[Incurable trekkie]

My zoe started to display a red light on plugging in and wouldn't charge. Renault have already charged me 450 to tell me that it needs a new charging unit and they want a further 4,500 to replace it. I'm horrified! I only paid 4,700 for the car 2 years ago and it's given me no trouble.

 

[TiJayFLY]

Out of warranty repairs on Zoe are crazy high. Without an extended warranty, these cars are essentially worthless.

 

[Incurable trekkie]

I had an extended warranty on my last car, turned out not to be worth the paper it was written on

 

[srichards]

How old is it exactly? Is it over or under 5?

 

[TiJayFLY]

Renault extended warranty on the Zoe is absolutely worthwhile. It’s the first piece of advice we tend to give on here.

 

[Incurable trekkie]

How old is it exactly? Is it over or under 5?

It's 7 unfortunately

 

[srichards]

Oh. That's a shame. I'd probably contact a HEVRA approved repairer and see what they'd charge to sort it out.

It could also be having a wobble due to a duff 12v battery. When was that replaced?

 

[cDy]

it needs a new charging unit

Which charging unit? That for the 12V battery or part of the charging system for the traction battery? If the latter, then which part(s) are they quoting to replace? They've already charged you £450 so they should be able to give you full information on the fault(s) they've found.

My concern is that they replace a lot of hardware based on guesswork, find that it doesn't fix things, and then want to charge more to replace something else. If you do go ahead with a fix, what undertaking are they giving that they have correctly diagnosed the fault and their quoted work will fix it?

As always, get second and third quotes if possible. Is the car still driveable and has it any range left in it?

 

[Incurable trekkie]

Oh. That's a shame. I'd probably contact a HEVRA approved repairer and see what they'd charge to sort it out.

It could also be having a wobble due to a duff 12v battery. When was that replaced?

It was replaced last year, not because there was anything wrong with it but because the garage said it had to be replaced after 6 years. When I took it in I thought it was just a software fault, after they motd it last year it came back with a bci fault which took them a week to fix. I later found out how to do that myself and had it motd at my local garage this year, no problem until this.

 

[Incurable trekkie]

Which charging unit? That for the 12V battery or part of the charging system for the traction battery? If the latter, then which part(s) are they quoting to replace? They've already charged you £450 so they should be able to give you full information on the fault(s) they've found.

My concern is that they replace a lot of hardware based on guesswork, find that it doesn't fix things, and then want to charge more to replace something else. If you do go ahead with a fix, what undertaking are they giving that they have correctly diagnosed the fault and their quoted work will fix it?

As always, get second and third quotes if possible. Is the car still driveable and has it any range left in it?

I don't even know what the charging unit is. I did stress that the battery is leased.
Unfortunately there isn't another dealership in range, I left it with 30 miles on it. The nearest on wouldn't take it as they don't have an ev trained mechanic. I was unhappy with this dealership already and even more so now.
Update is that they found a wiring fault and are replacing the loom on tuesday but wouldn't guarantee that would fix it. If it doesn't then I've decided not to let them do any more work.

 

[srichards]

Pay any bills by credit card then you have another arm of protection if the work they do doesn't fix it.

I'd be tempted to get it transported to a competent garage instead but finding one is quite tricky as many Renault dealers seem to be useless.

If it's battery leased then recovery is part of the lease agreement. I'd be on to them about getting it taken to somewhere else if where it is don't fix the car. I'm sure someone else did exactly that under similar circumstances. I think the much better renault dealer was in Poole. That's only a vague memory. There's also DSG in Morecombe that seem to be far better than most.

 

[555djx]

...There's also DSG in Morecambe that seem to be far better than most.

Wholeheartedly agree, get it transported to DSG, even if you have to pay for it yourself. They will give you an honest appraisal so you can decide on your best option.

 

[Incurable trekkie]

Pay any bills by credit card then you have another arm of protection if the work they do doesn't fix it.

I'd be tempted to get it transported to a competent garage instead but finding one is quite tricky as many Renault dealers seem to be useless.

If it's battery leased then recovery is part of the lease agreement. I'd be on to them about getting it taken to somewhere else if where it is don't fix the car. I'm sure someone else did exactly that under similar circumstances. I think the much better renault dealer was in Poole. That's only a vague memory. There's also DSG in Morecombe that seem to be far better than most.

good advice, thank you. it has to go on the credit card anyway as I don't have that kind of money.
the battery is leased and DSG has been recommended to me before. if it had been anything other than charging I'd have gone straight there but I was just too far away. might try the recovery option though.
finding a reputable garage is not easy, my local garage is brilliant but they have no EV experience, mine is the only one they do so far.

 

[john andersen]

HEVRA Approved Garages

HEVRA approved garages have met our standards for training and equipment when it comes to servicing hybrid and electric cars. And you know they've got our backup behind them.

www.hevra.org.uk

try have a look there

 

[Incurable trekkie]

Wonderful, I didnt know about this. Thanks everyone for your help, you really are a community

 

[Incurable trekkie]

Well zoe is back on the road after a £709 bill. The cause? Corrosion on one of the pins under the flap. The action, no don't clean the pin, replace the whole damn unit including the wiring loom!

 

[srichards]

Yikes. Better than a £4500 bill but still a bit eye watering!

 

[TiJayFLY]

Bargain. Now quick, sell up before it does cost you £4K - then buy one with a warranty!

 

[Incurable trekkie]

Bargain. Now quick, sell up before it does cost you £4K - then buy one with a warranty!

That's the plan