Renault Grand Megane Review: 2010 Model | Grand Megane | Car Buyers Guide

Let's be honest here, in the family car class there are other vehicles that garner a lot more positive press than the Renault Mégane. It's a pretty car but not handsome like, say, the Fiat Bravo. It drives decently but nowhere near as well as the Ford Focus. It feels well made but it's no VW Golf. And it's green but it's not Honda Insight or Toyota Prius green. That means that the Mégane has lacked an edge over its rivals since it was launched a year ago but now it has the mother of all recession-friendly selling points: Price.

Thanks to a variety of cashback deals and discounts, Renault has knocked around €6,000 off the price of the average Mégane, and not just the gammy petrol models that nobody will want off you in three or four years' time – I'm talking about the Band A diesel models, too. Even if you ignore the Government scrappage bonus of €1,500, a well-equipped 1.5 dCi 86hp could be on your driveway for €16,300, or just €14,800 with scrappage. That's base-model supermini money, for heaven's sake, while a top-of-the-line TomTom Edition like the car I'm driving (with the same 1.5 dCi 86hp engine) costs just €18,800 without scrappage or €17,300 if you have some scrap to scrap. To put that kind of value into perspective for you, my sister just paid more than €19,000 for a Fiesta 1.25 Titanium.

And it gets better. Right now the Grande Mégane, the estate version tested here, costs the same as the five-door hatch so you get all that extra space for exactly no extra cash. Demented, isn't it? A family-sized estate with dual-zone climate control, cruise control, Bluetooth, alloy wheels and a full integrated TomTom navigations system all as standard for less than the price of a Fiesta with a lower specification? Now that's what I call a selling point.

The public has already responded. Mégane sales are up a comical 129 percent versus 2009 and while you could argue that buying discounted cars like the Mégane will hurt residuals, many of those customers aren't likely to buy another new car for years, by which time it won't really matter what you drive – they'll all be worth nothing.

Before we get carried away, though, I do need to remind you of what you're not getting with when you buy a Mégane. Despite the high specification Renault has relegated stability control to the options list while it's increasingly standard on family cars in Europe these days. Odd ommission, this, considering that Renault sells (or at least sold) itself on safety. You do get a fabulously comfy ride but the handling isn't that exciting, mainly because the steering is a bit numb. The cabin isn't bad to look at and it's relatively simple to use but the reclined dials (with its too-bright digital speedo) are annoying and the stereo/phone remote controls are unfathomable. And while there's no beauty queens in the family class, the Mégane, particularly in that metallic beige colour Renault has insisted in using during the car's launch, seems particularly homely.

Still, in the grande (geddit) scheme of things, there's nothing in my snag list that's a deal breaker, apart from stability control. If Renault was charging full whack it might not stack up against its best rivals but at those prices you really can't complain too much. What's that you say? What about quality? Reliability? True, Renault doesn't have a great record in this regard but for added peace of mind you can now spend a few quid extra on an extended warranty that will cover the car, aside from normal wear and tear items, for five years and which can also be transferred onto a new owner should you decide to sell it on.

Renault has even conjured up its own low-interest finance scheme that they can whip up in the showroom while you get your head around the giveaway prices. Add all these factors together and it's easy to see why there are so many Méganes on the road all of a sudden, and as long as you accept that things could go either way resale time, it's tough to make a case against the Renault Grande Mégane.