Renault Megane 00 - worth spending time & money on?

Mollie Breathna

2000 Renault Megane 1.4 has been in and out of garage with power failure/ won't start in AM, etc, problems. Mechanic just put new battery in and it still won't start up. He's suggesting going back to main dealer and doing full diagnostic, etc.
Is it worth it?
Bought it last year for €1.6k - have I had my money's worth or should I maybe keep going and spend several hundred more sorting it out?
Any tips, previous experiences, gratefully accepted.

manatoo

Probably not. Renault+electrics = disaster. Once this starts you'll often never get to the end of it. Assuming he has done all the basic circuit tests with a multimeter to ensure you don't just have a broken wire or connection somewhere, your mechanic is right, next step is to get a dealer diagnostic done. If you can get that done for a reasonable price, do it just in case the problem turns out to be something quick and cheap to fix but the diagnostic will probably throw up error codes relating to the ECU. The model you have has 2 ECUs and when they start going they both have to be replaced. No point even considering new parts as they'll cost €€€s so that leaves breakers. 2 problems here - firstly, cos all these ECUs go in Meganes, they're the first parts to be scavenged from the breakers' yard so they're gonna be hard to get and cost a bundle. Secondly, they'll in all likelyhood go pop in a short amount of time anyway.

It's unfortunate you only got a year for your €1600. That would be comparable to the car loan payments on a nearly new car. If you can afford to spend that kind of cash per year on a car I would say go scrappage and buy a small japanese car - Aygo/Yaris, something like that. If you can't afford it, get something 8-10 year old, Japanese again with reasonable mileage and an NCT for around 1500 and you should have no problems for 2-4 years

Mollie Breathna

Thanks, Manatoo ,for your reply. Sounds like I should cut my losses and run.

ottostreet

Mollie Breathna wrote: »

2000 Renault Megane 1.4 has been in and out of garage with power failure/ won't start in AM, etc, problems. Mechanic just put new battery in and it still won't start up. He's suggesting going back to main dealer and doing full diagnostic, etc.
Is it worth it?
Bought it last year for €1.6k - have I had my money's worth or should I maybe keep going and spend several hundred more sorting it out?
Any tips, previous experiences, gratefully accepted.

Don't bother. My sister has one, and it just is absolutely falling apart. Just not well-built cars at all.

manatoo

Mollie Breathna wrote: »

Thanks, Manatoo ,for your reply. Sounds like I should cut my losses and run.

More than likely. Max life span of french cars is usually around 8 years/90,000 miles in my experience. After that they become uneconomical to run due to repair bills. Just out of interest, how many miles are on this car? When was it last NCT'd? How did it get on in that test?

no1beemerfan

Mollie Breathna wrote: »

2000 Renault Megane 1.4 has been in and out of garage with power failure/ won't start in AM, etc, problems. Mechanic just put new battery in and it still won't start up. He's suggesting going back to main dealer and doing full diagnostic, etc.
Is it worth it?
Bought it last year for €1.6k - have I had my money's worth or should I maybe keep going and spend several hundred more sorting it out?
Any tips, previous experiences, gratefully accepted.

He is not that much of a mechanic I think! The MOST common problem, (so therefore any good mechanic should know), of renaults not starting is to do with the crankshaft sensor which is easy to take out and clean/replace. Follow the link in my signature. I've had the same problem with my 1997 laguna and a clean of the sensor worked for a year and after that a new sensor sorted it. €60 for the sensor new or you could get one in a breakers.

manatoo wrote: »

Max life span of french cars is usually around 8 years/90,000 miles in my experience....

This is absolute horses"£t! My 1.8 petrol laguna is 1997 with 200,000 miles on it, I still get 41 mpg from it. The only problem I've had was the non-starting which the sensor sorted.

ANY car not looked after won't go for long.

bijapos

Ring Renault and ask them how much the diagnostic check is, then take it from there when they give you a quote. One mechanic saying "I don't know" and a couple of people on a web forum saying "Renaults are ****e" is not a diagnosis.

I have an 01 Scenic, 72,000 miles, never given a moments bother. The only car I have ever had thats as reliable as this was a Merc W124 300TE. It depends how they are looked after, it doesnt necessarily matter what country they come from.

Mollie Breathna

Thanks for all the replies.
About to have it towed to the local Renault dealer to get a diagnostic done for €85. I'll see then where I am.
For the sake of finishing the story, I'll come back with the outcome next week.
Thanks for all the replies.