On the road on a budget. Megane Coupe

[KM666]

Dont be too cruel, its never going to set the world alight but for £390, HPI clear, with 'some' history, running, clutch, gearbox and engine are all in good working order and even the CD player works so all in all a decent find on an extreme budget.
Theres just a ruined leccy window regulator to replace and 2 new tyres, then onto its next owner if it doesnt suddenly reveal hidden charms on premium tyres (front tyres different sizes, same chinese ditchfinder brand however, not much fun the wet driving home).

[P I Staker]

Just pretend its a Maxi Kit car and it will make you a lot happier.

How does it handle? I actually quite like these...

[KM666]

Haha I was wistfully googling pictures of the maxi car on my phone waiting to buy it.

At the moment awfully on the chinese tyres its sporting, got very 'frisky' at 50mph around a large swooping bend on a very wide slightly damp bypass. The turn in is good and the steering is only a tad lighter than my Dads 172 clio just in the picture there so a nice feel to it, its just very limited by its tyres, front drivers side is a 185/65/15, passenger side is 185/60/15 so pulls to the left a bit. Will have to wait till wednesday to judge it properly.

The quirky thing about it is that it is vitrually silent inside, you can hardly hear the engine at all, everytime I get to traffic lights I think its cut out, its only the rev counter that shows it still running.

[Deluded]

Was considering one of these before I purchased the current car (probably would have been a better purchase too...)..

Only thing that put me off was the common electrical problems they seem to be riddled with apparently. Supposed to handle well and be a good drive, plus good on fuel and a nice range of revvy engines. Plus I think they are pretty nice looking!... Boot looks a bit impractical though...

Thumbs up from me.

[KM666]

Deluded said:

Was considering one of these before I purchased the current car (probably would have been a better purchase too...)..

Only thing that put me off was the common electrical problems they seem to be riddled with apparently. Supposed to handle well and be a good drive, plus good on fuel and a nice range of revvy engines. Plus I think they are pretty nice looking!... Boot looks a bit impractical though...

Thumbs up from me.

Yeah the elctrics are a little suspect. Thought mine needed new window regs but took the switch out and it was just unplugged, can hear the motor working but the dealer must've had a go at trying to do it and so the window needs reattching to the mechanism. Seem after getting it back yesterday the rear electric side windows have decided they will work when they want to and not when I want them to. So far the best i'm showing is 22.5mpg. In dire need of an oil change.

[Hoygo]

Nothing wrong with that seems good for the money,i was tempted by a yellow Williams Megane coupe before i got my 172,was on OZ F1 (black) wheels and it looked really great.

Regarding their quality they put many people off but generally mk1 Meganes are cheap to repair.

I think the coupe had potential for a R.S version,Clio 172 engine in ,some tweaks,shame Renault didn't do it,can see many people who have done it though,any future plans?

[chr15b]

I had a new one of these in 2000, a 2.0 privilege Monaco.. Loved it

[y2blade]

KM666 said:

Dont be too cruel, its never going to set the world alight but for £390, HPI clear, with 'some' history, running, clutch, gearbox and engine are all in good working order and even the CD player works so all in all a decent find on an extreme budget.
Theres just a ruined leccy window regulator to replace and 2 new tyres, then onto its next owner if it doesnt suddenly reveal hidden charms on premium tyres (front tyres different sizes, same chinese ditchfinder brand however, not much fun the wet driving home).

One of my Cousins had a Megane Coupe for a while, his was a good car
His one was the earlier ones with a different look to it.

His one was like this:

[dragonheart]

My wife currently has a mint Megane Cabriolet, only cost me £800 1 owner from new and full history. About 2 weeks ago it to developed intermittent rear window opening/closing issues. Turned out to be a really easy fix which involved me popping out the switches and cleaning them, they were absolutely covered in dust and dirt. Cleaned off dirt, a quick spray with electrical contact cleaner and hey presto no more trouble. May be worth you trying the same.

[KM666]

y2blade said:

One of my Cousins had a Megane Coupe for a while, his was a good car
His one was the earlier ones with a different look to it.

His one was like this:

Oooh I do prefer the front end on those, its a bit sharper, and gets nicer wheels!

Funny you should mention a 172 engine swap Hoygo, take a wild guess what I've got lurking in the garage with the appropriate gearbox. Doubt my old man would mind me giving it a new home. Okay so it'd need the plumbing and i'd imagine a 172 front subframe, but if I get another monkey going spare i'd be very tempted to buy a 172 sans engine and butcher it for parts.
That I have use of an engine crane makes it all the more tempting...

Edited by KM666 on Sunday 8th July 21:40

[KM666]

dragonheart said:

My wife currently has a mint Megane Cabriolet, only cost me £800 1 owner from new and full history. About 2 weeks ago it to developed intermittent rear window opening/closing issues. Turned out to be a really easy fix which involved me popping out the switches and cleaning them, they were absolutely covered in dust and dirt. Cleaned off dirt, a quick spray with electrical contact cleaner and hey presto no more trouble. May be worth you trying the same.

Thanks for the advice i'll be out first thing tomorrow with a can of contact cleaner.

[6potdave]

I had one of these a few years ago and quite liked it! The engine is lively enough, the handling is crisp and it was a comfy place to be! Make sure you get the cambelt done if it hasn't already been as mine cost me £700 to fix! I used to get 46mpg from mine, cracking little car!

[KM666]

6potdave said:

I had one of these a few years ago and quite liked it! The engine is lively enough, the handling is crisp and it was a comfy place to be! Make sure you get the cambelt done if it hasn't already been as mine cost me £700 to fix! I used to get 46mpg from mine, cracking little car!

Got documentation showing cambelt to have been done at 83k (13k miles ago) in december of 2009 so shouldnt be an issue during my ownership.
It is certainly a very comfortable car in a way only cars of this era are, nice soft seats, 15" wheels with sensible profile tyres and not overly firm suspension.
When did rock solid seats and a jarring ride become so desirable?

[dragonheart]

Did you sort the rear window issue?

[KM666]

dragonheart said:

Did you sort the rear window issue?

Yes, now working fine. Thanks for the good advice!

[pimpchez]

i had one as a second car ,it was crap so what did i do......






































sold it and bought the 2litre version
that was also st... and went to webuyanycar

[KM666]

pimpchez said:

i had one as a second car ,it was crap so what did i do......






































sold it and bought the 2litre version
that was also st... and went to webuyanycar

Haha mine certainly isnt the best car i've ever driven, but its far from the worst.

I'm still not sure which is smaller inside, these or new MINI's. I suppose at least the Meganes get a boot that takes more than 2 cases of beer.

Edited by KM666 on Tuesday 24th July 21:47

[James-jupp]

I´ve currently got a 2001 facelift (same as the blue one in the O.P) - but in silver, and on 17´s. painted the roof black too. it´s a bit of a "beater" but as its on 250,000km on its petrol 1.6 16v, I cant grumble much. its got its niggles, but its economical and starts first time.