DONKEY, COME BACK TO ME. Extra vids for Floaties! www.floatplane... Game Channel: / @helloimgaming Drum Channel: / @the.drum.thing . Tech Channel: / @dankpods
You missed the hardest thing to say of all, though... "Ok, I'll accept that calling this 6 inches isn't entirely accurate. Now please stop asking me if it's in yet."
I rented a truck from Budget once in Canada. It was a box truck based on a 2019 Ford E-series cutaway van. I thought every vehicle made in 2019 had cruise control, but I was proven wrong by this truck. But from what I remember, its quality control was nowhere near as bad as the Renault van. We have no French cars here in Canada--are they really this bad?
I rented a vehicle from them ONCE in the US. And it was maddening. The car had trash in it and finger prints galore everywhere. They charged me extra for picking it up a few minutes early and also charged a fuel fee because they didn't think I drove enough mileage (their reasoning was I probably didn't fill it up since I barely drove it? So I had to show them a receipt.). Total of $56 in overages I had to call and complain to get back. Hertz and Enterprise cost about 20% more upfront but at least they've been easy and reliable and I don't feel like I'm getting scammed after returning the vehicle.
@CharlesP2009 Where I live, (in the states), rates fluctuate between the rental companies pretty frequently, with summer being the most competitive time, but the Enterprise quality just can't be beat.
Carbs are delicate mate, you wanna treat them like a baby or a pet, not stick it in the back of a van with heavy loads that will break it if they fall on it
As an American it's hilarious to see that they just swapped the wheel and gas access without bothering to move the locks OR covering up the unused gas door, lol
Adelaide based Renault Technician Here, yes its a Manual gearbox with a Hydraulic Robotics unit that shifts through the gears, also simultaneously depressing and releasing the clutch. Nasty to work on and just down right rubbish system. Also 110% guaranteed to fail.
The odd numbers speedo is normal, that's the one they use in France too. Here, the limitations are all odd numbers (30, 50, 90, 110 and 130 km/h being the most common ones) so theye didn't bother changing the numbers on the speedo, just like they didn't bother changing the keyhole side when making a LHD of that Master
I was thinking that, too 😂 They did the bare minimum to make it compliant to drive in other countries who drive on the opposite side and then said, "Yep, that'll do!"
I've seen a video about an Aussie driving his new peugeot trashbin where they didn't flip the wipers so in rain the driver side window isn't fully cleared so you can't see anything
You would think that but no my Renault Zoe EV has its key hole only on the passinger side incase of power failure as its keyless entry, but have seen a Italian Zoe on holiday it's passinger door (UK drivers door) also had a key hole so it's on purpose, but still heaps better than my MG5 EV that has a flip out key but NO KEY Hole anywhere on the car
My dad always told me that Renault and other French cars are designed to be incredibly comfortable to sit in. That way you can relax a bit when you are parked next to the highway waiting for the car mechanic.
Well a Cadillac this is not, I have been in American Tradie vans and trucks, very worn down ones too, and only the super worn down ones have as many problems as this van, I been in a 95 Mack MR garbage truck that was sitting in the field for god knows how long, and that is the only thing similar to how much the interior is falling apart is in that van
as someone who had to push my dad's mk 1 laguna several kilometers total over the 8 years we owned it as an utter shitbox. The only significant problems it had was we bought it with a stuck thermostat (that we only fixed after several 1000 km round trips, that's where the pushing came from because it'd overheat in traffic at toll booths), one time the starter somehow got unplugged and it would sometimes run on 2 cylinders. other than that it was dead reliable despite being a bigger pile of junk than Tony.
I used to work at a dealership that handled Renault along with some other brands. I can confirm that gearbox is an "automatically shifted manual" and they basically all drive like that it just how they are. Fun fact as well, those Master vans were the Aus Post vans for a while. Renault have since lost the contract with Aus Post to produce vans specially for them to Mercedes. Seems like that was the case due to reliability issues, generally surrounding that gearbox. 😂
@@VeyronBD Probably because they are intended for general purpose work stuff, so they wanted something cheap, fuel efficient and easy to operate. Theoretically, a manual can be more fuel efficient (no slip through the torque converter) and more reliable (well, if it's a good implementation, which this doesn't appear to be). They were actually common on some Ferraris. Tyler Hoover of Hoovie's Garage has one of them and got it changed over to manual.
I've only experienced something like that once in a 2003 BMW Z4 and the only word I'll use to describe it was "slow". It was competent enough in auto mode but was so slow to start rolling and so slow to change gears I felt like being driven around by someone just learning to drive manual. Fortunately with the paddle shifters or manual mode using the stick it felt mostly normal. But at that point it's like why even try to do the fancy SMG thing? Just put a clutch pedal in it.
@@VeyronBD I've seen them upsold in basic city cars in the UK, but I don't know if anyone with a full license ever bothers with them. They seem to exist purely for the person with an auto-only license who suddenly needs to downsize or something.
@@ccoder4953 I think that's right on the money. Don't need a manual license to drive so they are more widely available and they are pretty efficient like you said not losing anything through a converter. The main issue was the hydro unit that would shift for you. Often it would go bad slowly and no only kill itself but the clutch too so you don't get the benefit of just replacing the unit, gearbox would still have to come out 9 times out of 10.
its the most french thing, i remember PSA Peugeot/Citroen car used to have fuse box in the glove box for RHD car because they can't be arsed to move the fusebox, and also it make the glovebox useless
@@Banom7a usually PSA group and my fiat bravo has a bar running underneath the whole dashboard connecting the brake pedal into servo because they wouldn't even move that thing either
I work at a NZ/Aussie car rental. I belly laughed at that cars condition. I swear its held on by duct tape and a glue stick. Glad to know the standards of my competitors
You're right, it's a manual gearbox that shifts for you, it's called a "robotic" gearbox, not exactly an automatic. A lot of French cars do this. Also the letting off of the gas is for comfort reasons, older versions did not do that and it would give your car a "yank" every time it shifted, especially when revving it...
Yep, I wanted to comment that at least it controls the throttle for you since the ones 20 years ago sure didn't! People had to drive them only in manual mode, or pre-empt the shifts and let off the throttle manually in time lol. At least this is genuinely less work than a manual, unlike those earlier ones...
@@pitecusH they’re larger, heavier, and have worse fuel consumption. It’s really a back-application of twin-clutch control computers, and since high end cars are all using twin-clutches now the manufacturers may as well chop them in half for this “automated manual” on cheaper city cars and vans.
The Donkey van feels like that cuckholded husband watching his wife getting hitched 😅😢 Nice to see Le Van on the leaderboard lolll Another hilarious episode of the Garage saga ❤ love you guys as always. Hope Donkey Van comes back to life 🙏
I have a fleet of fifty-seven of those vans and each one is more perfect than the last. I drive them around the Nurburg Ring daily and consisently get sub-10 minutes. In reverse. Any problems you may have driving them are entirely on you. It shifts so smoothly that I often fall asleep while driving one, but it's such a good van that it drove to its destination even without any fuel in it without crashing. One time I had to give the queen of England, may she rest in peace, a lift in it, and she complained that it was "too lavish" and the interior trim was "too well made" that it made her jealous. You are clearly insane for disseminating such baseless slander about these wonderful vehicles.
