Inherited a wind

Hi guys, my name is Jim, and my brother has swapped me his white Wind 1200cc (I traded my motorbike to him), I always liked the look of the car, hes bought a newer car, and so I now have a Wind    

That's the good news but have a few questions, and the reason I was looking for a forum.

The original alloys are in a sorry state with scraping the kerb over the years, any solutions to fix other than buying another four wheels of a different make?

Also, is there an alarm in the car, my brother says there is, but I have never heard it operate, and there does not seem to be a flashing alarm light in the cabin.

Other than the the car works fine and is dry, roof works ok, just got to give it a good clean up now, as its white LOL. Cheers Jim.

Hi and welcome

Welcome aboard, hope you have pleasure driving, top down when the weather is better

Welcome to the Forum Jim777....motorbike for a Wind ?....sounds like a good swap !

Hi and welcome.

Wheels are an issue but in time and a passenger (husband) shouting don't kerb him you learn.  Have you tried leaving the window open locking the car and then opening the car via the open window?

Jim777 wrote:Hi guys, my name is Jim, and my brother has swapped me his white Wind 1200cc (I traded my motorbike to him), I always liked the look of the car, hes bought a newer car, and so I now have a Wind    

That's the good news but have a few questions, and the reason I was looking for a forum.

The original alloys are in a sorry state with scraping the kerb over the years, any solutions to fix other than buying another four wheels of a different make?

Also, is there an alarm in the car, my brother says there is, but I have never heard it operate, and there does not seem to be a flashing alarm light in the cabin.

Other than the the car works fine and is dry, roof works ok, just got to give it a good clean up now, as its white LOL. Cheers Jim.

An alloy wheel refurbishing company should be able to sort out your sad alloys at a fairly reasonable price..unfortunately the low profile wheels of your new pride and joy will, regrettably be constant " kerb magnets"...parallel parking becomes..shall we say, an art form..and not to be rushed!!

My 1.2 Dynamique S does have an alarm, factory fitted..but no cabin flashing LED..indeed, the alarm is mounted inside the bootspace in the void just above the reversing light...and that is where the only LED is..out of sight !!
Also, there is no immobiliser fitted.

Hope this helps,
Welcome again

Hi jim. In answer to your questions, as oldseadog has mentioned wheel refurbishment is the way many owners have gone getting the wheels powder coated either black or silver. From memory it costs about £60 or £70 per wheel. Winds come with an alarm as standard but they were not fitted in the factory. Unlike many alarms they do not sound when arming and could therefore be working. You can easily test it by leaving the window open as already mentioned or manually open the door with the key. If the alarm is working it will go off when the door opens. The alarm is located in the boot behind the plastic panel which is held on by two torx screws and push clips and the red flashing light is hidden in there. It must have been decided not to go the bother of routing the light into the cabin but if the alarm is ok the light will be working.

Enjoy your Wind.

A bit different from a motorbike!

Kerbing is a problem for many owners due to the shape of the car. My wheels are a disgrace!

Barbs wrote:Hi and welcome.

Wheels are an issue but in time and a passenger (husband) shouting don't kerb him you learn.  Have you tried leaving the window open locking the car and then opening the car via the open window?

Thanks, Tried that and alarm went off, so there is one  Seems crazy that the 'alarm on' light is hidden in the boot. Has anyone added wiring onto it to move it into the cabin?  I might consider doing that.

Mistydogblue wrote:Hi jim. In answer to your questions, as oldseadog has mentioned wheel refurbishment is the way many owners have gone getting the wheels powder coated either black or silver. From memory it costs about £60 or £70 per wheel. 

Thanks, looks like I will have to stump up and get the wheels powder coated silver, as they are a mess. Will do this after this crazy lockdown stuff. Oh, and thanks for all the response, did not expect so many answers. 

By the way, my brother told me there are only a few white and red Winds, most he says are black and blue. Is this correct? as i have only seen one or two white ones. 
Just thinking it is good to have such an unique car and with a rare colour, even though white needs a lot of cleaning 

Somebody put some Wind colour numbers on an earlier post 

In the U.K. Renault sold 2490 Winds.
The breakdown of colour of vehicles sold was:
Black 1202
Blue 913
White 224
Grey 44
Red 35

224 in white, wow, that is low numbers. And red is far far lower, you would have thought red would have been popular as it being a sporty colour.

Anyway the wind no matter the colour, is quite unique now on the road, and I really like the roof mechanism, being targa style. It will take a while to get used to being so enclosed, after my motorbike, but a car is far better against the elements, and I can get shopping in the boot LOL.

Jim777 wrote:224 in white, wow, that is low numbers. And red is far far lower, you would have thought red would have been popular as it being a sporty colour.

Anyway the wind no matter the colour, is quite unique now on the road, and I really like the roof mechanism, being targa style. It will take a while to get used to being so enclosed, after my motorbike, but a car is far better against the elements, and I can get shopping in the boot LOL.

I believe that in the original advertising description of the Winds cockpit, that the instrument cluster and cowling shaped top cover was a nod to that used on motorbikes....so that should make you feel a little more at home

I have moved the alarm light into the cabin, not really too big a job as there is a lot of spare cable on the light. I routed it behind the drivers side boot carpet, through the large hole at the base of the bulkhead, on the drivers side, behind the seat and then up behind the bulkhead carpet trim to fit in the bottom of the rear window plastic trim. It's more visible night time than daytime but that's the nature of single led lights.

Timtnx wrote:I have moved the alarm light into the cabin, not really too big a job as there is a lot of spare cable on the light. I routed it behind the drivers side boot carpet, through the large hole at the base of the bulkhead, on the drivers side, behind the seat and then up behind the bulkhead carpet trim to fit in the bottom of the rear window plastic trim. It's more visible night time than daytime but that's the nature of single led lights.

Thanks Tim, I will do that when the weather gets a bit warmer. That's good there is enough cable on it, so I do not have to do joints and add cable. I will follow that route you mentioned.

I will add that to my list of things to do 

My lovely white wind.....