Renault Rubbish.

Green Hornet

Are Renault as bad as people say? Some of my friends have Laguna's and they have terrible stories to say about them! Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. The electrics appear to be a disaster zone and the fuel consumption rubbish. A few of them wanted to trade but were told by the local Honda and Toyota dealers that they would not take the cars as trade ins!

If they are that bad why do people continue to buy them?

Are all french cars as bad?

crosstownk

:eek:

Dero

I'm not a car expert, so this is just opinion. Neither am I in any way connected with the motor industry, so I have no bias outside my own experience. I'm on my fourth French car (third Renault) since 1998, and I have had no major issues.

98 Megane 1.9 diesel, ~85,000 miles, no major issues
01 Laguna 1.6 Super Sport, ~85,000 miles, one alternator (and several wheel rims, but that's not a Renault/French issue per se)
04 Peugeot 307 1.4 Hdi, 60,000 miles. No issues. Currently my wife's car.
07 Scenic 1.5 diesel. No issues yet.

All of the above were/are company cars, so they weren't treated with kid gloves. All in all, I've been very happy with the French cars I've had so far. The Laguna was by far my favourite thus far.

colm_mcm

jebus, what next? overpriced Audis?

Wishbone Ash

Don't worry........junkyard will be along any minute!

crosstownk

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Don't worry........junkyard will be along any minute!

.....with pins in his eyes

timemachine

I have seen this Renault. So if they are all bad, should I leave it.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=732005

Max_Damage

You'll get good exercise and muscles in your legs from pushing it everywhere.

Slidey

French cars are v comfortable as a rule. This does have a down side, if you are traveling on rough roads suspension parts are going to take a bashing while keeping you in comfort. Bushings and the likes are very soft. Torsion bar back axles do give trouble also, no more than other back axles but they are not as simple a fix as a simple fixed beam axle (fwd) Always found french cars to have v nice seats as standard compared to german marks

unkel

Are Renault threads the new Alfa threads now?

worded

My sis and bro in law bought one because they liked liked the "look" of a Renault a friend of theirs had.

Complete disaster all 3 were bought from new.

If you are getting wine or cheese - definitely French.

Otherwise - As one persons sig on boards has ...... Renault? "Id prefer pins in my eyes"


You are taking a big risk with Renault.

Terrontress

Worded. Your sister and brother in law bought a Renault from new that was a complete disaster so they bought another that was a complete disaster. Given their previous experience, they bought another Renault which was a complete disaster?

A fool and his money is soon parted.

warrenaldo

I have a renault megane - 02 . just like the one timemachine has asked about. I have it 18 months and it has been perfect. Looks great. Interior is lovely and its a nice drive. My girlfriend had a 96 clio for a while and it was perfect. Thats why i bought the megane.

I would have no problem buying another renault.

Green Hornet

timemachine wrote: »

I have seen this Renault. So if they are all bad, should I leave it.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=732005

It seems that some people are happy with their Renault and some very unhappy. I'd say though that the general consensus is to stay away from them. You could be lucky and get a good one but are more likely to get a heap of dirt. Also, if you did buy it you would never get rid of it again.

Its particularly bad when people have problems even after buying from new (as some people on the thread have said).

Stevie Dakota

Having had German cars for years we recently bought a 2006 Megane Sport Tourer with the 106bhp 1.5 diesel. The interior space, ride, equipment , economy and performance are amazing, it really is a terrific drive and knocks our previous Golf into a cocked hat. Renault diesels are also among the best you can buy. I drive a BMW and never tire of taking the Renault as it is so nimble and quick . The car has been back to Renault for 2 failed window regulators, both replaced without under warranty. I know there is a prejudice against French cars by some here, most of whom have probably never owned one, but on this experience I would genuinely consider them again.

Mitch Connor

Terrontress wrote: »

Worded. Your sister and brother in law bought a Renault from new that was a complete disaster so they bought another that was a complete disaster. Given their previous experience, they bought another Renault which was a complete disaster?

A fool and his money is soon parted.

I read it as the sis bought one, the bro bought one, and the friend had one.

Run_to_da_hills

My sister is on her third one although this one let her down serioulsy on a trip between Dublin and Tralee with two kids in the back. Fortunitally her insurance covered their trip. She thinks this particular car is a lemon and wants to trade for another one.

