[jmktm]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Try this option http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post4251147

Thanks.
I suppose I need to buy this one also as my recessed button is damaged and am having to press very hard. Most probably the silicon jacket will not last much longer.

[SajiNSalin]

We had plans of a four day drive to Hampi from Trivandrum, but our Duster AWD had other plans. The Duster and us parted company in Renault Salem. Here is the story:

A bit of background

I had purchased a Duster AWD in December, 2015, from the Trivandrum showroom. The purchase itself had its share of problems with the dealer and I had reported this to customer care, but I did not got any positive response so far.

I had driven from Trivandrum to Goa in December 2015, and the first service was carried out by the Goa service centre and immediately afterwards the oil pressure valve failed. Renault has a customer unfriendly policy of not stocking spares, so I had to drive very carefully from Goa to Trivandrum and handed over the vehicle to Renault Trivandrum for replacement of this part. The work took more than a week.
Afterwards, the gps would freeze up on its own and this was reported to Renault Trivandrum at each of the services, but till today it has not been resolved. I never know when it will work and most annoyingly, it usually freezes up when I am driving through congested city roads.

To the present problem

In July, 2017, during a drive, the engine warning lights came on suddenly, but disappeared after a few minutes. It did not light up again. The vehicle has run 35777 km till the incident reported here.
I reported this to Renault Trivandrum when I used my Gang of Dusters complimentary coupons for engine check, washing and ac checkup. This was done on September 25th. I had informed that I am going for a long drive of over 2500 km and to make sure that the vehicle is ok. They assured me that everything was checked and found to be ok.
I started the drive from Trivandrum to Bengaluru on September 29th. I eased up on the normal speed after reading of catastrophic break failures. After crossing Dharmapuri, about 70 km after Salem, (a drive of 500km) the engine warning lights came on again. The gps also did not function for more than 300 km after leaving Trivandrum. I called up Renault Trivandrum, and they asked me to contact roadside assistance. RSA was very professional but some miscommunication had me waiting for 3.5 hours with the stranded vehicle. The recovery truck driver was very professional and took me to Renault Salem.
The next day, Renault Salem promptly located the problem to be an injector failure. Since the next two days were holidays, I had to leave the vehicle with them for ordering the replacement injector and gps. They have indicated that the very user unfriendly policy of not stocking spares will result in the vehicle being ready only after several days; they could not say when.
I have previously owned two Maruti vehicles and never had a breakdown. The Maruti service centres hold stock and have more customer friendly working hours including Sundays.
As a result of this premature failure of the injector, I lost money due to last minute cancellation of hotel bookings at Bangalore and Hampi and other travel expenses.
If Renault were a more professional company, I feel I should have been on the road at least a day later after the breakdown. Injectors failing at 35777km shows the shoddy quality policy of your company. Why does the gps behave erratically? Why don’t they stock parts at each service centre so that turn around for customers is much faster.

While waiting for the vehicle to be inspected, another KA registered Duster came in on the RSA vehicle. Kindred spirits soon hit off and we ended up hitchhiking with them from Salem to Kochi. Thanks.

Now I am without the car and have no idea when I will be able to collect the Duster from Salem. Upto now I used to do long drives, but with the reduced faith in the vehicle, I don't know what will hit next; brake failures?, clutch failure?

Really, Renault, what price reliability. I enjoy every drive which ends with out these niggles.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by SajiNSalin

Really, Renault, what price reliability. I enjoy every drive which ends with out these niggles.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I too own a Duster AWD and to be frank, Renault needs to enforce better QA/QC with their components.

Luckily I have not had any breakdowns, but some niggling issues, like shocks leaking at 30K odd kilometers, bluetooth is terrible, AC vent diverted, AC tempsensor etc.

It is actually a shame, cause the Duster AWD is such a pleasure to drive, but if only .....

As you said, I too have owned Maruti's without a single glitch. My Honda City is 17 years old and running fine. I don't understand how they cannot match the quality of a Honda City from year 2000 ?

Anyway's which my requirement for AWD/4WD duster was the only choice. Now the Jeep Compass is there, but they too don't seem to be trouble free either. I think I will wait for the Honda CRV Diesel AWD for my next upgrade.

