USED Renault Megane Hatchback (96 - 03)

My car

I bought this car with 115,000 miles so I was well aware that a few things might need replacing from time to time. The most expensive issue came around 124,000 when the clutch failed, the gearbox has to be removed for the replacement to be fitted, £600 job. But worst of all was the Engine Management Unit. Basically the car would go into failure mode and lock the revs at 1500 rpm without warning, or if you used a mobile phone in the car! It appears that there is some sort of insulation issues with the Bosch units that causes this annoying and somewhat dangerous issue. The issue would clear after stopping and restarting the engine.

On the good side the Sport model looked the part although the rather agricultural diesel engine was a strange fit. The engine is plenty powerful enough though with 105hp and tons of torque, unless your mobile rings of course!

Strange car the Megane...

My car

I have owned the car for 18 months and from day one 2nd gear was a little iffy, put it down to getting used to it but it has gradually got worse. 1st gear pops out, 2nd and 3rd you really have to fight with. Had an MOT in august and passed with flying colours.. only for the engine mount to snap on the way home! Imobillisor likes to mess you about, and only seems to work if you leave it for a good 5-10 mins before trying again. You can turn the key and have no life what so ever time and time again, this is gradually getting worse. If the car is "cold" it has a great tendancy of cutting out while you are driving along the road. Started getting very sluggish and steering is like having no power steering at all at times. Petrol consumption is not great either, doing about 30miles to £10 of fuel. So on the look out for new car after christmas as I dont want to risk driving it anymore with my children in the car. Check all the service history when you buy one and be very aware that when one thing goes wrong.. everything will go wrong

My car

I owned a Renault Megane a few years back. I bought my 1997 RXE 2.0 with 48k miles on it, thinking that with few miles I would be able to drive it for at least a few trouble-free years.

Within a few weeks, one of the ignition coils went - £95. Then I started to notice problems with the engine management system.

Sometimes it would rev really highly, sometimes it would cut out, and sometimes it would be fine. I took it to the garage and they ran a diagnostic test only to find nothing.

So I was stuck with a problematic car with apparently no problem. Other faults included the heater fan going and the lights that light up the speedo, etc not working.

For nearly two years I drove that car around not knowing if it was going to work or not and waiting for the next thing to go wrong.

Therefore despite it being a good car when it worked - I found it fun to drive, it had loads of kit, was practical and the 2.0-litre engine was great - I truly hated it.

After speaking to others and reading up a bit, it seems that the Meganes are either good or awful. That is not a risk I will be taking again, as I personally cannot live with a car that I cannot trust to be reliable.

My car

ive had the megane 2 years now. bought with 70k on the clock. ran trouble free to 96k. then i had to replace 2 back shockers. then drive shaft went. this was not picked up at mot (renault dealership) as rubber had split letting standing water in from very wet roads to wash grease away. then fuel primer pump failed (renault only part) making it expensive. gearbox and clutch still fine at 100k. £120 road tax and 54 mpg very cheap to run. the plus version loaded with extras cd changer air con alloys front fogs sunroof half leather and trip computer. and centre arm rest very comfortable on long journeys.although pleased with car overall i think it will be my last renault.