So I had a Renault Megane Hire Car...it was bad.
Discussion
Allow me to elaborate. 
5 day holiday in Scotland, was planning to drive up from London in the E30 but must admit I couldn't be arsed so we (gf and I) decided to fly up and hire a car for the duration.
Initially a Focus was requested, however on arrival we were informed the options were: Renault Megane or Vauxhall Astra. Given I didn't want to fall into a coma every time I drove the car, I decided to avoid the Astra and sample the Gallic delights of the Megane.
(google image)
(Was a '10 plate with 10k miles on the clock)
First impressions - looked interesting enough (in black). Certainly a bit more visual stimulation than the Astra that was beside it. Had nice alloy wheels, a fairly decent sized boot. It's a Eurobox, but probably one of the more interesting looking ones out there.
Interior - integrated screen in the dash looked cheap, like one of those screens you get on airlines for watching films. The quality of the plastics wasn't too shabby at all, not VW standard but certainly more than acceptable (actually I thought it better than a 1 Series I had nosed through a couple of years ago at the dealer - I think that's saying more about BMWs than Renault though tbh). Again, compared with the Astra sitting next door, the Renault had it licked.
And then the issues began...
Heater switches - annoying. The fact that the rotary temp contol would not sit at 12 o'clock annoyed me. Just to the left or just to the right but never bang straight up. Minor but poor attention to detail that would probably annoy me every day (and it did).
Interior - good quality but makes the car feel bigger than it should and visibilty around was pretty rubbish.
Key - Or rather lack of. Stupid card thing which you have to insert in the dash and push the starter button. Never seen an issue with keys previously so in my mind, not really much of an 'improvement' but given the dimensions of the card, I could imagine it more convenient to carry than a set of keys. I'll give Renault that one...
Auto lights - for some reason there appeared to be two sets of sidelights, one for auto lights and one for driver switched sidelights. No idea why. Can't see the point of auto lights myself - just give me 3 settings - sidelights, dipped and main and I'm happy. Incidentally, hate the way to activate the mains (rather than flash) you pull towards all the way (unlike the BMW in which you push away).
Wipers - stupidly complicated wiper stalk with millions of things going on. Again an annoying auto setting which never worked that well. Frustrating.
Engine - some kind of 4 cylinder malarkey (not sure on the size). Fairly revvy but anything above 3k sounded terrible and at motorway cruising speed made an awful drone. Not impressed at all.
Gearbox (6sp man) - Plasticky feel and appeared to have very short gearing. Given the lack of torque I found myself swapping cogs more often than I'd like.
Dashboard - Utter t
ttage. An indicator comes on to tell you when to change up or down for 'maximising economical driving'. fk off Renault (I can imagine people following the up/down instructions with no awareness of the road ahead and being in totally the wrong gear all them time).
In addition, the fact that I need to look in the manual on how to reset the mileage rather than push a button annoyed me. Significantly. Plus I hate the stupidly huge central dial with the speed in massive numbers.
Steering - seriously light. I understand that for most people this might be a city car where tight manouevers are required but I found the steering far too light as though it was designed for individuals with some kind of arm atrophy. Did not like. Out on the road, there wasn't much in the way of feel/feedback at all coming through the wheel and imo didn't inspire confidence in the twisties.
Any redeeming features? Well, it is easy to drive, smooth and will get you where you need to go (in the wrong gear) with minimum of fuss or bother (or interest or enjoyment).
The most telling thing is what my gf said when she drove it: "It's really so easy to drive, you barely need to think about it and it almost drives itself".
I'll take my E30 any day. It looks, sounds and goes better.
(...although I suspect in a crash, the 5* NCAP Renault might be a 'tad' superior)
5 day holiday in Scotland, was planning to drive up from London in the E30 but must admit I couldn't be arsed so we (gf and I) decided to fly up and hire a car for the duration.
Initially a Focus was requested, however on arrival we were informed the options were: Renault Megane or Vauxhall Astra. Given I didn't want to fall into a coma every time I drove the car, I decided to avoid the Astra and sample the Gallic delights of the Megane.