Henry Ford III

Renault electrics? This was taken this morning. Driver had reversing lights on full time

--amadeus--

We had a Megane Coupe from new and an Espace for a while. The Coupe was great, very nippy, comfortable, good spec and a really, really good car. The Espace I hated because it was a people carrier, which is not my thing at all. That said it was a brilliant workhorse, comfortable, economical considering teh size and broadly reliable. (One rescue by the AA when it wouldn't start in 3 years of ownership isn't that bad, especially on a hard working car that's a few years old). The clutch went in the end which was a few hundred euro to fix.

I was also very happy with the service form the Renault Dealers, courtesy cars, friendly staff and sensible prices.

The Renaults have usually been my wife's cars and she's moved onto BMs now but we'd both be happy enough to go back to Renault.

Stevie Dakota

What took you so long Henry? Are you some kind of Renault stalker? You should have followed that ML in your pic instead, now there's a car guaranteed to let you down.

Stevie Dakota

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I was also very happy with the service form the Renault Dealers, courtesy cars, friendly staff and sensible prices.

Ditto that Amadeus, I've found their service to be better than BMW, they are definitely making the effort.

Henry Ford III

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

What took you so long Henry? Are you some kind of Renault stalker? You should have followed that ML in your pic instead, now there's a car guaranteed to let you down.

No I'm not a stalker. I simply point out certain truths from time to time. What is the point of your post?

Stevie Dakota

I'll explain, since your obviously not in the mood for light hearted posts.

"What took you so long Henry"
If there is Renault bashing taking place you are usually quick to join in.

"Are you some kind of Renault stalker?"
You are taking pictures of Renaults with electrical problems, this seems like odd behaviour. It was an attempt at humour.

"You should have followed that ML in your pic instead, now there's a car guaranteed to let you down."
Just pointing out that the Mercedes M Class is one of the most unreliable cars on the road.

Henry Ford III

I see. Hilarious.

p.s. Renaults are generally rubbish

I have a laguna briefly, alot of the time the start button seemed to short the whole dash out instead of starting it. Only after trying multiple times would it start. Occasionally under hard acceleration the autobox would give a large thud, and the thing would go into limp home mode.

The interior was cheap and falling apart and lots of little electrical things like the radio and tyre poressure sensors wern't working.

Worst part was the car was a 03! (this was last year). I could have got a dud but other peoples experiences with these cars tells me otherwise.

worded

They bought from new, within three months of each other. The problems started six months after that.

Terrontress wrote: »

Worded. Your sister and brother in law bought a Renault from new that was a complete disaster so they bought another that was a complete disaster. Given their previous experience, they bought another Renault which was a complete disaster?

A fool and his money is soon parted.

Henry Ford III

Weight of evidence yet again points towards poor Renault quality.

If anyone has had a good experience with them, count your blessings. Play the lotto too.

DannyBuoy

Mine is 06 Megane 1.6 petrol, has just over 100,000 Km on it. Has broken down twice due to faulty ign coils, had to put 2 window winders in it.
But have to say its a nippy solid comfortable car to drive, need to change it soon but will prob stay away for another one. Anyone any thoughts on the new corolla saloon?

plissken

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Weight of evidence yet again points towards poor Renault quality.

If anyone has had a good experience with them, count your blessings. Play the lotto too.

Actually if you count the positive posts in this thread against the negative, the evidence points towards them being a good car with a few bad exceptions, I drive an 04 megane saloon from new and had a laguna previous to that and have had no issues to date but of course theres people i know who tell me im mad to drive them "sure dont they always fall apart" is what most of them say but they soon shut up when asked have they actually driven one let alone own one. op theres plenty of badge snobs out there drive one if you like it and the price is right go for it

Green Hornet

My friend has a 2002 Laguna and the passanger electric window goes up and down on its own! Had to disconnect it so now it wont go up or down. The doors wont lock and he cant lock them by hand because there is no manual option so he cant bring it anywhere. This is the second time its happened.

The dash lights up like a Christmas tree with warning lights but Renault cant find a problem.

You have got to laugh!

I must say that I did notice in some of the threads supporting Renault that alternators etc needed replacing. Thats not good in a modern car.

I guess it is turning into a bit of a Renault bashing but there seems to be a lot of bad stories out there.

