Well, well. Renault bonnets.

You persist in the idea that there is an enginering flaw, which simply isn't true. There is nothing wrong with the catches. They just need to be lubricated. Mike.

Sounds like a flaw to me, since the rest of the world copes fine.

If it wasn't possible to design a bonnet catch which didn't require regular lubrication, then, it wouldn't count as a flaw - but since it is, and it's been done, and even by the came car maker on other cars, it looks like the car maker's problem. Whether it's design, engineering or production is mostly irrelevant in this context.

cheers, clive

Plenty of catches jam up because they've not been lubricated, it's just that you seldom hear about it.

But it hasn't been done.

No one is saying that they require regular lubrication, but all makers catches require to be maintained occasionally, which means at very least lubricating them. Some might need less lubrication than others, but that doesn't mean the ones that require more are faulty

It's neither. With proper maintenance they are no more likely to fail than those fitted on other makes. If your argument was extended to include other auto items, it would mean that any component that didn't last as well as it did on other cars, could be regarded as faulty. I don't believe that is a logical conclusion to draw at all. Mike.

Watchdog is currently on telly. They revisted the subject and mentioned a story of some woman whose bonnet had popped. She had kindly sent in a photo of the catch as evidence. The bloody thing was rusted to hell. Now it might be a flaw in the design which allows the catch to become so rusted, but the fact that is HAD become that bad was really unforgiveable.

Clearly she had not been inspecting the car in any detail, or even at all. What else went unchecked - condition of tyres, fluid levels, lights, brakes...? I'm glad she sent in the photo because finally we can see the owner neglect for itself rather than speculate on what it might have been.

I won't even talk about the customers of the second hand car dealer who had a car which had smoke coming out of the vent and a burning smell, and after that a problem with the steering. After that? They should have had the bloody thing parked up when they smelled burning. There should have been no "after that" to consider.

Do any users of Watchdog ever have a legit complaint or are they all as thick as shit, offloading their responsibilities to the companies about which they complain?

In general the latter.

This just in...

Nice. Love the number plate.

Heh - missed that! Well spotted.