(google image)
(Was a '10 plate with 10k miles on the clock)
First impressions - looked interesting enough (in black). Certainly a bit more visual stimulation than the Astra that was beside it. Had nice alloy wheels, a fairly decent sized boot. It's a Eurobox, but probably one of the more interesting looking ones out there.
Interior - integrated screen in the dash looked cheap, like one of those screens you get on airlines for watching films. The quality of the plastics wasn't too shabby at all, not VW standard but certainly more than acceptable (actually I thought it better than a 1 Series I had nosed through a couple of years ago at the dealer - I think that's saying more about BMWs than Renault though tbh). Again, compared with the Astra sitting next door, the Renault had it licked.
And then the issues began...
Heater switches - annoying. The fact that the rotary temp contol would not sit at 12 o'clock annoyed me. Just to the left or just to the right but never bang straight up. Minor but poor attention to detail that would probably annoy me every day (and it did).
Interior - good quality but makes the car feel bigger than it should and visibilty around was pretty rubbish.
Key - Or rather lack of. Stupid card thing which you have to insert in the dash and push the starter button. Never seen an issue with keys previously so in my mind, not really much of an 'improvement' but given the dimensions of the card, I could imagine it more convenient to carry than a set of keys. I'll give Renault that one...
Auto lights - for some reason there appeared to be two sets of sidelights, one for auto lights and one for driver switched sidelights. No idea why. Can't see the point of auto lights myself - just give me 3 settings - sidelights, dipped and main and I'm happy. Incidentally, hate the way to activate the mains (rather than flash) you pull towards all the way (unlike the BMW in which you push away).
Wipers - stupidly complicated wiper stalk with millions of things going on. Again an annoying auto setting which never worked that well. Frustrating.
Engine - some kind of 4 cylinder malarkey (not sure on the size). Fairly revvy but anything above 3k sounded terrible and at motorway cruising speed made an awful drone. Not impressed at all.
Gearbox (6sp man) - Plasticky feel and appeared to have very short gearing. Given the lack of torque I found myself swapping cogs more often than I'd like.
Dashboard - Utter t
ttage. An indicator comes on to tell you when to change up or down for 'maximising economical driving'. fk off Renault (I can imagine people following the up/down instructions with no awareness of the road ahead and being in totally the wrong gear all them time).In addition, the fact that I need to look in the manual on how to reset the mileage rather than push a button annoyed me. Significantly. Plus I hate the stupidly huge central dial with the speed in massive numbers.
Steering - seriously light. I understand that for most people this might be a city car where tight manouevers are required but I found the steering far too light as though it was designed for individuals with some kind of arm atrophy. Did not like. Out on the road, there wasn't much in the way of feel/feedback at all coming through the wheel and imo didn't inspire confidence in the twisties.
Any redeeming features? Well, it is easy to drive, smooth and will get you where you need to go (in the wrong gear) with minimum of fuss or bother (or interest or enjoyment).
The most telling thing is what my gf said when she drove it: "It's really so easy to drive, you barely need to think about it and it almost drives itself".
I'll take my E30 any day. It looks, sounds and goes better.
(...although I suspect in a crash, the 5* NCAP Renault might be a 'tad' superior)
g3org3y said:
Dashboard - Utter tttage. An indicator comes on to tell you when to change up or down for 'maximising economical driving'. fk off Renault (I can imagine people following the up/down instructions with no awareness of the road ahead and being in totally the wrong gear all them time).
Thanks for the tip off there...ttage. An indicator comes on to tell you when to change up or down for 'maximising economical driving'. fk off Renault (I can imagine people following the up/down instructions with no awareness of the road ahead and being in totally the wrong gear all them time).When I reel one of these in on an interesting B road and there is any hint that the driver is adhering to this, they'll be swiftly despatched.
That's weird, I have just got back today from Belgium having driven there and back in a black Megane hatch 1.6 petrol, albeit 60 reg with 500 miles on the clock.
My conclusions?
Exactly as yours.
Load of boring crap plus the radio/nav/phone thing is about as intuitive as a 1970's computer.
Plus one of the wipers was infuriatingly squeaky.