[SajiNSalin]

It really is a shame that such a wonderful vehicle is fitted out with substandard parts. Injector failure seems to be fairly common, as when I googled this, came across several such cases. Our forum has about a dozen such failures, in severe cases, multiple injector failures.

Fine, parts do fail, but the followup is such a slow process and the parts seem to be tightly held in Chennai and will be distributed to service centres only on request and I suppose they take the slowest method of transport to dispatch it. How much time would it take for an injector to reach Salem from Chennai? I guess refitting the injector should take an hour at most.
But, I am probably looking at a couple of weeks before the vehicle is released. As you said, there is no alternative to the Duster AWD at this time. I recall the words of the poet: "When she is good, she is very, very good; when she is bad, I dare not tell"

Keeping my fingers crossed on when I will get her back.

[SajiNSalin]

Good news. I called up Anamallais Renault Service, Salem, and they told that two injectors, numbers 1 and 4 will be replaced by tomorrow. The Duster will be ready by Friday and I plan to pick it up on Saturday.

I found Anamallais, Salem, very responsible and promptly responded to the Road Side Assistance request, and diagnosed the problem the first thing next day. The complaint to Renault was passed on to them and they called up to inform the status of the vehicle.

Do other Duster owners have a good experience with Salem service centre?

[v6kgang]

Without taking the thunder away from you Saji, my AWD has completed 65K so far. Numerous niggles, going to detail them below. But, The service centers are super friendly and i have used service centers in bangalore (silkboard and KR puram), Madurai, Hosur, Chennai (Katupakkam). Never once i have felt they are incompetent or irresponsible. If only the product is as good as their service centers.
Now for the niggles i am facing so far

1. Clutch failure (at 23K, got it replaced, no good will warranty, the new clutch is holding good till now for about 41K kms, but now am scared to take it on long drive)
2. Shocks leaking (one by one, 2 has been replaced so far, no warranty, 3rd shock is impending change in 70K service, its already leaking)
3. AC Rotary knob is stuck and wouldn't slot into position or give air according to the positions where it is slotted (reported, already fixed and is reoccurring after 20K kms now again)
4. Coolant splash off inside the engine bay (happened 3 times now, no root cause analysis done, just refill)
5. Turbo pipe leading to engine leakage (fixed under warranty)
6. back left door doesn't open from inside, child locks checked, its unlocked but issue not fixed yet
7. Rear wiper not working, diagnosed to be a electrical issue, not fixed as they needed the vehicle for 3 days, which i don't have
8. ESP lights come on at random when the vehicle is on straight line and doesn't go away for good 1 hr (it doesn't splash like in normal scenarios, it just stays on)
9. engine Check light came on, went away automatically after 1 hr, its been a month since then, no issues encountered yet
10. Bluetooth doesn't work some times, gave up on using Navigation as it was completely inaccurate right from day 1

I can think of more, but these are major issues that i have faced, the standard problem i have faced is parts availability, they only stock the ORVMs i guess, apart from that i haven't got any part instantly.
The one clutch failure got me stranded on the road, but after that luckily haven't been stranded on road yet. My tyres are up for a replacement, but i am thinking of selling the car and buying a hyundai or maruti (which i have avoided for the past 16 yrs) just for the peace of mind.

[SajiNSalin]

After reading your list of problems, I feel I am lucky. Anamallais Salem did a wonderful job and replaced two injectors under warranty. I appreciate their very customer friendly service; it is a pity Salem is so far from Trivandrum. The GPS worked very fine when it was in Salem, so they couldn't find anything wrong with it. But a few hundred km from Salem, it went back to its bad old ways and is still stuck in the past some location.

The drive from Salem to Trivandrum was a dream, which is what the Duster does when it is trouble free. I have covered 36K and look forward to some wonderful driving. But who knows when the next problem will crop up. I agree with you that I would not want to remain with Renault for the next vehicle. I would unhesitatingly go with Maruti since both the Maruti vehicles I owned prior to the Duster gave me wonderful and reliable service. It is a pity that Maruti does not have the equivalent of the Duster AWD, S Cross, Brezza, Gypsy do not come close.

It would be good to prepare a list of niggles, big and small, faced by Duster AWD owners, so we know what to expect. One thing I appreciate was the timely Road Side Assistance. It is a relief to know that help is at hand, even though it may take some hours to reach.

