The sun came out a bit today

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
02/12/2017 at 12:28 • Filed to: MEGANE RS

So I played around with my camera:

I got my Mégane 3 RS last saturday, since then, I had it inspected, did an oil change, and learned that I probably won’t be able to register it.

I bought the car in Germany 2 weeks ago. A 2010 Renault Mégane RS with the cup package.
It’s 2.0T 4 cylinder engine is good for 250hp. The 6 speed manual gearbox brings the power to the front wheels. The stopping power is provided by 4 piston Brembo brakes.

The cup package give it a stiffer suspension and a much needed limited slip differential. It should also have specific 19 inch wheels, which were swapped for “basic” 18 inch RS wheels by the former owner for unknown reasons.

It’s painted Renault Sport yellow, which in my opinion looks a little less awesome than the Sirius yellow, but still looks great, especially with the black accents and the gunmetal gray wheels.

The cloth Recaro buckets have are as comfortable as they look, but they offer great lateral support, and they look awesome!
The interior gets the Renault Sport treatment: yellow tach, yellow seatbelts, black/yellow seats with yellow stitching.

It is totally impractical, the trunk access is way too small, the rear windows offer absolutely no visibility, but who cares about what happens behind, objects in the mirror are loosing!

So back to the non registerable part: it was originally a French car, which had a crash in 2011.
If a car has structural damage (even minor) in France, the expert can take away the cars papers until it is repaired and expertised safe for road usage. Instead of being repaired, the car was exported to Germany. It was repaired there and put on the road again.
When I tried to register it in France, I was told what had happened to the car (without details), and that they needed an expertise to be able to register it.
I called an expert my parents used to work with, who told me that he wouldn’t give it an approval since he didn’t see the original expertise of the broken car, and hadn’t seen what was done to it.
Now I have two options: find a way to get the original expertise and an expert who will greenlight the car based on what was broken vs. the current state, or get the dealer to take the car back, and get something different. I’ll return to the dealer next Monday, since the boss is on vacation right now.

DISCUSSION (28)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 12:37

Such a shame that you found out these issues with the car. I love these things.

Cé hé sin > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 12:53

Are the WW plates temporary ones?

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 12:56

Recaro Sportster CS’s, same seats as the Juke NISMO RS. I think it might also be the same 6spd as the Juke. Same platform too, the Renault/Nissan global B platform.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/12/2017 at 12:58

I still hope I’ll find someone to greenlight it

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
02/12/2017 at 12:59

Isn’t the juke on the clio platform?

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Cé hé sin
02/12/2017 at 13:00

Yes, they allow you to drive around 1 month to do the paperwork

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 13:01

I’m pretty sure the Megane is on the Global B.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
02/12/2017 at 13:03

You probably know more than me

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 13:06

I just looked and the Megane is built on the Renault/Nissan C platform. The C platform is a stretched B platform.

AndyG_UK > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 14:07

I do like a nice Renault RS in yellow!!

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 14:23

It looks amazing, didn’t even know they did another yellow next to Jaune Sirius. Would be a real shame if you couldn’t register it.

Maybe the 18 inch wheels were installed after the damage, due to the old ones being warped/broken. Probably because they were cheaper or easier to come by. I’m not sure what that tells about the quality of the rest of the repairs though..

Do you know what parts have been damaged? Or is it just that you know it was damaged.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 14:28

Either that or the dealer return, you could probably find another with a clean history if they take it back.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
02/12/2017 at 14:37

It was damaged on the front right side, I guess some suspension parts must have been damaged, which would be sufficient to render it unsafe. The wheels might have been winter wheels, and he sold the originals separately.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > AndyG_UK
02/12/2017 at 14:38

I like it when cars are anything but monochrome

Tazio, Count Fouroff > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 15:01

Sorry to read about the difficulty :( It’s a great-looking car!

Seems as if there’s a possible good outcome either way? Like, surely an expert (cooperative one, anyway) can inspect the car and know whether it’s sound; probably know basically how it was originally damaged, as well. Or you can say to the dealer, “Yo, bro-man, you sold me a car I can’t register and didn’t even dislcose on it...”?

Best wishes!

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Tazio, Count Fouroff
02/12/2017 at 15:23

Thanks, there surely is a way, it’s just annoying to have these issues. The thing is, if I wanted to register it in Germany it wouldn’t even be a problem. I suspect the seller himself didn’t even know what exactly had happened, since he told me it was in an accident, but it seemed to be minor damage. It has been repaired really well.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 15:46

That’s also a possibility, this probably was just my pessimism kicking in.

Let’s hope you find a way to register it, good luck!

NJAnon > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/12/2017 at 22:29

The Renault Megane Trophy Car looks so good Im glad they make car models of it (since they don’t sell Renault in the US)

Here you go Rustholes thanks for the photos (putting grafitti backgrounds is always a plus)

duurtlang > NJAnon
02/13/2017 at 03:06

Thanks for that video. Did you know Interpol is going to play that album in it’s entirety during a tour to celebrate it’s 15th birthday? Around august-September. I’ve seen them around 2003 twice and I’ve got my tickets for August when they will playing in my home town.

duurtlang > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/13/2017 at 03:09

Has it been registered in Germany after it’s been repaired? If so, the French should accept the German registration. Due to the EU. Step two is to make them realize this, but it should not be a problem.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/13/2017 at 04:13

how is it then the car in the pic has French plates?

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > pip bip - choose Corrour
02/13/2017 at 07:07

Those are temporary plates, they allow you to drive around for a month until you have all the paperwork done.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > duurtlang
02/13/2017 at 07:10

Yes, the crash happened in 2011. It has been driven in Germany ever since. I just read that the expert must see the car while it is being repaired. Which means there is no chance of getting it on a french road ever again.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/13/2017 at 07:16

thank you.

duurtlang > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/13/2017 at 07:58

That’s silly though. The Germans approved the car + repair for road use and EU wide registration. The French have not done the opposite, they simply haven’t seen proof with their own eyes. Which is not required, given the EU they need to trust the Germans. All they need to do at import is check if the car matches the paperwork (VIN numbers and all that) and check in the EU database if the car has outstanding issues, like being reported stolen.

The last car I bought in Germany and imported into the Netherlands kept its TUV inspection; I only needed to perform the yearly safety/emissions inspection in the Netherlands after the German one had expired.

Bureaucrats are the worst though. Especially in the larger countries where they don’t deal with other European influences as much. They tend to live in their own little bubble.

edit:
What they see is this:

Car has been damaged

We have not approved repair

Conclusion: Car is not eligible for road use

What they should see is this:

Car has been damaged

Car has been exported to a fellow EU state

Repair has been approved by EU state the car was registered in. This EU member re-approved the car for road use.

At import back into the country the EU paperwork checks out, the car matches the paperwork and the car has no visible roadworthyness flaws, including when viewed on a lift.

Conclusion: Car is eligible for import and road use.

Now I will admit it might be close to impossible to get the bureaucrats to where you want them to go.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > duurtlang
02/13/2017 at 10:43

I found out who was in charge of the expertise and asked for the report in the hope I can do something with it. This is so stupid!

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > NJAnon
02/13/2017 at 10:46

Thanks! Yeah, 18 years is a long time to wait to import it

NJAnon > duurtlang
02/13/2017 at 19:37

I see many bands tour calendars and always end up having to work or the date is too close for me to get PTO. But one of these days I’ll go to a concert