Megane 2001 1.6 auto soft top

Mickle666

New member
Tadpole
Joined
Aug 1, 2020
Messages
2
Location
Pakenham
New to this..my beautiful grand daugher wishes to buy a 2001 megane softtop. 190 k on clock..$3800. Car looks,sounds,drives ok..not checked yet. Are they worth buying. First car. Expensive to fix,service etc. Any advice ???
 
Maintenance history, repairs etc. Old car high km be prepared for problems, check thoroughly especially at that asking $$$. The hood, if it need replacing within her ownership could be very costly (for a good one)
 
Not excessive miles and as long as the cam belt is within four years of fitment it should be good to go, if not change it on purchase. The soft top system and shortened wheelbase was designed by Karmann (of Karmann Ghia) and the hood is a long lasting high quality material, although the rear window material might need replacing if it hasn't been regularly cleaned with a proper plastic polish. My wife got over 95,000 km out of the original Michelins and it was miserly on fuel. Any behind the dash repairs are expensive so make sure that all the instrumentation and heater/A/C is all functioning.............
 
Not excessive miles and as long as the cam belt is within four years of fitment it should be good to go, if not change it on purchase. The soft top system and shortened wheelbase was designed by Karmann (of Karmann Ghia) and the hood is a long lasting high quality material, although the rear window material might need replacing if it hasn't been regularly cleaned with a proper plastic polish. My wife got over 95,000 km out of the original Michelins and it was miserly on fuel. Any behind the dash repairs are expensive so make sure that all the instrumentation and heater/A/C is all functioning.............
Thank you for your reply..will definitely do as recommended....cheers. mick
 
New to this..my beautiful grand daugher wishes to buy a 2001 megane softtop. 190 k on clock..$3800. Car looks,sounds,drives ok..not checked yet. Are they worth buying. First car. Expensive to fix,service etc. Any advice ???
Hi :)
Did people miss the 'auto' in the heading. I think you should be aware they can have problems. Plenty of discussions on this forum.
To summarise, look for history of the valves being changed and some oil changes. Generally the autos are mechanically good but are "sealed for life" but that does not give a good life. If the oil is changed occasionally it will keep them going, and there are two valves which need changing after a while when the transmission starts playing up. Well known, read about it here.🥴
Jaahn
 
Ditto what Jaahn said. The DP0 gearbox (AKA AL4 in the Citroen and Peugeot) is not Renault's finest achievement (well, they're actually made by Siemens I believe) and have a few issues (solenoids and overheating). The gearbox doesn't have a dipstick so checking the oil level is tedious and best performed on a hoist. Topping up the gearbox oil is a pain and an over-filled gearbox is almost as bad as low gearbox oil. So the box does get neglected and even though the box is 'sealed for life' this car is nearly 20 year old so is way past the 'life' expectancy. The oily bits tend to be okay, mostly just the solenoid fail.
However, any 20 year old automatic gearbox in just about any car would have a question mark over it's longevity so the Megane might not be any worse than other makes.
 
The engine is well proven and has been in millions of vehicles. As mentioned above, just make sure the belt isn't too old.
Air con/heater are both good. Can eat coil packs but generics are available. Roof mechanics are pretty robust but as the rear window folds they often blacken and tear. The good news is a competent motor trimmer can replace the plastic window rather that the whole hood.
I still have a 'Renault Roadbox' (look it up) in my shed should she want a roadster instead of a convertible.
These convertibles weren't bought by people who thrashed their cars. Apart from the auto, they should easily do 250K km with regular servicing.

Dave
 
I need to add another item to check! Some servo's when replacing the cam belt do not undo the required number of engine mounts and have been known to damage one or more when replacing the belt.
 
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