Ah but your forget it's rental van so has been thrashed and probably needs a gearbox flush to fix but will never get one, my last hire car was a 6mo 0.9l POS with a clutch so worn out it would slip if you accelerated or slowed down without your foot on the clutch, it had to go back on a flatbed they replaced it with the same age and make / model of car it's clutch was only slightly better and lasted 2 days
We own a few of these. Started out with the autos and those gearboxes were downright dangerous. Traded them in for manuals and have loved them ever since. Brilliant on fuel. Ultra reliable. 10/10 would recommend - so long as its a manual.
True, but if Wade hasn't uploaded, my sure cure is seeing if "11foot8" bridge has had some action. If not I watch "11foot8" compilations. Even though they raised it 8in to 12foot4 it still gets some action, Can-Opening. 😂
Nice one mate, you've experienced the classic french car experience. Don't let yourself be fooled by cheap prices these cars will often break down so much you'll be paying the rest of the price to mechanics and car rentals instead. The only brand new car we ever bought in our family is a Citroen and it's also the only car that's needed a full motor swap. Turns out that thing was broken from the factory, they sold it to us anyways like that and at some point it broke down as expected. They did replace it under warranty but the car was still gone for almost two months because apparently it's near impossible to get a motor shipped from France to Germany.
1.2 Puretech? The timing belts tended to destroy the engine, stupid wet belt system. Doesn’t help it’s a rough nasty unit that makes a diesel feel smooth.
I drive one of these daily for Australia Post and i can confirm they are the biggest pile of poo. They do have a manual gearbox that changes automatically as you said.
I'm not surprised, "automated manual transmission" got pretty popular amongst european manufacturers in the early aughts, as an alternative to manual without plonking for a proper DCT (or a lock-up torque converter). They're *all* rough the best of time, and the vast majority are absolute trash.
I love my dad's Renault Master. Been all over Europe in it, with actual tons of load in the back. Never failed us. And once you add 2 rows of seats it becomes a great vacation car too.
A lot of European vans are massive which I'm guessing is because they offer them as a minibuses and company's convert the vans into minibuses or a bus that's meant for public routes with a van chassis (it's a dog crap as a pubic service bus because of it having you know a van engine and leaf springs in the back meaning (this is from the perspective of a passenger btw) it's tractory sounding, you have to floor the crap out of them just so your not slowing down traffic, some can be quite lurchy, they rattle (albeit that's because the converters have quite bad quality standards mostly but the original things like the dash still rattle) and if you're in the back you can jump out of your seat for a second or two with a 3 point seat belt on but it's a cheap bus which can stupidly easily get around tight hail and ride (google hail and ride buses if you don't know what it is) estate sections of a but route so)
Hearing that description of the transmission, yes those do actually exist. Its the most annoying trend that manufacturers have started releasing cars with "Automated Manual" transmissions. Fortunately here (South Africa) they can't be marketed and sold as an automatic for whatever reason. But a few manufacturers (Suzuki is the first to come to mind) have discontinued their proper full auto variants of cars like the Swift and now only offer MT and AMT cars. I have a friend who made the unfortunate decision of buying an AMT car - despite only owning it a few months he's already looking to sell it and go back to a manual. Its not good, but its cheap, and people seem to want a cheap car more than a nice car these days.
I remember when automated manual boxes were weird exotic things, and now they're bloody everywhere. The fact that they're so common that you can get them in rental vans says it all. Get a good one and they're very, very good, but most are... not good. At all. I remember having one when my home parking spot was on a slight incline and the gearbox would throw a complete wobbly fit every time I tried to park it as it couldn't work out what the hell was going on.
"I remember when automated manual boxes were weird exotic things, and now they're bloody everywhere." Maybe in the mid 2000s and early 2010s but these days manufacturers went back to using torque converters such as those from ZF and DCTs (VAG), even Peugeot went back to torque converters on their normal cars. Japanese prefer to use CVTs, the only time I see these automated manuals are in the small budget cars like the VW UP! and Toyota Aygo
I’m a Renault mechanic. They’ve making those Masters since about 2010, and I’ve never come across an auto one. The manuals are ok (in fact they’re alright vans in general). There far from perfect though I have to say (you struggle to find any excellent vans in Europe though)
as someone who is diehard Renault yeah this sounds about right. my Twingo RS' interior light is literally half dangling out on the cable. its an acquired charm
All of our "automtic" semi trucks at work are actually "automated manual" transmissions while the brand new ones could almost fool you to be an automatic the 10+year old trucks sometimes take 5+ seconds to change gears and you can lose most of the speed going into that gear.
Maybe the brand new ones are DCT rather than AMT? DCTs are "proper" automatics but not torque converters, like manual or AMT (or lockup torque converters) they are super efficient, unlike AMT they're extremely reactive, and unlike TCs they're not "floaty" (coupling is not fluid).
I drive those too. Even the new ones kinda suck for parking on the dock, though. It's very hard to dial in the desired torque on the electronic clutch (and I have 4 years of experience driving them). They either don't move you at all or completely dump the clutch on you. There is no in-between.
As a former delivery guy for the Danish postal service, we had these vans or at least very similar ones in droves. And let me tell you, I can verify most of what is said here, never had it spit out fuel or the rattle, and mine had the old style radio (luckily with bluetooth). These are not a comfortable ride, but they are not too terrible. But yeah the whistling is a real problem, especially when you are driving an hour on the freeway at 130 km/h, it was annoying at first, but quickly became background noise. Also the holders in the front perfect... for paper cups, anything bigger and you need the ones in the front of the dash.
I love my little Megane and all the Clios I had before that. Drove a ToyAuto for 3 years, went back to Renault. My first car was an 18 year old Renault 19, it held itself together with rust and ducttape and a strip of wire. But it drove me everywhere I needed to go.
They also call it a semi-automatic, semi-manual, manumatic, tiptronic, etc. They are not as uncommon as you'd think they are, this type of gearbox can be found in the Smart car or the VW Up, or the Iveco Daily. Tesco used to have an entire fleet of Dailys with this manumatic. They were...interesting...to drive. Not bad, just got to get used to it.
Just wow. Not much done to make it converted for right hand drive. The fuel doors on both sides is for diesels with def/adblue and is extremely annoying when filling up as you need to turn the bugger around to do both diesel and def. Turning radius is abysmal with makes fuel it up even more annoying. The split in the side window is in most cases right in the middle of the side mirror. That gearbox is pretty much broken from factory. Of the three I have driven all of them have been broken. And yes it’s a manual that switches gears automatically. Pretty much all of them have electrical problems. Only people that love them are tow truck operators because these vans give them a lot of business. One of our previous ones had 7 tows in half a year
My work van is a Vauxhall, and the stereo has touch controls that go absolutely bonkers if the cab is below 10-12degC. So first thing in the morning you have to hit the one physical button that turns off the head unit before your phone connects and it starts making calls randomly. All of my colleagues have the same issue, hopefully the next generation of the van will offer an indicator light to show you when the cab is up to a suitable temperature to use the head unit, as that is undoubtedly cheaper than fixing the actual problem 😂
Mate, you make my Friday mornings. Van looks like it was built with LHD territories in mind.🤔 This video is generally what I think of when French cars come up in conversation.
The french (LHD country), aren't big fans of the UK(RHD country). RHD French cars always have the weirdest conversion tricks. Most of the time, they keep the fuse boxes and electronics in the same place, so you get abysmally small gloveboxes. Or a metal lever going from the right side to the left, actuating the brakes, because the firewall and the placement of the brake master cylinder (and servo) is the same as a LHD car. In some models, the passenger can press the brakes by stepping hard on the carpet.
I don’t know why this is one of my favorites of your vids. I think it’s because this video came out when I was transitioning from my crappy gas station job to my current airline job and having to deal with big vans, trucks, and other machinery. That and sausage rolls and iced coffee sounds really good right now!
i drove one of these for 2 summers when i was working as a robot mower technician. Mine was manual and a bit older, but it was about the same vibe but with an "ok" gearbox, sometimes you'd have to wag the thing about to find 1st, but it worked, dings was not a worry, and on multiple occasions it was infested by ants ( because we carried robot mowers with grass and ants on them ) so sometimes you'd go insane cruising for 3 hours because there were like 30 ants going up your legs. man i miss that job, now im just a sad work from home code monkey who thinks about that one dirty spot in the corner of my closet. back then i lived in my work pants with mud, grass all over and pockets filled with dirt and moldy sausages in 'em. used to eat my sausage "sandwich" ( it was more like a massive breadcake with "filling" in it without washing my hands, and now im worried about how long my nails are and if i smell "slightly off" life is strange
We have one of these at work. Bought it new in 2017 and it’s been awful since day 1. Only has 50k km but drives like it has 450k. The gearbox is the bane of my existence. I hate everything about this van. We picked up a 2023 Transit two weeks ago to replace it. So much bettera.
Couple notes here: By how you described its behavior, i am sure that gearbox works exactly like a Fiat Dualogic box, which itself is a crappy version of a Graziano E-Gear box, therefore its a manual, shifted by a computer that also controls the clutch. And the odd numbered speedo is such a french thing, all my 3 french cars were like that (2 Renaults and a Peugeot).
the manual gear box shifting electronically is neat, trash but neat and it sorta reminds me of my works donkey with it's weird eco mode that randomly refuses to let you go over 90kph on the freeway
Never ever seen it in this automated manual version here. One we have in my dad's company is just normal manual and its quite good. Clutch is nicely weighted and shifter is snappy.
That's quite the similar Renault experience I had. At my part time job, I sometimes went with a crew around on terrain. The had these Master vans and they definitely had that van abuse on them. You saw it wasn't maintained at all and they drove it still with the check engine light on. Everything was loosely fited when at highway speeds, it rateled so much, I thought it will just shake itself appart. But it got the job done even if just barely. A Master van wouldn't be my first choise if I had to pick a van
I work as a tech for renault. And I can safely say thr Renault master is the worst piece of engineering I've ever had the displeasure of driving. The auto gearbox is so bad you can actually stall it from brand new. And you are right it's a single clutch Gbox which is so janky and dogshit.
I've unfortunately driven lots of these in different variations thanks to not nailing a normal job until I was 23, and I can whole heartedly say it is perfectly French through and through, build quality & features especially!
I have to rent vans like that in my line of work - too rarely to bother buying one, but often enough that it's a thing. I've driven Mercedes, Ford, Renault, VW, Peugeot, Citroen, Iveco, probably a few more I'm forgetting. All the French ones are terrible. All the others are good. One time I was driving a Renault full to the brim with expensive antiques, porcelain and stuff, and ahead of me was stop and go traffic. I was doing 140-ish km/h at the time so I slowed down as gently as I could to come to a full stop, and like any good driver should, I reached for the hazards... couldn't find it. No red button. Anywhere. I came to a stop and luckily nobody behind me rammed me. Once I was at a full stop I looked around properly, and I just could not find the stupid button to turn on the hazards. I drove where I needed to go and on the way there I kept glancing around to see if I could find the button, but no, just wasn't there! Once I arrived and stopped properly, I had a good thorough look, and found it... tucked away above my head next to the reading light. Saw it in your video too - it is literally mounted on the rattly bit up there. Who puts that button there?!
Renault master! Yes, it has it's flaws and sadly you're not wrong about the geearbox; it is actually a manual box that shifts automatically. We french aren't good at auto gearboxes... The reason the autos are so bad is that the French don't like using autos. The reason the interior is so bad is that it's RHD and meant for the British market, and it's put together horribly.
Just FYI, that gearbox shifting way before redline is actually how it is supposed to shift. Diesel engines, especially turbo diesels are best driven in the low- to mid range as performance greatly decreases in the high revs
I have a citroen C5 in a RHD country, you can definitely tell it’s made for LHD. Tiny glovebox cos the fuse board is there, bonnet release is on the passenger side and the clutch is insanely heavy because they don’t care about RHD markets. Still an absolute beauty to drive and what other car can you get S Class ride comfort for €2000?
that kind of gearbox is quickly becoming the standard in commercial trucks at least around here. the "trick" to making them bearable is to drive them like a fully loaded truck. you press the gas pedal down to whatever position you feel appropriate for how fast you're trying to go and then you wait
Watching this as a French, I'm just laughing my butt off hahaha yeah Renault's been doing some bad shit lately lmao Also the infotainment system is the same as some Dacia (budget Renault sub brand) which made me laugh even more lmao
"It throttles off, shifts, and throttles on again" yep sounds like an automated manual, I'm in school to work on diesel freight trucks and yes they feel awful to drive but it's all for fuel economy
Oh man, I gotta defend the automated MT right here! I drive a Peugeot 308 Station Wagon with an AMT transmission and the thing is really good actually (for a car made in 2011, not for todays cars of course). A lot of people in the comments say they never find the right gear and such, but my only complaint is that it sometimes downshifts to early for my taste. But I also tend to drive at very low RPMs. Apart from that it always stays in the power band and gets really good fuel economy (5.5l Diesel/100km average). So they actually can be good!
There's a camping UA-camr from Canada named Steve Wallis who got banned from renting from Uhaul. We're going to see something similar from Budget for this mad lad.
Don't worry as someone who has heard many many stories from someone who has to drive Renault vans almost every day the locks will fail entirely or the door will fall off or before the key issue will be a thing or it'll explode either or.
As a french who have sitted multiple times in a Renault Master, I swear that the assembly line for australia is crap, the french Renault Master is not that bad in terms of quality (and we don't get this stupid semi-automatic gearbox, it's almost always manual)
Rented a U-Haul back in March, similar experience. The thing was falling apart and sounded like a tank. The agent told us the catalytic converter had been stolen when we called. Great stuff!
They actually use this in Tourism in colombia, also that renault and some others are made here in colombia I was in a Sandero and the shifts feel super weird being a Manual 5-Speed One, same Gearbox is found in the Stepway, which is a "CrossOver SUV" but it's just a Lifted Sandero with Black Plastic to say it's a "OffRoad SUV" and the automatic sandero feels super weird as well, and the quality well... ***lovely Still here in colombia are the most popular cars ever and in every road you see them driving.
