Megane R.S. – The French Character Shows Itself, or Time for Repairs

I have often heard people say that French cars are temperamental and prone to problems. Well, the time finally came for my Megane R.S. to prove that it really is French and give me a few headaches 🙂

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As an engineer, I do not pay much attention to garage talk and opinions based on hearsay or observations of cars driven by Austrian grandmothers to the pharmacy and Lidl. The truth lies in statistics. The problem with statistics, however, is that it depends who creates them and what data they use.

While I am sure Renault headquarters know exactly how many issues their cars develop and what those issues are, publicly available information is far less clear and sometimes outright contradictory. For example, the latest TÜV report for 2-3 year old cars places the Megane 67th out of 127 models, which basically means it is acceptable… but not exactly impressive either. Auto Bild, meanwhile, praise the Megane’s reliability based on their own 100,000 km long-term test. The problem there is obvious, one car is not really proper statistics.

Regardless of what the data says, my own car developed three issues in around nine months and almost 13,000 km. Fortunately, nothing particularly serious, but still annoying enough. So without wasting more time, here are the reasons why the Megane R.S. had to visit the workshop:

1. Phone integration stopped working completely, meaning no Apple CarPlay.
2. Problem with the fuel tank sensor. I actually think the car arrived like this because I noticed it quite early on. Once the fuel level reaches around a quarter of a tank, the gauge suddenly drops to zero.
3. Part of the daytime running light in the left headlight shines dimmer than the rest.

At the end of November the Megane entered the workshop at Espace Auto. Honestly, it is probably a good thing I do not personally deal with service procedures too often because the way things happen is incredibly inefficient, irritating and time-consuming.

I expect the car will have to visit Espace Auto at least two more times. In other words, three separate trips for warranty-related repairs. That is not OK.

So what happened?

Problem number three turned out to be the easiest to solve because, as I suspected, it was simply a software update issue. The infotainment system was not working properly with iOS 14. I had already checked Renault’s R-Link store for updates, but it turned out I was looking in the wrong place. Updates are done through Easy Connect instead. My mistake.

The issue with the headlights requires ordering parts, and honestly I would not be surprised if they replace the entire headlight unit. Naturally that means waiting for delivery, so the car will have to return once the parts arrive.

The real drama is the fuel gauge issue.

Whether because of poor communication or something else, the staff at Espace Auto did not fully understand the problem and their advice was simply to “reset the trip computer”.

That answer gave me the unpleasant impression of the classic “customers are clueless and understand nothing” attitude.

The solution is definitely not that simple. The trip computer has nothing to do with the defect and I remain convinced that the sensor inside the fuel tank is faulty, although the exact cause could be several things.

The frustrating part is that as a customer I now have to convince the dealership that the issue is not imaginary. To make things easier, I recorded the following video. Watch it and decide for yourselves whether this looks like something fixed by resetting the average fuel consumption display 😀

So when the car returns for the headlight repair, we will also have to demonstrate the fuel issue. That will inevitably lead to ordering another new part and yet another workshop visit once it arrives.

In other words, two actual faults, three separate workshop appointments.

Not OK.

Putting these French inconveniences aside, I continue to be very pleased with the Megane R.S.

At the beginning of October a group of car enthusiasts and I went on a fantastic drive to the Dospat reservoir. The road there is one of the finest driving routes in Bulgaria, smooth asphalt, endless corners, beautiful scenery and almost no traffic, at least in our case.

It was also finally time to replace the summer tyres.

The disappointing part is that the front tyres lasted only a single season, which feels rather poor considering I drive relatively moderately, at least when it comes to throttle inputs. But that is simply one of the downsides of high power and front-wheel drive.

Eng. Tsvetan Iliev

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Renault Megane R.S.

Price: €29,240 (€30,600 with optional equipment)
Main specifications: turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine; 1798cc; 280 hp; 0-100 km/h in 5.8 seconds; top speed 255 km/h
Fuel consumption: official combined 7.9 l/100 km; test average 9.8 l/100 km (month 8); test average 9.3 l/100 km (month 9)
Distance covered: 1474 km (month 8); 1059 km (month 9)
Total mileage: 13,018 km

Chronology
1. Renault Megane R.S. – Delivery Day and the First Journey
2. Renault Megane R.S. – One Month Later and the First Proper Drive
3. Renault Megane R.S. – The Car Is Going to the Workshop, I Cracked the Windscreen
4. Renault Megane R.S. – I Barely Made It to the Petrol Station
5. Renault Megane R.S. – Six Months and 10,000 km Later; What I DON’T Like About the Car and the Environment Around It
6. Megane R.S. – The French Character Shows Itself, or Time for Repairs
7. Megane R.S. – One Year Later
8. Megane R.S. – When the Engine Stops While Driving