Service Intervals

[lollysmum]

Hi
New to this board.
Does anyone know what the service intervals should be for a Megane 11, 1.6 Dynamique (petrol, manual) 1st reg March 2007. I bought mine in September 2008 with 3,000 miles on clock. Has now done just over 5,000 miles and the service due message & spanner light is now on. There was no service history with the car when I bought it so I don't know whether its ever been serviced or not. Would 5,000 miles seem about right for a first service as I don't have a clue and the lasttime I took my last Megane into my local Renault dealership (Camden, Dunstable) it came back with faults it didn't have when it went in so I'm wary of putting my current pride & joy in for service.

[andywills]

the book will tell you 2 years of 18k...but anybody with a brain will tell you every year (especially if it's VVT)

[anth_dci]

i would be doing an oil and filter chance every 8-9k

[andywills]

i would be doing an oil and filter chance every 8-9k

absolutely agree with that, mine goes in tomorrow for 5 year service, dephaser and oil/filter/etc...the service indicator is saying 9200 miles till next service, i will be instructing him to not reset it so when it comes on, it will be for oil service again

[AlexB]

If your annual mileage is low due to short journeys, it qualifies as extreme conditions in your book. This means annual oil change. It known that short journeys damage oil due to water condensation and acid formation.

On the other hand, the dealer does not do much in a service. Therefore it makes sense to change oil once a year and do the "official" service every second year. I suggest to always supply your own oil, get the best you can, and make sure that the garage is using original oil filters.

[AlexB]

Regarding dealers and other garages. It is not easy to find a garage which is capable of doing a simplest job without introducing new faults. This is my experience. It is extremely important to find the garage and the mechanic in that garage whom you can trust. It is not easy, I am afraid.

[lollysmum]

Wow, thanks folks for the fast response. I guess I'd better book it in for service then

[AlexB]

Good idea. A small advice -- supply you own engine oil, fill the screen-wash tank full and refuse to replace wipers. This is to avoid undue expenses and low-quality materials. Please feel free to ask where to buy those in case you don't know.

[lollysmum]

OK thanks for the advice. Where's the best place to buy them?

[nickbell69]

OK thanks for the advice. Where's the best place to buy them?

Any motor factors, look them up in yellow pages there in every town, partco, brown brothers are national but lots of locals too.
PS follow the advice for washer bottle, i got stung for over £4 to top mine up during a service

[anth_dci]

the reason i always do my own oil and filter changes is because you cant really tell if theyve been done. An example of this was my stepdad taking his original 1.6 megane to a garage owned by a friend of a friend for its servicing. He charged 60quid a time i think it was. He asked me to do the last one so i did, the state of the air filter was a discrace, completely black, nearly totally blocked up with leaves. Then when i took the oil cap off i knew it hadnt been changed in at least 40000 miles id say. Black sludge around the cap. The oil that came out was like water and the oil filter looked like it was about to fall apart.

Its a really simple job to do aswel, you dont have to be that mechanically minded to do it. Think ill write a FAQ for the 1.9dci oil change when i next do mine show people how easy it actually is.

[AlexB]

lollysmum ,

I'll give you a couple of examples. I am sure one can find better options, but I guess mine are not too bad as well.

Screenwash: LIDL -- 5L winter concentrate and a small bottle of summer concentrate (better than usual stuff!); GSF/Halfords/Tesco/etc. -- roughly the same average stuff. So called "ready to use" screenwash is more expensive per litre than a concentrate.

Engine oil. You'll need 5L. It is safe to use any Mercedes MB229.3 and MB229.5 oil, the latter being of better quality. Avoid MB229.31 and MB229.51, these are not as good for short journeys (cold engine). The trouble is that some oils are sold in 4L bottles. These are the examples:
The best:
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-721-2295.aspx
I would pick Motul 8100 X-max 5W-30 (£34 -- excellent option for you) or Mobil 1 0w40 from this lot. Mobil is also sold in Tesco. Castrol Edge is OK, but overpriced and sold in small bottles.
Add here Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 or 0w30 available from Shell petrol stations and on the web (overpriced).

The second tier:
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-719-2293.aspx
I would range them as: Motul 8100 X- lite 0W-30 (high performance -- expensive), Fuchs TITAN SUPERSYN SAE 0W-30 (4L !), Motul 8100 X-cess 5W-40 (£30 -- good for your conditions of use), the others, avoid 10w40. Fuchs is also available from GSF (locate the outlets on their web site or order from it).

The third tier: any ACEA A3 5w30 or 5w40 oil, from Halfords the cheapest Halfords brand is £35.

The last tier: any ACEA A3 10w40 (this is what the dealers use), but you will not be doing favours to your engine...

Wipers.
Rear wiper is easy to refill. Get a standard Bosch (must be Bosch!) wiper from GSF, remove the rubber part, cut off the suitable length and use it as a refill. A £3 20'' standard wiper gives you two refills. The wiper from dealers costs more than £20, if I am not mistaken.
Your front wipers are different from mine -- search for wiper blades in Google or ask people in the Parts section.

OK thanks for the advice. Where's the best place to buy them?

[lollysmum]

Many thanks for the comprehensive advice. Just about to go in search of oil & blades now.

[lollysmum]

Fun & games at Camden Dunstable today-they won't let me supply my own oil for the service as it will invalidate the warranty but my guess is that the 3 year warranty has been invalidated anyway as the previous keeper didn't do the first service (she called it a minor service whatever that may mean.) Has to be their oil or warranty invalid & I'd already read a couple of posts here saying their oil was rubbish.

They tried to tell me that it was due for its third service?? Not yet 2 years old & only 5000 miles on the clock-don't think so but I had to argue the point till she finally admitted she was wrong. Hasn't inspired confidence in me. They sold me my last megane after it had failed the MOT that they put it in for!! They had to fetch the car back & sort it after I rejected it as not fit for purpose i.e. illegal-not roadworthy.

Have booked it in for 18,000 mile /2 yrs service for 6th Feb but in meantime will check out local independents. Camden Dunstable quoted £360 for service + parts & VAT-does that sound reasonable?

1)Is it usual for dealerships to expect the customer to provide their own fully comp insurance cover on their courtesy cars? None of the garages I've used before have done this.

2) Wouldn't give me an estimate on straightforward swapping out of the auto wipe sensor (not working & tested today after screen clean & loads of water). They said it had to go in for diagnosis first then again for any repair. (Like I have all the time in the world to spend on numerous visits to dealerships).

3) Also she wouldn't tell me whether it was due for any software updates, technical improvements, what the original spec was when first built etc

I'm beginning to think I dropped a clanger in buying my current megane as it would seem that it gives the dealership carte blanche to rip customers off. As I understand it only a dealership can do certain repairs, diagnostics, software updates etc-is that right.

An independent can do a service though if they can stamp the service record? Is that right?

I'm wondering if I'm safer going to an independent. Will check them out tomorrow. (Good job I'm off sick right now or I wouldn't have time to mess about with this. )

Thanks for all your help guys-very much appreciated

[andywills]

1) they do provide their own insurance but the excess is so rediculous that your better off on your own insurance.
2) they have to diagnose the problem themselves to be able to claim the money back for the work from Renault
3) they are idiots and dont know

contact renault direct and moan at them, it'll probably not do much but the dealer will still get a phone call from Renault being asked what's going on