Dear Scenic: an End of Term Report (Renault Scenic in general)

Member Name: zero

Product:	Renault Scenic in general
Date:	06/03/01 (1707 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: practicality, reliability, value for money

Disadvantages: None

Dear Scenic,

I remember when I was young, like you, being told that there are two kinds of report: those that are embarrassing to give (for poor performance) and those that are embarrassing to receive (for good performance). This, my dear Scenic, is one of the latter, you’ll be pleased to hear.

We bought you almost three years ago – my, how time flies! Now, as you prepare for your first MOT-level exam, it is time for my report to you.

Your aptitude for school work became obvious immediately. From the start, you have ferried our children and neighbours to and from school, with all their school stuff and without complaint. Different when I was a kid, obviously – a small satchel and a bus ride OK for me – but you coped brilliantly with the kids’ instruments, bags of books, sports kit and so on.

Of course, school work isn’t everything, is it, eh… you have a decent spread of extracurricular activities. Commuting, motorway-speed cruises the length of the country and so on, all have been fine, even with all your amazing range of storage and cubby holes filled up. We’ve really enjoyed finding new places to stow things in you actually – it’s nearly as much fun as trying to remember what is where when it comes to unpacking! And your rear seats adjust and can be removed easily; they are not too heavy at all (but do watch your own weight as you get older!). Your stereo with steering-column remote controls helped make long journeys with kids calm too, especially once we found out how to control the sound levels at front and back separately.

Driving you has been better than we expected. The much-feared body roll turned out to be not bad at all in the end, though I think you probably encouraged us to tone down our driving style a bit, didn’t you… not that your 2 litre engine lacks power, no, not at all, in fact you accelerate quite impressively when ligh
tly-loaded. Maybe its something to do with the high driving position?

And talking about driving position, I was particularly pleased with the excellent visibility you provided. From the driver’s seat it seems at first that there is a bad blind spot, making it impossible to tell if you are being overtaken. But on second look, I found that your electrically-adjustable convex door mirrors are curved precisely right, so there is absolutely no blind spot between the central rear view mirror and the door mirrors. Full marks for design. And, also on the safety front, congratulations on being considerate to others – the middle seat belt at the back is a proper lap and diagonal one, very cleverly fitted in, not the simple lap-only belt some lesser cars tolerate.

Now, I know I have told you before about your immobiliser. It was accurately described by a motoring journalist as “overly intrusive”, because it sets itself automatically too enthusiastically. A teeny bit annoying, especially in the supermarket car park. But, as we’ve discussed this before, and as later models have a better immobiliser, I won’t dwell on it.

You have an exemplary attendance record, never letting us down when we needed you, and always keen to get started. The only blot was when you refused to shut one of your two sun roofs on that rainy Saturday in your first week with us, embarrassing us in front of friends. Probably homesickness, I know. Anyway, it was a common problem in those days with young Scenics, and I think it has been fixed by Renault. You’ve certainly not suffered that problem since.

On the subject of problems though, do remember to be easy on your brake disks. I still don’t understand what happened to the first set. Do look after the new ones, they are quite pricey. And I won’t mention the incident with the blown dashboard bulb again if you don’t.

Other than that, you have
been trouble-free. No mechanical problems at all, and no complaint about the quality of the insides – other than a couple of minor squeaks. An exemplary young car. But do remember not to flaunt your features too much (air conditioning, in-dash radio/CD, electric sunroofs, twin airbags, adjustable headlight level, and so on).

Is there anything you can do to improve, you ask… well, I have always wished we could turn the front seats round to face backwards, since you ask. Some MPV cars can do that, you know, so why can’t you? But apart from that, difficult to improve on your design unless you junk the whole concept, I suppose.

Will I give you a good reference? Of course, of course. But there isn’t too much point, as so many of our friends already have a Scenic of their own. You can join the second-hand market full of confidence.

So, good luck with your MOT-level. I am confident you will pass. Knowing you as I do, you probably don’t even need to revise!

Summary: