[PraveenM]

Originally Posted by Brishti

7. This is the most underrated car in India making it unique and special.

From a another Fluence owner Congrats! you seem really pleased with your decision to buy the Fluence.

Originally Posted by Brishti

8. Brakes have a bad bite that is instant and very scary, thanks to ABS they don't lock the wheels.

I've had the complete opposite experience with the brakes, never had the bite I wanted, always a tad bit spongy !

Originally Posted by Brishti

The car looks great it has that European look going for it even if it is actually a Samsung product. Understated but certainly much louder than the Jetta or Octavia.

Not quite sure what was Samsung's contribution here, but the Fluence is just a Megane with a boot.

Originally Posted by Brishti

Out of all the alternatives in the D1/D2 category this is best VFM car with extended warranty.

You bet, my 2012 E2 105bhp was *only* 14.5 lakhs on road.

Originally Posted by Brishti

The car has done about 850km but it does not feel the engine has settled till yet. Fluctuation in average and different behavior around 2000-3000rpm are why I think so.

The car feels at home on highways and a little too relaxed, the engine runs out of puff around 110-120kph and that rapid acceleration is gone replaced with a liner acceleration not that it is bad but keeping up with a A4/A6/320d is just not possible "I have tried"

Just as specified in the manual, I've felt that engine has opened up only after 6000 or so kms. After this I've noticed a lot more oomph from 2k-3k rpm, which in 6th gear can manage 100-160kmph.

[Brishti]

Originally Posted by PraveenM

I've had the complete opposite experience with the brakes, never had the bite I wanted, always a tad bit spongy !

Not quite sure what was Samsung's contribution here, but the Fluence is just a Megane with a boot.

Just as specified in the manual, I've felt that engine has opened up only after 6000 or so kms. After this I've noticed a lot more oomph from 2k-3k rpm, which in 6th gear can manage 100-160kmph.

Maybe the brakes loose up after some run in period or the new models have tighter brakes.

While the sales team was trying to convince me for the Fluence they gave me a history lesson about the fluence. On that printed sheet was information on Samsung SM3 and it was noted that Samsung had collaorated with Renault for the SM3. Furthermore after ward while researching online I found out that the Samsung SM3 was unveiled in April 2009 where as Renault Fluence was unveiled in August 2009.

Great to hear that the engine opens up eventually other than that oomph on the higher rev range the engine is a good.

[vb-saan]

Congratulations Brishti. Great choice indeed!

Originally Posted by Brishti

8. The 2+2 year warranty is great specially since I had to pay no extra money for the same.

This is indeed a great plus. Its good that unlike VW, Renault is still not deciding on the providing extended warranty on their high end models.

Originally Posted by Brishti

6. Part sharing between this and Duster is not as common as I would have liked.
…
…
The car looks great it has that European look going for it even if it is actually a Samsung product.

The reason could be, unlike the Duster the Fluence is a proper Renault.

AFAIK, it’s not a Samsung product, but is marketed as Samsung is the Korean market (built locally), and also exported (with Renault badge) to some of the South Asian markets and Australia. For e.g.; here in Singapore, the Fluence is imported from Korea. I believe the Indian Fluence come in as CKD units from Turkey.

Originally Posted by Brishti

Being a sedan the seats are placed low so elders will have a little problem getting up.

The back seat is still better than (or on par with) most of the sedans in its class.


Thanks for sharing your ownership experience, and do keep updating the thread regularly.

[Brishti]

3100Km UPDATE:

Quite a few problems have cropped up and will be detailed below. I am presently in Manali after deciding to tour upper HP instead of just touching HP like I did last time now on to the problems:-

1. There was a leakage from the engine oil filter while in Delhi got it fixed but almost all of the oil was gone and I had to get a new filter and get a refill done. The filter was free but refill was paid.

2. Left indicator had stopped working took it to the service center again they said must be a fused bulb but even after a change it did not work. The senior engineer then went for the fuse box but no problems were found so what can be the real reason he has no idea and tells me to leave the car and they will trace the wires but I will have to pay labor which is almost around 25,000 per day I said no and still have no working left indicator.

