Renault Megane Tourer

positron

Tired of waiting for electric, and current car failed NCT, and now looking to pick up a practical estate and wait foro the electric car market to mature a bit more... Looking for a petrol estate as it's mostly for school runs etc, with occasional trip non the motorway. Need room in the boot for bikes, occasional trips to IKEA and/or recycling center etc - single car household. Budget ideally 10k, max around 15k.

We started thinking of 2012-2015 3 series tourer but petrols are hard to come by here - a few in the UK, and VRT is pretty high as well. Recently saw Renault Megane tourer - 2016 onwards, and it looks alright and comes with 1.2 petrol engine. Any thoughts on these (2017 model)?

Thanks!!

bazz26

Petrol versions would be fairly thin on the ground so it's hard to gauge how reliable it is but that same 1.2 engine is turbo charged and used in the likes of the Nissan Micra, Qashqai, Pulsar as well as a few Dacia models. The 1.6 twin turbo version with 205bhp would be interesting but it's probably overkill for your intended use.

EPAndlee

The 1.2 130 engine should have plenty of power. The petrol Renaults are normally very reliable. Haven't seen one of those petrol Tourers but the big dealers would more than likely have them I'd try Linders and Belgard. I'd take one for a spin

positron

Cheers, that's all very positive.

I can't find any used petrol tourers here in Ireland. A few 2017 1.2 petrol base models for sale in the UK with reasonable miles for a year of use (<10k miles). Looks like it will add up to approximately 16-17k including VRT.

Base model new here would be 22k or so. Could perhaps also avial Renault's PCP (1.2% APR, total cost of credit around 400 euro).

How would this car compared to a 2012-15 BMW 320i or a 2015 Mazda6 tourer etc, space-wise as well as reliabilitywise. I would imagine depreciation would be pretty dire, but sure what can you do. Also any other cars I should consider while at it (2 adults, 2 kids, bikes, shopping, diy etc - low annual miles).

Thanks again!

bazz26

Toyota Auris Touring:

https://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=2005641&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D88%26o%5B%5D%3D1154%26f%3D1%26b%3D3%26yn%3D2015%26yx%3D2017%26g%3D0

Philb76

Have u thought of electric only joking bazz26 that auris looks good loads of space and that engine is very good or maybe an Octavia estate with the tsi engines are really good

AMKC

The Megane tourer is a great looking car. Have seen a dew on the roads. My local dealer do for some reason does not even have the brochure on them.
As for resale values I seen something recently saying the current Megane resales are actually very good and can't see why the tourer resale value would be any worse. I think it might even be better as there has been a bit of a resurgence of late in estate cars. Sure they will never be as popular as the SUV but they have become more popular lately and there is more of them on the roads. More people wanting them so the resale value should be good on it.

positron

Update:

Test drove the Sport Tourer in petrol and it was lovely. Okay, there was a clear second or two delay between applying the accelerator and the car moving - which I believe is called the turbo lag, perhaps something that we could get used to. The boot is spacious, nice and cosy inside, and was impressed with the ride quality and lack of noise etc as well. Over all, decent car as any, going purely by the feel.

Local dealer was pushing hard to take the pre-registered petrol, and was strangely reluctant give us a price on getting a new one with the spec and colour we were actually looking for, saying some sort of emission rule change has put car production into big uncertainty, prices changing etc. Hard to believe the entire european car industry for next six months are going to be stuck because EU is changing or enforcing some regulation, but that's what they said. Didn't have any 2017 models in the books either - again, petrols are rare I suppose. I can only think they were trying to shift their current stock before anything else - which is not a sin - and of course they were super nice to give us a spin on the car etc and PCP plan looks good (1.2% APR).

In the end, it's not the car we wanted (mostly colour) so we are looking elsewhere. Have reserved a used 2017 base model Renault Appoved Cars UK with about 10k miles on clock. Registered and used by Renault themselves. 3 year warranty remaining etc. Including VRT it will work out approximately 17k I believe - only an approximation as they don't have the correct spec on VRT website. Potential saving of about 8k, right colour car, but of course car is a year older, and has less warranty compared to the 5 year new here.

