Hey guys looking at buying an R26 in the near future just got one big question that i need to ask are they honestly as unreliable as people say? i've been looking on the fb page and it seems to be full of people saying their MOT cost them £500 etc and i really dont fancy having to pay that once a year. I love the way they look and if they handle as well as everyone says i'll absolutely love it it's just the maintenance costs that are putting me off of course it's always the negatives that stick out! Cheers Stuie
The Internet is full of whingers I've had my (wife's!) R26 for 2 years and it's only needed normal maintenance like pads and tyres No worse than any other car and pretty affordable considering the performance, make sure you get a car with good service history and chances are you'll be fine, just do your homework
Bought my R26 in November , I already knew a few things needed changing when buying it, but once they were sorted and it was only a steering bush and shock, not looked back since, it was meant to be a 2nd car just for fun and wkends , but now I use it everyday as I love it, listen to smifter, get a good one , looked after by a forum member if you are lucky , I love this car mate and at 53 ive had many but not many of those put the smiles on my face this car does. go for it .....
I'm with midnight and smifter: a few of the horror stories on FB are cars that are 2004/2005 as well - these are 10 year old cars now remember. I had mine since September, and like midnight the only thing that actually needed replacing was a steering rack bush, the rest (service, belts, new discs and pads) are all expenses that can be forseen. And given the performance and smiles that an R26 offeres I think they are very cheap to run in comparison to other cars that offer similar performance. Make sure work has been done by independent Renault Sport specialists and have a very good inspection of the vechicle with a mate as well if you're uncomfortable. My full service was £160, belts were £400...... They have a few electrical niggles (electric window regs a very common one)..but those are usually fairly easy to remedy. These aren't like clio 200s that a significant number have needed new gearboxes for example.....
How are Renault main dealers for servicing etc for the R26 ?? Any local specialists near weybridge that knows these cars inside out ? With me being a Audi owner going to a audi dealer for anything is the biggest mistake you can make ! They haven't got a clue about the B5 RS4.
cheers guys, definitely put my mind at rest now! my mate's just bought a clio 200, I wont mention that they have gearbox issues
It varies I've been told: some main dealers offer semi sensible prices for belts and servicing but most will be more than double the cost at an independent specialist, ie belts as much as £1200 for example.... Have a post in one of the regions to ask about this mate as I'm not familiar with the South East really: a lot of the Essex guys used Engine Dyanamics for work - but thats miles away from Surrey. I've seen a few posts about R Sport in Wimbledon being very good - maybe worth checking them out mate; I think they prep a fair few of the clio cup cars, they look like they have some Renault affiliation though so could be pricey.
so i bought an ultra red R26 and i absolutely love it! it's a bit rough around the edges but nothing that can't be sorted