My old company has two of these,it's still a 2.3 Diesel,but a manual. Every one of my coworkers there complained about the interior being like Iveco(Google Iveco interior quality) and squeaking when you press something plastic. I drove it one time as a joke and I liked it,the gearbox is nice and responsive,the trunk space is huge,you can literally fit a house if you wanted
@@lazzie7495 It was a manual,I think a 5 speed or a 6 speed,I forgot,but the shifting was good,not stiff like my dad's Peugeot 406,that shifter was stiff as a bone. The handling of that Renault I drove at work was handling like a dream while being loaded with groceries for stores to the brim
Wow, an "automatic" renault master, eh? I work at a truck dealership / workshop in europe, and we have 2 Nissan NV400 vans for onsite repairs and such (just a rebadged Renault Master), with the same gearbox, and it is horrible. I don`t think I`ve ever driven a car or van with an auto box I`ve particularly liked (they tend never to chose the right gear at the right time IMO, though I`m primarily used to manual boxes), but this thing takes the cake for terrible... It takes entirely too much throttle to make it realise it`s time to release the clutch when going from a standstill (admitiedly our vans are loaded to the teeth with heavy toolboxes, fluids, and spare parts, but a manual van similarly loaded doesn`t need to smash 2k+ rpm plus a good 10 or so seconds of clutch slip just to get going), it refuses to shift up below 2 and a half grand, even when holding the pedal steady and i`m clearly not asking itto accelerate any more, it often requires full throttle to shift down (and a good 10 seconds of it too) before it even reacts and goes for the downshift (even though it clearly dropped below the torque band and it basicly lugging at idle up a hill), while other times it will shift up OR down for seemingly no reason... Also when it shifts, you can vary clearly feel every part of the procedure... It will let off the throttle (and you feel the engine braking effect to the point you`d think it`s actually braking), than you feel it disengage the clutch, than change gear, than re-engage the clutch while also accelerating. you can feel that it releases the clutch a bit too slowly, and I swear you can feel it slip the clutch with every single shift. The van is perfectly fine otherwise... Also, I can`t for the life of me figure out that shifter, and often throw it into manual mode by accident, when all I want is drive
It makes me SO happy to see such a weird piece of junk car that was made so recently. I can't get over how they didn't even swap the keyhole OR the wiper/turn signal stalks.
3 of The Hardest Things for people to say
1. I am sorry
2. Worcestershire sauce
3. *I had to rent a van while i have one*
You missed the hardest thing to say of all, though...
"Ok, I'll accept that calling this 6 inches isn't entirely accurate. Now please stop asking me if it's in yet."
Number 1 should be "no"
Wooster-shure (you’re welcome)
Umm...........🎶"I gotta see a doctor but I'm too wasted to phone one, wanna customize my Van and I don't even own one"🎶 😳
- "Metal Head" by BLOTTO 😂
@@MartiUK_ Woor shur shur
"Budget" written on every side really does describe the experience
We also have the "Cut Price" van & truck rental company in Australia. I'm not sure which is superior...
I rented a truck from Budget once in Canada. It was a box truck based on a 2019 Ford E-series cutaway van. I thought every vehicle made in 2019 had cruise control, but I was proven wrong by this truck. But from what I remember, its quality control was nowhere near as bad as the Renault van. We have no French cars here in Canada--are they really this bad?
I rented a vehicle from them ONCE in the US. And it was maddening. The car had trash in it and finger prints galore everywhere. They charged me extra for picking it up a few minutes early and also charged a fuel fee because they didn't think I drove enough mileage (their reasoning was I probably didn't fill it up since I barely drove it? So I had to show them a receipt.). Total of $56 in overages I had to call and complain to get back.
Hertz and Enterprise cost about 20% more upfront but at least they've been easy and reliable and I don't feel like I'm getting scammed after returning the vehicle.
@CharlesP2009 Where I live, (in the states), rates fluctuate between the rental companies pretty frequently, with summer being the most competitive time, but the Enterprise quality just can't be beat.
@@greythedarkmaster3380 enterprise often is the cheapest option
Life without the donkey van is not the same 😢
Cool bug facts: i can't take it anymore. i just want the donkey back
What is life without donkey?
At least Wade has Jamiroquai from the donkey.
@@cool_bug_facts i feel you mr. cool bug facts
😅
gets a van
*puts the cargo in the front seat with seatbelt*
thats a nice use of a van right there
Carbs are delicate mate, you wanna treat them like a baby or a pet, not stick it in the back of a van with heavy loads that will break it if they fall on it
Jeez he could have taken stinkin Jeff or something
More than likely, he had a lot more packages than just the carb.
I believe this video was pre-Bruce-II-fixification
so big boxes and lots of boxes.
See this is genius, making the Donkey jealous so it won't break down again
I don’t think it has to be jealous over a Renault.
Then again, Donkey is a Mitsubishi
Unfortunately nobody's getting jealous over such an unabashedly terrible van as a rental that literally has the word "Budget" written all over it
be mean keep 'em keen
How do we know this isn't going to backfire... and make Donkey sputter just to spite him?
@@1994CivicGLi Ah Mitsubishi, the Chrysler of Japan
"We've run out of ice coffies and sausage rolls" the most Australian thing I've heard today.
I was watching that scene then this comment popped up 🤣
the missed opportunity to call it the "Litreboard" will forever haunt my life
Oh my god you're right.
that would be awesome!
I literally stopped for a second because I thought he *did*
Someone's wish got granted
He done did it
As an American it's hilarious to see that they just swapped the wheel and gas access without bothering to move the locks OR covering up the unused gas door, lol
Adelaide based Renault Technician Here, yes its a Manual gearbox with a Hydraulic Robotics unit that shifts through the gears, also simultaneously depressing and releasing the clutch. Nasty to work on and just down right rubbish system. Also 110% guaranteed to fail.
never understood the point of engineering such nonsense, just put a proper auto in or only offer a real manual lol
Is this an aussie thing? I only seen these in full manual in europe
Can it be converted back to a proper manual?
@@chE3z1 If memory serves it's far more compact than a full automatic gearbox.
Similar to mk1 twingo easy gearbox?
The odd numbers speedo is normal, that's the one they use in France too. Here, the limitations are all odd numbers (30, 50, 90, 110 and 130 km/h being the most common ones) so theye didn't bother changing the numbers on the speedo, just like they didn't bother changing the keyhole side when making a LHD of that Master
Except for the recently added (and sort of voided) 80 km/h limit, but I nitpick, as most people still drive at 90 on those roads anyway.
For the key hole, I think they were just lazy when switching the wheel from left to right 😂
Absolutely what I was thinking.
I was thinking that, too 😂 They did the bare minimum to make it compliant to drive in other countries who drive on the opposite side and then said, "Yep, that'll do!"
I've seen a video about an Aussie driving his new peugeot trashbin where they didn't flip the wipers so in rain the driver side window isn't fully cleared so you can't see anything
it was a last min tought and say do realy want to
You would think that but no my Renault Zoe EV has its key hole only on the passinger side incase of power failure as its keyless entry, but have seen a Italian Zoe on holiday it's passinger door (UK drivers door) also had a key hole so it's on purpose, but still heaps better than my MG5 EV that has a flip out key but NO KEY Hole anywhere on the car
it's like visiting your wife in the hospital, but bringing along your girlfriend.