Fingers crossed!

bazz26

There is some truth in what he is saying, the way new cars are tested is changing and car manufacturers who offer alot of factory customisation are the ones who are suffering the most. The likes of VW for example have closed their factory order books until next year, if you want something now from them then your limited to dealer stock.

I'd say it has less impact on the likes of Renault though as they don't offer many customised factory orders. However they sell very little Meganes in petrol form here so anything brand new would have to be a special order I'd say. I'd also say there is a bit of sales person's talk from him too in that because demand for a petrol Megane is so low and they have one in stock they are trying to steer you towards that one to shift it.

positron

Cheers bazz, sounds bad if VW had to freeze their order books for six months of the year like that. He offered 2k off the list price partly for it being pre-registered, but also for trading in my old car (which is not worth much to be honest). I was expecting more for pre-reg cars (thought dealers get demo cars much cheaper from manufacturer). But then again, at the end of the day that wasn't the colour herself wanted, so that's that!

About the demand for petrol Megane being so low - I hope I am doing the right thing. Worked out we only do about 8-10k kms a year, it might go up as kids are getting older and start doing more activities etc, but it's still going to be mostly for running errands around town. I can't imagine the ever popular diesel 1.5 engine, even if it's reviewed really well across all models (Renault, Nissan etc), would be suitable for it. Diesel specs shows about 30% more mpg than petrol, but still, I feel diesel may not be as efficient as stated if it's all frequent short trips.

bazz26

If you can sell your existing car privately then you would probably get the same deal on the new car if buying straight with no trade-in. Also in this segment petrol cars are starting to make a comeback so I think in the next few years it won't be so hard to sell them on.

dodzy

Had a spin in the TCe auto yesterday. What a fun car to drive in sport mode. 4 wheel steer - so quick off the mark. Very well finished indeed. The tourer looks fab also.

listermint

That 1.2 petrol is gutless had a brand new Clio with it which is a lighter car than the Megane hated it.

Horrible little engine for a car of that size. Zero over taking ability it will be worse again loaded with whatever your putting in it

ba_barabus

listermint wrote: »

That 1.2 petrol is gutless had a brand new Clio with it which is a lighter car than the Megane hated it.

Horrible little engine for a car of that size. Zero over taking ability it will be worse again loaded with whatever your putting in it

That's the old engine and completely different. What you're saying about it doesn't apply.

positron

listermint, I test drove the tourer with 1.2 tce - not an extensive test drive, just a few kms on b-roads and of course car wasn't loaded at all - and it felt alright. The only odd thing I noticed was there's a good 2 second delay between pressing the accelerator and the car getting any power. Otherwise the car felt powerful enough and responsive enough on the go.

It's the turbo lag I am more concerned about.

bazz26

listermint wrote: »

That 1.2 petrol is gutless had a brand new Clio with it which is a lighter car than the Megane hated it.

Horrible little engine for a car of that size. Zero over taking ability it will be worse again loaded with whatever your putting in it

There are two Renault 1.2 litre petrol engines. The old non turbo 75bhp engine which has been around in the Clio for nearly 2 decades. You then have the newer turbo unit with 130bhp that is fitted to the current Megane.

listermint

ba_barabus wrote: »

That's the old engine and completely different. What you're saying about it doesn't apply.

Interesting as it was in a 171 and 172 reg, When was the new 1.2 released ?

As the 171 and 172 which i had over last year it was a gutless wonder. I wouldnt wish it on anyone, And this is in a Clio a car which whilst it is heavier than the older model wouldnt be as heavy as a megane

bazz26

The Clio has a 1.2 litre 75bhp and a 0.9 litre turbo 90bhp petrol engine. The 1.2 litre 130bhp engine from the new Megane isn't available here in the Clio. It will be when the new Clio arrives at the end of this year.

EPAndlee

listermint wrote: »

Interesting as it was in a 171 and 172 reg, When was the new 1.2 released ?

As the 171 and 172 which i had over last year it was a gutless wonder. I wouldnt wish it on anyone, And this is in a Clio a car which whilst it is heavier than the older model wouldnt be as heavy as a megane

That engine was released in 2017 with the new facelift clio. Dealers had loads of clios made in 2016 to get rid of first before they could start selling the new one