Engine jerk on a brand new Renault Kiger during PDI: Shall I accept it?

Ideally, I would have rejected the car and would have requested another, but Renault made only 300 of these Urban Knight edition and this is the last of it.

BHPian evboi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Buying my first car!

Hired an executive from Zekardo to do the PDI and found an issue with the car.

It's a Renault Kiger RXZ CVT Turbo Urban Night Edition. As seen in the video, when slotting the gear from P (park) to R (reverse), there is a sudden jerk in the engine. Which is also quite noticeable when sitting inside. There is also some vibration.

Zekardo executive also attached the OBD device, the engine load also increases from 27 to 40 when put in reverse.

Video of car alloted

We also tested the this on another red Kiger at the stockyard of the same model. As seen in the video, when slotting in R from P, the push is very subtle and not as sudden as the car allotted to me. The vibrations are also less. The engine load also does not increase too much. Went from 25 to 30

Another car video

Ideally, I would have rejected the car and would have requested another, but Renault made only 300 of these Urban Knight edition and this is the last of it. Then I would have to go for a regular version which I am not ok with.

Spoke to Renault and they are giving their usual dialogue of how there are so many checkpoints they conduct during internal PDI and the car is of perfect condition. I told them I'll buy the car but only after an email is exchanged where this issue is acknowledged and mentioned that if something goes wrong in my ownership related to this, they will have to bear the full cost of the repairs.

I am supposed to disburse the amount today and this has dampened our spirits. Please suggest what to do. Thanks!

Here's what BHPian bijims had to say on the matter:

I wouldn't suggest you go with this car which has abnormal engine jerkiness, there may be other factors that may seem insignificant at first but will crop up over the course of ownership, Good that you went with professional PDI as these things may have been overlooked in a normal PDI.

Moreover, I don't think they would be willing to acknowledge this issue and willing to bear any liability as regards this, if they do then well and good, but still I don't know if it's worth the hassle. Moreover, Renault is not putting the sales charts on fire if this is the last one of the Urban Knight in this dealership, this may not be the case in others. Just check out other dealerships whether they have one in stock, if not, In my opinion, you would be better off with another car rather than accepting a defective one.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

It is not unusual to feel a little jerk whilst shifting to D, P, or N. it is also perfectly normal that the engine loads shift a bit. In a different position, the engine encounters different resistance so it adjusts for that.

The real question is whether this is outside the normal range. I really can’t tell, but I can tell you than on most cars you can adjust the way the way the autobox shifts, whilst holding the car on the brake. Or when braking for that matter..

Where are you want to go that way it’s up to you. Making these sort of adjustments usually takes quite a bit of experience and you need to have the right OBD scanner. It’s easy to make it worse.

At the end of the day, it is probably more about piece of mind than anything else.

Good luck

Jeroen

Here's what BHPian DRIV3R had to say on the matter:

I don't see an issue here. Car # 1 I felt was cold started and still warming up, hence rpm is higher by 300-400. (700 vs 1100 rpm)

When you shift at higher rpm, the jerk will be more violent for obvious reasons. The higher load is also explained by the higher rpm and transmission fighting the brakes.

Car # 2 - already warmed up and idling comfortably as heard on audio, hence jerk is less violent.

Outsourced PDI is all good, provided the company personnel at ground applies some common sense too.

Here's what BHPian W.A.G7 had to say on the matter:

Looking at the videos, I would avoid the car. No matter how special the edition is, there's no point in risking your hard-earned money. The engine movement seen in the video is quite a strong one, and for me, that is a big red flag. Special editions will always come and go, but this car seems to be a possible lemon right from the outset. I would simply move on.

It's the last special edition piece remaining; possibly because of this issue, the dealer is unable to get it off his inventory.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.