Renault Scenic

bigjl

I would never buy a Renault expecting it to be as trouble free as say a Toyota, for example Nissan have had reliability issues since they linked up with Renault.

One thing that needs to be considered is how a vehicle is treated, Renault's don't respond to minimal maintenance in the way some cars do, they have some issues, but then some traders that have found ways to fix these issues without spending too much, and a lot of cars out there have been driven into the ground by previous owners, never serviced correctly etc.

But anybody that says they are as reliable as some other. mostly japanese, makes then they are either a very low mileage driver, drive fairly new ones or are lucky with their purchases.

A Renault is a choice that you need to make with your eyes open, research the common faults with your model and check out any prospective purchases well, and make sure that any common faults aren't evident, or have been dealt with.

As far as keyless entry, I personally would avoid any car with it, it is just something to go wrong.

If you get hold of some back issues of Car Mechanics Mag you will find articles about Renaults and their common faults.

But for the money they are a good value buy, though i would avoid the 1.9 Dci and the larger diesel fitted to the Espace, and Auto's, I wouldn't buy an Renault auto.

One thing that i have noticed over the years is that Renaults get a bit loose with age, but they do tend to keep going.

And parts when main dealer only can cost and arm and a leg.

I will continue to service my wifes Clio Dci with top spec oil, regular oil and filter changes, at 6k, but have already put money by for a clutch, as the biting point on hers is right at the top, mainly due to being ex company and used around a large city by the previous owner. It has a few rattles from the trim, but has a good NCAP rating, does good mpg, handles well and is comfy.

I fully expect it to need afew bits and pieces over the yaers, but she does 20k a year.

Maybe a Fiesta would have cost less to run, maybe a Yaris would have been better built. They would also have cost more and not looked as nice.

I decided against a Megane hatch though, as I felt the Clio would retain its value better.

Personally I think petrol Renaults are more reliable, but what car you own is a very personal choice.

Pound for pound a Scenic will give more bang for buck, just make sure the previous owner hasn't just bought it cheap and driven it into the ground, that is the biggest risk with a used Renault.

bigjl

baby_fuzz wrote: »

the in-laws used to have one. the seats are really hard...

Deoends which model you have, plus soft doesn't always mean comfy, if a seat doesn't provide enough basic support then it will be uncomfortable after a few miles.

My wifes Clio, an Expression so not top of the range, has seats which are much more comfy than my MK3 Mondeo, they are also better than the seats in my work vehicle,which is a Zafira Design, with the half leather, semi sport seats.

baby_fuzz

bigjl wrote: »

Deoends which model you have, plus soft doesn't always mean comfy, if a seat doesn't provide enough basic support then it will be uncomfortable after a few miles.

I must have a bony bum :rotfl:
Toyota car seats are usually 'just right' for me in terms of firm/softness factor!

bigjl

Renault seats used to be like sofas, R25 and R21 come to mind. Don't know if I fancy such a soft seat now, not with my back.

johnson293

I've just got rid of my Scenic. It was a 2004 1.5 DCi Dynamique.

It was a lovely car to drive, and the spec level was very good, and the economy was 50-55mpg average for me, but the one I had, had a problem burning oil/smoking when driving.

I replaced the turbo, but things were pointing towards sticking/broken piston rings.

If you look on Renault Owners forums, apparently "sticking piston rings is a common problem on the 1.5 DCi engine".

I can't comment on the equivalent petrol engine, but if mine had been good mechanically, I would have had no hesitation in keeping it. It was potential costs to sort ot out that forced me to get rid.

I had no electrical issues with mine, however I only had it 4 months.

bigjl

johnson293 wrote: »

If you look on Renault Owners forums, apparently "sticking piston rings is a common problem on the 1.5 DCi engine".

.

Things like that I would put down to owners using cheap oil, my wifes Clio 1.5 Dci needs oil that is one of the more expensive going, fully synthetic only from memory.

I use the best I can afford at the time, did get it serviced once by a garage and they blew the large fuse on the side of the battery and god knows what oil they put in.

I only use the top spec oil, I think the first oil change was ELF, can't rmember the other one, think it was Quantum.

Mankysteve

Dads had two both had gearbox problems second wasn't as bad as the first, but overall he still liked them, one of aunties has had two of them and she liked them both but they didn't have any problems like we did.

Dad still think they were reasonable cars, but not as reliable as the old astra which just went and went despite the punishment my dad gives cars.

Just replaced his senic with a ford c-max tdi which he really like(probably cos of the bigger engine) but think while the cmax is bigger its cubby hole space is not as good as the scenic and got less toys.

Mankysteve

Also it did have very comfy seats He had the dymanic (i think that the right name) class.

johnson293

bigjl wrote: »

Things like that I would put down to owners using cheap oil, my wifes Clio 1.5 Dci needs oil that is one of the more expensive going, fully synthetic only from memory.

The car had full Renault (dealer) service history, up to 72,000 miles it had on when I bought it, so I would assume they would have used the correct grade of oil.

I bought it private so had no warranty or come back to the seller, but the 'top up oil' light came on a fortnight after I bought it, and was then using roughly a litre/week afterwards.

As I said in my previous post, I loved the car, as it had loads of 'toys', drove and looked nice, and was very economical - but a piston ring job could have cost £1000 upwards, which I couldn't face after already having needed the Turbo replacing.

don9999

We had a Renault Grand Scenic 04 from new, but just sold it 6 months ago.

Unfortunately 'we' did experience some electrical problems during our many years of ownership - including the handbrake sticking and various electrical display issues. However, I can't see if this is typical for Scenics or whether 'we' were just unlucky.

But......I do have to make you aware that there is a known fault with Renault Scenic dashboards on cars made around this time. Although it doesn't stop the car working, the whole unit packs up and goes blank - and as you may know 'everything' is displayed on the electronic dashboard, including the speed, fuel gauge etc.etc.. So although you 'could' drive, is very unsafe to do so.

When it happened to ours we were quoted around £700 to have it replaced. However, I then discovered that the issue had been investigated on TV's Watchdog and Renault had admitted the fault. They are therefore replacing such broked dashboards, paying the bulk of the cost - though the customer is still required to pay £100. I was pretty miffed with that but couldn't think of any way of getting out of paying it. Despite it being a Renault manufacturing fault AND them admitting to it!

I think it happened to us at around 70,000 miles or so, so it's probably worth checking if your dashboard unit has been replaced. If not, then it is very likely to need doing at some point.

Cheers,
Don