Renault Megane Renaultsport 230 Formula Team F1 R26

[Beemer-5]

These retail at £19K i believe.
Many places are doing them for £18K and £17K.

BUYACAR.COM have got them for £15,236 on the road!

There has to be a catch.
Doesn't there?

WHAT a buy at that price!

[dcw@pr]

that is a serious bargain!

by the way, it's buyacar.co.uk , not .com

[Beemer-5]

The car has been beating everything in it's class in tests.

The lsd gives it a big advantage over most competitiors.

The only car with anything the R26 hasn't got is the Focus ST.
Another cylinder and another 500cc.

[Alpineandy]

I'm not really 'into' new cars, but If I had the cash I'd be looking very seriously at one of them.

[trickywoo]

Alpineandy said:

I'm not really 'into' new cars, but If I had the cash I'd be looking very seriously at one of them.

Me too. I pity anyone paying list thinking they have done well to get mats and a tank of fuel thrown in though.

[coopers]

Are there poeple out buying cars today, who arent aware of the savings most poeple now get....

I know my Gran would never be able to understand that she could get money off, she would be happy if she got a choice of the colour let alone anything else.

But the Megane 230 isnt going to be sold to 87 year old ladys, more like late 20's - middle 30's, i would have presumed.

Therefore arent this age group fully aware of the savings that can be had...

Case in point was when i looked at the new 197... after the test drive i said wow nice car and asked what could they do for me if i selected A,B,C options, what they came back was atonishingly good, for a first offer.... and that probably had room for a tiny bit more.

Sadly I couldnt justify the 197 price tag when imo the 182 is a better car for my needs and is a damn sight cheaper

But i never go into a deal without weighing up the options first looking at ease, price and speed of purchase.

[Beemer-5]

£15,236 just seems ridiculous value for the R26 though.

That is 197 money!

[ALawson]

I have looked at these for the same reasons they seem absolutely mental value for money, and the sort of place I want to be dynamically and speed wise after the ATR. Coming from a Jap car you can probably understand my percieved problems with the car with respect to depreciation and more importantly reliability. Looking at the latest consumer in top gear magazine should put anyone of renualts, is it all true or not? My ATR has done 108k in the last 5.5 years with me having done 87 of these, should I worry?

Any advice guys and girls, cheers Alex.


Even with metallic and xenons it comes out at 16.4k.........unbelievable!!!

Edited by ALawson on Friday 2nd March 14:59

[warren182]

Had two renault sport clios over 80k miles, been absolutely faultless. No breakdowns, 1 flat tyre. No warranty work or parts (except pads etc) needed replacing. Four track days in total and never missed a beat.

[ALawson]

Thanks warren, I reckon that the only people who reply to these surveys are those that have owned lemons and ultra reliable cars, sort of gives out a distorted image of reliability.

Cheers again. Just cannot justify the extra 10-15k to get a new S3...

[plfrench]

Are the higher spec Meganes built better than the base models?

When I had my Laguna which although built ok had more faults than I could ever imagine possible on a modern car, I was given a Megane as a courtesey car. The thing was so flimsy that bits actually were falling off around me. The handbrake lever fell apart in my hand, both interior and exterior door trims fell off and the whole thing felt like it was about ready for the scrappy. This was less than a year old and was quite shocking. I declined to have it for future periods when the Laguna was off the road and instead used a spare Focus that was kicking around at work.

This is a seriuous question, as the number of glowing reviews the sporty Clio and Meganes is one thing, but I seriously don't think I could risk either of them as an ownership proposition.

Am I being overly cautious? The missus would really like a 197 but I just don't think she should from my own and my colleagues experiences of Renaults.

[Beemer-5]

ALawson said:

Thanks warren, I reckon that the only people who reply to these surveys are those that have owned lemons and ultra reliable cars, sort of gives out a distorted image of reliability.

Cheers again. Just cannot justify the extra 10-15k to get a new S3...

S3 overpriced.
They are Evo 320 money.

[twit]

I have tested a megane cup thingy, not the one now but the one before. It was an alright car but it felt like it was made of paper,, as did the 197. I doubt the newer Megane is any better. You just know if you bought one it would be collapsed inside 18 months... Just like my Clio 172 cup.

Decent cars spec wise but it confirmed my vow never to go near a Renault again as a new car. As an older banger then maybe but not new...

[ALawson]

This is what I had feared serious quality issues. As for the EVO I think similar level of depreciation and probably only slightly better quality preculde that choice. This car is going to be used for business and doing 20k a year would either of them handled it?

[warren182]

One thing I forgot to mention, exhaust did die, made of tin foil and rusted through. I think people have some unrealistis expectations, the R26 is pretty much as quick as an s3, and at the minimum about 6-7k cheaper (up to 10k with discounts). When I bought my first clio 172, I was initially going for a cooper s, but with the same spec it came out just under 20k (leather, climate, xenons, metallic, 6cd, auto wipers/lights). I paid under 12k for a brand new 172, and it was faultless.

[Tripps]

Beemer-5 said:

S3 overpriced.
They are Evo 320 money.

Not if you think the numbers throuh they're not, by a long way...

The S3 is really just a hot hatch, where-as the Evo is a highly tuned performance saloon with all the pitfalls, including a 4500 mile service interval.

Not bemoaning either, they're not my bag (baby!), but the S3 would be a far more realistic car for most people.

[Tripps]

ALawson said:

This car is going to be used for business and doing 20k a year would either of them handled it?

My call on this would be no, get something that is good for business and something else for the weekend - there are very few cars that can do both well.

[Beemer-5]

warren182 said:

One thing I forgot to mention, exhaust did die, made of tin foil and rusted through. I think people have some unrealistis expectations, the R26 is pretty much as quick as an s3, and at the minimum about 6-7k cheaper (up to 10k with discounts). When I bought my first clio 172, I was initially going for a cooper s, but with the same spec it came out just under 20k (leather, climate, xenons, metallic, 6cd, auto wipers/lights). I paid under 12k for a brand new 172, and it was faultless.

I paid £12K for a new 182 which never let me down, either.

[Beemer-5]

Tripps said:

Beemer-5 said:

S3 overpriced.
They are Evo 320 money.

Not if you think the numbers throuh they're not, by a long way...

The S3 is really just a hot hatch, where-as the Evo is a highly tuned performance saloon with all the pitfalls, including a 4500 mile service interval.

Not bemoaning either, they're not my bag (baby!), but the S3 would be a far more realistic car for most people.

Aye, but poor value for what you are actually getting.

The Evo's driveline is worth a fortune on it's own.

S3 way too expensive at almost £30K.

[Beemer-5]

Tripps said:

ALawson said:

This car is going to be used for business and doing 20k a year would either of them handled it?

My call on this would be no, get something that is good for business and something else for the weekend - there are very few cars that can do both well.

Aye. Good point.