3. After I reached Shimla from Delhi the steering seemed heavier than earlier but just a little and I foolishly was thinking that I am tired but it might have been because of some other reason.

4. Spent two nights in Shimla and in the morning there was light snowfall happily I went to the car but it refused to open had to use the physical key once inside the MID was blank the car was dead. The battery had drained and after getting a jump start I was stuck because the closest service station for Renault was in Mandi which is quite far off from Shimla but I had to go once there they diagnosed it as wire problem and told me a wire trace will have to be done since rats may have eaten up the wires, offcourse labor charges will be additional. Without much of a choice I said yes and spent the night in a Mandi guest house the next day the problem was found and no it was not a rat bit but two semi nude wires which had some how fused together thank god there was no fire. The engineer said I must have used a stronger battery for the jump start which is totally false because both my fluence and SX4 had the same battery rating. After the wires were changed the car does not die but the left indicator is still not working.



This wire problem is really troublesome and very scary, a fire for example. Why no fuses were blown is beyond me any sort of short circuit should have done something. On top of all this one tyre has developed a crack and there is a cut on another overall its been frustrating few days once back in Pune I will have to get all this ironed out.

[IshaanIan]

First off, congratulations on what I deem the best D1 segment car out there

Now cracks and cuts on your tyres, dead battery, the fact that the service personnel suspected rats are all an indication of your car either being one of very old stock (have you checked the month and year or manufacture) or one that has been improperly stored. For such issues you should not have to pay for labor either it is simply outrageous that they would ask you to do so. As far as I know there is a warranty on tyres and if they are developing crakcs etc, please urge them to replace all 5 as for the battery, check to see if it has bulged and get the indicator thingamabob fixed asap and throw a tantrum or something about labor because for no fault of yours, you should not have to pay anything extra to rectify issues on a brand new car.

Cheers and good luck!

[Brishti]

5700KM UPDATE:

This car is now a box of trouble regretting ever getting it. The problem list goes on and on and a majority is due to the screwed up electrical system.

Lets go on to the problems:

1. Water enters the cabin from somewhere around the passenger seat firewall.

2. With AC on full, headlight's dim without any reason.

3. Central locking does not work all the time gets stuck at one position.

4. Only one of the mirrors fold the other one "Left" stays open, can't even force it to close.

5. Whole left side of the car is electrically dead, now non of the left indicators work. Left electrical windows do not work properly when they do its in slow motion.

6. The brake lights are crazy, sometimes they stays ON even after switching the car off.

7. The passenger airbag off icon remains in the mid but I never switched it off in the first place.

For all these issues I have visited A.S.S total of 6 times for the last 2 months.




For the 1st problem they tried to seal it off with some kind of glue inside the cabin but it did not work after this they just gave up.

For the 2nd problem they changed the alternator and it has worked.

For the 3rd problem they changed all the boosters from the central locking system inside the doors this did not fully rectify the problem.

For the 4th problem they want to change the mirror assembly sadly its not available so no progress.

For the 5th problem they checked the cars electrical system took almost Rs.60,000 and it was 3 days before I had to say no more.

For the 6th problem they replaced some switch and now its fixed.

The 7th problem was resolved by bypassing a switch near the steering wheel since that switch was not in stock and could not be replaced, now I cant switch the passenger airbag ON/OFF but at least its active 24/7 now.

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

First off, congratulations on what I deem the best D1 segment car out there

Thankyou

The cuts are not covered under warranty they said its not because of manufacturing defect and is not their problem. Labor charges are applicable for electrical system trace where they look at all the wire inside the car. I made a whole scene not once but twice but in the end gave up and got a full electrical system trace done but after three days, Rs.60,000 and no results told them to stop.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Oh boy! Those are some real serious issues to have developed within 5700 kms. Looks like you have been issued a lemon.

Did you try to escalate the matter to Renault? Or you have been speaking only to the dealers?

[ampere]

I think you should write to Renault. Social Media works well. Response comes out much faster. Not at all expected for a car of this class.