Henry Ford III

plissken wrote: »

Actually if you count the positive posts in this thread against the negative, the evidence points towards them being a good car with a few bad exceptions, I drive an 04 megane saloon from new and had a laguna previous to that and have had no issues to date but of course theres people i know who tell me im mad to drive them "sure dont they always fall apart" is what most of them say but they soon shut up when asked have they actually driven one let alone own one. op theres plenty of badge snobs out there drive one if you like it and the price is right go for it

"In the kingdom of the blind, a one eyed man is king" - John Cooper Clarke.

The independent surveys all point to the relative poor quality of Renault. Try trading your Megane or Laguna in and tell us how you get on. Dealers will quite rightly send you away.

Fools and their money.....:D

faceman

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Weight of evidence yet again points towards poor Renault quality.

If anyone has had a good experience with them, count your blessings. Play the lotto too.

Where is your weight of evidence? Bulletin boards?

i have a 03 laguna that has never had an ounce of trouble. Sorry i lie, actually one of the tyres had low tyre pressure and had to be pumped up one time.

Henry Ford III

No independent surveys. Would you like to google some?

p.s. Best of luck when it comes to trade in time. You'll be laughed at.

Henry Ford III

Top gear 2006......



Top Gear would like to propose a new addition to the great lexicon of similes. Since there seems to be no accepted standard for 'as reliable as...', we'd like to propose 'as reliable as a Japanese automobile'.

OK, it may be not be snappy, but at least it's accurate, with seven of our ten most reliable cars hailing from Japan. Three Hondas - the Jazz (3rd), S2000 (7th) and CR-V (8th), join the Toyota MR2 (2nd), Lexus RX3000, Suzuki Ignis (5th) and the Mazda 3 (10th) in the upper echelons of the customer satisfaction league.

But it was a car from the continent rather than the far East that topped the reliability chart. The BMW X3 chugs dependably into first place, with owners finding the SUV's engine and gearbox as sturdy as a rhinoceros bouncer.

It's not a great result overall for the German manufacturers though, with the most reliable Porsche (the 911) placing just 48th. Even bullet-proof Audi can only muster a best placing of 63rd with the old-style TT.

'Which cars are fighting a losing battle against reliability? You guessed it: they're French'

Which cars are fighting a losing battle against reliability? You guessed it: they're French. Eight out of the ten least reliable cars come from across the Channel, with the Peugeot 807 propping up the table.

The dismal people-ferrier is joined by two further Peugeots (the 307 and 407), a pair of Citroens (C3 and C8) and a trio of Renaults (the Megane, Espace and Scenic), with only the Range Rover and Ford S-MAX preventing a Gallic whitewash of the bottom ten.

In fact, the highest place Peugeot can manage is a miserable 134th for the now-defunct 206, while the highest-placing French car is the Renault Modus in, erm, 88th spot. As unreliable as une voiture Française? Malheureusement, oui.

Henry Ford III

Build quality....

Build a better mousetrap, said Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the world will beat a path to your door. Build a shoddy car, says our survey, and you're probably French.

Yes, the French are in trouble again. Sixteen of the 25 worst-built cars in our survey are the spawn of the unholy Peugeot-Citroen-Renault triumvurate, and it's no surprise to find the Peugeot 807 propping up the list again.

Owners of the ill-fated MPV were shocked by its shoddy electrics and dodgy transmission, as well as excessive road noise and grumbling engines.

To be fair, there's a fair British contingent in the badly-bolted basement too, with three Rovers - the MG TF, MG ZR and 25 - and Land Rover Defender all languishing in the bottom ten.

Henry Ford III

Manufacturer positions

1 Skoda (UP)
Once-humble Skoda pushes the Japanese from the top slot

2 Lexus (DOWN)
Masters of build quality forced to a still-good second place

3 Honda (-)
Top two places in the car list helped secure a third place overall

4 Mazda (-)
Fourth place for the second year running

5 Mini (UP)
Mini's strong following means it's up two places at five

6 Subaru (-)
Another non-mover - would have scored higher but for high ownership costs

7 Toyota (DOWN)
Down two places for Toyota against last year's survey

8 Porsche (-)
Consistent performer, but reliability score lower than you'd expect

9 Jaguar (-)
Strong performance from the XJ helped Jag hold on to ninth

10 Hyundai (UP)
Hyundai swaps places with BMW - thanks in part to good service

11 BMW (DOWN)
X3 is most reliable car in the survey, but BMW still slipped a place

12 Suzuki (UP)
Decent performance means Suzuki moves up three places

13 Seat (UP)
Seat's up too, but not so impressive next to Skoda's performance

14 Lotus (UP)
Build quality was the only thing holding Lotus back

15 Audi (DOWN)
We expected better than middle of the table from Audi

16 Volvo (DOWN)
Reasonable effort, but didn't score well for ownership costs

17 Kia (UP)
A promising improvement against last year - up from 23rd place

'Citroen, Renault and Peugeot bring up the rear, shrugging haplessly and disappointing buyers...'

