Megane 225 - Any Thoughts?

[GilesW 41]

I've decided to let the wife have my company car, and we get rid of hers and I get a toy/4 seater car.

 

We can do this as I know for at least the next year I'm not doing loads of miles for work.

 

 

So looking around for something that will be fun, but ok to get 1 or 2 kids in on the odd occasion - price bracket £3-4k and I see the Megane RS 225.

 

 

Now forgetting it's a Renault, and likely to have a few usual French car issues......

 

Anyone had any experience in like an 06 plate one?

Might get a Cup or Trophy for that money.

Won't get the 04/early 05 as they revised the steering and suspension in 06 and made it a lot better car.

 

So - any thoughts/experiences anyone can share?

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Yes, Knowing 2 people who used to be at K tech, Electrical problems and other mechanical issue's are known at this price range and it's not cheap to sort, I always remember a mate changing a headlight fuse in his Meg CC and it the ECU needs resetting afterwards as the fuse box was under the battery

[hcmini1989 16]

Abit of topic but for that sort of money you could get a leon cupra r or even one of the later tfsi versions ,A far more reliable ,more powerful, And don't come with all the little niggley bits like the Renaults

[welshpug 1,677]

but don't handle anywhere near as good!

 

they arent any more powerful, both were 225 bhp, the megane up on torque and lower weight.

[TheReaperWaits 6 1 Cars]

I currently own an 06 plate 225 megane picked up for around £4k had 76k on the clock and a couple of past owners. I have owned the car for almost two years.

 

I have done just over 10k, it is my daily and it gets abused.

 

It is a good car, not too big, but I can still get my daughter in the back comfortably seat four adults and have her pram and the weeks shopping in the boot.

 

Not many problems, had a steering rack issue, which looked to be caused by not fitting a replacement arm correctly, I had the heater blower go which was a simple fuse, nearside window acts up sometimes, battery went in the cold weather. It does like to drink, I get around 24mpg with mostly short trips to work with the occactional 40 mile motorway round trip.

 

Getting hold of an f1 would be a better option or as late as you can with the base. Weakest point is definitely the gear boxes, the change is long and a bit stiff. It does handle well, if you push you can get the back out quite easily. It is fun to drive and doesn't do to badly when cruising (even with the hard suspension).

Edited February 15, 2015 by TheReaperWaits

[GilesW 41]

Looked at the cupra, didn't float my boat tbh.

 

I can see the megane being either a 'goodun' or a total pain. But in my experience many of these types of cars are - and as miles said, in this price range too.

 

But the engine and handling are calling to me.

Aaron - the F1 looked a good bet, but maybe lucky to find one that's worth buying in my price range.

[aldworth33 45 1 Cars]

I'm a big Renault fan and I like these a lot, I have driven a few and they are great, only problem I have seen often are window regs and keycard faults (normally just a soldering job) just be thorough when you check and test drive and make sure everything works

[pugdamo 111 2 Cars]

Iv worked at a renault dealers for 7 years,I really like the renault sport stuff,the engines are very strong,as said window regulators are a big problem and are expensive,also the megane sports have a different front suspension set up from normal meganes,they have upper lower pivot bearings on the hub,these seize giving tight steering and/or steering that doesn't self centre,this can also be very expensive,renault only supply it as a complete hub but there may be bearings in the aftermarket.Dont sit on or chuck the key cards around as they can be brittle.The resetting the ECU after bulb changes is on the new Megane 3's.

The short of it is they do have their problems but there not bland and boring like VAG stuff,they go well,handle well and I would have one,and the F1's have launch control so that must be worth it.

Also we are a Seat dealers aswell and they arnt as reliable as people would have you think and they are big bucks when they break aswell.

[GilesW 41]

Cheers Damian.

I've seen on one of the forums a guy who does the bearings - both sides, him fitting, drive in drive out £150. Seemed good value.

 

Question - do they suffer from 'check emissions' errors, coils etc as much as the megane they are based on? Or did the dieppe RS factory do a slightly better job than the normal French part-timers? Lol

[hcmini1989 16]

With a remap the leon will kick out a lot more torque .Ok leon may be abit heavier but what are you going to be using it for ? .Any track work ?.Are you going to be fixing it your self?. If I were to be fixing it myself id go for the seat simply because Meganes can be a pita to do even simple things on and expensive for bits ,And the seats have lots of interchangeable parts from other vag stuff making secondhand parts easy to source. But they are a little bland compared to the Renaults.

