2004 Renault Megane Sport Tourer from Romania - Comments

Nothing until now, the car is almost new.

This car is the estate model so the inner space is large and comfortable. There are a lot of storage spaces and the interior is well-finished, although the materials may wear sooner than you expect. The seats are firm, but comfortably and can be easily adjusted to fit almost anyone.

The electrical progressive steering is excellent, also the brakes. The grip is good until 150-160 kph, but at higher speeds the car tends to "take off", especially when unloaded.

The engine has a decent performance, but lacks the torque under 3000 rpm. Is not by any chance a sport car, but cruising at reasonable speed is easy and comfortable.

Gearbox is quite "tight" and the clutch is sometimes difficult to operate; hopefully it will loose in time, the car is still new.

The car is very good equipped with almost everything coming as standard. My car is Expression trim which means 6 airbags, climate control, ABS/EBD, CD-player, power heated mirrors and 4 power windows, automatic lights/wipers, fog lamps, computer and so on as standard.

Economy is not bad for a car of its size with a gasoline engine - 10.5 liters/100km in town and 7,0-7,8 liters/100km outside, depending on the speed. If you go beyond 130kph the consumption will follow.

The sound quality is surprisingly high for such 15 watts speakers and the overall interior ambiance is nice and comfortably.

Giving its price - Euro 12360 without taxes - it is a lot of car for this money. The equipment and the design - inside and outside - are outstanding for this price class.

My only concern is its reliability in time. Renault warranty term in Romania is pathetic (just 18 months) and the roads here are quite tough.

I have a July 2004 dCi Sport Tourer which has recently suffered from a stiff gear change and difficulty getting it in to reverse gear. I have just picked it up from the dealership, where they have changed the gearbox oil and replaced the gear linkage (under warranty). This seems to have solved the problem, so if I was you, I would get your car to the dealer before the warranty runs out!

I came back with further details after 8 months. The car has now almost 20,000 km, but still no serious complain. Everything is working like in first day (actually even better, considering the fact that gearbox is working well now).

The only one exception is one retractable curtain from the right back door which, without any visible reason, remains blocked outside the door. The whole assembly has been changed by the dealer under warranty with no cost.

However I've been astonished when I saw the cost of the part on the dealer’s invoice (payable by the customer if there was no warranty) : almost 800 Eur!!! :)

Just a few comments regarding some annoying details:

The seat belt buzzer could drive you crazy if you want to go over the corner without putting it on;

The brake and the throttle pedals are too close placed so you may experience problems if you have some bigger shoes.

Anyway these are small issues for a car otherwise far better than expected.