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Best car buys from Renault

The Clio was a serious contender for last year's Car of the Year award.

Everyone loves a sale. It could be Target or Myer or even your health-food store luring you with the promise of special prices for a limited time. In the car world, companies also like to create their own "sale" events.

Sometimes it's to give a short-term boost to their results — Toyota customarily targeted the end of the final year for its biggest push. In other cases it's part of an annual branding package or a means to counter their rivals, the way Holden is doing with its "100-hour sale" this weekend. In any case, it's good news for shoppers.

Renault is currently running its Diamond Event — a name chosen to reflect the shape of the brand's badge — and it's throwing everything into the mix, from drive-away pricing to free fuel vouchers. "It's the first time we've tried it. We wanted to see how it would go," says Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar.

He reckons it's not just a short-term splash to clear 2013 stock and says it's about building more support for the French brand."We wanted to develop an annual branded event as a sale period for Renault. We're hoping to see about a 15 per cent spike in sales," Hocevar says. "A lot of our competitors do it.

Mazda does its M Days, Audi has Openhaus, others have different deals. "It's so hard to build visibility for some of our cars, like the Koleos, but we think this will work. There is drive-away pricing and, depending on the model, low interest rates. There are also $500 fuel cards across the board."

The sale pricing starts from the baby Clio at $16,990 drive-away and runs up the range with a variety of packages. Hocevar is touting plenty of good news but it's not so good on the Captur.It was expected in the middle of the year but strong European demand means the local on-sale date has slipped by a couple of months.

 

Renault Clio - see other verdicts

Price: from $16,990 drive-away

Engine: 900cc 3-cyl, 66kW/135Nm

Transmission: 5-speed manual, FWD

Thirst: 4.5L/100km

 

 

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The Clio was a serious contender for last year's Car of the Year award and the latest Diamond pricing also makes it good buying from $17,000 on the road.
It's composed and comfy, safe even without rear airbags, and a real looker. As for the Clio RS ...it's a belter.

 

Renault Koleos - see other verdicts

Price: from $25,990

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 126kW/226Nm;

Transmission: 6-speed manual, FWD/AWD

Thirst: 9.5L/100km

 

 

This is a hidden gem, with a Nissan X-Trail mechanical package draped in Renault bodywork and riding on cushy French suspension. It is well priced as a suburban SUV and can be surprisingly good in the bush if you go for the upscale mechanical package with four-wheel drive.

 

Renault  Captur - see other verdicts

Price: Low-$20,000 (est)

Engine: 900cc 3-cyl, 66kW/135Nm

Transmission: 5-speed manual, FWD

Thirst: N/A

 

 

It's not here yet, which means no confirmation of price or base engine or fuel economy but the Captur will be worth the wait. It's one of the funkiest of the new breed of mini SUVs and is aimed straight at gen-Y buyers with great colour
 

SECOND-HAND

Renault Megane Sport DCI 175 turbodiesel

The first Megane to reach Australia in the early 2000s was nothing special. It had questionable looks and quality and came from a brand that was getting a renewed kick in Australia thanks to the global tie-up with Nissan, which meant low start-up costs here.

But things changed massively, and positively, with the arrival of the mid‒decade update and its headline models, the RS and Cabriolet. The latter Meganes are the right choice for second-hand shoppers, with solid quality, pretty good performance and a shape that was dubbed the "J-Lo butt" after Jennifer Lopez's hindquarters. It is a car that still runs pretty strongly and has good packaging. It is backed by new-style Renault management that gives good support to dealers and owners.

This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover
 

Pricing guides

$13,990
Based on 42 cars listed for sale in the last 6 months
Lowest Price
$9,999
Highest Price
$17,990

Range and Specs

VehicleSpecsPrice*
Dynamique 1.2L, PULP, 6 SP AUTOMATED MAN $12,100 – 16,060 2015 Renault Captur 2015 Dynamique Pricing and Specs
Expression 0.9L, PULP, 5 SP MAN $7,920 – 11,220 2015 Renault Captur 2015 Expression Pricing and Specs
Expression + 1.2L, PULP, 6 SP AUTOMATED MAN $9,130 – 12,870 2015 Renault Captur 2015 Expression + Pricing and Specs
Pricing Guide

$9,999

Lowest price, based on 39 car listings in the last 6 months

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Disclaimer: The pricing information shown in the editorial content (Review Prices) is to be used as a guide only and is based on information provided to Carsguide Autotrader Media Solutions Pty Ltd (Carsguide) both by third party sources and the car manufacturer at the time of publication. The Review Prices were correct at the time of publication.  Carsguide does not warrant or represent that the information is accurate, reliable, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose. You should not use or rely upon this information without conducting an independent assessment and valuation of the vehicle.