A French girl, no less.
That profile pict.
Or a prostitute, because it's a rental van
My dad always told me that Renault and other French cars are designed to be incredibly comfortable to sit in. That way you can relax a bit when you are parked next to the highway waiting for the car mechanic.
my dad and I worked at a wreckers for european cars. we called them O-cars.
Well a Cadillac this is not, I have been in American Tradie vans and trucks, very worn down ones too, and only the super worn down ones have as many problems as this van, I been in a 95 Mack MR garbage truck that was sitting in the field for god knows how long, and that is the only thing similar to how much the interior is falling apart is in that van
people who genuinely believe in those stereotypes don't know shit about cars
This is true for citroen but renault and peugeot have a lot of cars that never dies they can be completely fucked the engine will always start.
as someone who had to push my dad's mk 1 laguna several kilometers total over the 8 years we owned it as an utter shitbox. The only significant problems it had was we bought it with a stuck thermostat (that we only fixed after several 1000 km round trips, that's where the pushing came from because it'd overheat in traffic at toll booths), one time the starter somehow got unplugged and it would sometimes run on 2 cylinders. other than that it was dead reliable despite being a bigger pile of junk than Tony.
I used to work at a dealership that handled Renault along with some other brands. I can confirm that gearbox is an "automatically shifted manual" and they basically all drive like that it just how they are. Fun fact as well, those Master vans were the Aus Post vans for a while. Renault have since lost the contract with Aus Post to produce vans specially for them to Mercedes. Seems like that was the case due to reliability issues, generally surrounding that gearbox. 😂
Its wild they didn't just use a regular manual, never seen a setup like this in the uk
@@VeyronBD Probably because they are intended for general purpose work stuff, so they wanted something cheap, fuel efficient and easy to operate. Theoretically, a manual can be more fuel efficient (no slip through the torque converter) and more reliable (well, if it's a good implementation, which this doesn't appear to be). They were actually common on some Ferraris. Tyler Hoover of Hoovie's Garage has one of them and got it changed over to manual.
I've only experienced something like that once in a 2003 BMW Z4 and the only word I'll use to describe it was "slow". It was competent enough in auto mode but was so slow to start rolling and so slow to change gears I felt like being driven around by someone just learning to drive manual. Fortunately with the paddle shifters or manual mode using the stick it felt mostly normal. But at that point it's like why even try to do the fancy SMG thing? Just put a clutch pedal in it.
@@VeyronBD I've seen them upsold in basic city cars in the UK, but I don't know if anyone with a full license ever bothers with them. They seem to exist purely for the person with an auto-only license who suddenly needs to downsize or something.
@@ccoder4953 I think that's right on the money. Don't need a manual license to drive so they are more widely available and they are pretty efficient like you said not losing anything through a converter. The main issue was the hydro unit that would shift for you. Often it would go bad slowly and no only kill itself but the clutch too so you don't get the benefit of just replacing the unit, gearbox would still have to come out 9 times out of 10.
It's almost as if that van isn't actually designed for RHD use lmao
I mean they aren't that uncommon in the UK and Ireland either
its the most french thing, i remember PSA Peugeot/Citroen car used to have fuse box in the glove box for RHD car because they can't be arsed to move the fusebox, and also it make the glovebox useless
The Peugeot 206 back in the day still had LHD wipers in the UK, it’s not even the only the French car to do that.
@@Banom7a usually PSA group and my fiat bravo has a bar running underneath the whole dashboard connecting the brake pedal into servo because they wouldn't even move that thing either
@@Jabber-ig3iw IIRC british RHD uses LHD stocks, Australian and Japanese should be actual RHD stocks
As an Adelaidienite, it is an absolute joy of mine to look at the corners of these videos to see where you are driving about for the day
Lol right? So few clues, we're almost always trained on the dash.
that word should not exist.
@@Michael_Chater Sounds like an exotic element, which incidentally is another way to describe people from Adelaide.
Wikipedia says it’s Adelaidean.
@@ferretyluv Wikipedia says a lot of things my dude, Adelaide is evershifting, it's people and their titles moreso
I work at a NZ/Aussie car rental. I belly laughed at that cars condition. I swear its held on by duct tape and a glue stick. Glad to know the standards of my competitors
the frogs stick them together using duct tape and glue anyway, foisting them upon everybody as an act of spite for losing the battle of waterloo..
I work in nz for said company and our fleet isn't like this 😂
You're right, it's a manual gearbox that shifts for you, it's called a "robotic" gearbox, not exactly an automatic. A lot of French cars do this. Also the letting off of the gas is for comfort reasons, older versions did not do that and it would give your car a "yank" every time it shifted, especially when revving it...
Oh god..... I remember it
You'd think it was a 8 liter engine with how harsh the yank was
Yep, I wanted to comment that at least it controls the throttle for you since the ones 20 years ago sure didn't! People had to drive them only in manual mode, or pre-empt the shifts and let off the throttle manually in time lol. At least this is genuinely less work than a manual, unlike those earlier ones...
Given how complex the hidraulics and the programming is, wouldn't is just be cheaper and simpler to use a torque converter auto?
@@pitecusH fuel consumption
@@pitecusH they’re larger, heavier, and have worse fuel consumption. It’s really a back-application of twin-clutch control computers, and since high end cars are all using twin-clutches now the manufacturers may as well chop them in half for this “automated manual” on cheaper city cars and vans.
Seeing him trying to put a square bottle in a round cupholder, makes me laugh more then i'd like to admit.
It goes in the square hole!
@@AyyEf It does indeed
that's right, it goes in the square hole!
@@kantraa exactly
It goes in the square hole
The Donkey van feels like that cuckholded husband watching his wife getting hitched 😅😢
Nice to see Le Van on the leaderboard lolll
Another hilarious episode of the Garage saga ❤ love you guys as always. Hope Donkey Van comes back to life 🙏
Van renter!
Point at him and laugh, Wade is a van renter!
5:21 i say this all the time now when a pickup blows past me
I have a fleet of fifty-seven of those vans and each one is more perfect than the last. I drive them around the Nurburg Ring daily and consisently get sub-10 minutes. In reverse. Any problems you may have driving them are entirely on you. It shifts so smoothly that I often fall asleep while driving one, but it's such a good van that it drove to its destination even without any fuel in it without crashing. One time I had to give the queen of England, may she rest in peace, a lift in it, and she complained that it was "too lavish" and the interior trim was "too well made" that it made her jealous. You are clearly insane for disseminating such baseless slander about these wonderful vehicles.
Based
Amazing copypasta.
I gotta thank you for the laughs
What a beautiful piece of poetry this comment is
Ah but your forget it's rental van so has been thrashed and probably needs a gearbox flush to fix but will never get one, my last hire car was a 6mo 0.9l POS with a clutch so worn out it would slip if you accelerated or slowed down without your foot on the clutch, it had to go back on a flatbed they replaced it with the same age and make / model of car it's clutch was only slightly better and lasted 2 days
Ahhh must be Left hand drive and Not rentals. And probably paid more for proper Automatic Gearboxes.
