Renault Megane 1.5 Dci Saloon.. Ur Opinion

Ford_Focus_Man

Hi Guys,

Looking at a 04 Renault Megane 1.5 DCi Saloon.

High spec car & very comfortable & economical. with 30k on the clock for 16k

Heard some conflicting reports about these cars.

Getting the Usual from friends, "I know someone who has one & is having nothign but problems"
Being a french made car.

Then i check out Car Website reviews of the car & it comes up as quite reliable..

Your thoughts please...
Are they actually reliable contrary to popular belief?

crosstownk

IMO they are quite unreliable. Dash rattles, wipers screech, ECU gives problems, tyre pressure monitors, EGR valves. Some have given gearbox trouble too. I have a few of them on fleet and to be honest they are notoriously unreliable.
I've driven a couple of them and I'm don't like the handling. I'd much prefer a Golf or a Focus. I wouldn't buy a Megane (or any Renault) and couldn't recommend them either. They do look pretty funky though - especially the hatchback.

BrianD3

The interior build quality on the Megane is actually very good and rattle free, if people would take off the blinkers they would see that. The tyre pressure monitors (which IIRC are optional on the Megane) are generally reliable but are susceptible to rough handling by tyre fitters. I know of several big mileage drivers who have clocked up 100k plus on their DCi Meganes and Kangoos (similar engine) and the cars have been reliable and the owners are happy

Of course there are lemons out there just like with any car, the fact that the Megane is the best equipped car in its class may be part of this. Something can't go wrong of it isn't fitted and many of its competitors are poverty spec. compared to the Megane. Handling is not quite as good as the Focus and the steering is more vague but the Megane is a more comfortable car on Irish roads with better seats, ride comfort and refinement. Also my experience of numerous Fords in the family and through work is that they are very prone to suspension and steering trouble at low mileages (<20k) something which I've never encountered on any Renault despite hearing lots of "horror stories" about this kind of thing.

Be aware that if you need to change a headlight bulb on a Megane it may require removal of the front bumper. There is an access port for the bulb but apparently it is too small unless you have the hands of a child. Crazy peice of design but a lot of modern cars are going this way and a changing a bulb is a "refer to dealer" job.

The last thing to say is that its pretty pointless asking for opinions on Renaults in this forum. It's also pointless asking for opinions on Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Citroens and Peugeots. 9/10 peopel who respond wil never have owned one but will still shoot their mouth off and tell you they're all balls of sh1t and in many case will start posting unfounded and untrue nonsense. Not saying that this applies to crosstownk's post but there are others here who regularly post BS about the above makes.

HungryJoey

My mother had one of these, Was a beautiful car, Full of gadgets VERY comfy to ride in and attractive looks. To cut a long story short, It was one of the biggest mistakes to buy ever... unfortunetly. Due to reliability issues ( was in and out of garage several times for major jobs like air bags failing, Petrol cap not opening ) She had it 5 months ( hatchback dynamique ) And got rid of it. Made a huge loss also, Resale value is terrbile on them. She also disliked the clutch, the clutch apparenty needed alot of working.

But about the cars so called Build quality internally, It was to a very high standard, No rattling etc.

Beautiful car but just to unreliable

She has switched to a leon and loves it now, She was glad to see the back of the megane.

Unfortunetly I had to give it a very negative review although it is a beautiful car.

Hj

pburns

My father had an old-model Megane & it turned out to be very problematic.
If poster currwntly has a Focus ('Focus-Man'), why noy look at the Focus 1.6 diesel? The 1.6 diesel engine has fantastic/power/ecomomy & not better-looking than Megane IMO...

colm_mcm

The simle fact is that they break down and have lots of niggling problems. Any ones we've had as trade ins have given trouble.

If you must have a 1.5 diesel, go for the 100bhp fitted to the Dynamique, as opposed to the 80bhp unit

There are lots of better options out there though

lomb

id avoid anything to do with cars thats french unless its a michelin tire or a psa diesel(the frenchies know diesels cause thats all they drive there.)
they have alot of technology in them(no doubt not out of the goodness of their hearts , but to sell them) and it all goes bad after a few years. then the cars shagged when stuff like the electronic parking brake wont release, or the ecu packs up, or the keyless start or immobiliser start playing up, or u get constant flashing lights from the management system, or traction control systems.
no one can really fix them except renault at hugh cost, and i have a feeling even they are baffled at times. add to this woeful depreciation, and questionable dealer service by the overtaxed service department and u are looking at a recipe for disaster....

colm_mcm

I would have to agree with everything said above, and although come people have had renaults that never went wrong, they do go wrong quite a lot.

