I'm not looking to change my car until later in the year, but I've been doing a bit of browsing, and came across a Renault Megane Sport Tourer 1.9 Dci 130 Dynamique on the Motorpoint website at £10,999 (which is £6303 less than list price).

Motorpoint - View Stock

I know many on here have a fairly low opinion of Renaults - particularly with relaibility concerns - but to put this into perspective, £11k is about what I paid for a 2 year old Octy II 2.0 TDi Elegance. I assume this is still around the going rate.

So anyway it got me thinking - specs, performance figures and space do not seem vastly different - so what would you go for?

New Renault or 2 year old Octy. Discuss please.

I class the Renault as more....technologically advanced....

I like them...

As for Ocy2...still not 100% on them...

Not driven a Megane, but the DCi (pretty sure it was the 130) in the Laguna I drove seemed quite a relaxed and very refined cruiser so definitely worth a look if the bulk of your journeys will be on motorways. If it's brand new, it'll also be backed with a manufacturer's warranty (at least for 2 years) so if you do have any issues they can be sorted. Advantage of the Octy is you know the cars and the dealers which may carry more weight in your decision

Will be interested to see a review if you decide to go and look at it

Chris

Personally I wouldn't go back to Renault.

I had a Clio from new for 3.5 years and although it never broke down it was a rattling pile of crapola. The finish on the car was very poor and I had a lot of niggling problems with it (luckily local Renault dealer was very good with warranty work). Dealer servicing was expensive (I went to an independent). Metal is soft and the paint was thin. It dented like a can of coke and I actually scratched the paint with a ragged fingernail it's that thin.

On the plus side it was fast and very economical. Renault diesel engines are good as long as you don't drive in town a lot. They soot up. I was doing 110 miles a day at 60-80mph and it still needed degunked every service and on it's MOT. They are prone to eating themselves if you do a lot of town work (how many Laguna taxis do you see?)

Megane and Laguna models appear very low down in driver surveys. Renault themselves admit the last Laguna was a turkey. The new one might be worth a look at with it's 100k warranty.

The Megane is nicer to drive than the Clio and feels better built but is prone to the same build quality niggles.

I was very keen to get rid of my Clio.

Have a look here and it's a general car problems forum not a Renault forum.

Parker's forum - Ownership Problems

One of my relatives has a Megane R26 for himself and the better half has a new scenic.

The R26 has not had any warranty issues and is a very good drive, the Scenic has, since delivery, been plagued by elctric / electronic problems.

Design and technology wise, they seem to be miles ahead of manufacturers like Skoda, but the perpetual rear wiper on the scenic and the other gremlins do cause me to raise an eyebrowe in a Leonard Nimoy styleee

Consider the resale value in 2 years time Andy, the Skoda will probably cost you less in the long run.

Consider the resale value in 2 years time Andy, the Skoda will probably cost you less in the long run.

I'll remind you of that if I ever ask for a trade-in price from you!

It's a R*n@*1t! Enough said I think! They may get good NCAPs, but that's down to the difficulty of getting them to do 40mph, even under tow!

They do have a "Start" button on the dash ........ we still have to find and press buttons on silly keys, and then insert into the ignition and turn it

The R26 is a bit special imho, the scenic is a great family car, and unlike the skoda competitor does not look like an invalid carriage

My sister-in-law has a new grand Senic and it has the most uncomfortable seats i have sat in.

Not too keen on the Megane itself.

Looks striking but too many electrics for my taste.

I like the look of the new Clio SportTourer the new Fabia sure has some competition now.

I'd prob go with the 2 year old Octy 2 myself. but thats my own personal preference and i'm a tad biased towards Skodas

Why not a Focus? would have suggested a Golf too

Has anyone carted out don't do it they are French yet?

I think the Megan is a good car. I know a few people who own them including the CC and they seem all ok

If it handles anything like the hatch hire car i had last year, i would stick with a Skoda

The term "bambi on ice" springs to mind

I had a brand spanking new Laguna hire car a few years back and within 2 weeks a few bits of trim had fallen off, the stereo cover flap had jammed and broken, the foot rest snapped off and the stereo kept overheating and shutting down.

A colleague of mine had a Laguna (IIRC) 2.2 dCi 150 Dynamique and it was plagued with electrical/mechanical/fit 'n' finish problems from day one.

It will take Renault a good few years to shake off the poor reliability rep. Look how long it has taken Skoda.

My brother, notoriously picky, bought a new '05' Laguna despite my protestations.

It was faultless, nice to drive, ecocomical-ish, and very well specced.

He has only just traded it in and he normally gets rid after 12 months.

Over £6k off list for a new Megane is a bargain imho.

build quality :thumbdwn:

build quality :thumbdwn:

Being honest, bros Laguna was very good.

meganes might be different though, but surely at that price they are worth a punt?

Being honest, bros Laguna was very good.

meganes might be different though, but surely at that price they are worth a punt?

2 TDI seat 4 same money

http://www.motorpoint.co.uk/(S(jedycg55ws524255ls1v0vjy))/Search/GroupResults.aspx?make=Seat&model=Altea&type=0

Good call, I stand corrected.

I'd consider something from the RenaultSport range as they're built in a different factory

I like quite a bit of the Renault line-up but don't think I'd be confident enough in their 'normal' offerings.

Steve

We've had 4 Lagunas on the cab fleet, all 130 DCi's.

1 of them was returned to Renault after a couple of months of persistant electrical faults, one was reliable until the warranty ran out, whereby the suspension promptly collapsed through the bonnet, the gearbox refused to select 3rd and you had to hold it in 2nd, the footrest snapped off (while I was driving) and various other things went wrong.

Of the other two, one has been faultless, And the other has suffered nothing more than a sticking starter motor, so all in all, not much worse than our experience with Skodas, except that the Renault dealers are happy to fix your car when it breaks under warranty, unlike Skoda who seem to think they are doing you a favour.

JJ, that says a lot about your Skoda dealer, or maybe the attitude you show towards them. My experience (accepted, with different dealers) is that they regard you buying a touch-up paint as every bit as important a transaction as you buying 4 new cars from them!

2 TDI seat 4 same money

Motorpoint - Search Results

The 2.0 TDI Seat Alteas are 56 plate (12 - 18 months old??) with 10-15k miles on.

So it shows that you can get the new Megane for the price of a 2 year old Octy or 1 - 1.5 year old Seat.

Good call, I stand corrected.

You are uncorrected now!

I'm not planning to do anything at the moment and haven't had a detailed look or driven one - I just think its hard to ignore 6k off list on a 16k car.

Incidentally, my dad has driven only Renaults since I was 3 years old (must have had over 15 of them), so I guess he's happy.

Or insane

I actually liked the megane loan car I had. Did what a car should do and nothing annoyed the hell out of me.

except that the Renault dealers are happy to fix your car when it breaks under warranty,.

Reminds me of a friend who keeps singing the praises of the Land Rover recovery service:)

£6k off is a lot but out of the two I prefer Skoda.Never did I think I would be saying that:eek: