Renault Megane (big bum shape)

by **BIG_MVS** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:12 pm

Looking to upgrade her ladyship's megane to the newer model.

Anyone got any tips to look for/what to walk away from

Looking for a 1.5 or 1.9 Diesel model in 5 door trim. Think I have found one but it's got 147,000 miles up it :shock:

Can a little 1.5 take it?

Any views/opinions welcome

by **cheslynjay** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:45 pm

early in life some suffered ignition coil failure and valve problems but would have gone wrong and been replaced by now i would have thought.

other common problems have been sunroof's emmitting a loud whistling noise at motorway speeds and digital dash failures.

At present my wife is running a 1.9diesel turbo and it is a cracking motor.

As all cars we can find horror stories for any model,at present i am worried about my Navara as they are suffering engine failure.
I know of six Navaras in trouble and prices have ranged from £2500 to £5000 for engine's.

by **miles thomas** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:44 pm

I have just last month had a 1.9 dci turbo blow up :cry:

.It,s not good as it had only done 53000 miles! It,s not uncommon. So good luck with that.

by **Tony Smith** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:29 pm

I have it on good authority that the early 1.9 direct injection turbo diesels had lots of problems with the diesel pumps. They work at incredible pressure and all Renaults with them were troublesome. Think Renault has it sorted now but something to be aware of as very expensive to replace.

by **simonsays74** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:36 pm

Renault and diesel not a good combination, scrap in fact!

Turbos are not reliable and not easy to fit.

Brave man if you do!

I wont even underwrite them at any price for any year.

..............but hey, i'm just an Irish man, what do i know! :lol:

by **RED21** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:15 pm

The Megane 1.9dci & the 1.5Dci are reliable in the engine department and electronically if they are maintained correctly just like any other manufacture.

Turbos have been known to fail, but this mainly due to an external cause like low oil level, lack of maintance and incorrect oil used when servicing (Other problems arise from this also)
The diesel pumps failed on the early ones due to poor materials used by Bosch/Delphi, which were soon corrected. These pump failures would happen at any time or mileage and affected all car manufactures that used these makes of pumps.
Any pump failure since certain manufacturing dates are more likely be caused by a mis-fuel or infrequent servicing.

Timing belts don’t need explaining but if it has been changed out side the Renault network check that all belts and rollers have been changed at the same time.

Electrically the weakest point on the Megane is the windows mechanisms, mainly due to the piggyback module (a BMW unit) getting water in them.

We use to service a 53 plate 1.9Dci that was well into the high 100 000 mark (160000)? And besides routing service items and a clutch it never went wrong.

The advice I would give is to buy from a Renault dealer, Yes you will pay top mark but you will have the back up of a decent breakage insurance and the Renault network, pus other benefits.

Ps: The only Megane to take extra caution over is the coupe- cab as bad body repairs can play havoc with the roof mech and sealing.

by **Tony Smith** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:24 pm

Did they sell any coupe-cabs then? :roll:

. One of many very ugly cars to roll out of the Renault factory in recent years!

by **simontaylor** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:32 pm

RED21 wrote:The diesel pumps failed on the early ones due to poor materials used by Bosch/Delphi, which were soon corrected.

Electrically the weakest point on the Megane is the windows mechanisms, mainly due to the piggyback module (a BMW unit) getting water in them.

I too work for a manufacturer and we often blame failures on bought in componants.
Mind you, we are not often surprised when they do fail, bearing in mind the cost level we have beaten the supplier down to.
Could it be that Renault also buy cheap bits?

by **RED21** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:33 pm

About 85-90% of modern European diesels rely on Bosch or Delphi components and the whole the factory fitted items on petrol and diesel are covered by 3 or 4 large suppliers, so any inherent defect will show accross many car manufactures.
Take your LCD/Plasma TV, the actual screens are only made by two companies but are fitted to a multitue of brands from the cheap n cheerful to the mega bucks systems and it is only the software that runs the screen that differs
It has started happen with automotive industry, as soon they will share common major items (engine systems etc) as cost of R&D rises.

I do know that BMW have obtained a couple of Laguna III GT's so they can evaluate the 4Ws system for use on future cars, so you never know in the future their techy guys will blame Renault for what ever fault.......

by **BIG_MVS** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:04 pm

Cheers for the replies guys

I'm thinking the megane is not really big enough for all of us (Me, the Mrs and 2 rugrats) and pram etc. I quite like the Vauxhall Signum, any one had one at all?

by **phildini** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:58 am

BIG_MVS wrote:Cheers for the replies guys

I'm thinking the megane is not really big enough for all of us (Me, the Mrs and 2 rugrats) and pram etc. I quite like the Vauxhall Signum, any one had one at all?

Mr MVS, I guess you are attracted to a Signum because they are cheap? As you know I work in the trade and a Signum is very bad news, this is because it's either a hatch or an estate and people would rather have an estate Vectra. But I guess on this site we are all attracted to weird cars...... I mean a Velsatis and an Avantime used to be very bad news in the trade. But I know quite a few guys in this club that have them.

If I had to get a Vauxhall I would buy a Zafira GSi :wink:

But if you want a car that swallows a lot of gear........... Honda CRV Mate! Super reliable and very family orientated.

by **BIG_MVS** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:21 pm

Mr MVS, I guess you are attracted to a Signum because they are cheap?

Ding! In one mate :lol:

I have had around 6 vectra estates (1.9 CDTI's) as company cars over the years and really like the way they drove and are very economical, the mrs does not want an estate though due to size mainly. I thought the Signum would be a good compromise. I'll keep looking, the CRV is a good motor but I'm not into SUV's either really.

by **Tony Smith** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:06 pm

[quote="BIG_MVSI have had around 6 vectra estates (1.9 CDTI's) as company cars over the years and really like the way they drove [/quote]

Mr Clarkson says go and wash your mouth out immediately!! :lol:

by **BIG_MVS** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:46 pm

They were all good and reliable, although I never kept them past 20k miles so they should not go wrong really should they?

I'm not saying they were the best car ever, but for carrying the kids and prams etc in comfort for a reasonable price I don't think you can beat them. Unless someone has a better option?

by **simonsays74** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:43 pm

VOLVO ESTATE!!!!!!

D5's live forever!