That said they will have more equipment and lower price than say, a Corolla 1.4 D-4D

comanche

You can get good ones and bad ones it's the luck of the draw. I drive a 99 megane with 112000m still going very well, only general wear and tear. Infact left it in the drive way over Jan while in the states came back and it started first time, couldn't believe it.

GF drives new style megane, has had lots of trouble in the last year- fly wheel censor going, coils packing it in and a few other bits and pieces..

I think its the luck of the draw... I'd say get it checked out by mechanic.

lomb

comanche wrote:

You can get good ones and bad ones it's the luck of the draw. I drive a 99 megane with 112000m still going very well, only general wear and tear. Infact left it in the drive way over Jan while in the states came back and it started first time, couldn't believe it.

GF drives new style megane, has had lots of trouble in the last year- fly wheel censor going, coils packing it in and a few other bits and pieces..

I think its the luck of the draw... I'd say get it checked out by mechanic.

a mechanic is a waste of time. the problem with the new renaults is they have alot of technology and it all stops working after a time. i dont think its particularly well tested technology as renault wants to be like mercedes and get it to market first. except mercedes have a hugh r+d budget and renault either dont or cant for some reason. their engines especially diesels are good though.

colm_mcm

that's fairly bang-on, problem is all the electrical stuff that goes wrong

junkyard

Don't buy one, I'm left handed from towing them in, I don't care what some people here say that some people don't know anything about cars or their opinions are worthless. In my experience a car earns its stripes, be they good or bad....theres no smoke without fire.

amg-slurp

i worked with renaults for 4 years and dont think the new megane is half as bad as anyone is sayin!
tyre pressure moniters are not fitted to irish cars (only the 01-04 laguna)
main probs we came across on diesel meganes were window regs, screechin wipers ( replace wipers and prob never comes back)
little else really
obviously some cars have had other probs but that happens with every make of car
2 mechanics in the renault garage i worked in drive meg dci`s and all the salesmen if possible drive the diesels rather than the diesels
im now workin with nissan and there are a lot of probs with them too, same with bmw, mercedes, vw, audi etc...
thats just my opinion but id say go for it

comanche

lomb wrote:

a mechanic is a waste of time. the problem with the new renaults is they have alot of technology and it all stops working after a time. i dont think its particularly well tested technology as renault wants to be like mercedes and get it to market first. except mercedes have a hugh r+d budget and renault either dont or cant for some reason. their engines especially diesels are good though.

see I don't get this about the electics coz most of them are made by bosch and the like and are sold on to other manu's as well, so I don't get why they go wrong... sometimes its the suppliers that get it wrong, but up to renault to test

bazz26

amg-slurp wrote:

i worked with renaults for 4 years and dont think the new megane is half as bad as anyone is sayin!
tyre pressure moniters are not fitted to irish cars (only the 01-04 laguna)
main probs we came across on diesel meganes were window regs, screechin wipers ( replace wipers and prob never comes back)
little else really
obviously some cars have had other probs but that happens with every make of car
2 mechanics in the renault garage i worked in drive meg dci`s and all the salesmen if possible drive the diesels rather than the diesels

A mate of mine at work has a 2004 Megane saloon Dynamique from new and it has tyre pressure monitors fitted. They are standard on the Dynamique model afaik. He had the wipers replaced alright, plus he mentioned that the ECU had to be remapped. I don't think he has had any other trouble though.

Most French cars use fiber optic cabling these days which cuts down on the amount of seperate wiring in the car. It controls all the electrics in the car centrally. A good idea in theory but in practice a failure could mean big trouble.

amg-slurp wrote:

im now workin with nissan and there are a lot of probs with them too, same with bmw, mercedes, vw, audi etc...
thats just my opinion but id say go for it

Ironically Renault owns a controlling share in Nissan for the last couple of years.

BrianD3

Well first of all, no-ones saying than Renaults don't break down or give trouble. They do, and there are lemons and abused example about. The same is true of all other cars. Japanese makes may be a bit more reliable but I don't see much difference between any of the European makes. Yet some posters here have the blinkers on and would have you believe that can't drive a renault (or an alfa, citroen, fiat, peugeot) 1 mile down the road without it breaking down whereas certain other makes are infallible.

Yes there is a lot to go wrong on Renaults but the same is true of most makes these days. If anyone thinks that say modern VWs (a so-called reliable make) are any less complex than modern Renaults think again. I'd like to see someone bring a 2006 Passat into a back street mechanic and have him diagnose and fix problems with the ABS, SRS, ECU, immobiliser, multiplex wiring, climate control, auto handbrake, auto wipers etc.

colm_mcm

Who said Passats were the last word in reliability?