Renault Koleos

vidapura · 04-07-2017 10:46am #1

Hi
Any other Renault Koleos owners around here?
(the original 08 version I mean)
Just want to compare notes etc.

Thanks

ba_barabus · 04-07-2017 11:45am

A friend has one from new. Any specific questions and I'll forward them on to him.

Dionysius2 · 15-09-2017 4:36pm

vidapura wrote: »

Hi
Any other Renault Koleos owners around here?
(the original 08 version I mean)
Just want to compare notes etc.

Thanks

Bought one recently ('10) because the spec & overall quality had a lot of merit and the price was attractive. Just completed 5k miles in 2 months and quite pleased overall.
It has quirks though...e.g. the radio switches off 10 mins after the engine is switched off so it's impossible to park the car and listen to the radio. Also you can't open or close the windows without starting the engine also the radio quits as soon as you open the car door. Those bloody French must be an odd lot.
On the plus side though, it does drive like a real quality motor and very comfortably so. I'm gonna enjoy the quality for awhile.

vidapura · 16-09-2017 2:52pm

Hiya,
Nice to hear someone else with a Koleos. (Or a Colon as the lads slag me with...)

You CAN open windows, etc, with engine off..
Just hit the Start button twice when the engine is off to enable all the electrics.

Have you figured out the keyless entry/locking yet?
Took me a while, heh... but after a bit of headscratchin we worked it out..
Couldn't lock it at all one day until I realised my wifes handbag was in the boot containing the spare key.. and it won't lock with a key inside ...sheesh.

Sadly mine has gotten quite noisy recently.. some sort of bearing or shaft.. used to be silky quiet.. brilliant on the motorway..
But now when I decelerate .. when it gets down around 40mph a really snarly noise starts.. goes away again when down towards 30mph...

Not sure what thats about... but will just have to keep going until it turns into something tangible.

Overall still like it a lot... reporting 34mpg at the moment...

PJ

Dionysius2 wrote: »

Bought one recently ('10) because the spec & overall quality had a lot of merit and the price was attractive. Just completed 5k miles in 2 months and quite pleased overall.
It has quirks though...e.g. the radio switches off 10 mins after the engine is switched off so it's impossible to park the car and listen to the radio. Also you can't open or close the windows without starting the engine also the radio quits as soon as you open the car door. Those bloody French must be an odd lot.
On the plus side though, it does drive like a real quality motor and very comfortably so. I'm gonna enjoy the quality for awhile.

ohnonotgmail · 16-09-2017 8:26pm

vidapura wrote: »

Hiya,
Nice to hear someone else with a Koleos. (Or a Colon as the lads slag me with...)

You CAN open windows, etc, with engine off..
Just hit the Start button twice when the engine is off to enable all the electrics.

Have you figured out the keyless entry/locking yet?
Took me a while, heh... but after a bit of headscratchin we worked it out..
Couldn't lock it at all one day until I realised my wifes handbag was in the boot containing the spare key.. and it won't lock with a key inside ...sheesh.

Sadly mine has gotten quite noisy recently.. some sort of bearing or shaft.. used to be silky quiet.. brilliant on the motorway..
But now when I decelerate .. when it gets down around 40mph a really snarly noise starts.. goes away again when down towards 30mph...

Not sure what thats about... but will just have to keep going until it turns into something tangible.

Overall still like it a lot... reporting 34mpg at the moment...

PJ

I tried to figure out how to put the windows up with the engine off today and i couldn't. had to start the engine in the end. thanks for the tip. I get 40mg from mine but i'm driving miss daisy

Dionysius2 · 16-09-2017 11:38pm

vidapura wrote: »

Hiya,
Nice to hear someone else with a Koleos. (Or a Colon as the lads slag me with...)

You CAN open windows, etc, with engine off..
Just hit the Start button twice when the engine is off to enable all the electrics.

Have you figured out the keyless entry/locking yet?
Took me a while, heh... but after a bit of headscratchin we worked it out..
Couldn't lock it at all one day until I realised my wifes handbag was in the boot containing the spare key.. and it won't lock with a key inside ...sheesh.