[rbp]

I am surprised that you paid all that amount for rectifying a defective car. This is shocking, I would have ditched the car at the dealer and told him to keep it. Try escalating the matter to some senior executives at Renault.

[ajmat]

Welcome to French electrics!

1. Water enters the cabin from somewhere around the passenger seat firewall.

My bet is that the cabin pollen filter if the car is fitted with one has not been replaced properly or the seal has failed

3. Central locking does not work all the time gets stuck at one position.

Check the relays and connections. Could be a convenience ECU assuming there is one to operate windows and locking like in VAG cars. Might be related to the water leakage

4. Only one of the mirrors fold the other one "Left" stays open, can't even force it to close.

Would it cost anything to remove and dismantle to see what it wrong?

5. Whole left side of the car is electrically dead, now non of the left indicators work. Left electrical windows do not work properly when they do its in slow motion.

Sounds like a connection problem - again might be related to the specific ECU. Do the lights work?

7. The passenger airbag off icon remains in the mid but I never switched it off in the first place.

Did the water leakage short a switch by any chance?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Brishti

2. With AC on full, headlight's dim without any reason.

3. Central locking does not work all the time gets stuck at one position.

4. Only one of the mirrors fold the other one "Left" stays open, can't even force it to close.

5. Whole left side of the car is electrically dead, now non of the left indicators work. Left electrical windows do not work properly when they do its in slow motion.

6. The brake lights are crazy, sometimes they stays ON even after switching the car off.

7. The passenger airbag off icon remains in the mid but I never switched it off in the first place.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Because of such severe electrical issues (unusual in a brand new car), I have a strong suspicion your Fluence is from the Cochin flood damage incident - Link. As is usually the case with such matters. cars from that lot would've been refurbished and shipped at a hefty discount to dealers all across the country.

The flood was in August and you got your Fluence in December. It's just a hunch.

[iliketurtles]

The breadth and severity of your issues is very unusual for a virtually brand new car brishti. Have you reached out to Renault directly, and if so what have they said to you?

I am no expert in technical details, so I won't even bother trying to offer insight. I will say this though; the fact that the dealership hasn't been able to sort out everything and resorted to jugaad to fix some of the issues worries me since it might betray a lack of expertise in troubleshooting and handling cars like the Fluence which are electronically complex.

I hope GTO's hunch is wrong, because a car that has been water-logged car is trouble waiting to happen. What's worse is that the few Fluences we do have on here have reported nothing wrong with the car. Touch wood, your car will be all sorted out soon.

Keep us posted buddy. Ciao

[desdemona]

Sad to hear of your troubles. This is the first severe case of reliability issues with a Renault that I have come across. Please escalate matters up to Renault India if you haven't already! Let us know how that goes, will you? All the best.

[rdhawan15]

Originally Posted by Brishti

The cuts are not covered under warranty they said its not because of manufacturing defect and is not their problem. Labor charges are applicable for electrical system trace where they look at all the wire inside the car. I made a whole scene not once but twice but in the end gave up and got a full electrical system trace done but after three days, Rs.60,000 and no results told them to stop.

The dealerships are notorious for making money out of sorry situations. I think you would need to take a call on whether you want to persist with this lemon and keep on paying charges for a product that has many manufacturing defects or if you would dump this at a dealer and take the Renault management head-on for a new fault-free car. I believe you have a strong case to demand rectification of problems or a new car.

I would start with a Social media outreach to begin with and send them the entire story in the form of a notice through Indian post system.

It is ridiculous that a person has to pay money during the extended warranty because the dealers want to take an owner for a ride, and the company conveniently looks in the opposite direction.

[Santoshbhat]

Sad to see that you have had to face so many problems in such a short period of ownership. The joy of purchasing a new car soon becomes a nightmare with such incidents. Most of the issues seem to be related to the car's electricals.

Make sure you document your interactions with the ASC and get acknowledgement, job card etc... evidencing your reporting of the issues. If you have to take legal route these will be crucial. Not that I am recommending legal action just yet. But if all other options are exhausted, what else can we do in cases like this?