18 Smart (-)
Smart holds onto its place just past the half way mark

19 Volkswagen (UP)
Modest improvement held back by surprisingly average scores

20 Nissan (DOWN)
Nissan slips one place from last year

21 Chrysler (DOWN)
And so does Chrysler...

22 Alfa Romeo (UP)
Predictably below-average performance from Alfa

23 Rover (DOWN)
Down one, but who really cares?

24 Ford (UP)
Up one place but not much to shout about

25 Mitsubishi (DOWN)
Lowest placed Japanese manufacturer

26 Saab (DOWN)
A huge drop from 14th place for the Swedes

27 Vauxhall (-)
No improvement for Vauxhall this year

28 Daewoo (UP)
A two-place jump for Daewoo. Chevy will be pleased...

29 Land Rover (UP)
Up by two places, but still a poor effort

30 Mercedes (UP)
Woeful performance from a so-called 'premium' brand

31 Fiat (UP)
Good score from the Panda helps lift Fiat a bit. But only a bit

32 Jeep (DOWN)
Jeep slides further down the table

33 Citroen (-)
Best of the French manufacturers, but that's no consolation

34 Renault (-)
Dismal

35 Peugeot (-)
Oh dear. Again

groupb

While I'm not defending Renault , the top gear surveys put a lot of emphasis on the ownership expeience , ie how good the dealers are , as well as the relability. If you look at surveys like warranty direct which have an section on relability and breakdowns and warranty claims ,Renault still come last but are closely followed by mercedes ,saab ,chrysler and audi. I think it depends who you listen to. If you new nothing about cars and went on this forum for the first time , nobody would buy a VW judging by the amount of problems their owners post in.

Stevie Dakota

I wonder is there 'Porsche are rubbish' thread somewhere?

Warranty Direct, which measures actual problems with each car...

75 Peugeot 306
76 Peugeot 406
77 Volvo S70
78 Rover 75
79 Daewoo Matiz
80 Peugeot 206
81 Mazda MX-3
82 Vauxhall Tigra
83 Seat Ibiza
84 Peugeot 106
85 Renault Megane
86 Peugeot 406
87 Saab 9-3
88 Audi A3
89 BMW X5
90 Mercedes S-class
91 Toyota Corolla
92 Seat Alhambra
93 BMW 5-series
94 Daewoo Nubira
95 Alfa Romeo 145
96 Saab 900
97 Mazda MX-6
98 Jaguar S-Type
99 Daewoo Leganza
100 Porsche Boxster

Henry Ford III

No fudging the issue

zilog_jones

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Renault electrics? This was taken this morning. Driver had reversing lights on full time

I saw the exact same thing happen on a brand new Audi A4 or A6 (I forget which). Not surprising he was driving back to the dealers...

Henry Ford III

I saw an 08 Laguna on a recovery truck the other week. It was dirty so I assume it wasn't new, just broken down.

plissken

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Build quality....

Build a better mousetrap, said Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the world will beat a path to your door. Build a shoddy car, says our survey, and you're probably French.

Yes, the French are in trouble again. Sixteen of the 25 worst-built cars in our survey are the spawn of the unholy Peugeot-Citroen-Renault triumvurate, and it's no surprise to find the Peugeot 807 propping up the list again.

Owners of the ill-fated MPV were shocked by its shoddy electrics and dodgy transmission, as well as excessive road noise and grumbling engines.

To be fair, there's a fair British contingent in the badly-bolted basement too, with three Rovers - the MG TF, MG ZR and 25 - and Land Rover Defender all languishing in the bottom ten.

I unlike yourself am a car lover first and foremost, I have owned renault laguna, megane, alfa romeo 155, 156, gtv and a fiat bravo hgt. None of these cars are known for there reliability but i wasnt stung from a single one I bought these cars because they were more stylish, better handling, better equiped than there japanese rivals, reliability is obviously important to me but unlike you it is not the sole requirement for me when buying a car and thankfully everyone isnt like you otherwise everyone would be driving around in grey japanese boxes not bothering to look under the bonnet once in a while for fear of getting there hands dirty.