Sadly mine has gotten quite noisy recently.. some sort of bearing or shaft.. used to be silky quiet.. brilliant on the motorway..
But now when I decelerate .. when it gets down around 40mph a really snarly noise starts.. goes away again when down towards 30mph...

Not sure what thats about... but will just have to keep going until it turns into something tangible.

Overall still like it a lot... reporting 34mpg at the moment...

PJ

Vida.....many tks for that information which is very useful. Now can you explain to me plz, how is it possible for the tyre pressures to be included in onscreen information messages ?
I am not a child of the cyberworld as you can tell !

ohnonotgmail · 18-09-2017 11:50am

Dionysius2 wrote: »

Vida.....many tks for that information which is very useful. Now can you explain to me plz, how is it possible for the tyre pressures to be included in onscreen information messages ?
I am not a child of the cyberworld as you can tell !

it cant display the actual tyre pressures it only tells you if the pressure in a tyre is too low or if you have a puncture.

vidapura · 18-09-2017 5:28pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I tried to figure out how to put the windows up with the engine off today and i couldn't. had to start the engine in the end. thanks for the tip. I get 40mg from mine but i'm driving miss daisy

Hmm.. dunno .. works for me.

Like with the engine off and your feet not on any pedals...
press the Start button .. and press it again .. the dash symbols all light up briefly.. (near the speedo) .. and then you should be good to go.

Maybe try have the radio on when the car is running.. then switch the car off...
Then press the Start button again (twice) until the radio comes back on..

vidapura · 18-09-2017 5:37pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

it cant display the actual tyre pressures it only tells you if the pressure in a tyre is too low or if you have a puncture.

Yeah, I think onnonotgmail is right about that..

Just tells you if the pressure is not ok.. but I haven't experienced it yet so can't tell you for certain...

The manual says it only tells you 5 things:

“Adjust tyre pressure”
“Underinflation critical”
“Puncture”
“Check tyre pressure sensors” - might be a fault in sensor or system
“Tyre pressure sensors absent” - no signal from the sensor..

So it doesn't give you a number in psi or whatever..
It does however indicate which tyre its got a problem with..
Which is nice...

ohnonotgmail · 18-09-2017 7:14pm

vidapura wrote: »

Hmm.. dunno .. works for me.

Like with the engine off and your feet not on any pedals...
press the Start button .. and press it again .. the dash symbols all light up briefly.. (near the speedo) .. and then you should be good to go.

Maybe try have the radio on when the car is running.. then switch the car off...
Then press the Start button again (twice) until the radio comes back on..

what i meant is i needed to do it on saturday but couldn't figure out how. i didnt see your post until after that

Dionysius2 · 19-09-2017 8:09pm

I'm thinking of running this nice Koleas for maybe 3 years (bought nearly 3 months ago with 70k on odometer) but a couple of naysayers say "there's no spare parts for those yokes....you'd be mad etc". Anyone to risk assess the situation plz ?

vidapura · 20-09-2017 10:19am

Dionysius2 wrote: »

I'm thinking of running this nice Koleas for maybe 3 years (bought nearly 3 months ago with 70k on odometer) but a couple of naysayers say "there's no spare parts for those yokes....you'd be mad etc". Anyone to risk assess the situation plz ?

Hiya,
Yah, there is plenty of naysaying that happens alright.
And I think most of it is not so much naysaying as Begrudgery.
They are just afraid to take a chance and are jealous of how cheap we got our vehicles for.. so they are just pissing all over it..

Look, as far as I've been reading, the Koleos ('08) is basically an X-trail under the skin. And the original reviews were more than positive:

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/renault/renault-koleos-2008-road-test//

So most of the major components.. engine, gearbox, axles, whatever would be easy to get hold of.
As for interior and trim and all the rest I've been able to find plenty of availability online.

I looked at the question of survival.. like how many of these vehicles actually bit the dust (and left owners in misey) cos that was alleged to be the case loads of times in forums I'd read...

But if you read, you find out that about 2500 of the original Koleos's were sold in the UK. Now how many of them are still running? Well.. there's a website that tells you... Its called HowManyLeft .. funnily enough...

