| Product: |
Renault Megane 1.4 8v 5dr |
| Date: |
15/08/05 (2736 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Economical, reasonably comfortable, some nifty gadgets
Disadvantages: The car went through a spate of having electrical faults; big blind spots
Background
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For me, driving is simply a method of getting from A to B. I don't especially enjoy driving, and will happily be driven. Driving my husband around is a NIGHTMARE - he's the world's worst passenger seat driver. But I digress.
My first car was an F-reg Lada Riva estate. It was a heap-o-junk. Anything after that had to be a bonus.
Once we disposed of the Lada (which is a story in itself for another time and place), both my husband and I drove an F-reg Nissan Bluebird Turbo. It was blockish (we are talking 1988 make here), but quick off the mark and reasonably reliable (although we did have to do 'things' to the turbo - including replacing it once). However, once it had seen 154,000 miles, it was clearly time to put it out to grass.
So a replacement car was in order. We couldn't afford a new car - we had a budget of around £5,000. I insisted that any car we bought must have power steering and electric front windows (and, of course, an engine, 4 wheels etc). Any other extra features were just that - extra. We scoured the local papers and visited used car lots. From a Lexus dealership, we came across a P-reg red Renault Megane 1.4 with power steering, electric front windows and an electric sunroof. We bought it pretty much on the spot, trading in the Nissan (which really WAS quite poorly by now) and paying just under £6,000 (ok, we broke the budget, but hey).
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The Basics
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My Megane is a 5-door hatchback 1.4 litre petrol model. In addition to the power steering and electric front windows and sunroof, it also has a radio-cassette, and pretty cool windscreen wipers - they automatically slow down when the car comes to a halt. It also has a rear screen wiper. There is an engine immobiliser, and the type of central locking that allows you to press a button to open the car - I like that bit! In fact the immobiliser is connected to the pressy-button thingy, so you can't start the car if you've opened the doors the traditional way - with the key.
It's no use asking me about those bizarre features that car manufacturers always advertise - I wouldn't know ABS if it came and bit me on the nose. As far as I'm concerned, when I turn the key, the little gnomes start running REALLY fast. So for all you car freaks out there, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you.
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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THE GOOD
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---FUN BITS: It goes. After all, that's what I have a car for *grin*! Besides that, the variable speed windscreen wipers are a nice feature. Still with the wipers, there are around six intermittent settings, which beats the two or three found on many cars. I also like being able to open the doors centrally with the push of a button.
---THE RIDE: The ride is reasonably comfortable - but keep in mind I'm comparing it to an elderly Bluebird and a nasty Lada. Need I say more? The driver's seat is not only adjustable from front to back, but also up and down. This is very handy for our family, as I am five feet seven inches, and my husband is 6 feet 5 inches. Needless to say, I need the seat higher than he does to see over the steering wheel.
---ECONOMY: This car is MUCH cheaper to run than either the Lada or the Bluebird. It takes standard unleaded petrol, which is quite a bit cheaper than super or lead replacement petrol (for you Americans reading out there, we pay around five or six dollars a gallon in the UK). I am mostly driving in urban areas (driving to Park Royal is a NIGHTMARE), and I can squeeze a bit over 300 miles on one tank of petrol (I've never run it to empty, so I'm not sure how MUCH over 300 miles I can get). To fill the tank from empty costs me around £30. Sadly, I don't know how that translates into miles per gallon or kilometres per litre. But I KNOW I'm spending less on petrol, and less time at the petrol station than I was with the previous two cars.
---STEERING: The car has a good turning circle - far better than that on the Nissan Bluebird. For comparison though, it's not as good as that on a Volvo, but then Volvos can turn on a five-pence. The power steering is responsive and has a good feel, whilst still...well...assisting. Having driven the Lada for several years, which had no power steering and was like driving the QEII (both the effort required and the turning circle), this is a godsend.
---COMFORT AND SPACE: As is to be expected in a car of this size (and I'd call the size mid-sized), adults may find the back a wee bit cramped (particularly tall adults), but it is not unbearably so for shorter trips. There is more than adequate room for children (depending, of course, how MANY children you wish to put back there). You can fit three in the back at a pinch, but that would be unpleasant on long journeys even for the youngsters.
---THE BOOT: The boot space is good for a car of this size. The hatch raises easily and enough so that I don't hit my head on it. I could, if I needed to, get a pushchair in without too much trouble (thankfully, those days are long gone). I have no problems at all loading the weekly shopping. The rear seats fold down after a fashion (they don't fold completely flat) to allow longer loads, however, this is, of course, at the expensive of rear seating. I can't easily get my daughter's bicycle in the car.
---SERVICING: A couple of weeks ago, I had my car MOT'd and serviced. The car needed new brake pads, and two new front coil springs for the suspension - this cost (including labour, the MOT and service) £340.
THE BAD
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The car is underpowered, especially compared to the Nissan Bluebird Turbo, but that is to be expected. I find the lack of quick acceleration frustrating, especially at roundabouts and whilst trying to overtake.
The five-speed gearbox is sticky - I often have difficulty getting it into gear, especially first gear - you need to be firm with it.
The brakes are slightly mushy, but not incredibly so. Each car I've driven has had a different 'feel' to braking, so I suspect this is just a foible of this particular car.
There are two HUGE blind spots at the back because the pillars are so large. Also, because of the slope of the rear window, it can be difficult to gauge where exactly the back of the car starts when you are reversing. I find these two issues to be particularly annoying, as I am arthritic, so have difficulty turning my neck fully.
It doesn't have a cup holder (Americans know what I mean!), and the ashtray is tiny.
I wish it had rear speakers (although if you buy the car new, you can have these as an optional extra).
The first part of the instruction manual is in French, unsurprisingly, given this is a French car. However, this also means that most of the illustrations in the book show a left hand drive car, although there is a diagram of a right hand drive car in the manual.
THE UGLY - or - nobody knows the troubles I've seen
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My Megane seems to go through windscreen wipers like nobody's business. Whether that's because the wipers are adjusted to tightly against the windscreen, or whether it's just a 'feature' of this particular car or model, I don't know. Remember, I'm not a mechanic.
I have had all SORTS of problems with the electrics, For a while, when I braked, the fog lamp went on. When I signaled, the fog lamp blinked along merrily. If my headlights were on, I couldn't signal right at all.
It turned out the root cause of my funky electrics was a dirty and corroded contact on one of the licence plate lights. Bruce (the mechanic) changed the bulb and cleaned the contacts, and that seems to have sorted the problem. Well, THAT'S a relief!!
The light for the clock and thermometer has died. This was vaguely annoying. After a while, more dash lights went, so I finally had all the bulbs in the dash replaced.
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The Recommendation
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I like the car, despite its faults and foibles. It gets me where I need to go; I haven't had any major engine problems since we got the car (five years ago, I think) - we've replaced the exhaust once, and the clutch cables once. It's reasonably cheap to run, and it's easy to steer.
It's not a 'boy racer' car. It's a bit slow on the pick up, and it isn't 'sexy' (there are 'sexy' Megane models out there - just mine isn't one of them).
When we bought the car, I think it had under 30,000 miles on it, so we were satisfied with the value for money.
In balance, then, I would recommend this as a good urban runner - big enough for my family and family paraphernalia, but small enough to make it fairly easy to manoeuvre.
Summary: A relatively inexpensive mid-sized car to buy and to run. Recommended.
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