Renault Megane Grandtour GT (205) - opinions?

[The Hiphopopotamus]

As we have a new baby and a Labrador, I'm looking at options for a fun estate - if used, under €5k cash (I'm in Germany so there's not much choice sub that money - especially anything Jap, any decent BMW's, A4's etc are all 200k plus mileage) or a new / lease.

The missus' parents have a decent relationship with the local Renault dealer (They have a Koleos, Kadjar, and a Kangoo) so I dropped in to see if they have anything interesting.

They have a fully loaded (literally every option ticked) Megane Grand Tour GT for about €250 a month on lease (with a 32% discount as well). Anyone been in one / driven one? Thoughts?

Though, I've just been checking the UK Renault site and it doesn't seem to be available in the UK with the 205ps engine?

[Butter Face]

It was available but RUK sold a tiny amount of them so they are super rare.

[The Hiphopopotamus]

Hmm, probably not the best place to try and get an opinion then

[Butter Face]

They’re a great car, i went to training at millbrook and smashed around in a GT hatch for a bit, lots of fun and essentially an RS ‘lite’

[HTP99]

Funnily enough I had a guy call me last week looking for a hatch version; he'd found one in Leicester but didn't want to travel there (I'm Surrey) if he didn't have to and would rather buy locally, I told him if he'd found one and wanted one then go for it wherever it was, due to their rarity he couldn't be picky about the location.

Great car but as usual Renault never seen to do well the "RS lite" version of anything, in the UK.

He'd also found a Tourer version too locally but wanted the hatch; I'd go for the Tourer myself.

Edited by HTP99 on Saturday 18th May 19:02

[Butter Face]

I’d have the tourer too.

Strangely I had a chap a few months back who asked me to find one, I told him the same, go get one wherever you can find it, he did, been with us lots since as it had a front ender at some point and the 4WS doesn’t work properly.

[The Hiphopopotamus]

I wasn't expecting such positive replies from this forum

The only issue I have with it is it's in white (and not available in manual) but it's still a lovely looking car.

I'll see how it drives and how "quick" it feels when the garage manage to finally get it here

[mholt1995]

The new meganes are quite nice, I had one (1.6 diesel manual, gt line spec) for a few days which included a 250 mile drive drive Grantham to Devon (and then back again), had it a couple of other times as well.

Especially with the adaptive cruise control it was a surprisingly comfortable car.

If i had to sum up my feelings...

Pros
Adaptive cruise control - first and only time I've experienced it, really made the miles slip away
Composed at motorway speeds and comfy on good roads
Exterior design - easily the best looking Megane (especially the rear lights)
Decent infotainment setup


Cons
Low speed ride was a tad crashy but have had worse
Speakers were naff (if yours has the BOSE system then I don't see it being a problem)
Notchy gearbox (some people like this and the gts are automatic)
Wheezy agricultural engine (not an issue with the gt)
Finicky electric handbrake causing me grief on a hill start (probably a better auto hold feature comes with the automatic)

[165gt]

Butter Face said:

It was available but RUK sold a tiny amount of them so they are super rare.

I was thinking of buying a new one of these a couple of years ago but decided to hang on...any chance that RUK will bring them back or are RHD models gone for good?

[Butter Face]

165gt said:

Butter Face said:

It was available but RUK sold a tiny amount of them so they are super rare.

I was thinking of buying a new one of these a couple of years ago but decided to hang on...any chance that RUK will bring them back or are RHD models gone for good?

Can’t see it happening TBH. GT sold in tiny numbers, RS doesn’t set the work alight either in pure numbers sold (when compared to other brands offerings) Megane is just not a big seller in the U.K., I’d wager that Captur outsells it 10:1 if not more.

[HTP99]

Butter Face said:

165gt said:

Butter Face said:

It was available but RUK sold a tiny amount of them so they are super rare.

I was thinking of buying a new one of these a couple of years ago but decided to hang on...any chance that RUK will bring them back or are RHD models gone for good?

Can’t see it happening TBH. GT sold in tiny numbers, [b]RS doesn’t set the work alight either[b] in pure numbers sold (when compared to other brands offerings) Megane is just not a big seller in the U.K., I’d wager that Captur outsells it 10:1 if not more.

Hence why every dealer has to now run a Megane RS from Q3.

[165gt]

Butter Face said:

165gt said:

Butter Face said:

It was available but RUK sold a tiny amount of them so they are super rare.

I was thinking of buying a new one of these a couple of years ago but decided to hang on...any chance that RUK will bring them back or are RHD models gone for good?

Can’t see it happening TBH. GT sold in tiny numbers, RS doesn’t set the work alight either in pure numbers sold (when compared to other brands offerings) Megane is just not a big seller in the U.K., I’d wager that Captur outsells it 10:1 if not more.

Thought that was likely to be the case for the GT but didn't realise RS sales were that low overall. in comparison to other brands Maybe there'll be a short GT run again when it's facelifted...

[The Hiphopopotamus]

Well, drove this today and I have to say I am impressed. Whilst it's not hugely quick, the whole package is pretty appealing (also managed to find another one in a better colour close to us with 40k *kilometres on the clock and is the second cheapest in the country) and I think I'll pull the trigger on it next week. Thanks all.