Renault boosts LCV service cover

RENAULT Australia has moved to a five-year service program for its light-commercial vehicle range, bringing it into line with its passenger models as the French brand focuses on total cost of ownership as part of its drive to expand market share.

The Easy Life service program lifts the capped-price servicing program and roadside assistance support for Kangoo, Trafic and Master light-commercial vehicles from three to five years.

It also now includes as standard some items previously additional to the published schedule such as air and pollen filters, coolant and brake fluid replacement and accessory drive belts.

Renault Australia aftersales manager Matthew Wright told GoAuto that the increased cover for owners was driven by customers and by its own data that showed distances covered by its LCVs were much higher than Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.

“The ABS data shows a diesel LCV average annual distance of 19,000km while our Trafic owners are averaging around 25,000km a year,” he said.

“The largest Renault van, the Master, covers the greatest distance with the average owner racking up 30,170km each year.

“We have a service interval of 12 months and 30,000km so the vehicle only has to be off the road once a year for maintenance. That means more time to earn income for the owner.

“On that schedule, it means you could run a return trip Sydney to Canberra every week for an entire year before needing to book in with one of Renault’s 57 dealers for a capped-price service.”

Mr Wright said the key to the improved customer service was being more open about future maintenance costs.

“Customer survey data in sales and service showed that customers mentioned the service pricing so it’s a very important part of the consideration of Renault,” he said.

“The transparent pricing means there’s no smoke and mirrors and customers know exactly what they’re up for.

“It just makes it easier for owners to budget for future costs.

“The second part of this was dealer feedback which included customers’ comments. Among the comments was the long range between refills and the single annual service which are very big advantages for owners.

“The showroom price is very important – everyone wants a great deal – but calculating fuel economy and service costs for the total cost over five years is just as important because it shows the owner how much to budget to meet the business needs.”

Mr Wright said the company’s surveys showed customers would be happy with the first three services but unsure about future costs.

“The addition of the transparent pricing now gives more certainty about what they will pay,” he said.

“The fourth service, which is around the 100,000-120,000km mark on the bigger vans, is a bit more expensive than the first three.

“That was always a challenge because that’s when a significant amount of work has to be done, including replacement of belts and so on.

“We took onboard customer feedback about the fourth service pricing so we wanted to make it as transparent as possible. The answer was to extend the cover to five years.”

Mr Wright said there was also a need to bring the servicing schedules of the LCV range into line with Renault’s passenger car range.

The Kadjar and Koleos SUVs moved to the five-year capped-price service program last November to give them ‘three fives’ – covering service schedule, warranty and roadside assistance – before Koleos’ warranty cover was extended in April to seven years. 

Renault’s commercial vehicles account for about two-thirds of the brand’s total sales volume in Australia, currently at 62.4 per cent with 1636 units as at the end of June.

The Trafic is currently the brand’s biggest seller with 784 sales so far this year (-21.7%), while supporting roles are played by the Master van (584, -16.7%), Kangoo (231, -14.9%) and Master bus (37, +5.7%).