Anyone here have any experience with the recent model Renault SUV’s?
I like the features and styling of the Arkana, and the Koleos is a bit larger.
Looking at a new or recent model used. Appreciate any experiences OzB folks can share with regards to build quality, reliability, servicing costs, known issues, etc.
The usual review sites (Carsguide, Car Expert) rate them reasonably well.
I'm curous about the Haval H6.. My other pick would be a RAV4, but they're a bit more expensive with less features..
My other pick would be a RAV4, but they're a bit more expensive with less features..
You pay for the longevity and reliability.
FWIW, RAV4 retains value incredibly well, a Renualt, not so much. You'll make back much more than the additional amount you are paying now when you go on to sell the vehicle.
This makes a lot of sense actually. Helps me look past the initial buy price. I reckon we’d keep the car for a long time, but its hard to predict if something might change..
@axloz: Rav4 is more expensive and has less features. But p1 is right about longevity and resale value.
We have had ours for nearly four years and will be selling it shortly. Having a look at what similar models are selling for we are looking at a loss of around 7k for the four years, which to me is an insanely small drop in value.
Worth mentioning though, we are still in the same model cycle as the current Rav4. Resale will dip more sharply when the new Rav4 model is released.
A long warranty is nice, but you still never want to have to use it. Reviews of Haval warranty service aren't great. Not sure about BYD.
Renault Koleos brand new does have a 7 year warranty. We've just made the choice betweens Koleos, Outlander a.d X-Trail. All basically the same down to engine.
We've had Renault since 2007 and still own 2.
Not really. The current Xtrail has an updated engine with increased power and torque and the platform itself is a generation newer than the Koleos.
Euro trash vs Chinese trash 😉
MG is chinese trash
GWM/Haval are actually proving to be fairly reliable.
At least a euro you know youre getting into a world of pain with substandard materials not designed for australian conditions
In china they've been manufacturing for reliable companies for a while now and actually are improving.
Why are MGs considered trash in comparison to Haval?
I'd considered them roughly on the same level.
@cheesecactus: Saic and great wall are 2 different companies.
GWM i'd argue have been in the game long enough to demonstrate they can churn out decent cars.
MG looks flash but i feel is 1 generation behind. Mind you it does come with 10 years of warranty.
You're a little dramatic, jeez
Well ya gotta be given the question keeps getting asked
The Koleos is basically an outlander (or X trail) with a different badge. The car is pretty reliable. Audi on the other hand is a different story.
Get a BYD or HAVAL H6 that comes with a proper warranty (7 years) and save your sanity
Grabs some popcorn
Stay away from anything French except Michelin tyres and redhead/brunette. If you are after a blonde, then German.
Haha, noted!
The feisty French redhead will run you off the road with your new Michelin tyres when a German turns your head.
@pexags is going to absolutely lose his sh!t with this. Keep it together man!
The koleos is just a fancy Nissan xtrail.
Nissan have the world's worst CVT's.
Good to know. The Arkana has a 7 speed "dual clutch" transmission… Whatever that means. Sound like when the trans dies it costs twice as much to fix..
VW has the world's worst dual clutch. Porsche on the other hand have likely the world's best (PDK) and that thing is a modern marvel.
It’s baffled me for years about this fact simply because they have the same Parent company
@Gunnar: Some vw dual clutch are crap, some are great. The dry clutch ones are crap, the wet clutch are great. Pdk is all wet clutch.
Nothing wrong with the wet dual clutch transmission providing they are serviced on time (my preference is every 45k km rather than the 60k km VW recommends).
The dry clutch version are POS, especially if used in stop/start traffic.
@brad1-8tsi: If the clutch is that good why 45k rather than the recommended 60K. From that it sounds like they arent that good…..
@RockyRaccoon: Because I like to over-service my cars and generally keep them for 200k+ km.
VW like to under-service vehicle in order to make the TCoO appear cheaper to fleet buyers.
I do all my own work including transmission services.
If you think they are poo then don't buy one. It's that simple.
Have you tried a Renault dual clutch? Unreliable AF and extremely expensive to fix when it shits itself. I had one
Dude, I’ve been sitting here just looking and shaking my head for the past hour and a half thinking of how to say something nice…
I guess the only nice thing I could say was… if I was being held hostage with a gun to my head and they would let me go if I had to pick one or the other, I would say “just shoot me, because it’s less painful than having to deal with owning a French shitbox.”
