Operator charges £14,000 for noor fuel consum idol]
Page 17
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
w by Peter Lawton
An owner-driver is invoicing a Renault dealer for more than £14,000 because he says the truck he bought is too thirsty.
Keith Fouch, trading as K Fouch Haulage of Romsey, Fiants, says the performance of his Renault Major 6x2 R385 is below par. He claims he was led to believe he could expect around 8.5mpg—but the dealer denies this.
Fouch is demanding £14,250 from Renault Trucks in Reading, where he bought the Major in September 1997, to pay for the extra fuel he says the truck has used. He is using figures from a fuel meter fitted to the truck by the dealer.
A Renault driver achieved 8.16mpg
around its own test route, but Fouch pants to figures of 6.37mpg over 44 days of work in and around Cornwall. 'I don't think I'm asking for the earth; I don't think I'm making unreasonable demands," he says. "I have never asked for, or expected, a bizarre figure but would expect the fuel return to be on a par with similar size vehicles within the market place."
Colin Harvey, general manager of Renault Trucks, Reading, has told Fouch: "The vehicle was purchased second-hand without any representation from Renault concerning fuel consumption nor body repairs. Consequently there is no question of any compensation being offered."
Fouch is unhappy with this response, and has sent Commercial Motor copies of letters from four other Renault dealers pointing to consumption anywhere between 7mpg and 10mpg.
But Renault VI spokesman Robin Dickeson says: At no stage have we given a guarantee of what kind of fuel consumption to expect. it just isn't possible to do so and is something that Renault will not do. There are so many variables involved that it's impossible to say what a particular vehicle will return."
Dealerships may refer to figures being returned by trucks in use, he adds, but these are not guarantees of future performance.