We own a few of these. Started out with the autos and those gearboxes were downright dangerous. Traded them in for manuals and have loved them ever since. Brilliant on fuel. Ultra reliable. 10/10 would recommend - so long as its a manual.
Every day this channel uploads my life gets less depressing (pls never stop)
That way I watch all dank channel! 😁
True
Same vibes
Honestly, not having the donkey van is pretty depressing
True, but if Wade hasn't uploaded, my sure cure is seeing if "11foot8" bridge has had some action. If not I watch "11foot8" compilations. Even though they raised it 8in to 12foot4 it still gets some action, Can-Opening. 😂
Nice one mate, you've experienced the classic french car experience. Don't let yourself be fooled by cheap prices these cars will often break down so much you'll be paying the rest of the price to mechanics and car rentals instead. The only brand new car we ever bought in our family is a Citroen and it's also the only car that's needed a full motor swap. Turns out that thing was broken from the factory, they sold it to us anyways like that and at some point it broke down as expected. They did replace it under warranty but the car was still gone for almost two months because apparently it's near impossible to get a motor shipped from France to Germany.
The only reliable French car is the Peugeot 107 and only because it's a Toyota in disguise😂
1.2 Puretech? The timing belts tended to destroy the engine, stupid wet belt system. Doesn’t help it’s a rough nasty unit that makes a diesel feel smooth.
I drive one of these daily for Australia Post and i can confirm they are the biggest pile of poo. They do have a manual gearbox that changes automatically as you said.
My parents had one in motorhome variety. It was terrible trying to reverse up an incline.
I'm not surprised, "automated manual transmission" got pretty popular amongst european manufacturers in the early aughts, as an alternative to manual without plonking for a proper DCT (or a lock-up torque converter). They're *all* rough the best of time, and the vast majority are absolute trash.
As someone who also drives a big van every day. The Mercedes Sprinter is great, the Renault is trash.
I love my dad's Renault Master. Been all over Europe in it, with actual tons of load in the back. Never failed us. And once you add 2 rows of seats it becomes a great vacation car too.
Wait till you get the chance drive a mercedes sprinter.
Way better car!
A wise man once said:- *“If you have nothing in your life
Always remember Tony's gotcha.”*
A lot of European vans are massive which I'm guessing is because they offer them as a minibuses and company's convert the vans into minibuses or a bus that's meant for public routes with a van chassis (it's a dog crap as a pubic service bus because of it having you know a van engine and leaf springs in the back meaning (this is from the perspective of a passenger btw) it's tractory sounding, you have to floor the crap out of them just so your not slowing down traffic, some can be quite lurchy, they rattle (albeit that's because the converters have quite bad quality standards mostly but the original things like the dash still rattle) and if you're in the back you can jump out of your seat for a second or two with a 3 point seat belt on but it's a cheap bus which can stupidly easily get around tight hail and ride (google hail and ride buses if you don't know what it is) estate sections of a but route so)
Yeah the one in the video isn't even a big one. They are also avaliable with a whole ass box truck back including the hydraulic ramp.
I'm happy that Jeff remains unbeaten
Aww, mate, spoilers
@@marvintpandroid2213 Why are you reading comments before finishing the video anyway?
@@Alpostpone adhd.
Imagine being such a fuel blackhole that you are beaten by a rattling heavy ass van with no more than basic aerodynamics
@@luizansounds To be fair, french know their turbodiesels.
How nice of Budget to give you a showroom fresh Renault van!
"This is the worst shifter I've ever had"
"Whatever Dankpods"
James: Me too
"OH MY GOD HOW BAD IS IT!?"
Wow its got old flappy paddle f1 transmissions without the paddles. Nice video. Keep up the good work.
Hearing that description of the transmission, yes those do actually exist. Its the most annoying trend that manufacturers have started releasing cars with "Automated Manual" transmissions. Fortunately here (South Africa) they can't be marketed and sold as an automatic for whatever reason. But a few manufacturers (Suzuki is the first to come to mind) have discontinued their proper full auto variants of cars like the Swift and now only offer MT and AMT cars. I have a friend who made the unfortunate decision of buying an AMT car - despite only owning it a few months he's already looking to sell it and go back to a manual. Its not good, but its cheap, and people seem to want a cheap car more than a nice car these days.
Inflation and cost of living crisis force a lot of people to.
Should have lived in a country with money
I keep tellin' ya mate, you need a Bedford Rascal (known in Aussieland as the Holden Scurry). Legitimately the funniest van you will ever see.
He needs a barra bedford
Thats just a rebadged japanese Kei Van.
I remember when automated manual boxes were weird exotic things, and now they're bloody everywhere. The fact that they're so common that you can get them in rental vans says it all. Get a good one and they're very, very good, but most are... not good. At all. I remember having one when my home parking spot was on a slight incline and the gearbox would throw a complete wobbly fit every time I tried to park it as it couldn't work out what the hell was going on.
Rental vans had these 10 years ago, well 9... Had this exact van in 2014 as a rental. Horrible.
"I remember when automated manual boxes were weird exotic things, and now they're bloody everywhere." Maybe in the mid 2000s and early 2010s but these days manufacturers went back to using torque converters such as those from ZF and DCTs (VAG), even Peugeot went back to torque converters on their normal cars. Japanese prefer to use CVTs, the only time I see these automated manuals are in the small budget cars like the VW UP! and Toyota Aygo
I’m a Renault mechanic. They’ve making those Masters since about 2010, and I’ve never come across an auto one. The manuals are ok (in fact they’re alright vans in general). There far from perfect though I have to say (you struggle to find any excellent vans in Europe though)
The donkey van is going to see this and it's never gonna break down again
as someone who is diehard Renault
yeah this sounds about right. my Twingo RS' interior light is literally half dangling out on the cable. its an acquired charm
It’s a car for the LHD market, hence the key on the passenger side. I’d say it does have an automated manual box, Transits had them.
Used to drive one of those for work. As a tall bloke, loved it. It was an few years older, the shorter version and most importantly: manual.
All of our "automtic" semi trucks at work are actually "automated manual" transmissions while the brand new ones could almost fool you to be an automatic the 10+year old trucks sometimes take 5+ seconds to change gears and you can lose most of the speed going into that gear.
Maybe the brand new ones are DCT rather than AMT? DCTs are "proper" automatics but not torque converters, like manual or AMT (or lockup torque converters) they are super efficient, unlike AMT they're extremely reactive, and unlike TCs they're not "floaty" (coupling is not fluid).
I drive those too. Even the new ones kinda suck for parking on the dock, though. It's very hard to dial in the desired torque on the electronic clutch (and I have 4 years of experience driving them). They either don't move you at all or completely dump the clutch on you. There is no in-between.
As a former delivery guy for the Danish postal service, we had these vans or at least very similar ones in droves. And let me tell you, I can verify most of what is said here, never had it spit out fuel or the rattle, and mine had the old style radio (luckily with bluetooth). These are not a comfortable ride, but they are not too terrible. But yeah the whistling is a real problem, especially when you are driving an hour on the freeway at 130 km/h, it was annoying at first, but quickly became background noise. Also the holders in the front perfect... for paper cups, anything bigger and you need the ones in the front of the dash.