If my options were: Drive a Renault or wear sandals made of broken glass for the rest of your life… I would be asking.. “what size do these sandals come in and can I pick the colour of glass?”
Did you get the tag? I just realised I tagged in some random with a similar name.
Edit: looks like they don't exist. Wtf have I done here?
I saw that you messed it up, but I was here anyway… just sitting, looking, wondering why, on god’s green earth would anyone buy a Renault… at least OP could say they contributed to the 12 cars Renault will sell in Australia this year.
Ive only ever driven on Renault - the R26.R, on a track - and it was a wicked fun car.
Would I buy/recommend the OPs cars? God no
Oh, don’t get me wrong, if I was going to buy a track car, Renault Megane RS 265 is way up on my list of cars I would want to look at… just for family and consumer end vehicles, same, I would rather walk.
@pegaxs: Agree with @pegaxs. Renaults, Peugeots, and Citroëns are all crazily overpriced here, irrespective of the specs.
We had Renaults (205, Espace, and Kangoo) over 20 years when we lived in France and they were absolute workhorses, with low maintenance and good resale.
Have to say I don't have much confidence in BYD or HAVAL. Much better options out there.
I'd never buy any of them here due to the cost and the lack of workmanship in more recent models.
@Lastchancetosee: Yeah my confidence in Haval and BYD is not high.. Based purely on my experience with completely unrelated products that are made in PRC.. So perhaps unfounded..
Have to say, there’s a H6 parked out front of a house near us - one of the more sporty looking models. Looks pretty smart!
@pegaxs: I actually lie, I’ve also driven a Clio 182, again wickedly fun car.
From my two experiences Fast Renault hatches are so much fun and are very throwable. Would I buy one personally? Yeah probably because it would never be an only car. That being said there’s others I would buy before I got one. Totally agree with you though for consumer and family needs, stay away from them!
Soooo I’m getting some vibes here that maaaaybe you’re not quite feeling comfortable with the idea that these cars will quite meet your needs…. What if they threw in some floor mats, would that change anything? :)
On a more serious level - have you owned one and hated it or something?
Renault/Nissan - never, sad to see they destroyed Mitsubishi along the way
So there's a new ASX coming out this year apparently.. I wonder whether it'll borrow from a Nissan or Renault model..
Also the Outlander is a contender in the $40-50k price bracket. Are Mitsu no good any more?
new Outlander is rebadged Nissan Xtrail and new ASX is rebadged Renault Captur.
new Outlander is rebadged Nissan Xtrail and new ASX is rebadged Renault Captur.
Would love to know your source as I think you are 100% incorrect.
Yes about the new ASX but no to the Outlander.
They may share components and engineering, but the Outlander is too different from the Xtrail to call it rebadged.
Outlander is too different from the Xtrail to call it rebadged
Agreed, but it is the same platform, engine and gearbox (so will most likely have exactly the same "reliability" issues if any pop up)
Response time of engine in Arkana is absolute garbage. Not enough power
Multimedia display is laggy too
Some of the review sites have made similar comments. Have you driven one?
My wife wont care about this but I will. Wasn’t that long ago I owned a 350z..
Yeah I had one as a rental for 2 weeks whilst my car was getting repaired
My wife has a koleos, for the price it's a decent car, materials inside still feel like vw quality unlike any of the similar priced Chinese cars, yes there are the unusual knob and button position choices that the French choose which make no sense at all but we really haven't had a problem with the car at all, heads up new shape coming next year
I haven’t even thought about the control surfaces and knobs etc.. I think i need to go sit in one.. I should probably go look at the Haval and a few others as well before judging..
Don't do it.
Friends don’t let friends buy French cars
Have had 2 Koleos Zen (previously mid-spec, looks like they've now axed the povo-spec "Life") as rentals from Avis/Budget (both were delivered to Avis in the 2021-2022 era of "no supply" - the fact they had stock, and most likely gave the 20-25% rental fleet discount says a lot). One was booked by an insurer, and the branch only had these as a full-sized SUV. Other was a mystery car from Budget - was hoping for a Corolla or the likes, but they only had Koleos lol.
Honest review is that they go ok, have their flaws, and somehow worse than their T32 X-trail donors
Honestly, if your budget only stretches as far as this weird international orgy (Korean-built by Samsung, French-branded, based on a Japanese Nissan), you're chasing value, don't want a Chinese car, and can overlook the cons above, I would probably take it for a test drive and see if it's acceptable to you vs paying $5-10k more for a Kia/Hyundai/new X-trail/etc.
Looks like they're selling them for $42,500 with 7 years warranty, servicing and roadside assistance which makes it a reasonable proposition if you could get them down into the 30s
Cheers for this post! It’s making me think more about forking a little more money for a Toyota or Hyundai..
Any love for Honda? Perhaps the HRV or CRV could be worth looking at.
Haven't driven one, but the CRV is probably the one you're going for if the Koleos is on the list - CRV/Koleos are RAV4 sized, HRV is more Yaris Cross sized.
The CRV looks good on paper.
Agree, CRV is the comparable size. HRV is smaller and has some nice features. Smaller would probably be fine for us, but I’d need to go sit in it to know..
@axloz: We have a 2018 Koleos, which looks the same as the current model.
We like it, but bought it because it’s a Nissan X-Trail with a better interior/tech.
We bought used, and paid half the new cost at 5 years old.
If we were buying new, the RAV4 or CR-V were top of the list. All comparable on space, but the Honda and Toyota just seem to last a lot longer, hold better resale, and servicing/parts are much more readily available, particularly the Toyota.
What you save on a cheaper model upfront, you lose long term in resale value.
French cars look very chic…..however not so good on reliability and anything involving electricity. Depreciation of French cars in Oz will also be cliff edge …
Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics German, the lovers Italian and it's all organised by the Swiss.
Hell is where the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lover's Swiss, the police German and it's all organised by the Italians.
Stay away from French cars.
Aussie mechanics don’t know how to work on European cars.
It’s best to stick with a Japanese brand on the safer side.
Chinese cars are good value for money due to their very low prices and decent warranty. But again you’ll find everyone around you criticizing why you bought a Chinese car, lol.
I had the previous generation Koleos, I bought it because it was cheaper and nicer to drive than the equivalent Nissan X Trail.
The only reason I bought a French car was because it was made in Korea by Samsung.
No issues with it at all after 4 years, reliable and safe.
Servicing was at a Nissan dealer and price is on-par with VW.
I love the control stick behind the wheel, once you get used to it, it's actually great!
BUT ONLY BUY IT IF YOU DON"T INTEND ON SELLING IT!
There is no market for a second hand Renault SUV, I got lucky, mine was written off by a Landcruiser.
I like to change cars every 3-4 years, so I'll never go for a niche French car again for this reason.
Seems to be the consensus, other than ‘don’t buy one at all’ :)
Cheers for sharing your experiences!
I have owned 5 Renault's. Multiple Clio RS and Megane RS. The hot hatchbacks from any generation over the past 25+ years are excellent and have a very strong enthusiast following. Compared to their hot hatchback competitors reliability wise, they are definitely above average. When it comes to driving enjoyment and engagement for the price. Besides an Alfa Romeo. You probably couldn't get anything better for the price.
But I would not recommend a brand new normal model.
From what I understand. All of the Arkana and Koleos range use tiny under powered turbo engines.
But if buying used. You can probably get a good deal on a 3 year old car. As its likely had 60% depreciation. Then it might be worth it.
Yeah the 1.3L engine might struggle.. A few people have noted this..
Also, buying a used one might be better option anyway - MY23 dealer used Arakana can be had for ~$27k DA at the moment… Huge difference to the ~$40k new price…
Maybe the lack of sales is a sign to avoid..
Only renault owners understand the Renault charm.
I was one of those "hurrdurr, Renault = french shit box" ignoramuses for a long time.
When i was in the market for a hot hatch, i ended up buying a low km RS265 because of the great value for money. I owned it for 6 impeccable years - zero mechanical problems. The only issue i experienced was the inside drivers door handle braking off lol. It broke my heart when i was T-Boned and written off. It was such a fun car to drive. There was also the Megane felloship "nod" whenever you would drive past another owner.
I should've qualified my general 'don't do it' for french cars with 'unless its the Megane/Clio RS line. I've driven a Megane RS 275 and I fell in love pretty quickly.
I saw one with a jammed transmission blocking all the Route 86 trams on Smith St Fitzroy once? Near the Woolworths, took about 45 mins for a tow truck to arrive and winch it out of the way. Hope that helps.
I saw one with a jammed transmission blocking all the Route 86 trams on Smith St Fitzroy once? Near the Woolworths, took about 45 mins for a tow truck to arrive and winch it out of the way. Hope that helps.
