A few questions for Scenic owners

[trekie123]

I bought a 04 scenic 14 months ago. When I had owned it just under a year the dash board screen went blank and it had to be replaced. When the new one was put in the mileage read that I had driven it 16 thousand miles since I got it and that the warranty was out due to going over the allowed mileage. Suffice to say that as my wife is the only driver of this car and she only drives it 6 kilometres a day (3 to and 3 from work) it is a physical impossibility for her to have driven 16 thousand miles in under a year. As I could not prove otherwise I was forced to pay 450 euros for the repair. The dash readout is now starting to go the same way as the first time. The read out for the radio is gone. The "check airbag" warning is coming on. The "service" sign is showing even though I just got it serviced. The fan is on full and wont reducing when the engine is turned on. When I got my car serviced by another garage I was informed that the pads and plates had to be replaced. I have now spent over a thousand euros on this car.
My questions are this.
(1) If the new dash board they put in was second hand and had actually come from another car, would it show the mileage of the other car?
(2) A mechanic friend thinks there was a call back on scenic because of this problem. Is this correct.
(3)Should the dash board they replaced have a warranty on it?
(4) When I bought the car, should the garage have replaced the plates if they were that bad. I know my wife has not used the car that much and she could not have worn the breaks that much. She is a driver who "unlike me" correctly uses the gears to slow down.
I am under no illusion that I can do anything about this now, I would just like to know for future reference.
I paid 8500 euros for the car and I have spent 1000 euros repairing it. Before this I had a new Nissan Almera that I bought new and it gave me nothing but trouble.
I have decided that from now on I am going to buy an old car privately with an NCT on it for two years. Have it cleaned and made road worthy safe by a mechanic I know and dump it after two years and get another. It is the last time I will give a garage any of my hard earned money.

[myglaren]

Looks as though you have drawn several short straws there trekie123.

Regarding the instrument panel, unlikely you would be able to do anything now but you may have been able to demonstrate with the service manual that the car had not done the distance shown on the replacement odometer.

Also the annual safety test here records the total distance traveled and the date, you may have a similar document that would show a much lower figure than the odometer.

You should be able to check for recalls:

Is your vehicle affected by a recall?

If you find a recall notice above that matches your vehicle – make/model, date of registration, VIN or engine number – the next step is to confirm whether the required inspection or repair has been carried out.

This information is currently only available from the individual vehicle manufacturers or importers. Contact their customer services department with details or your vehicle and the recall, and ask for confirmation that the necessary work has been completed.

From the AA website
Can't find any that cover your problems but a search using your VIN will turn up more instances.

Buying a car is always a bit of a lottery but you seem to have been singularly unlucky with new cars. Never had one less than five years old so wouldn't know.

[Homer]

(1) If the new dash board they put in was second hand and had actually come from another car, would it show the mileage of the other car?

If it's a digital dash I believe the mileage is stored in the ECU, not the dash.

(3)Should the dash board they replaced have a warranty on it?

I would have thought so.

(4) When I bought the car, should the garage have replaced the plates if they were that bad. I know my wife has not used the car that much and she could not have worn the breaks that much.

Small milages allow the disks to build up a layer of rust which is removed the first time the brakes are applied. Therefore you get faster wear than you would with long journeys.

She is a driver who "unlike me" correctly uses the gears to slow down.

I would just like to correct this point. Many years ago you would use the gears to help the brakes, because the brakes were liable to overheating and fade. Today the correct method is to use the brakes to slow down, staying in a higher gear for as long as possible.

[trekie123]

Wouldn’t you know it...I have since been told that the problem with the fan is going to cost me 700 euros to repair…. Apparently the whole central unit that controls the temperature and the fan control etc has to be taken out and replaced with another. Any demolition derby enthusiasts looking for a cheap 04 Scenic, it’s not much use for anything else....

[sparky33]

The mileage is stored in the clocks not the ECU