A BEST-selling car brand has offered a bizarre moneyback deal on a popular model if couples who purchase the motor end up getting divorced.
The French car maker is introducing what it calls “relationship breakdown cover” for its new electric vehicle.
Married couples who part ways after buying a new Renault family car will be guaranteed a refund even after delivery.
The Scenic, launched last year, is priced from £37,495.
It has won numerous awards since hitting the market and is also the reigning European Car of the Year for 2024.
The gallic car-maker pledges: “The new Renault Scenic is such a perfect family car that buyers are promised relationship bliss – or their money back.”
It insists the car’s comfy seats, hi-tech-sat-nav, silent EV running, smart sound system, spacious and light interior, and calm ambience are the perfect antidote to potential squabbling.
Renault says: “Comfortable seats, a great sound system and lots of space for everyone are revealed to be the best ways to keep everyone smiling on long car journeys.”
It adds: “Renault Scenic E-Tech – the reigning European Car of the Year – is declared the perfect car for relationship bliss by its makers, with retail cash buyers offered Relationship Breakdown Cover that guarantees their money back if they split up.”
Renault explained: “Whatever you call it, you’ve almost certainly had a bust up with your partner in the car – but the ‘car-gument’ could be about to become a thing of the past.
“So confident are the makers of the Renault Scenic E-Tech that it is the perfect family car that they have declared it will bring an end to in-car friction – and promised owners their money back if they split up after buying one.”
It says the deal is available to customers until the end of 2024.
But, anyone seeking the reassurance of Renault’s unique offer will have to read carefully the small print, as there’s a catch.
The deal is only available only to cash retail buyers of the car.
This will only be a small fraction of owners, given that the majority of EVs – more than four in five in 2024 so far – are acquired by fleets rather than private buyers.
Counted among fleet “purchases” are those motorists who run EVs via salary sacrifice schemes through their employees, which is one of the big driving forces currently propping up the new electric car market.
It notes: “The RBC is only applicable for purchasers of a Renault Scenic as an individual personal purchase from our Authorised Renault Dealer Network.”
This excludes fleet purchases, corporate ownership or ownership through an employee benefits scheme between 1st January 2024 and 31st December 2024, for cash.
Private purchasers using any form of finance deal, including hire purchase (HP), Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) or Personal Contract Hire (PCH) “are excluded” from the deal.
The small print also states that “Relationship Breakdown” relates to “either a Divorce, or the dissolution of a Civil Partnership”.
So couples breaking up after a non-official relationship – even if long term – are not covered.
The small print also sets out the legal documentation required, such as a court-stamped Decree Nisi and Decree Absolute, and relevant timings.
But for those who do qualify and who do break up Renault says: “On return of your Renault Scenic vehicle, you will be refunded the “full cash price you paid for the vehicle on the date of return”.