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=koleos&commit=Search

That shows how many of them were taxed in the UK each year.. and so are still on the road...
So, if you add up the numbers in the 2016 or 2017 column you will end up with.. 2646... Or just look at the chart..

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/renault_koleos_privilege_dci_4wd

So, this is all a bit rough in terms of estimating..probably a few new cars were sold and few were crashed.. but basically.. if the naysayers were to be believed there would be almost no original Koleos's still on the road..

If however there are in fact over 2600 of them still on the road.. well then.. you decide how much notice you are going to take of the begrudgers...

Personally I like my Koleos.. The drivers seat is a very comfortable place to be , good visibilty, not cramped, and quiet and unfussed on the motorway.
I've all the mod cons, the cruise and the stereo controls on the steering wheel, the bluetooth and auto wipers and all the other nice stuff..
And for what I paid for it.. well.. even if it needs a few quid spent... I won't be too unhappy...

ohnonotgmail · 20-09-2017 10:25am

Dionysius2 wrote: »

I'm thinking of running this nice Koleas for maybe 3 years (bought nearly 3 months ago with 70k on odometer) but a couple of naysayers say "there's no spare parts for those yokes....you'd be mad etc". Anyone to risk assess the situation plz ?

as vidupura said the koleos uses nissan xtril running gear so parts for that shouldnt be a problem. The engine in the koleos is used in the laguna and other models so parts for that shouldnt be a problem either. I got a very comfortable car with a great spec (mine is the dynamique spec and has Bose speakers including a subwoofer) for very little money.

Dionysius2 · 20-09-2017 12:43pm

All these comments are of great interest to me and help to give me a better sense of comfort about the Koleos. The amount of information from quite credible sources is impressive and goes a long way, with me anyway, to dispel the niggling doubts I had associated with the uncertain origins of the Koleos per se. Sincere thanks everyone who has helped to light the way.
It's a car that kinda grows on you and is just a steal at the money right now. The quality and robustness of the car build puts it up there with some of the topdrawer mojos.

vidapura · 21-09-2017 9:34am

Hi Dionysius2,

I do hope I'm not leading you astray

All I can tell you from personal experience is I've had mine since mid March and have driven close on 5k miles without any problems.

That said, my Koleos was really low mileage (47k miles) and in immaculate condition. I knew the dealer I was buying it from personally, etc...

When buying any used car the usual advice applies.. get someone who knows about cars to look at the car for you. How a car was treated by a previous owner has a lot more bearing on its future reliability than anything else in my opinion. So a service history and overall condition of interior can tell you a lot.

Best of luck with whatever you get.

PJ

Dionysius2 · 22-09-2017 12:42pm

Your info & advice have been useful. Love the mojo and will settle in for a couple of years happy motoring (hopefully). Very good on the fuel economy front too....reckon I'm getting circa 33/34 mpg now and that's just great for such a big car. That door locking procedure is surely something else though....they should hold demos on it each fall !

vidapura · 23-09-2017 8:21am

Dionysius2 wrote: »

That door locking procedure is surely something else though....they should hold demos on it each fall !

Heh heh.. yeah.. it took me a while to get the hang of it.
Once I realised that the keyless entry only works after you've locked the door by pressing the buttons on the doorhandles.. that was the breakthrough...

Its brilliant not having to fish for keys when you are running out tot he car in the rain.. especially here in Galway...sigh.. heh..

ba_barabus · 23-09-2017 8:27am

Dionysius2 wrote: »

I'm thinking of running this nice Koleas for maybe 3 years (bought nearly 3 months ago with 70k on odometer) but a couple of naysayers say "there's no spare parts for those yokes....you'd be mad etc". Anyone to risk assess the situation plz ?

It shares a lot of parts under the skin with the Qashqai and XTrail. A friend runs one and gets everything easily.

Dionysius2 · 23-09-2017 2:21pm

ba_barabus wrote: »

It shares a lot of parts under the skin with the Qashqai and XTrail. A friend runs one and gets everything easily.

Good to know that...Tks.

