I bought my 2014 RCZ R from a main dealer in August 2015 with only 3500 miles on the clock and in mint condition. In December 2015, after reversing out of the garage, I moved forward on near full lock and heard a very loud knocking plus tremendous vibration. This occurred several times during the next month or so and the car was booked in to the dealer in February 2016. They were unable to replicate the problem and after a full inspection where nothing untoward was found, the car was returned. I noticed it to a lesser extent on one occasion but during the summer all was fine and I very much enjoyed driving the car. In December 2016 the knock and vibration returned on full lock, which occurred when going forward or reversing, on left or right lock. The vibration was so great that it felt like the front of the car would collapse. The car was booked in again on 19th December. The dealer replaced a suspension bearing on the nearside front as they had a bulletin regarding this. I collected the car after nearly a week and again experienced this tremendous knocking and great vibration. Generally, after the initial knocking when the car is first used on a cold day, once the car is warm it does not happen again.
It is now clear to me that this knocking and vibration only occurs when the ambient temperature is low i.e. below 8/9c. I set my phone camera to take a video in which the knocking could be clearly heard and the vibration in the car was obvious. I played this to the service guy and he commented that he was not expecting that. It was arranged that he would collect my car from my home on 9th January, which was a cold day. On collection he heard for himself the knocking and felt the vibration through the steering wheel. Every cold morning they managed to replicate the problem. The dealer service guy took his own video and a technician also took a video from outside the car while it was moving, which I understand were sent to Peugeot UK. Peugeot UK have authorised for the differential to be replaced and also to replace the clutch and flywheel. The car has not yet covered 10000 miles and I am not confident that this will solve the problem. If it is the LSD at fault then surely it would occur at all temperatures, not just on very cold days. The new LSD will not be in the country until the middle of February, which will mean that since I bought the car it will have spent around 2 months in the dealer's workshop. My concern is that when the LSD is replaced and if the weather temperature improves then I will not know if this has solved the problem until the next winter period, by which time the car will out of warranty. I must say that the dealer is doing all they can to resolve this but are now reliant on Peugeot to find the solution.