Wade (sarcastically): "oh, it's a nice day for swimmin', James."
Me, a stinkin' Pom: " I dunno, man... It looks a bit too hot."
I like how he complains about the cup holders while trying to stick a square bottle in it lmao
Definitely got the *Budget* experience with that Le Van!
Not gonna lie, I'm not really a car guy. But these videos make me want to be.
Same here. Over time I’ve picked up an interest from mr carguy here and games like My Summer Car
it's not hard! you just have to have a lot of money to waste on depreciating assets and tools, as well as a massive fuckoff backyard =D
@@ae112r8 you can go the crap way with good ol 500$ 300000km shitboxs and crap stuff
Don't do it, save your money and your sanity!
This sums up my childhood experience with a Renault Espace. Absolutely terrible for a year until the electrics all died at once.
Honestly your Renault experience is probably way better than 90% of Renault drivers.
I love my little Megane and all the Clios I had before that. Drove a ToyAuto for 3 years, went back to Renault. My first car was an 18 year old Renault 19, it held itself together with rust and ducttape and a strip of wire. But it drove me everywhere I needed to go.
They also call it a semi-automatic, semi-manual, manumatic, tiptronic, etc. They are not as uncommon as you'd think they are, this type of gearbox can be found in the Smart car or the VW Up, or the Iveco Daily. Tesco used to have an entire fleet of Dailys with this manumatic. They were...interesting...to drive. Not bad, just got to get used to it.
Just wow.
Not much done to make it converted for right hand drive.
The fuel doors on both sides is for diesels with def/adblue and is extremely annoying when filling up as you need to turn the bugger around to do both diesel and def.
Turning radius is abysmal with makes fuel it up even more annoying.
The split in the side window is in most cases right in the middle of the side mirror.
That gearbox is pretty much broken from factory. Of the three I have driven all of them have been broken. And yes it’s a manual that switches gears automatically.
Pretty much all of them have electrical problems.
Only people that love them are tow truck operators because these vans give them a lot of business. One of our previous ones had 7 tows in half a year
My work van is a Vauxhall, and the stereo has touch controls that go absolutely bonkers if the cab is below 10-12degC. So first thing in the morning you have to hit the one physical button that turns off the head unit before your phone connects and it starts making calls randomly.
All of my colleagues have the same issue, hopefully the next generation of the van will offer an indicator light to show you when the cab is up to a suitable temperature to use the head unit, as that is undoubtedly cheaper than fixing the actual problem 😂
Mate, you make my Friday mornings.
Van looks like it was built with LHD territories in mind.🤔
This video is generally what I think of when French cars come up in conversation.
it was, Renault is a French brand and France is LHD
It's French and only sold in LHD countries except for Straya and UK as far as I know
The french (LHD country), aren't big fans of the UK(RHD country).
RHD French cars always have the weirdest conversion tricks.
Most of the time, they keep the fuse boxes and electronics in the same place, so you get abysmally small gloveboxes.
Or a metal lever going from the right side to the left, actuating the brakes, because the firewall and the placement of the brake master cylinder (and servo) is the same as a LHD car. In some models, the passenger can press the brakes by stepping hard on the carpet.
@Eizzah I know, I was there.
Weirdly enough, many of the people there drive terrible French cars.
I would avoid them (the cars) like the plague.
@@Random-nf7qb French cars are quite popular in the UK though
4:11 aaaawwwahhwhhahwhw… those Fleurieu no-sugar iced coffees are the beeeeest 🤤
I think the word you're looking for is an "automated manual"
would "semi-automatic" be fitting as well? :D
iirc the most commonly used term is "robotic manual".
They're pretty common here in the UK.
I don’t know why this is one of my favorites of your vids. I think it’s because this video came out when I was transitioning from my crappy gas station job to my current airline job and having to deal with big vans, trucks, and other machinery. That and sausage rolls and iced coffee sounds really good right now!
i drove one of these for 2 summers when i was working as a robot mower technician. Mine was manual and a bit older, but it was about the same vibe but with an "ok" gearbox, sometimes you'd have to wag the thing about to find 1st, but it worked, dings was not a worry, and on multiple occasions it was infested by ants ( because we carried robot mowers with grass and ants on them ) so sometimes you'd go insane cruising for 3 hours because there were like 30 ants going up your legs. man i miss that job, now im just a sad work from home code monkey who thinks about that one dirty spot in the corner of my closet. back then i lived in my work pants with mud, grass all over and pockets filled with dirt and moldy sausages in 'em. used to eat my sausage "sandwich" ( it was more like a massive breadcake with "filling" in it without washing my hands, and now im worried about how long my nails are and if i smell "slightly off"
life is strange
We have one of these at work. Bought it new in 2017 and it’s been awful since day 1. Only has 50k km but drives like it has 450k. The gearbox is the bane of my existence. I hate everything about this van.
We picked up a 2023 Transit two weeks ago to replace it. So much bettera.
I did a move across Paris in a rented van just like this one. Parking it was ... challenging.
Couple notes here:
By how you described its behavior, i am sure that gearbox works exactly like a Fiat Dualogic box, which itself is a crappy version of a Graziano E-Gear box, therefore its a manual, shifted by a computer that also controls the clutch.
And the odd numbered speedo is such a french thing, all my 3 french cars were like that (2 Renaults and a Peugeot).
the manual gear box shifting electronically is neat, trash but neat and it sorta reminds me of my works donkey with it's weird eco mode that randomly refuses to let you go over 90kph on the freeway
Never ever seen it in this automated manual version here. One we have in my dad's company is just normal manual and its quite good. Clutch is nicely weighted and shifter is snappy.
That's quite the similar Renault experience I had. At my part time job, I sometimes went with a crew around on terrain. The had these Master vans and they definitely had that van abuse on them. You saw it wasn't maintained at all and they drove it still with the check engine light on. Everything was loosely fited when at highway speeds, it rateled so much, I thought it will just shake itself appart. But it got the job done even if just barely. A Master van wouldn't be my first choise if I had to pick a van
I work as a tech for renault. And I can safely say thr Renault master is the worst piece of engineering I've ever had the displeasure of driving. The auto gearbox is so bad you can actually stall it from brand new. And you are right it's a single clutch Gbox which is so janky and dogshit.
This puppy can hold so much drums...and a van.
Seeing somewhere so familiar on UA-cam like this is so strange lol
Love the vids, been watching since the first Australia day video :D
Hopefully The Donkey van can be reborn again
I've unfortunately driven lots of these in different variations thanks to not nailing a normal job until I was 23, and I can whole heartedly say it is perfectly French through and through, build quality & features especially!
My dad works with renaults, and i have never ever seen an auto master
I'm fairly certain the gearbox is based off the Alfa Romeo Selespeed, which isn't know for its reliability.
I have to rent vans like that in my line of work - too rarely to bother buying one, but often enough that it's a thing. I've driven Mercedes, Ford, Renault, VW, Peugeot, Citroen, Iveco, probably a few more I'm forgetting. All the French ones are terrible. All the others are good.
