New electric cars: more trouble than a 40-year-old used car

A Renault Scenic electric driver has covered 28,000 km in 9 months and, although he rates the car 7 or 8 out of 10, he gives the brand a zero for charging, brake and air conditioning failures poorly resolved at the workshop.

The car is likeable. The service is not. That is the conclusion drawn from the experience of an owner of a **Renault Scenic electric** who, after **9 months** and **28,000 kilometers** behind the wheel of a zero-kilometer unit, has detailed the technical faults the car has had since day one and the response he received from the official service network. The vehicle, with an **87 kWh** battery, delivers on space, comfort and highway range. The after-sales service, on the other hand, gets a zero.

## Charging failures that came from the app

The most persistent problem has been overnight charging. For months, the car would randomly disconnect every few minutes when plugged in at night, forcing the owner to constantly monitor his phone, even on long trips. The cause was neither the charger nor the installation: it was Renault's official app. After resetting the vehicle and unlinking the app, charging began to work without a single failure. The price of that fix is giving up remote control and the car's connected antiestéticatures.

On top of that, a factory defect in the brakes. A wire on the part that holds the brake pads was sticking out and rubbing directly against the disc, producing an unbearable noise on roundabouts and grinding away the metal. The workshop simply removed the wire, but left the discs with grooves and deep gouges. The workshop manager's response was that they would smooth out on their own over **2,000 kilometers** of braking, and he refused to replace them under warranty.

The USB-C charging ports stopped working after a few months. The workshop couldn't even update the car's software because, according to them, the port was broken, and it spent more than **three weeks** waiting for such a simple spare part, with no alternatives offered and no trinc-up calls.

## Air conditioning and wireless charging

The air conditioning doesn't cool enough in summer with several people on board. It has to be set to maximum power, and the compressor makes a scandalous noise that makes people stare, thinking the car is broken. The workshop refused to perform the proper check, which involves extracting and weighing the refrigerant gas to detect possible leaks, and simply measured the outlet temperature with a thermometer. The phone's wireless charging pad, for its part, has never worked properly.

The owner warns that these defects may take their toll later on: ruined brake discs, the absence of the official app or the air conditioning failures can lead to financial problems or rejections at the **ITV** (Spain's mandatory vehicle inspection) or when trying to sell the vehicle.

## Green workshops and the electric car

The deeper criticism is not aimed at the product, but at the service network. Official workshops are not prepared for electric cars, according to this experience: real technical knowledge is lacking, and senseless interrogations are used to fob off the customer and dodge warranty responsibilities. Management and communication don't help either: impersonal call center service, workshops so saturated they close at **5:30 pm**, and customers who find out their car is ready by chance, seeing it parked on the street with the protective plastics still on.

Against the stigma that buying a Chinese car is a risk due to a lack of spare parts or poor after-sales service, this driver argues the opposite: in his experience, Chinese brand dealerships have more specialized staff, specific protocols and direct training in electromobility, while traditional European brands, with decades of history, prove to be green and overwhelmed in this field.

## Pressure to speak well of the brands

The story includes an uncomfortable chapter for the industry: well-known motoring figures have pressured and advised him to speak well of the brands. His stance is firm: he would rather shut down his YouTube channel than lie to his trinc or hide what consumers are going through. The final verdict sums it up: a **7 or 8 out of 10** for the car and a zero for the brand and its after-sales service.