Dionysius2 · 14-10-2017 9:18pm

Can anyone assist in some radio fine-tuning needs aboard my Koleos. Let me explain, pl. Over a great many years motoring I've always enjoyed tuning in to foreign radio stations esp the BBC Stations and certain other stations on the global spectrum. Nowadays, in my super super Koleos, (and several of my mojos over the past decade or so) I have great difficulty in tuning in to those stations. They are hard as hell to find and when I do manage to make a connection, it fades all too soon or becomes impossible to listen to on account of static interference. Any solutions, plz ?
TIA.

vidapura · 15-10-2017 5:39pm

Hiya,

I think you might be having problems because you are using FM.
If you are in the UK if you use FM it works fine.. cos FM is good for relatively short distances.
But if you are further away you need to use Longwave.

The radio in the Koleos and in most cars defaults to FM.
You can change it to LW using the selector... on the steering wheel control.. on the very top of it are two flat triangular buttons... press one of them until the radio displays LW and then use the button (>>|) on the radio to search for stations.

Hope this is of help
PJ

Dionysius2 · 16-10-2017 4:54pm

vidapura wrote: »

Hiya,

I think you might be having problems because you are using FM.
If you are in the UK if you use FM it works fine.. cos FM is good for relatively short distances.
But if you are further away you need to use Longwave.

The radio in the Koleos and in most cars defaults to FM.
You can change it to LW using the selector... on the steering wheel control.. on the very top of it are two flat triangular buttons... press one of them until the radio displays LW and then use the button (>>|) on the radio to search for stations.

Hope this is of help
PJ

Hi Vida...many thanks... that sounds just about right

and will be actioned by me in that manner just as soon as Dublin's worst recorded weather storm (Ophelia) has receded into oblivion. My next query (or statement !) will be about the storm survival qualities of my Koleos.
:eek: P.S. If there are bubbles...that's where to look !

Dionysius2 · 19-10-2017 2:52pm

Yep...that worked. Muchas gracias.

vidapura · 19-10-2017 3:22pm

Ahh great !!

Dionysius2 wrote: »

Yep...that worked. Muchas gracias.

Dionysius2 · 29-02-2020 1:45am

OOps...haven't been on here since October 2017 and I've still got my Koleos. Overall performance has been very good...one mis-fuel incident...one puncture...2 new tyres...otherwise fine. But I have a problem now that troubles me. I've had two flat batteries oved the past couple of months on a one year old battery. Left me sitting away from home with the missus and a lot of inconvenience and distress.
The root cause is that I am retired now and do not have longish drives to pep up the battery. My weeks motoringwise relate to short runs to supermarket, schoolpickups (gr/children), church, etc and many times I'm sitting in the car waiting for madam to return and I have the radio on and the heater & mister (it's winter !!) and when I hit the start button in my Koleos Diesel...no response...zilch...catastrophe.
Now I have a battery charger and what I'd like to know is whether or not I can charge the battery when parked in my driveway without disconnecting the battery. Would that upset the electrics or is there some other downside in so doing that this amateurish car owner knows so little about?
Advice, please....and T.I.A.

vidapura · 29-02-2020 11:59am

Hiya,
I see you're back just in time for another storm.. heh..

Yah, I had the same thing happen with my Koleos too.. last Oct when I had a dose of flu.. left it sit for a week while I hogged the bed.
Had to dig out my jump leads to get the old horse moving again.

We also had a nightmare one day in the underground carpark in town.. I left my darling wife and son in the car while I went to grab something real quick. But it being lidl I got sidetracked with all the special buy tools etc.. so I was gone about 25 mins. When I got back she had flattened the battery with the radio trying to keep the youngfella from wigging out.. sigh.. To make it all perfect BOTH of our mobile phones were out of charge too..

I'm no mechanic but I don't think its too unusual. My wifes Qashqai has pulled the same stunt a few times too.
It IS a bit disappointing that a big battery like that can't keep the radio going for an hour or so..

Its a bit more of a problem these days cos I find people are less and less comfortable about jump starting other peoples cars. The newer cars are so full of electronics, or actual batteries, that the advice is just not to do it at all.

