Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (2003 – 2009) At A Glance
Beautiful-looking, relaxed cruiser with an elegantly simple folding hard-top. Excellent crash test rating. Proving reliable.
Don't expect it to go round corners like a sports car. Reports of leaky roof seals.
Who would want to be a mainstream car manufacturer right now? You can't just run off a million identikit Cortinas every year and expect people to buy them.
These days the punters want to be different. They want niche cars. So, like Polyfilla, you have to offer something to fill every single niche.
Hence the current compulsion to saw the roofs off every saloon and hatchback there is, then fit some electric motors to it so it stows away in the boot at the touch of a button.
What do owners think of the Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (2003 – 2009)? Check out our
Owners' Reviews from people who live with the car day in, day out.
Real MPG average for a Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (2003 – 2009)
Real MPG was created following thousands of readers telling us that their cars could not match the official figures.
Real MPG gives real world data from drivers like you to show how much fuel a vehicle really uses.
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Ask Honest John
How can I prep my car for winter storage?
"I'll be taking my 2008 reg 1.6 VVT Renault Megane cabrio off the road for the winter. It'll be stored in a good dry garage and the petrol tank will be full and dosed with inhibitor treatment. Handbrake off and left in neutral. Can you please recommend a suitable trickle charger to keep the battery topped up and offer other actions that I may have missed?"
Pretty much any "battery conditioning float charger" will do the job. CITEK was one brand. Halfords sells them. Over-inflate the tyres to 40PSI plus to help prevent them from flat spotting.
My Megane cabriolet won't start with its roof down?
"My Megane Coupe Cabriolet won't start after having the roof down. I have the engine running when lowering the roof. The car starts with a bump start and starts as normal the following day.
All lights come on in the dashboard, the battery light stays on and engine doesn't try to start - but if the problem is the battery wouldn't it stay flat and not start the following day?
This has happened twice, the number of times I've had roof down!"
This is the part of the sensor system that stops the roof being opened in some circumstances. Probably a sticky relay.
Oil leak keeps coming back - garage can't fix it.
"My car has been in garage three or four times in 6 months and I have paid over £500 to fix an oil leak. Garage says there is more than one leak. Last time the car was in garage he said it was definitely fixed - but it still leaking oil! It's booked to go back in but he's telling me he has to strip engine. I think I'm going to have another large bill!"
This reads as if they have repeatedly tried to patch up what is probably a cylinder head gasket oil leak externally and have failed, and that the only answer is to strip the engine and do it properly.
Injector check light on a Megane,
"Do you have an idea what "Check injection" could mean on a 2004 Renault Megane 1.9Dci 120? Its done 80k miles and at 79950 miles yesterday, the service light came on with that message then disappeared and there was a lack of power at 1st, but only for a few seconds.
It hasn't come back up since but looking online it seems like it may affect glow plugs on the 1.9 Dci but just wanted to check with experts. It's concerning as i'm off on a 600 mile round trip in a weeks time."
Could be dirty injectors. You have a choice - get it checked by a diesel injection specialist or run it exclusively on Shell V-Power diesel. That might clean up the injectors or might not.
More Questions
Inside of the Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (2003 – 2009)
Some roofs split into three parts and, with much whirring of motors and tensioning of cables, eventually disappear into a boot the size of an elephant's bum.
Making the car look like a cross between an elegant coupe and a 25 stone builder.
They're all at it: Mercedes, Peugeot, Ford, Volvo, Vauxhall, Daihatsu, Lexus, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mitsubishi...and achieving various degrees of success.
But the first time I put the roof down on the Renault Megane CC I realised Renault had cracked it. This two-piece top is incredibly simple. Instead of cables and wires all over the place the mechanism is simpler than the average sports car soft top.
The second time I realised Renault were the runaway winners. I had returned to the car to find an elderly neighbour admiring it. He was nonplussed to see how I opened the door without appearing to unlock it. Then knocked off his feet to watch the roof of the elegant hard top coupe that had attracted his attention magically disappear into its elegant rump.
I was privileged with the top model (the ‘Privilege') and it looked really good in dark blue metallic with creamy beige leather interior. It cruised quite well at a relaxed 30mph per 1,000rpm in 6th with no more wind noise than you'd expect from a pillarless hardtop, let alone one that doffs its top at the touch of a button. It does crash a bit in potholes and you can actually feel it doing a Chubby Checker impression over speed humps. But you expect that sort of thing from a four-seater convertible with no pretension of being a sports car.
Car seat chooser
Child seats that fit a Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (2003 – 2009)
Our unique Car Seat Chooser shows you which child car seats will fit this car and which seat positions that they will fit, so that you don't have to check every car seat manufacturer's website for compatibility.
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Driving Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet (2003 – 2009)
I actually thought it handled a lot better than I remember a Megane Sport Tourer having done a few years ago. And with the 165PS Turbo it goes well too. This is one of those nice low-pressure turbos that make petrol engines feel both powerful and flexible without suddenly flinging you and the car ten feet in front of yours stomach.
So I liked it. I wouldn't pay more than £20,000 for it, though. I'd expect a decent discount. But I would seriously consider the turbo over the other petrol models because it's such a nice engine to drive.