Renault Megane 2.0 150dci GT Problems

[Killhippie]

Hi, newbie here to your forum and in need of some advice please. My wife purchased a Megane 2.0 dci 150 GT 3 door on July 17th since that date we have had quite a few issues and having been back to the garage four times, once being towed by the AA. Problem s started with with the CD multichanger packing up in the first week, clutch noise in 1st and second and pedal vibration which was there from new, and after various suggestions from Renault they now say its the clutch slave cylinder, we had a hissing sound and that has turned out to be the brake servo and is being replaced as well and an esp/anti lock brake sensor became water logged and had to be sorted as well and the car is also blowing oil on start-up. We really like the car but are wondering if its time to call it quits Has anyone else with a GT diesel had blue smoke on start-up? We have lost faith in the car and if its not the Turbo being the smoke issue we may reject it, any help or ideas would be appreciated. The car has 3600 miles on the clock.
The car was bought from Renault Seward in Portsmouth and they have been extremely helpful but this number of faults seems ridiculous for a 4mth old car.

[IainMW]

Welcome to the club killhippie.

Well it does seem that that you have been unlucky with your Megane in the 4 months of ownership.
A few of our members have posted problems about their Megane GT 2.0dCi's, and others have been trouble free. This typifies Megane ownership some are good and some are bad!

Boysie posted about his 2 GT dCi's being very smokey on startup a while ago, but I don't know if anything was done to resolve the problem?
New engines can burn a little oil, but usually this should start to settle down once you're past 4000 miles (Renault's mileage figure for when they estimate the car will be "run in" and you will achieve full performance).
However if you are obliterating the landscape every cold start then something is not right.

Has the engine used any oil?
If so how much have you had to use to top it up?

Boysie and Celticking have both had electrical problems with their GT's, hopefully they will be along shortly to offer some more advice (try searching for posts by them)

You have every right to reject the car considering the problems you have had. If you bought it on finance then the Finance company will be able to assist you.

I would first document all the problems you have had in a letter to the MD of the dealership, Renault UK customer services and your finance company and see what the response is?

[Killhippie]

Thanks for your welcome, and advice. The car needed topping up by the garage, quite how much I don't know and they want us to do an oil consumption test which we are not happy about. Since they are checking the turbo first it would mean valve seals or rings and that's not an option on such a new car, we bought the car on finance and my wife contacted them, so I will write letters as you suggested. Are we entitled to a new GT? Or can we say enough is enough and walk away and go buy a Japanese car it would be a shame as the GT handles wonderfully and is a great little car but with so many problems we just have had enough if its engine issues we have now. Our Last Megane, a 54 plate 5 door 1.9 dci was relatively trouble free just had the squealing breaks and clonking steering which was fixed in a day by Seward in Portsmouth, they have been a great dealer so far, so just waiting for the phone call now to see what happens next.

[IainMW]

I would say that depending on the outcome of your letter then both options are possible?

What you have to do is start the process in motion and give them the options that you would be satisfied with.

AntMat on the Parkers forum would be able to help you more with rejecting the car. (LGC on here)

Here is the link to the first topic you MUST READ.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/advice/forum/t ... C_ID=16757

When you have inwardly digested AntMats first post, then post your problem here https://www.parkers.co.uk/advice/forum/t ... IC_ID=9577 in the Megane 2 thread. It's a long thread (63 pages )

[Killhippie]

Phew, thanks for the info I will keep you posted on what's happening wish us luck

[Killhippie]

Well Renault have said there is a modification on the clutch cylinder pipes for the GT which they are doing and hope to have it ready by Friday, and if the cars engine has to be replaced after a 1000 mile oil test as they now know its not the turbo they will provide us with a brand new GT rather than replace the engine

[GoldenWonder]

The general comments in the motoring press seem to be that post 2006 Meganes are much better in the build quality and reliability stakes.

Obviously they're about the same as the original 2003 models

[Killhippie]

I wouldn't say that, the actual build quality of our GT is better than the 54 plate Megane we had, the issues other than the engine are parts failures and I doubt Renault make clutch and brake cylinders themselves, there must be a third party who makes them for the company, so we have been unlucky but many others have not, swings and roundabouts with new cars as they checked the DCI 175 sports in the showroom and that did not blow oil its just unlucky for us, the Toureg we own has just had its auto lights fail had gearbox issues etc, all cars seem to have something go wrong these days, unless its a Honda maybe

[boysie]

Killhippie, Ian, Hi. Sorry to hear you have had issues with your GT.. Must be a south of england thing as we bought our GT's from Chichester
Anyway, the smoking on cold statup [worse when the weather is cold] is down to fueling. Both our GT's do it, but hardly use any oil at all. Mrs B's needed to be topped up at about 11,000 miles, just before the service, and mine is still OK at 8,000 miles. We had a Tech down from Renault Tech Support, who took info from the ECU and video'd the smoke and took it back to France to investigate before telling us it was normal for the smoke to happen...
Only other issues in the 9 months we have had these cars hve been small. Air bag warning light on both cars at the same milage, which was fixed with a software update. My car had the dash lights not come on once only, and Mrs B' had a very slight stearing clonk fixed when it was in for it's first service..

All in all, it's a good car let down slightly by these little issues, however it was a copetitive price, and compared to other cars in the class they shine as they are quieter and better equiped for the money.

Changing subjuct I found this link the other day https://www.k-tecracing.com/show_product.asp?id=2454..

Gave them a call and it seems similar performance gains can be had on the GT +25hp and +92lbft!

[Killhippie]

Thanks Boysie we avoided the old Chichester dealership (Swan) as we had issues so went to Portsmouth, we are doing a 1000 mile oil test, ours had gone down to half on the dip stick at 4000 miles but that may have been due to running in or not being topped up properly at the start, they did an opacity test on the exhaust and we hit 0.3 since 3 is the limit on the car that's really good, the 1000 miles will tell in the end either way. I do agree about the car and the spec, keep an eye on your clutch, if it makes an odd noise in first of second bit like a buzzing there is a mod for it now, the car has great specification for its price, we will post a pic of it on a nice day now its back and clean. My wife loves the power and handling, test drove a Civic GT and no comparison, well no rear view to be precise. I really hope our smoke issue is the same as yours was. Thanks for the info anyway

[30something]

I know it's not the same engine, but my 1.5 has always given a small amount of smoke on a cold start, but used hardly any oil in it's first year (did not need topping up) so I think it is just a rich mixture for the 1st few seconds.

[Killhippie]

White smoke is fine but even after what Renault said to Boysie I'm dubious about blue, its possible the diesel is diluting the oil at start up and blowing past the rings, but really it should not on a new engine, Seaward tested the 175HP diesel and that blows no blue at all, anyway we will see what happens when we go back in

[Killhippie]

We finally got a resolution from Renault thanks to the amazing help from seaward, due to the amount of problems with the car and the amount of blue smoke blowing, if we put a small amount of cash in, the car is being rejected and they are getting us a new GT built, all I can say is Renault Seaward in Portsmouth have been more than helpful and have fought our corner all the way, shows not all Renault garages are created equal