Renault prunes RS hot hatch warranties

Customers considering the purchase of a Renault Sport model, the Clio RS or Megane RS, will now have a shorter warranty period to cover any defects arising after the sale.

Apart from its commercial vehicles, all Renaults sold in Australia have been offered with a five-year warranty over the past four years. But as of May 1, 2018, the Renault Megane RS and Renault Clio RS warranties will be cut to three years.

All other Renault passenger vehicles such as the Koleos and regular Megane – including the warmed-up Megane GT – will retain their five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

It's rare in the Australian new car market for a warranty to be pared back.

Renault Australia's corporate communications manager, Emily Fadeyev, told motoring.com.au that the move is "absolutely not" an admission that it's high performance RS hot hatches are less reliable.

"The change in Renault Sport warranty has been a directive from head office and aligns us with the global Renault Sport warranty policy," she said.

"The standard warranty from the factory is three-years/unlimited kilometre, which is what all Renault Sport vehicles will have going forward."

Therefore, the new Renault Megane RS 280, which arrives in September 2018, will offer shorter warranty coverage than its predecessor from a year prior.

The hot hatch segment has been thrown into flux by the arrival of the Hyundai i30 N, which is priced from under $40,000 and comes with plenty of kit, not to mention a high-output 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine worth 202kW/353Nm.

Even the evergreen Volkswagen Golf GTI has been put on notice as more hot hatch rivals sharpen their teeth, Honda Civic Type R included.

The Hyundai hot hatch has a five-year warranty which also covers non-competitive race track use, but Renault also has provisions for race track warranty coverage.

"All incidents are accessed on a case by case basis and if it is determined that the issue was caused by a manufacturing defect then the customer would be covered by their warranty – regardless of where the incident took place," Fadeyev told motoring.com.au.

By way of comparison, the Renault Megane RS 280 has more gristle than the Hyundai i30 N, pumping out 205kW/390Nm from its 1.8-litre turbo-petrol engine, which is mated to a six-speed manual or a DCT auto – the latter is not yet offered on the Korean upstart.

It's possible that the reduction in the warranty from five-years to three is a cost-cutting move and that by making a sacrifice in one area will help the importer offer the new Megane RS at a more palatable price point, or perhaps with more equipment.

The new Renault Megane RS 280 is expected to be priced from around $45,000 when it arrives in Australia and will be "very competitively priced and equipped," according to Fadeyev.