2002 Renault Megane dTi 1.9 turbo diesel from Malta

Summary:

Crap

Faults:

1) Alternator belt failed a month after being replaced due to vibrations. Belt went into toothed belt, which failed, twisted valves - had to replace half of the cylinder head.

2) Air conditioning faulty after 1 year - No warranty.

3) Air flap faulty too - No warranty.

4) Door rubber deteriorated immediately.

General Comments:

This car is crap - never again a Renault in my garage. Why oh why did I not get a second Subaru???

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th July, 2006

18th Aug 2006, 10:47

My son has also experienced the failure of the alternator belt which then manged to get into the toothed cam-belt and yes it has scrapped the valves. This is particularly frustrating as it is the second time the cam-belt has failed resulting in considerable expense. I too would be very reluctant to purchase a Renault Megan in view of the many many complaints about the vehicles cam-belt life. Why in this day and age do we rely on a vulnerable belt to drive the valves when failure is so terminal. Have the motor manufacturers no better idea or do they not care once they have made the sale!

2002 Renault Megane Expression 1.4 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Unreliable, but good looking

Faults:

Aibag fault present on delivery of car.

Plastic trim on door (external) falling off.

Internal plastic trim (center console/window switch panel..) loose and not well fixed.

Internal roof trim loose.

Switches on gearbox and brakes faulty hence car failed to start on random occasions.

General Comments:

Great shape and the exclusive 'derrier'.

Poor performance.

Great comfort.

Very unreliable due to starting problems where vehicle left immoblised on five plus occasions.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd December, 2005

2002 Renault Megane Classic RXE 1.6 petrol from Spain

Summary:

Superfically nice, but totally undependable

Faults:

Automatic gearbox failure at very low mileage.

Water leaks in boot from faulty rear lamp assembly.

This is the second Megane automatic gearbox in succession which has failed at very low mileage. The gearbox seems to me to be either frail or have reliability problems.

Renault CLIP diagnostics are supposed to be able to log all faults or incidents with these gearboxes which are stored in memory. On two cars Renault insist there is no fault showing up under Diagnostics.

However even their engineers confirm that the gearbox displays faults on the road.

But this time the car has been in the garage for two weeks; they claim not to know what is wrong with it; and are resisting replacing the gearbox under warranty as they should.

General Comments:

This is the second Megane in a row which has shown Auto gearbox faults at low mileage.

I would not recommend anyone to buy an automatic Renault.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th May, 2004

23rd Nov 2004, 09:36

I am from Singapore. My dad bought a second hand Megane Classic from a dealer and now he's in trouble. According to most mechanics, his auto gearbox is showing signs of failure at only 50,000km. At times, the car would be stuck in 2nd gear and despite stepping on the gas pedal, the revs would just go up, but the box will not shift to 3rd.

Renault Singapore says there's nothing wrong with the gearbox after accessing the situation via the CLIPS computer. Despite my dad's insistence, the dealer says it's due to his driving style and the car will gradually learn to adapt to my dad's driving habits. What crap! Clearly the symptoms point to an imminent failure of the auto box and here we have the local Renault dealer saying it's perfectly okie? I don't think we will ever consider Renault again.

On the other hand, my brother's Nissan Micra 1.0 CVT auto is still in perfectly good mechanical condition even after 275000km on the clock. The N-CVT gearbox has never been replaced.

21st Feb 2006, 13:52

Megane classic Alize 5 door.

Replaced gearbox at 63k for £1,800 then 12k later warning light appears after 2 miles. Stop car and re-start. Problem disappears.

Warning light has been flashing every ten minutes whilst driving. Is the gearbox going again? Help with answer needed.

28th Feb 2006, 13:50

I have the same fault. Is it worse when it is cold? If so, get the oil levels checked. This is a main dealer op, DO NOT attempt to undo the filler plug as you may wreck the gearbox. :- (I speak from experience.