Im sure your gonna come back with yet another smart ass comment you have come up with based on other peoples opinions of a car you've never owned. I like renaults you dont thats your opinion and your welcome to it but it is one i whole heartedly disagree with

sk8board

timemachine wrote: »

I have seen this Renault. So if they are all bad, should I leave it.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=732005

my advice would be to not go with the base model shown in the link. Go for the RXi model. The extra's list is excellent for that year (mine is a '00), and will help with any resale value on the other end.
things like: alloys, rear spoiler, sunroof, elec mirrors, windows, air-con, etc

Also, for a 1.4L 16v, its 96bhp, which is still much more than any modern 1.4, and feels like a Veyron compared to my wife's '07 1.6 Focus.

Never had any trouble, that said I only put about 1400 miles per year on mine, driving 1.5 miles to the train station, so it was the perfect very cheap but well-spec'ed car for that purpose

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Renault **** you in the ass for parts

Green Hornet

plissken wrote: »

I unlike yourself am a car lover first and foremost, I have owned renault laguna, megane, alfa romeo 155, 156, gtv and a fiat bravo hgt. None of these cars are known for there reliability but i wasnt stung from a single one I bought these cars because they were more stylish, better handling, better equiped than there japanese rivals, reliability is obviously important to me but unlike you it is not the sole requirement for me when buying a car and thankfully everyone isnt like you otherwise everyone would be driving around in grey japanese boxes not bothering to look under the bonnet once in a while for fear of getting there hands dirty.

Im sure your gonna come back with yet another smart ass comment you have come up with based on other peoples opinions of a car you've never owned. I like renaults you dont thats your opinion and your welcome to it but it is one i whole heartedly disagree with

In fairness, its not just about the fact that Renault are very unreliable. Surely the depreciation must also come into play? I can understand that people are happy with their cars even if they have some faults, but I cant understand why anybody pays a lot of money for a car that depreciates like a stone. Most dealers will not accept a Renault as a trade in and thats fact.

Henry Ford III

plissken wrote: »

I unlike yourself am a car lover first and foremost, I have owned renault laguna, megane, alfa romeo 155, 156, gtv and a fiat bravo hgt. None of these cars are known for there reliability but i wasnt stung from a single one I bought these cars because they were more stylish, better handling, better equiped than there japanese rivals, reliability is obviously important to me but unlike you it is not the sole requirement for me when buying a car and thankfully everyone isnt like you otherwise everyone would be driving around in grey japanese boxes not bothering to look under the bonnet once in a while for fear of getting there hands dirty.

Im sure your gonna come back with yet another smart ass comment you have come up with based on other peoples opinions of a car you've never owned. I like renaults you dont thats your opinion and your welcome to it but it is one i whole heartedly disagree with

I've driven many Alfa's. Ran one for 50k miles. Loved it.

Renault - more stylish, better handling, and better equipped? Ah come on for goodness sake.

The comment I posted, and on which you based your reply, was From Top Gear btw

I rest my case.

sk8board

Green Hornet wrote: »

In fairness, its not just about the fact that Renault are very unreliable. Surely the depreciation must also come into play? I can understand that people are happy with their cars even if they have some faults, but I cant understand why anybody pays a lot of money for a car that depreciates like a stone. Most dealers will not accept a Renault as a trade in and thats fact.

I agree. In fact, I know a Renault garage that wouldn't take in the fully serviced Laguna II as a trade against a new Laguna II last year.

I would certainly think twice about a new one, I paid €8,500 private for a 4 yo one that cost €22,200 cash new (saw the invoice), and list was a bit more.
=> over 63% depreciation after 4 years.

plissken

Henry Ford III wrote: »

The comment I posted, and on which you based your reply, was From Top Gear btw

Meaning?

Henry Ford III

Meaning it was more than a personal opinion.

(CH3)2CHOH

00 Espace with 120,000 miles on it.

I do the servicing myself and we have never had a problem.


05 Megane with 12,000 miles on it. This is the father in law's car. Has been in the main dealers 7 time to get the passenger electric window sorted.



Guess there is 2 sides to every story:rolleyes:

Henry Ford III

Yep. Not all of them are utter pants. Just most of them