No, if the battery needs a BMS update to meet the contractual obligations on capacity, the cost is down to Renault.

Suggest you contact Watchdog and Matt Allbright and advise Renault this is what you are doing.

Their casual regard to honouring contracts needs to be held up to the light of day.

 

Might be worth a call to DSG in Morecambe to see what they would charge.

 

I think the technique is to ask them to replace the battery under the lease agreement.

After uttering these magic words you’ll find that the BMS update will be carried out for free.

 

From the hire agreement

Should such diagnostic test determine that the Battery threshold capacity is lower than that in clause 7.3, we
shall, at our discretion, either:
7.4.1 replace the Battery;
7.4.2 repair the Battery; or
7.4.3 provide such other mutually acceptable solution.

So if the "battery threshold capacity" is below 75% then they need to repair.

The question is does "health" = "battery threshold capacity"

If it doesn't, then whats the point of a health value?

 

How recently purchased?

 

Bought on 17th Sept. Wasn’t a specialist ev dealer so I don’t think they would know much about this issue at all.

Renault are arguing there is nothing wrong with the battery and it’s just the software.

I think as it’s is the Battery software I should not be liable.

But I still want it fixed, so might just pay and argue with Renault after.

 

You have the right to reject it within 30 days if the selling dealer can’t/won’t fix it.

 

Just looked into the 30 day thing, seems like it is the best option. Might try to get independent dealer to pay me back after the fact then using that as leverage. I don’t really want them to take the car back as they delivered it about 500 miles to get to me!
Thanks for all the quick replies.

 

The Consumer Act does NOT allow you to get it repaired and expect the seller to reimburse you. You need to tell the seller it is "not of satisfactory quality under Consumer Act" and you need them to repair it. They may makes arrangements with your nearest Renault dealer. Do not pay Renault dealer yourself.

 

And even if you do have to pay for it in the end (no, I am not arguing you should, on the contrary), the amount is ridiculous. I was charged around 80 Euro's two years back. I didn't challenge that because
a) the battery had not reached the limit%, but was "only" falling quickly
b) the dealer had been VERY good to me only a week or so earlier with a nasty emergency. They didn't deserve me making them jump through hoops for this amount.

 

Don't pay otherwise you have lost any leverage you have. Call other dealers and see if you can a better price you may be chasing this for a while less money out of pocket = not such pressure to get it back. Once they have your money it's easy for them to say no go back to where you bought the car he may have a connection to get it done cheap (at his cost) or try the replace the battery under lease then sounds sensible good luck

 

If you haven’t I still recommend calling Will for upfront and honest advice.

Will Adams
DSG Renault Morecambe
Fellgate
White Lund
Morecambe
LA3 3PE

Tel: 01524 848 000

 

This should illustrate why many of us say "don't have a Zoe without warranty". Paying for the extended warranty before the factory warranty expires is essential - IMHO.

On reflection, I would return the car as "not of satisfactory quality", get my money back and buy one with an active factory or extended warranty from Renault. However, you could tell the dealer to repair the car under the 5 year drivetrain warranty. If they refuse tell them you will go to media and industry ombudsman.

 

Warranty for a 2015 car attached.

 

If it's a software issue then by definition it has been there from new, and so should be covered by warranty.

 

Or could at least be dated to before the warranty ran out.

 

And how exactly does a software update cost £465?

 

By charging the HV disconnect wait time for the shop and two techs? You can't make this up really.

 

I'd have thought the battery lease would cover it. It's a bug in the software that's in their battery so surely it's not up to you to pay to fix a battery that you don't own.

As others have said I'm pretty confident DSG would put it through if you're anywhere near Morecambe

Alternatively it could be a fair reason to reject and if you do that, get one within warranty instead. I wouldn't own a Zoe1 without it to be honest, they only have like 80% reliability rating and I've been hit by the 20% a couple of times. (That's not really a criticism of it, as you have to factor in affordability - you pay thousands more for anything else of similar or better range)

I believe RAC do a reasonable "extended warranty" if you do keep it

 

For a BMS update I'd imagine there'd be a disconnect for safety reasons. As it's literally updating the thing that keeps the battery safe

 

It should be relying on hardware, not software for safety. There's a contactor in the battery pack to isolate it when not in use.

 

Do they pay you for the electricity they take out?

 

better get the brake fluid changed at the same time

 

Bit late following up on this one, I know I could have rejected the car, but I got an ok deal and I didn’t want the hassle of returning it.

In the end the BMS update was £475 + VAT.

That was 5 hours labour, one for diagnosis and 4 to fix it.

However after a day or two of complaining to Renault customer services they agreed to refund 50% of the cost as a goodwill gesture.

So agree with others that you should consider extending the warranty, or at least check the battery state of health before buying.

At least it’s all fixed and I have the standard 98% state of health and 95 miles of range.

 

At least it’s all fixed and I have the standard 98% state of health and 95 miles of range.

Sorry to hijack, according to CanZE my battery is 102% health but driving carefully I get about 80 miles range. My car is well out of warranty but was wondering if the BMS update actually gives you extra range or just resets the health %... 102% doesnt seem right as my car is 6 years old now.

Cheers.

 

Oof. Oh well... can't say for certain but I don't think you should've had to pay at all (they say it's software in the car, but the BMS is located in the battery pack isn't it? Which they have an agreement to keep above 75%) but that's Renault for you (and probably other manufacturers TBF). Dealers are inconsistent, and going by several cases here the Renault mothership have a bad habit of backing up whatever the dealer says regardless of whether it's right or wrong.

If anyone else has this issue it could be worth rattling a few cages over on https://www.facebook.com/rzocuk/
They have some good contacts within Renault and have been known to get things ironed out or at least get clarification either way. For example they recently raised and resolved the problem where people with a battery lease Zoe registered after Feb 2018 were being turned away for puncture assistance (although the warranty no longer includes it after that date, the battery lease still does) - this was a simple communication breakdown with AXA which has now been resolved.

 

Of course, I agree that I think I shouldn't have paid either. Seemed like a technicality that it was not covered in the battery lease.

My dealer is in Plymouth so limited options for dealers to get a second opinion. I got the impression they hadn't dealt with this type of issue too much before!

I would guess these sort of issues will keep cropping up now with people buying used Zoe's recently out of warranty.

 

I'd be kicking the remaining 50% back to the part of renault that deals with the battery lease, under the fact you had to repair their faulty provided stuff...

 

80 miles seems about standard at this time of year?

I've not literally tested it to the point of going flat, but in terms of the GOM and watching it go down, find it to be circa 60-70 miles in winter, 70-80 in spring and autumn, and 80-90 in summer with normal driving including motorways (those who drive like a granny manage 100+ of course)

 

Sounds about right to me.