Renault grand scenic

[Brown888]

I want one. Second hand. 7 seater. Ideally about 10 years old. