Introducing myself as a new member.

[Shaun Kennedy]

Hello everyone. Just thought I'd introduce myself. I own a Black RCZ R which I purchased last year from a dealership in Wales ( we live in Brighton). It's been an eventful 12 months owning the car. Despite having some great driving experiences, last year whilst we returning from a holiday in France our car broke down on the motorway. If you have driven in France and broken down I'm sure you'll know that it can be a hair raising experience. When the motorway assistance guy turned up to tow us away to safety we discovered a massive oil slick underneath the car. Long story short - the drive train had broken and the engine was toast. Given that there was only 20,000 miles on the clock we were pretty shocked that this had happened. Fortunately we had the foresight to take out break down recovery insurance and extended warranty cover - so after 3 weeks the car was shipped back to the dealership. When they inspected the car they said that it would need a brand new engine because the engine casing was trashed. They also said that it was unlikely that the extended warranty would cover the repair costs - but after a lot of negotiating they eventually agreed to cover the work. The final bill for all the repairs was £14,000 so we were very fortunate that the repair work was covered. So now the car has a brand new engine. But that's not the end of the story. Last weekend we were driving down to Dorset when we lost 2nd, 4th and 6th gear!. We were able to get the car to where we were staying and a local mechanic sorted the problem for £30. Apparently the dealership that had undertaken the replacement of the engine had failed to tighten one of the clutch cables!! Despite all of these issues we love our RCZ R and hopefully now it will behave itself. We wanted to join the forum as there is a lot of great advice on here. If any of you can point me in direction of the following. We are looking for some ideas for an after market in car entertainment system that would fit an RCZ. Also, if anyone has any advise about the best way to refurb the roof pillars (ours are looking a bit tired - a common problem I know) that would be great.

 

[Kerr]

Welcome along.

That's some bill for a new engine. I'm glad that was covered.

For trim a lot of people recommend Gtechniq C4 or Solution Finish. Gtechniq C4 has been popping up on Amazon special offers numerous times recently.

I've tried both and still looking for better. C4 was initially good, but it broke down quicker than expected.

I would recommend against Solution Finish. When it rains it makes a right mess of the windows.

 

[Kerr]

I couldn't get around fitting a stereo either. The car kept throwing up engine management lights.

I just use Android Auto over my phone connected to the stereo by Bluetooth.

Mine is a late car so I have DAB already.

 

[Verminator]

Hi there and welcome to the forum and nice RCZ R you have got yourself there... As for the arches I am having my wife's black arches into the spray shop and having them sprayed piano black gloss to match the colour of the roof.. Quoted £125 each plus The dreaded vat... Then that stops the issue with having to cover them up and masking them with other black products....
Drive safe and stay lucky
Les n Co

 

[apple3337]

I've just got myself an R version here in Australia. The black plastic covered arches had pretty bad water marks. I went to an excellent detailer here. He said DON'T cover it up. This creates a cycle of endless covering. Remove it. We ended up using a common product from Meguiars called Ultimate Compound. I started on it at home but it was taking ages to work. So I added a touch of heavy cut compound to the Meguiars. Just rubbing it quite firmly with a micro fibre towel. You'd think it would polish the plastic but it didn't. It came up really well. Like new in fact. It does take a LOT of time and elbow grease but well worth it. I finished it off with a vinyl sealant to repel water. If you are going to do this try it on a small area first, but I'm glad I didn't try to hide it.

 

[Kerr]

I've just got myself an R version here in Australia. The black plastic covered arches had pretty bad water marks. I went to an excellent detailer here. He said DON'T cover it up. This creates a cycle of endless covering. Remove it. We ended up using a common product from Meguiars called Ultimate Compound. I started on it at home but it was taking ages to work. So I added a touch of heavy cut compound to the Meguiars. Just rubbing it quite firmly with a micro fibre towel. You'd think it would polish the plastic but it didn't. It came up really well. Like new in fact. It does take a LOT of time and elbow grease but well worth it. I finished it off with a vinyl sealant to repel water. If you are going to do this try it on a small area first, but I'm glad I didn't try to hide it.