So, whats a guy to do?

I haven't had the problem in a while .. but I reckon one of those battery packs.. might be worth lookin at.
Some of them are very neat altogether, you'd nearly carry em in your pocket.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92728/best-mini-jump-starter-packs-2019
https://kit.honestjohn.co.uk/top-tens/top-10-jump-starters/

Just need to make sure it works for a diesel cos they need a more powerful crank to get going.

I honestly don't know if its a good idea to leave a charger plugged in.
I'd worry about it eventually setting the car on fire.. but I don't know if thats unfounded or not.

But knowing me I'd barrel out the door some day and forget to unplug it... tear out the gate with an extension cord trailing...

I did notice in a car dealers one day that the guy had a power pack to start cars that hadn't moved in a while..

The smaller power pack does have the portability advantage too... if you get caught out in the supermarket or wherever...

Dionysius2 · 01-03-2020 12:52am

Hiya VP...old friends are best as the advert says...once again you are helping to put me on the right track. I like the mini powerpack idea and will explore it locally. Sounds like the solution for me !

vidapura wrote: »

Hiya,
I see you're back just in time for another storm.. heh..

Yah, I had the same thing happen with my Koleos too.. last Oct when I had a dose of flu.. left it sit for a week while I hogged the bed.
Had to dig out my jump leads to get the old horse moving again.

We also had a nightmare one day in the underground carpark in town.. I left my darling wife and son in the car while I went to grab something real quick. But it being lidl I got sidetracked with all the special buy tools etc.. so I was gone about 25 mins. When I got back she had flattened the battery with the radio trying to keep the youngfella from wigging out.. sigh.. To make it all perfect BOTH of our mobile phones were out of charge too..

I'm no mechanic but I don't think its too unusual. My wifes Qashqai has pulled the same stunt a few times too.
It IS a bit disappointing that a big battery like that can't keep the radio going for an hour or so..

Its a bit more of a problem these days cos I find people are less and less comfortable about jump starting other peoples cars. The newer cars are so full of electronics, or actual batteries, that the advice is just not to do it at all.

So, whats a guy to do?

I haven't had the problem in a while .. but I reckon one of those battery packs.. might be worth lookin at.
Some of them are very neat altogether, you'd nearly carry em in your pocket.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/92728/best-mini-jump-starter-packs-2019
https://kit.honestjohn.co.uk/top-tens/top-10-jump-starters/

Just need to make sure it works for a diesel cos they need a more powerful crank to get going.

I honestly don't know if its a good idea to leave a charger plugged in.
I'd worry about it eventually setting the car on fire.. but I don't know if thats unfounded or not.

But knowing me I'd barrel out the door some day and forget to unplug it... tear out the gate with an extension cord trailing...

I did notice in a car dealers one day that the guy had a power pack to start cars that hadn't moved in a while..

The smaller power pack does have the portability advantage too... if you get caught out in the supermarket or wherever...

vidapura · 01-03-2020 4:53pm

Ahh good, glad to be of help.:D

Dionysius2 · 08-10-2020 8:02pm

vidapura wrote: »

Ahh good, glad to be of help.:D

Hi Vida....long time...no signals...hope u well.
You sorted me before so here goes with another problem.
My elec roof closes on the button ok but instantly re-opens about 6 inches and keeps on repeating that. Cause...solution ?

Dion.

vidapura · 09-10-2020 11:27am

Hi Dionysius1,
Well, its very nice to know I have been some help in the past!

I'm afraid my Koleos doesn't have a sunroof.. so I have no direct experience of that problem...

But I'm wondering if there is anything caught in the sunroof ? Or if something small got into the track ?
Generally sunroofs have a safety feature where they reverse if they encounter resistance...
Did you maybe stand on the seat and have a good look around in the groove/track that the sunroof follows?
Bit of a branch off a tree or a road chipping could be in there...

Vida

kirving · 09-10-2020 12:06pm

Sounds like the sensor to detect that it's closed is not being met - so the motor keeps going, hits resistance, and reopens.

Renault Koleos

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