2021 Renault Sandero Problems: 2 Known Issues

On the 2017-2023 Renault Sandero, the 1.0 SCe three-cylinder engine used in the Brazilian Sandero from the 2017 model year has a chronic oil leak at the plastic valve (tappet) cover. The cover's sealing degrades with heat cycles at low mileage — owners on Reclame Aqui describe it as a design defect — and oil seeps into the spark plug wells, soaking the spark plugs and the tips of the ignition coils. This causes misfires, rough running, and repeat fouling of new plugs and coils. Reclame Aqui complaints document leaks appearing on cars with as little as 20,000-30,000 km, sometimes recurring after dealer repair, and related seepage from the timing cover area on the side of the engine. Separately, Renault issued an official recall (service start September 2020) for 1.0-engined units produced July 2019 to January 2020 because a non-conforming oil feed orifice could starve the engine of lubrication, risking seizure or fire — affected owners should confirm completion at a dealer.

On the 2008-2022 Renault Sandero, sandero and its Logan twin suffer a chronic wear problem in the steering column's upper bearing. As the bearing wears, the steering wheel develops perceptible free play and a knocking or clunking sensation, felt especially over rough Brazilian pavement and during small corrections around center. Multiple independent Brazilian mechanic channels document the failure across both generations — including cars as recent as the 2020 Logan — and consistently call it a 'defeito crônico' of the platform. Dealers have been known to quote replacement of the complete steering column, but the documented root cause is just the column bearing, a cheap part. While mostly a nuisance, pronounced play degrades steering precision and several mechanics flag it as an accident risk if ignored long-term.