If only Renault stocks adequate inventory of know troublesome parts, owners can have quicker turn around.

[sharanvenu]

Originally Posted by SajiNSalin

If Renault were a more professional company, I feel I should have been on the road at least a day later after the breakdown. Injectors failing at 35777km shows the shoddy quality policy of your company. Why does the gps behave erratically? Why don’t they stock parts at each service centre so that turn around for customers is much faster.

The Fuel Injector Failure is a very common issue in the Duster 110s. This is attributed to adultered diesel which we may have filled in during traveling. I had my Duster's 4th Cylinder Injector replaced at a cost of Rs.27k and I insisted the diesel be tested and it showed traces of water, suspended particles, and even gasoline.
I believe you got lucky by getting the injectors replaced under warranty. Just imagine otherwise .
The only solution to the issue is to fill up only at reliable fuel stations and planning them ahead of the trip. After the fuel injector issue, I have started using Liqui Moly Super Diesel Additive for every alternate tank full. You should actually hear the engine sound when you have liqui moly in your fuel tank. You will love it.
I wish Renault had the spares ready so that your trip wouldn't have been affected. And this is the case across all Service Centers.

[SajiNSalin]

Thank you Sharanvenu. Anamallais Salem, told me the fuel injectors failure was not due to diesel quality, but more of an electrical failure. It seems the piezoelectric actuator was not getting the correct voltage. Just prior to the failure, I had filled up from a Reliance outlet. What was the tripmeter reading when the injector failure happened? Your suggestion of using Liqui Moly is good. Did you have any related problems after using it?

[sharanvenu]

Originally Posted by SajiNSalin

Thank you Sharanvenu. Anamallais Salem, told me the fuel injectors failure was not due to diesel quality, but more of an electrical failure. It seems the piezoelectric actuator was not getting the correct voltage. Just prior to the failure, I had filled up from a Reliance outlet. What was the tripmeter reading when the injector failure happened? Your suggestion of using Liqui Moly is good. Did you have any related problems after using it?

Now, this is a new revelation to me. Let us assume that they spotted origin of the electric fault and addressed it properly.
My duster had injector fault when the odo was about 48k kms.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post4200740

Liqui Moly has only improved the K9K's performance till now. I am now using it for every alternate full tank. The engine sounds muted, smooth and the throttle response seems better. I am very sure that it is not just placebo as I got comments from 2-3 other customers at the Renault service regarding the engine sound. I did not divulge our secret ingredient

Just T-BHP things

[SajiNSalin]

Well, all I can say is when the Duster AWD works, it works. You never know what will turn up next. It would be good to list out all the problems faced by Duster owners, so we will be enlightened about what the vehicle can do next.

Where do you purchase the Liqui Moly from?

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by SajiNSalin

If only Renault stocks adequate inventory of know troublesome parts, owners can have quicker turn around.

My Duster (AMT, not AWD) took a hit from a piece of concrete that fell from a tipper which was proceeding me. The chunk penetrated the black hexadecimal grille insert within the silver scuff plate set on the front bumper. It missed the AC condenser but hit both the intercooler and cooling fan.

Crawled to TVS, Kaimanam and took 28 days to get the parts replaced. The car was in TVS throughout the entire Onam holidays.

[SajiNSalin]

Sandeep, I can gauge your feelings about having the Duster lie in the service centre for 28days. This is a serious problem about not having spare parts in stock at regional service centres. This makes the ownership of Renault vehicles a pain when things go wrong. This, coupled with the government like working hours and Sunday holiday makes repair work a slow process. This also leads to pile up of vehicles in the service centres. My previous vehicle was a Maruti Dzire, which was much more reliable and service was never such a long process. They used to complete all work before the estimated time.

[itwasntme]

Shame to read these mounting tales of misery for (especially) AWD owners. I thought the Duster was very robust, driven and tested all over the world in harsh conditions. Why then does it suffer from such silly issues as diesel adulteration?

I can very well imagine a Skoda suffering such expensive injector failures, but a Dacia? No way!

[satan's_valet]

The last few pages have got me thinking. I was looking at Duster AWD as my next car, but now I'm not sure if I'm making the correct choice.