The kind of car Renault do best (Renault Grand Scenic in general)

Member Name: ImVeryNice

Product:	Renault Grand Scenic in general
Date:	02/09/08 (1132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Seven seats, comfortable, economical (diesel), easy to drive

Disadvantages: High depreciation, not a substitue for a full-size MPV, no spare wheel

This review is based on my experience of owning a Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 dCi (100 bhp) Expression with Comfort Pack for 14 months from new (16,000 miles). I only sold it because I was moving abroad at the time. In fact selling the car exposed its worst fault: heavy depreciation. Even though I bought the car with a reasonable discount (£2,000) and it was in immaculate condition in an attractive colour (a blue-grey metallic), I still lost 40% of what I paid. So definitely look for a very good discount if buying new or insist on a realistic price second-hand (show them the Parkers Guide, for example). Dealers make a lot more margin on their used stock, so should have plenty of leeway. New discounts tend to get subsidised by the manufacturer and depend on volume of sales.

Main reasons for buying this car were: seating capacity (I have four children); economy (official figure around 53 mpg combined); 5 star NCAP safety rating; boot capacity with seats all up (better than rivals such as VW Touran, Vauxhall Zafira, Toyota Corolla Verso or (now obsolete) Mazda Premacy 7-seater); comprehensive equipment; price (lower than all rivals apart from the smaller, less versatile Premacy).

Within a week of delivery I was taking it (and all the family) for our annual holiday in Aragón (Northern Spain). It coped superbly averaging over 50 mpg despite the load, motorway speeds and the need to cross the Pyrenees. The air conditioning was very powerful and kept us from sweating in the near 40° C external temperatures. I also noticed that the driver's seat was extremely comfortable and supportive and I had no aches after 500 or 600 miles a day. The handling and road holding felt very good with impressive grip and only mild body roll. The brakes too were excellent, powerful, and progressive with good feel and pulled the car up quickly without any hint of pulling to one side. All this was very different from our previous Toyota Lite-Ace 8-seater which nearly threw itself off a Pyrenean mountain road at barely 20 mph when I braked into a sharpish bend (scary!). Where the Renault did suffer in comparison was in the luggage space, a serious squeeze with two weeks worth of holiday luggage and six people in the car, and in the comfort of the third row of seats, which turned out to be hard and uncomfortable even for a 7-year old after a long stint.

Two subsequent continental trips (London to Valencia return) confirmed the cars suitability for this type of motoring. The engine was never embarrassed despite its mere 1460 cc and had a smooth progressive power delivery from 1500 to 4500 rpm, although in practice 2500 to 3000 rpm was enough for normal driving (you are doing nearly 80 mph at 3000 rpm in fifth). Once run in fully, I could get a regular 60 mpg according to the on-board computer without ever resorting to coasting or driving dangerously slowly. The engine is generally quiet with a pleasantly subdued growl under acceleration. That said, it did lack the "grunt" of 1.9 dCi I test drove originally.

Back in London the car was easy to drive with excellent visibility all round and light precise steering. I was already used to a large vehicle (Toyota Lite-Ace) and had no problem with its size.

The Comfort Pack (electric glass sunroof, CD auto-changer, electrically folding door mirrors and keyless entry) was a good value addition and greatly enhanced our pleasure with the car). Curiously, the electric sunroof turned out to be a bit of a disappointment though: when open the wind noise and buffeting made the car uncomfortable despite the built-in wind deflector. In retrospect I would have chosen climate control and heated front seats instead (Climate Pack?).

Renault designed this car with family use in mind: you get a huge glove box, large door pockets and storage compartments under the floor front and rear. A nice touch is provided by the built-in sun blinds for the rear doors. Boot capacity with the third row of seats folded down (they fold flat easily) is excellent and you have a roller-blind style luggage cover. The third row folds individually so you can have either six or seven seats. With all seats up you have only 200 litres (about half the size of an average boot) but this is better than most similar vehicles. Head and legroom in the front and middle rows is very good with plenty of elbow room too (a little less in the middle seat in the second row). The interior has a light airy ambience (partly thanks to the optional glass sunroof) and is well ventilated. A thoughtful touch is the "child" locks controlled electronically from a switch on the driver's door.

Criticisms in use: the car has an automatic electronic handbrake. This is very useful as it applies itself automatically when you switch off (no more forgetting it) and also releases itself automatically every time you start to move off. However, very occasionally it would stick on when pulling away gently, necessitating a declutch and a second, more nifty start. The problem never reached the point that it was worth taking it back to the dealer, but could be annoying. Again, the brakes so excellent at speed could be inconsistent when cold and at low speeds, sometimes sharp and other times unresponsive at the first application. Not an easy problem to identify and once warmed up it went away. Instruments. Do you like digital speedos and rev counters? I don't, they are less easy to read at a glance; the constantly changing speedo display can be distracting while the bar chart style rev counter and fuel gauges are small and less precise than analogue. Fit and finish: mostly good but in some areas a bit of a let down; for example the seat and carpet material very quickly showed signs of "frizzing". The gap around the rear doors was noticeably wider than the rest of the panel gaps, the rear hatch was slightly off centre and the bumper plastic marked extremely easily (and could not be polished out). The steering wheel on this version has a hard plastic rim and made my hands sore on long journeys (higher trim models have a leather cover). I would have liked better rubbing strips and wheel-arch protectors as these are the most vulnerable parts of a car used in city conditions. The car did not have a spare wheel either, and couldn't be fitted with one with the specification I had, it seems because the total weight of the car would then have been excessive (other combinations can have a spare wheel as an option though)

Some of the (minor) issues I had with my car could be explained by the fact that it was an early (2004) model. The Grand Scenic has since had a face-lift with uprated specifications including ESP and a 6-speed gearbox on the 1.5 dCi engine (also slightly more powerful now at 105 bhp). If you don't think you will ever need seven seats, there is now also a five-seater at a lower price. On the other hand I never suffered a breakdown or fault that necessitated taking it back to the dealer. In fact it didn't even need a service with its 18,000 mile service interval. Apart from checking the tyre pressures, topping up the screen-wash and the occasional drop of oil (hardly used any) I had nothing to do.

That reminds me, the dipstick is a bit stiff to remove and slightly awkwardly placed on this engine, a bit too far back in the engine compartment for easy access. I must admit that it is not really necessary to use the dipstick as the car checks its own oil level when it is switched on. It is just that I like to be sure (sensors can fail of course).

Summary: Well worth considering at the right price

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