Faults:

Petrol smells in cabin caused by insufficent clamping of pipe to engine connection.

Battery did not charge properly - new battery fitted.

Occasional clunking noise from front n/s.

Occasional exhaust rattle due to poor fitting of a replacement (cheap) tail pipe.

General Comments:

Comfortable to drive and handles fairly good - better than the Vectra I had previously (which suffered from the infamous /annoying Vectra steering knock).

Has a 2 litre 8 valve engine, which is adequate, but no more.

Interior is OK, but has a slightly fragile feel about it, but all the gadgets work OK so far.

Spare plip key expensive - £140 including coding in by Renault dealer.

RXE model has air con, electric roof, electric windows all round, alloys, immobiliser, drivers airbag only, electric mirrors.

5 door hatchback has good sized boot and rear passenger space is OK. Had a cambelt change at 64000 before I got it (check this first - it is essential). Underside of the car is starting to show signs of rust.

Fuel economy pretty good overall for a 2 litre in both town and motorway.

Overall, a nice car to drive, but not exciting. Car is nearly 8 years old and is probably not worth repairing if anything major goes wrong. Get one cheap with a full service history if you can.

Faults:

The Megane is victim to a number of flaws and due to the high mileage, all of the usual problems have cropped up!

Cylinder head gasket went at 70,000 miles.

Ignition coils, exhaust manifold, MAP sensor (tells the computer how the engine is revving and whether it is under load), exhaust mount and a couple of seals all needed replacing at 115,000 miles.

Most recently the head gasket developed a small crack - the engine block's currently in my garage!

General wear and tear items (dash bulbs, gaskets, filters etc..)

As a side note, a lot of people still take their cars in to dealers to replace the dash bulbs; they are very simple to replace - you only need a torx screwdriver. Pop up the tweeter grilles on the dash and remove the screws, one at each side. The dash will then, with a bit of upward force, unclip and slide out. The panels are each held with 3 screws, and the bulbs merely twist out from behind the instrument panels.)

General Comments:

This car was bought new by my dad as a birthday present for my mum in 1998 and was promptly put to use as a driving school car, hence the very high mileage.

Its very comfortable and the durable (pale green...) seats have lasted very well.

It still looks fantastic; the coupe lines are still easy on the eye today and stands out against the newer euro-boxes you see today. Its finished in Sunflower Yellow which sets off the lines of the car very well and the paintwork is well polished; if you intend to sell your car, 45mins or so waxing once or twice a month can add a lot of value to it while making it loom far better than than other models on the road.

No rust has started to show yet which is a testament to Renault's body preparation - and all Meganes came with either a 10 or 12 year anti-corrosion warranty.

The 1.6 engine is poky, but not very economical on shorter journeys. For a smaller engined car it performs very well, although cornering can be dangerous if you're too eager. I'd recommend spending as much as you can afford on the tyres to help sort this. The 14 inch wheels give a more comfortable ride, but are more prone to body roll. The bonus is that they're far cheaper than the low-profile tyres you'll find on the 2.0 16v (16inch alloys).

Most Meganes suffer from the problems I've had with mine, so don't be surprised if at 80,000 miles or so you're in for a large repair bill - depending on how you drive it. Shorter journey's are not very good for keeping your engine healthy.

Don't forget that the oldest Meganes are nearly a decade old now. If you keep a check on the oil levels, coolant level and oil, air & fuel filters there's no reason why, with a little TLC, the 1.6 engine can't take you past the 200,000 mark.