I saw a Hybrid Camry taxi on the M4 on fire. Took 1 hour before it was removed. Hope that helps.
We has a Renault Megane a few years ago. It was very reliable and nothing ever went wrong. However, be aware of maintenance quirks with Renaults such as Brake and Rotors need to be changed every 45,000kms as they use soft rotors. If the aircon goes, it is a dash pull out job which is extremely expensive. Had a colleague driving old koleos driving in heat as it was a $4.5K job! The plastics are generally crap and are known to bubble up. Not an issue if you are storing in undercover parking during the days and aircon is generally not as powerful showing R&D not done in hot extreme locations. Others have mentioned issues with Nissan CVs as well.
X-Trail
I read that the cvt is bad and so many other problems discussed.
I have my xtrail for 10 years and have done a little more than 100k, without any issues.
Very nice car
Done a lot of camping and things fit well
Even during our kitchen renovations, I didn’t have to hire a Ute and in two trips everything was gone
So in all very happy with what I have
Renault Koleos
We were looking for another car to buy and doing the research
Toyota was out of question due to long delivery times, Mazda I already had and wasn’t happy during the ownership.
Then finally started looking at affordable European cars during COVID, did some research and found out that Renault use the same Xtrail engine in their Kileos.
As I heard about the European car ownership stories, similar to what I read in any discussion that this car is bad that is bad, every car is bad for someone.
I still bought Koleos, as they have best of all worlds
European design, Japanese reliability
It has been 5 years and we never had any issues so far
Really happy with the choices
Many people here will slam the reputation of French cars, but have 0 experience with them. My partners 2015 has been generally good, the materials are a bit cheap. But the 2017 models and above have improved on this greatly.
We've personally had a really good experience with the dealer service centre and Renault have been good with warranty work.
I'd happily buy another French vehicle.
Cheers for this, may I ask what city you’re in? My nearest Renault dealer is in Homebush (Sydney), but there’s a service centre near me in Gladesville.
@axloz - In Sydney and we use Chatswood Renault (service is in Artarmon).
Not far from us at all, cheers!
Modern French cars are very well made and reliable, don't listen to the rubbish that people post on here. There's nothing wrong with Renault. Peugeot are much better though in terms of styling, tech, drive etc. Plenty of good independent mechanics around for servicing.
Agree. Dead set people here are ridiculous given what we know to be maintenance costs of German cars.
I saw a /CarsAustralia Reddit post that mentioned that the Koleos indicators are so small/thin, invisible in direct sunlight, and that the driver kept getting honked and near-missed turning right at roundabouts.
I can't much be bothered buying in but for anyone objectively considering french vs the much beloved German (vag) cars…they aren't worse. The meme/myth about french designed/engineered cars being worse is ridiculous. Yes things can go wrong but with VW group cars they're guaranteed and baked in whilst with the french they're "maybe".
We bought a Renault Koleos new in 2018 and it is still great to drive. Haven't had any issues and Renault had capped service pricing for 5 years. For the price you get a lot of great features and the interior feels premium. I like that it's an X-Trail underneath the French exterior.
As others have mentioned, don't expect a huge resale price. We'll probably keep this car for another 5 years or until a suitable family EV is available.
Happy to answer any specific queries you may have. Good luck with your decision.
Thanks RinaW, appreciate the post!
From a person owning one.. it's probably the worst car I have ever owned. It's not enjoyable to drive at all, the car leaks water inside from poorly designed sunroof drainage.
The car is the complete definition of waste of money. Buy any Japanese SUV over this.. or Nissan X trail because Renault put me off the X-Trail.
You own the Arkana or the Koleos? Sounds like a nasty one..
Koleos intens
I bought a brand-new Koleos Intens in 2017 when we had our first child and kept it for six years until we sold it back to the dealer in 2023. We originally purchased it for $43,000 and sold it for $16,000, so be prepared for massive depreciation. However, in those six years, the car was completely reliable and always a smooth drive. We considered a RAV4 or CR-V but found their interiors and designs too boring, so we went with the Koleos instead. Hope my feedback helps with your decision.
Dated Euro trash is my take - rating of 7.5/10 isn't anything special, the styling is also fairly dated.
But others may disagree
If someone held a gun to my head and said i had to pick one.
I'd pull the trigger
Get a BYD or HAVAL H6 that comes with a proper warranty (7 years) and save your sanity - this is coming from someone who owned an Audi and it was the bane of my life