car and did you buy it from a Renault dealer.? Air con leaks are impossible (almost) for non Renault garages to fix, and sometimes close to impossible for some Renault garage to fix.
Have a look on CanZe to see the SOH of the battery, I expect it is low and if it is a hired battery ask for a replacement battery rather than the BMS update.
But if they can't fix the air con they need to refund you, it's not a usable car without it as the air con is needed for cabin heating and battery cooling.

It's a 2016 22KwH with 16,000 miles on it. Yes, it was bought from a Renault dealer - and the branch that's now had it twice is apparently a ZE specialist. CanZe says the battery health is 70%, but the cell voltages look okay - not sure how to approach that aspect though without being told that the range is normal, as I'm pretty sure they won't accept my reading from CanZe. At least they accept the aircon was faulty, and it's back to how it started with that.

 

[G.a.r.y]

Ask them to check the battery health as the range is low, you can also get the exact fix number that Renault can look up from the RZOC (Renault Zoe Owners Club) which should point them in the right direction.

Cheers.

 

[Zarni]

In respect to the air con they have to leak test it. Just replacing the gas is illegal. Obviously if the gas has disappeared it has gone somewhere, and that is in to the atmosphere. If they just refilled it they are deliberately pushing more gas into the atmosphere. That is a big no no. If you can get them to put it in writing you have them over a barrel. If you go back push for them to do a long high pressure nitrogen test. That should find the leak.


As a point of reference for your battery my 2015 car has done 58k and has a SOH of 97% this morning, with a range of around 80 miles now its winter. Speak to RCI about the SOH and they will get the garage to update the BMS, much cheaper than replacing the battery. If they dont you get a new battery, either way you win.

 

[Padrino]

Just a small note following @Zarni post. The chances RCI will fit new battery are very slim. If they go the whole nine yards, they will replace with reconditioned battery. RCI how have facilities in the UK for repair, refurbishment of Zoe's batteries so don't expect NEW one. Following all of the above I will reject the car as many of the other posters have suggested.

 

[cDy]

Just a small note following @Zarni post. The chances RCI will fit new battery are very slim. If they go the whole nine yards, they will replace with reconditioned battery. RCI how have facilities in the UK for repair, refurbishment of Zoe's batteries so don't expect NEW one. Following all of the above I will reject the car as many of the other posters have suggested.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's quite likely that only a few cells or a section of the pack will have failed / degraded, so a repair by replacing these can produce a perfectly usable renovated pack. Of course, one reason for not getting a new 22 kWh battery is that they don't make them anymore.

 

[TJEV]

45 miles in a Zoe 22 isn’t unheard of in winter at 70mph, with a somewhat degraded battery.

 

[zozo]

45 miles in a Zoe 22 isn’t unheard of in winter at 70mph, with a somewhat degraded battery.

I'd agree, but it's showing 45 miles when the vast majority of miles I do are urban. It rarely goes over 40mph. I know the estimate is a bit of a rough guess, but the range seems to drop in line with that figure. Given the lack of heating, the heat/aircon is always turned off too.

 

[zozo]

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's quite likely that only a few cells or a section of the pack will have failed / degraded, so a repair by replacing these can produce a perfectly usable renovated pack. Of course, one reason for not getting a new 22 kWh battery is that they don't make them anymore.

To be honest, I'd be happy with the BMS update if that improved things. From the outset given what I'd read on here I wasn't expecting any physical work on the battery.

 

[DrEskimo]

I would, but they've agreed the problem was there when I bought the car so they were willing to fix it at their cost. I've booked it in again for the next available slot (a little under 2 weeks time) but I don't hold out much hope.

Is the car not under warranty? The problems outlined would be covered under warranty, so any dealer can look at it.

 

[dk6780]

Why are you persisting with it? The car is a lemon, get your money back and find a better example. There is no need for you to have the heartache and stress now or potentially again in the future. If it was a "bargain", ask yourself why and perhaps accept paying a little more for something that will be so much better.

 

[Zarni]

I wouldn't say it was a lemon due to these two things when we know the battery one can be fixed with a software update and the A/C just needs someone to look at it who knows what they're doing.
It is a poor show from the dealer for sure, but we have advised on how the issues can be resolved so that should be that.

A good point from DrEskimo though, I do hope it is under warranty (or extended warranty) if not then I really would change my stance and be trying to give it back. I've not claimed on the extended warranty this year so far (not been very far in it) but still very glad it's there. Owning a Zoe with no warranty does make me a bit nervous.

 

[cah197]

Owning a Zoe with no warranty does make me a bit nervous.

I kind of agree, but it really shouldn't.

The issue is that most of the Renault dealers seem incompetent and afraid of actually fixing the AC system, just preferring to top it up and hope the customer goes away.

 

[Zarni]

Agree, normally I work on my own cars, and hate having to rely on spanner monkeys that might have been trained how to work on EV's. That is a world away from letting someone work on your car that actually knows what they are doing though.

Even then I wouldn't mind running the risk without a warranty if the dealers were honest in their work ethic. I used to run a service department for survey kit and the customer would only ever get charged for the time taken to work the repair as if we knew exactly what the fault was. They wouldn't get charged for us "playing" with it because we'd not seen that fault before or it wasn't doing what we thought it should. This even extended to what we thought were fixes but failed with a week the final bill would be as if it had been fixed correctly in the first place. You pay high labour cost as they are supposed to know how to fix it, they should have the experience, they should have the training, they should have support to get it done right the first time. I don't want to pay for them to basically play around until they stumble on the fault and then repair that simply because they are not familiar with it unlike ICE vehicles.

Damnit. Keep forgetting to buy a Chinese CLIP tool. Anyone know if you can update firmware with those things? I'd assume you need a subscription to Renault. Not sure though.

 

[zozo]

I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the response from the dealer when I told them I wanted to reject the car - I spoke to the manager at the branch who sold the car, they agreed that it isn't up to standard and that if I return it to my local branch on the next convenient date for me, I'll get a full refund. Thanks for the advice.