Faults:

Suspension, shocks and springs at the front.

Disc and pads all round at its last MOT.

Coolant flush and replaced leaking pipe.

Interior plastics showed a lot of wear and tear with some breakage, but nothing major.

Usual servicing, oil changes, belt changes, etc.

General Comments:

This Renault Megane was nothing special, but I liked the car, it was my second. General reliability as you can see from the above faults was OK, and I think the cost of repairs was reasonable; most things were just wear and tear and it did not let me down - always started first time.

To look at I think it was a nice design, and it stood out a little from your Escort or Astra or whatever from the same time period. Being an Alize spec, it had lots of electrics but no alloy wheels for some reason; once I added those however it looked much better. Was a nice white colour, very bright and not typical of the duller whites you see on most cars.

The interior was very nice and probably the best thing about the car. Generally dull with grey plastic, but it did have lots of electric gadgets, and the seats were very plush and comfortable. The ride was very smooth for a smaller hatchback car; it rode like something much bigger.

The 1.6 petrol gave reasonable performance with the auto box, and MPG averaged close to 40. Handling was OK too, but again, nothing special; it would wallow in corners if pushed too hard, and the suspension was too soft, but as I said, it was nice to cruise in because of that, but definitely no racing car.

All in all, a typical 1990s Renault with average to good in all departments. Only sold it on when it was about 10 years old with over 100K on it because I was advised to do so - I heard they tend not to be reliable after this age and mileage, but you could say that about any car. In all fairness I did look after it and it never gave me any major trouble, and I suspect it would have easily lasted another few years.

Faults:

Leaky sunroof drains (and wet footwells)

Leaking sills.

Engine coils.

Leaking Wiper washer tank.

Low slung exhaust gets continually damaged.

Erratic window wipers.

Radio falls out of housing when driving.

No rear washer.

No front washer (both started working again)

No hot air from fans and other times no cool air from fans.

Leaky aerial which damaged immobiliser.

Hit and miss sidelights which required rewiring.

Latest (this month)...

Ariel leaking again.

Sheared shock absorber.

Problems with cooling, oil and water levels and temperature, and blue smoke.

Misfiring and grinding noises.

(Very difficult to keep clean!!)

General Comments:

I upgraded my Clio last year to my Megane, and although it was high mileage and quite aged, I was impressed at its comfort, spec, good fuel economy and smooth and sporty ride.

I enjoyed 3 months worry free motoring, and enjoyed warm weather with the sunroof back and my favourite music playing.

Unfortunately, it cannot be ignored, that it has dragged me over the coals many times, and I have put much time and effort (and money) into this car.

I love driving my Megane coupe and love its shape. The insurance I found to be good for a coupe, and the fuel consumption was also good. Many reviews claim the car is small inside, but I found there was always room for me and 3 of my friends and luggage in the boot... maybe we are just small.

However after being involved in an accident last year, much of its body work was damaged and many parts got broken.

Parts were expensive, and I found them difficult to source because it was the coupe version of the Megane, and also because of its yea,r as there are slight but important differences between the models.

Also living in Northern Ireland made it difficult to source parts cheaply, as shipping or postage made many things I needed expensive.

As you can see from the list of problems I have had, I have managed to pull the short straw this time! But to be fair, the work was mainly done between myself and my cousin, a rally car fan, and wasn't really too difficult.

But when people ask, 'after all that effort you put into your car would you buy another one' I reply, 'tomorrow'

My advice?

Buy a coupe! But try a low mileage one and try to get one with a service history, and which hasn't previously been owned by a racer or any one too clueless to look after the oil and water levels!