Long-term update: Renault Safrane gets new parts under warranty

Our previous-generation 2009 Renault Safrane V6 has been a reliable-enough car, but certain interior parts had prematurely worn out in just 2 years — a sign of cost-cutting if there ever was one. So we asked for those parts to be replaced under warranty.

The central front armrest leatherette cracked up, the pop-out door pocket was loose, and the little cover on the sun-visor mirror was swinging freely. We asked for these interior panels to be changed under warranty, which expires early next year. It took numerous follow-ups since June to force the dealer service-centre to order these parts, sort of like how that certain friend of yours keeps “forgetting” to pay back that Dhs 500 he owes you.

On our last round to “remind” them of this in person, they even started saying we have to pay for the door-pocket bit because some clip is broken. That pocket was already half-way hanging when we bought the car, so we said that poorly-built part should be replaced for free. After the service-advisor started dropping some attitude, we didn’t bother arguing with him, and simply called up our Nissan-Renault PR contacts to get the message across.

We soon got the call telling us that some parts were in stock but others will be in within 15 days, all to be replaced under warranty. We wanted to do all the work in one trip, so we chose to wait. Those 15 days stretched to a month, but we finally did get our parts at the end of November. The work took less than a day. Hilariously, they even called us up later to ask if we’re satisfied with the service. We didn’t bother going into detail with the friendly phone lady, considering how long the story is.

Original Mileage When Bought: 110 km
Latest Mileage To Date: 38,400 km
Latest Average Fuel Economy: 8.5 litres/100 km
Cost of Latest Problems: Dhs 0
Cost of Latest Maintenance: Dhs 0

Total Non-Fuel Running Cost Since Bought: Dhs 2093

Read all 2009 Renault Safrane long-term updates