One time I was driving a Renault full to the brim with expensive antiques, porcelain and stuff, and ahead of me was stop and go traffic. I was doing 140-ish km/h at the time so I slowed down as gently as I could to come to a full stop, and like any good driver should, I reached for the hazards... couldn't find it. No red button. Anywhere. I came to a stop and luckily nobody behind me rammed me. Once I was at a full stop I looked around properly, and I just could not find the stupid button to turn on the hazards. I drove where I needed to go and on the way there I kept glancing around to see if I could find the button, but no, just wasn't there! Once I arrived and stopped properly, I had a good thorough look, and found it... tucked away above my head next to the reading light. Saw it in your video too - it is literally mounted on the rattly bit up there. Who puts that button there?!
This sure feels like a van that'd have "Budget" plastered all over.
Renault master!
Yes, it has it's flaws and sadly you're not wrong about the geearbox; it is actually a manual box that shifts automatically.
We french aren't good at auto gearboxes...
The reason the autos are so bad is that the French don't like using autos.
The reason the interior is so bad is that it's RHD and meant for the British market, and it's put together horribly.
i love how the van is named budget and is AND IS LITTERALY BUILT ON A BUDGET
Just FYI, that gearbox shifting way before redline is actually how it is supposed to shift. Diesel engines, especially turbo diesels are best driven in the low- to mid range as performance greatly decreases in the high revs
I have a citroen C5 in a RHD country, you can definitely tell it’s made for LHD. Tiny glovebox cos the fuse board is there, bonnet release is on the passenger side and the clutch is insanely heavy because they don’t care about RHD markets. Still an absolute beauty to drive and what other car can you get S Class ride comfort for €2000?
that kind of gearbox is quickly becoming the standard in commercial trucks at least around here. the "trick" to making them bearable is to drive them like a fully loaded truck. you press the gas pedal down to whatever position you feel appropriate for how fast you're trying to go and then you wait
I'd have thought the fuel pissing everywhere was a problem with the pump not cutting out like it should.
Man gotta get an early 2000's ford E-series. Our family had one. V8, built like a tank, would destroy a pickup in a wreck.
Watching this as a French, I'm just laughing my butt off hahaha yeah Renault's been doing some bad shit lately lmao
Also the infotainment system is the same as some Dacia (budget Renault sub brand) which made me laugh even more lmao
"It throttles off, shifts, and throttles on again" yep sounds like an automated manual, I'm in school to work on diesel freight trucks and yes they feel awful to drive but it's all for fuel economy
Oh man, I gotta defend the automated MT right here! I drive a Peugeot 308 Station Wagon with an AMT transmission and the thing is really good actually (for a car made in 2011, not for todays cars of course). A lot of people in the comments say they never find the right gear and such, but my only complaint is that it sometimes downshifts to early for my taste. But I also tend to drive at very low RPMs. Apart from that it always stays in the power band and gets really good fuel economy (5.5l Diesel/100km average). So they actually can be good!
There's a camping UA-camr from Canada named Steve Wallis who got banned from renting from Uhaul. We're going to see something similar from Budget for this mad lad.
You just know that Wade and the people at the workshop are best friends.
My general experience with Renault as a whole has been quite miserable, so the van isn't a surprise. At least you had fun!
No idea whether you were being sarcastic at 6:16 but whether you were, or whether you weren't - they both make us nod in agreement.
rented a hertz truck for a move and the steering wheel to go straight was at a 45 degree angel love it.
When that interior handle came off, I fucking died. No fucking way bro that shit did that fr 1:37
Its not a handle, its a storage space for your keys and stuff, cover comes off so you can clean it
Don't worry as someone who has heard many many stories from someone who has to drive Renault vans almost every day the locks will fail entirely or the door will fall off or before the key issue will be a thing or it'll explode either or.
2:14 - Fun fact: This is not a cup.
As a french who have sitted multiple times in a Renault Master, I swear that the assembly line for australia is crap, the french Renault Master is not that bad in terms of quality (and we don't get this stupid semi-automatic gearbox, it's almost always manual)
0:10 Its like Dr Seuss bringing his mistress into his wife's hospital room
Rented a U-Haul back in March, similar experience. The thing was falling apart and sounded like a tank. The agent told us the catalytic converter had been stolen when we called. Great stuff!
4:35 turbo deez nuts
They actually use this in Tourism in colombia, also that renault and some others are made here in colombia
I was in a Sandero and the shifts feel super weird being a Manual 5-Speed One, same Gearbox is found in the Stepway, which is a "CrossOver SUV" but it's just a Lifted Sandero with Black Plastic to say it's a "OffRoad SUV" and the automatic sandero feels super weird as well, and the quality well... ***lovely
Still here in colombia are the most popular cars ever and in every road you see them driving.
My old company has two of these,it's still a 2.3 Diesel,but a manual. Every one of my coworkers there complained about the interior being like Iveco(Google Iveco interior quality) and squeaking when you press something plastic. I drove it one time as a joke and I liked it,the gearbox is nice and responsive,the trunk space is huge,you can literally fit a house if you wanted
I'm assumingthe one you drove had a better gearbox?
@@lazzie7495 It was a manual,I think a 5 speed or a 6 speed,I forgot,but the shifting was good,not stiff like my dad's Peugeot 406,that shifter was stiff as a bone. The handling of that Renault I drove at work was handling like a dream while being loaded with groceries for stores to the brim
Wow, an "automatic" renault master, eh? I work at a truck dealership / workshop in europe, and we have 2 Nissan NV400 vans for onsite repairs and such (just a rebadged Renault Master), with the same gearbox, and it is horrible. I don`t think I`ve ever driven a car or van with an auto box I`ve particularly liked (they tend never to chose the right gear at the right time IMO, though I`m primarily used to manual boxes), but this thing takes the cake for terrible... It takes entirely too much throttle to make it realise it`s time to release the clutch when going from a standstill (admitiedly our vans are loaded to the teeth with heavy toolboxes, fluids, and spare parts, but a manual van similarly loaded doesn`t need to smash 2k+ rpm plus a good 10 or so seconds of clutch slip just to get going), it refuses to shift up below 2 and a half grand, even when holding the pedal steady and i`m clearly not asking itto accelerate any more, it often requires full throttle to shift down (and a good 10 seconds of it too) before it even reacts and goes for the downshift (even though it clearly dropped below the torque band and it basicly lugging at idle up a hill), while other times it will shift up OR down for seemingly no reason... Also when it shifts, you can vary clearly feel every part of the procedure... It will let off the throttle (and you feel the engine braking effect to the point you`d think it`s actually braking), than you feel it disengage the clutch, than change gear, than re-engage the clutch while also accelerating. you can feel that it releases the clutch a bit too slowly, and I swear you can feel it slip the clutch with every single shift. The van is perfectly fine otherwise... Also, I can`t for the life of me figure out that shifter, and often throw it into manual mode by accident, when all I want is drive
It makes me SO happy to see such a weird piece of junk car that was made so recently. I can't get over how they didn't even swap the keyhole OR the wiper/turn signal stalks.
A semi-auto in a van?! That sounds like the worst combination in the world!