This is a matter of uniformity, not reliability (or a lack of).
French marque Renault has drawn quite a bit of flak recently due to the rollback of its warranty, from five years to three. Several quarters have called it “a crock,” “woeful,” and “a backwards step,” including us, as a warranty rollback could only ever signal bad news. However, rather than the revision to warranty being due to say, claims costs or a lack of reliability, Renault Australia has responded saying that its hand was forced on the matter.
A directive was issued from RenaultSport’s head office regarding the warranty, essentially requiring Renault Australia to comply with global policies. The excuse is that the “change in RenaultSport warranty aligns [Renault Australia] with global RenaultSport warranty policy,” and that “this new warranty is aligned with other competitors in the marketplace.”
However, with the exception of the Volkswagen Golf GTI and R, all of the competitors for the Renault Megane RS and Clio RS all feature 5-year/unlimited mileage warranties. The worst victim of this warranty realignment is the hotly anticipated Alpine A110, which will only get a 100,000km mileage cap over 3-years.
Regardless of the motivation, will the revision in warranty coverage period affect your buying decision? Will you end up taking home a Ford Focus RS, Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai i30N or Peugeot 308GTI instead, each of which offer 5-year/unlimited-mileage warranties that easily eclipse the Renault Megane RS? Let us know in the comments below.
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