http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1221018 Was it ever available in UK? It says "no" in that article however it is quite old one.
Shame then. It could be perfect car for families like mine. Renault UK, wake up. Less models with poor specifications will not increase your sell. Unless their goal is to sell more Dacia's.
They're crap at selling the cars they have at the moment, the dealers are mostly crap and the residuals just never get better because of that and the continued general perception and potential truth that Renault always lag behind in build quality. The company needs a MASSIVE shake up imo and that estate is a great example of their weird strategy. Why detune it?! ford didn't feel the need with the ST estate...
I'm pretty sure I saw one of these parked up outside the Renault Sport Awning at Brands Hatch BTCC weekend.
I definitely think that's something Renault have been working hard at in the last few years as when you look at the quality of the Megane/Clio/Kaptur etc they have a far more VAG feel to the interior. They've made them flashy and gadgety looking compared to previous models. You can tell that Renault are using Dacia as their budget brand and Renault as the 'premium' brand now so they have both ends of the market captured. That said there's something honest and decent about Dacia. My ex has a Laureate Dacia Duster and it's a fantastic car. No frills, functional, tough and a bargain. It's like a Renault of old but with reliability of tried and tested parts. I think Renault have aimed for the more 'designer' car market that the Fiat 500, Citroen DS3, BMW Mini etc have ended up in.
We didn't take the estate as there wasn't/isn't demand for it. Yes there may be a few on here who would have bought one, but the market in general doesn't want a 220 bhp Renault estate at the moment. Families will tend to go for the 1.5dCi 130 bhp Megane sport tourer if they want an estate, as it's efficient and cheaper to tax/maintain etc.
I've always found VAGs overrated in terms of reliability. Yes there are some cracking car under the VAG banner but they're not flawless. I've had 10 cars, all Renaults except one VW Lupo which was the least reliable car I've owned. Great fun to drive, lots of character and build quality that was perceptible as good but ironically my least reliable car!
I would buy it, used one of course :cool: At this moment only one estate "sporty" compact car rules the market: Focus ST.
the estate would have been a good model to have but if the UK market dosnt demand it then Renault wont sell it here. Agree with Alex_225 on peoples perception on the VAG range...it starts to get boring. Every brand has there flaws....
Exactly, yet people end up blinded by this perceived quality. Yes, a VW Golf will have a premium feel to it, the doors will shut with a convincing thud, the interior will be nicely put together..........doesn't make it reliable unfortunately. Neither does the higher price tag. Ok, so my 172 had rattles but everything worked on it and it drove brilliantly. My Trophy has a few little electrical niggles, we all know the Megane II was notorious for being electrically fragile but overall Renault don't seem to be much less reliable than stories I've heard of people with Ford, VW, Skoda, Peugeot, Seat, Citroen etc.
We'll if ye think ye don't get a good range of renaults try Ireland renault Ireland are a joke it took me nearly 3 mts too get a look at the trophy before I bought it and it's the only trophy in the south of Ireland I was thinking of changing it at the start of the year and I was told they don't make them anymore by a few renault dealers
It is interesting that Renault range in other countries where they don't sell a lot cars is much wider than in UK. Good example is Poland, where you can buy every European model, even Latitude. On a top of it Renault UK cuts available trim's level and equipment.
This is the same with other manufacturers. I had a seat Leon Cupra R before my meg and abroad they sell 4WD versions. Basically S3 running gear but apparently there's no market for it here. Seems to me hallucinogenics are widely used in some of the sales meetings
We got them here in Australia - 200 cars - it has taken Renault close to a year to sell them all (mine was the first registered/delivered). Great car but they didn't walk out of the showroom quickly.