Wouldn't buy one, ever. Unless one of those really hot Renaultsport things with plastic windows (or was that the old model?)
Oh and looks so boring. Renault what's gone wrong? I don't need a good interior - I want a funky car
My conclusions?
Exactly as yours.
Load of boring crap plus the radio/nav/phone thing is about as intuitive as a 1970's computer.
Plus one of the wipers was infuriatingly squeaky.
Wouldn't buy one, ever. Unless one of those really hot Renaultsport things with plastic windows (or was that the old model?)
Oh and looks so boring. Renault what's gone wrong? I don't need a good interior - I want a funky car
I started reading and was wondering what all the fuss is about (dials which won't sit at 12o'clock - OP, you have OCD), but then I got to the bit about telling the driver when to change gear. Daft, unnecessary, french electronics - this will not end well. This is what happens when a car is designed by the IT dept rather than the engineers.
EDLT said:
To be fair, a 10,000 mile rental car is nearly dead.
The clutch biting point was higher than Ben Nevis so you aren't far off!Horsepower27 said:
Load of boring crap plus the radio/nav/phone thing is about as intuitive as a 1970's computer.
This is imo the crux of the matter. In an effort to improve things they've just made everything on that car unecessarily complicated that you need to get out the manual to check functions which should be second nature when driving any car. Making things complicated and adding a digital display does not = better.At least with all my anger/annoyance I wasn't bored so the objective underlying the avoidance of the Astra was achieved.
Did I mention the door mirrors were also crap with stupid 'wide angle' glass.
Yeah, I had a previous shape one for a few weeks in Germany. My experience was similar to yours; doesn't sound like they've made much progress. In it's defence the brakes are very good indeed, I don't mean how they have a 1/4 inch of dead travel, about 4mm of useful movement and anything past that tries to fire you through the windscreen I mean they don't fade or smoke or anything. I won't tell you how I know that but trust me they are shockingly good.
I fit's any consolation the previous shape Astra was even worse (the stupid indicators and not being able to see out alone will drive you insane) so the current one is probably just as bad. Golf/A3/Octavia etc is the only way I reckon (never driven a Focus).
I fit's any consolation the previous shape Astra was even worse (the stupid indicators and not being able to see out alone will drive you insane) so the current one is probably just as bad. Golf/A3/Octavia etc is the only way I reckon (never driven a Focus).
The poor visibility is an epidemic in most modern cars and one reason I'll probably never buy another one. They make my old Golf III seem like a pagoda roof and I recall the bhing about the C pillar when they came out.
I hired a Clio in Spain - a diesel and to be fair, though it was about as inspiring as a B&Q adverts and pretty dull, it was competent and despite the light steering, it did maintain some high speeds and made good progress. However, it didn't have auto-anything or shift lights or sat nav and was all the better for it and you can still see out of them.
hing about the C pillar when they came out.I hired a Clio in Spain - a diesel and to be fair, though it was about as inspiring as a B&Q adverts and pretty dull, it was competent and despite the light steering, it did maintain some high speeds and made good progress. However, it didn't have auto-anything or shift lights or sat nav and was all the better for it and you can still see out of them.
New Astra is a very good car (previous one was pretty good too, had a number of 1.8s as hire cars) you'd have been much better off with one of those. Never had a problem with an Astra hire car, had problems with almost every Megane or Scenic I've ever had (hire cars, would never buy one).
"Heater switches - annoying. The fact that the rotary temp contol would not sit at 12 o'clock annoyed me. Just to the left or just to the right but never bang straight up. Minor but poor attention to detail that would probably annoy me every day (and it did)"
Blimey. Do you have mild OCD condition?
It annoyed you in a hire car?
Blimey. Do you have mild OCD condition?
It annoyed you in a hire car?
The engine, steering and gear change, I would agree with, but I don't really see how any of the other complaints can be considered problems.
Does it really bother you what angle the temperature control sits at?
ETA: Visibility is a problem on just about all modern cars.
Does it really bother you what angle the temperature control sits at?
ETA: Visibility is a problem on just about all modern cars.
Edited by kambites on Thursday 25th November 09:42
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