Using polishing compounds didn't mark and stain the plastic?

 

[Marmite]

Hello everyone. Just thought I'd introduce myself. I own a Black RCZ R which I purchased last year from a dealership in Wales ( we live in Brighton). It's been an eventful 12 months owning the car. Despite having some great driving experiences, last year whilst we returning from a holiday in France our car broke down on the motorway. If you have driven in France and broken down I'm sure you'll know that it can be a hair raising experience. When the motorway assistance guy turned up to tow us away to safety we discovered a massive oil slick underneath the car. Long story short - the drive train had broken and the engine was toast. Given that there was only 20,000 miles on the clock we were pretty shocked that this had happened. Fortunately we had the foresight to take out break down recovery insurance and extended warranty cover - so after 3 weeks the car was shipped back to the dealership. When they inspected the car they said that it would need a brand new engine because the engine casing was trashed. They also said that it was unlikely that the extended warranty would cover the repair costs - but after a lot of negotiating they eventually agreed to cover the work. The final bill for all the repairs was £14,000 so we were very fortunate that the repair work was covered. So now the car has a brand new engine. But that's not the end of the story. Last weekend we were driving down to Dorset when we lost 2nd, 4th and 6th gear!. We were able to get the car to where we were staying and a local mechanic sorted the problem for £30. Apparently the dealership that had undertaken the replacement of the engine had failed to tighten one of the clutch cables!! Despite all of these issues we love our RCZ R and hopefully now it will behave itself. We wanted to join the forum as there is a lot of great advice on here. If any of you can point me in direction of the following. We are looking for some ideas for an after market in car entertainment system that would fit an RCZ. Also, if anyone has any advise about the best way to refurb the roof pillars (ours are looking a bit tired - a common problem I know) that would be great.

Welcome to the forum , I also have a R so did they say what caused it to go bang ?

 

[Ian J.]

Welcome to the forum
As you've already discovered these cars are prone to mechanical problems at fairly low mileage. In my view a consequence of the daft 20k service intervals
Peugeot dropped the ball in thinking long service intervals would attract buyers
Having said that there is nothing on the market that remotely compares for the money .

 

[apple3337]

Using polishing compounds didn't mark and stain the plastic?

That was what I as thinking when we tried it. I've used polishes that left horrible residue. This one did not. You can use it on the rubber around the windows, wiper arms. Anywhere. It does not leave residue. I'll get a photo and post it up.

 

[RCZ-R]

Hello everyone. Just thought I'd introduce myself. I own a Black RCZ R which I purchased last year from a dealership in Wales ( we live in Brighton). It's been an eventful 12 months owning the car. Despite having some great driving experiences, last year whilst we returning from a holiday in France our car broke down on the motorway. If you have driven in France and broken down I'm sure you'll know that it can be a hair raising experience. When the motorway assistance guy turned up to tow us away to safety we discovered a massive oil slick underneath the car. Long story short - the drive train had broken and the engine was toast. Given that there was only 20,000 miles on the clock we were pretty shocked that this had happened. Fortunately we had the foresight to take out break down recovery insurance and extended warranty cover - so after 3 weeks the car was shipped back to the dealership. When they inspected the car they said that it would need a brand new engine because the engine casing was trashed. They also said that it was unlikely that the extended warranty would cover the repair costs - but after a lot of negotiating they eventually agreed to cover the work. The final bill for all the repairs was £14,000 so we were very fortunate that the repair work was covered. So now the car has a brand new engine. But that's not the end of the story. Last weekend we were driving down to Dorset when we lost 2nd, 4th and 6th gear!. We were able to get the car to where we were staying and a local mechanic sorted the problem for £30. Apparently the dealership that had undertaken the replacement of the engine had failed to tighten one of the clutch cables!! Despite all of these issues we love our RCZ R and hopefully now it will behave itself. We wanted to join the forum as there is a lot of great advice on here. If any of you can point me in direction of the following. We are looking for some ideas for an after market in car entertainment system that would fit an RCZ. Also, if anyone has any advise about the best way to refurb the roof pillars (ours are looking a bit tired - a common problem I know) that would be great.