[GilesW 41]

We're talking about standard cars though. So apples with Apple's.

 

I'll be fixing, and I have lots of mechanic friends so not too afraid of that, just more interested in how fragile/likely I am to need to fix it.

 

No track work. I have a track car. This is purely an A and B road toy with dailey use.

[pugdamo 111 2 Cars]

Thats a very good price,I guess he can get the bearings separately then.

Iv never had a misfiring megane sport,as you say the normal meganes was like 1 or 2 a day a few years ago,even they have slowed down now with modified coils.I had a EML a couple of times on a clio sport which was a failed o2 sensor and have seen a couple wrecked engines because the crank pulley wasn't torqued up,other than that iv done next to nothing repair wise on renault sport engines,just get a good one with cambelt history,take it for a good test drive and you should be fine

[rallyeash 155]

Id love a megane R26 F1. White with black chequers

[Dai1983 1]

Id love a megane R26 F1. White with black chequers

I like them in red. How much are the R26 models these days? I Guess r26r prices are firm due to rarity?

 

We have had a number of modern VAG cars in my family and they are not without their common faults. ABS pumps, window regulators, coils, oil consumption etc

[Andy_C 50]

My wife has a boggo 1.6 and it's not a bad car. Had the window issues (Renault cover a chunk of the cost to 100k miles) and stupid rear bearings as built into the discs but otherwise no massive issues.

 

The bulkhead sound deadening sags too - fixed with a £5 adaptor bracket from the dealer but a sod of a job to do.

[eddie bullit 37]

Was a toss up between the golf gti and R26 f1 and I chose the golf..only because I got bored of waiting for a good r26 and a very nice golf turned up. We kept it 8-9 months...it bored the s*it out of me good luck

[Andy_C 50]

I'm a big Renault fan and I like these a lot, I have driven a few and they are great, only problem I have seen often are window regs and keycard faults (normally just a soldering job) just be thorough when you check and test drive and make sure everything works

I wouldn't mind a heads up on the window issue. We paid £90-odd (with Renault contribution) to fix the driver's side but passenger still broken.

[GilesW 41]

Eddie - no way I am getting a golf. Driven loads of all types and the only decent one was the golf I owned - my mk1 gti.

All other golfs just don't stack up. And besides - every f###er has a golf. Something a little different, and rarer, would be nice.

[Rich_p 23]

I was looking at these on Autotrader recently, the 5 door Lux version to be precise, this is as a replacement for the 130i I've never really gelled with.

 

I'm concerned I will really notice a big difference in build quality between one of these and the BM.

 

What is the interior quality like on the Lux versions?

[Batfink 201]

The window mechanism issue is water damaging the motor. I've had a few customers in with these cars and all had them replaced. I dont know if there is a way of protecting or sealing the motor from harm. I've never taken on the task. I've had a couple with turbo issues but these were driven on track regularly so may have simply been extra wear and tear due to a hard life.

[Ramigojag 19 1 Cars]

I used to own one and they are brilliant. Plenty of little faults that can drive you mad though so be prepared to spend some time working on it or money to get someone to fix it.

[GilesW 41]

We'll I'm picking this up Monday for a good price.

Has been looked after and has some nice forge and other parts on it and 260bhp.

 

Only trouble is - I'm in Brighton on the south coast, car is in Ayr in Scotland!.

So a 5:20 start- car, plane, trainx2 picked up, then a 472 mile trip home.

Should be worth it though.

 

[TheReaperWaits 6 1 Cars]

Very nice. Newer than mine!

 

I went to Blackburn to pick mine up.

Edited February 21, 2015 by TheReaperWaits

[GilesW 41]

My budget (as not my main car) was tight and I was surprised to get this. Let's hope it's a pleasant surprise as buying a car blind is a huge gamble!

Looking forward to it though.

 

Will be contacting Renault UK with vin code to get the original spec info and any other info.

 

Has forge bits, full exhaust, and a 260 remap. The top of the range stereo, sat nav etc. Also I think it has the cup chassis option (has the eibach springs and has the right brakes (brembo all round) and the right mirror colours.

So fingers crossed!

[Reebmit 51 4 Cars]

Looking nice Giles, that should be a great 450 mile drive