Welcome to the forum!
What a mess with the engine. Glad all worked out at the end. Maybe the previous owner was trashing the engine all the time. At the end, it is an engine which likes high RPMs. But it has to be treated correctly.

 

[Shaun Kennedy]

Welcome along.

That's some bill for a new engine. I'm glad that was covered.

For trim a lot of people recommend Gtechniq C4 or Solution Finish. Gtechniq C4 has been popping up on Amazon special offers numerous times recently.

I've tried both and still looking for better. C4 was initially good, but it broke down quicker than expected.

I would recommend against Solution Finish. When it rains it makes a right mess of the windows.

I really appreciate the recommendation and will definitely check out the Gtechniq C4 solution I'll keep you updated on how I get on.

 

[apple3337]

Here's a couple pf pics of my arches. I didn't think to get before shots, but they were pretty bad. Now they look amazing.

 

[Shaun Kennedy]

Welcome to the forum , I also have a R so did they say what caused it to go bang ?

When the car was taken to a French mechanic prior to being shipped back to the UK the mechanic said they had never encountered this issue before. When the car arrived back at the dealership they said: "well cars are machines - and machines break down". So after that sage advice we were none the wiser. We were lucky because the drive chain went just 10 weeks after we had taken delivery of the car. As the dealership told us they had conducted a 100 point quality check (including checking the timing belt) they agreed to cover the cost of all the work. This included installing a new engine and clutch plus a load of other bits and pieces. The warranty company the dealership encouraged us to use had appalling reviews online as they always tried to invoke the wear and tear clause as a way of dodging their liability. But despite that it all got sorted in the end

 

[Shaun Kennedy]

Welcome to the forum!
What a mess with the engine. Glad all worked out at the end. Maybe the previous owner was trashing the engine all the time. At the end, it is an engine which likes high RPMs. But it has to be treated correctly.

Yes that's pretty much what the dealership said. Now that the car has a new engine it's been driving like a dream. I was surprised that Peugeot still had the RCZ R engines in stock to be honest and it took 4 weeks to get it shipped from France.

 

[Marmite]

Do they not use this engine in the current 308 GTI along with the transmission an breaks

 

[Shaun Kennedy]

I couldn't get around fitting a stereo either. The car kept throwing up engine management lights.

I just use Android Auto over my phone connected to the stereo by Bluetooth.

Mine is a late car so I have DAB already.

We are going to take the car to an auto audio specialists this week and I'll let you know how I get on. I'm sure forum members will have seen this before on Youtube:

. It explains how to install an Android Colour Screen Auto Radio System. The system fits perfectly although I'm not sure I'd undertake this work myself as I'd break everything

 

[Kerr]

Here's a couple pf pics of my arches. I didn't think to get before shots, but they were pretty bad. Now they look amazing.

I've got Ultimate Compound in my detailing box. I'll give it a bash this afternoon if the rain stays away.

 

[Kerr]

We are going to take the car to an auto audio specialists this week and I'll let you know how I get on. I'm sure forum members will have seen this before on Youtube:

. It explains how to install an Android Colour Screen Auto Radio System. The system fits perfectly although I'm not sure I'd undertake this work myself as I'd break everything

You've got a different setup than that. The screen is used to communicate messages. You'll lose the ability to change things as well as changing the time of the clock.

Here was what I had. I already had a single din unit for another car. I thought the tilt back and making the screen another inch closer was a good idea.

 

[Shaun Kennedy]

Do they not use this engine in the current 308 GTI along with the transmission an breaks

Yes I think you're probably right.

 

[apple3337]

I've got Ultimate Compound in my detailing box. I'll give it a bash this afternoon if the rain stays away.

Let me know how you go!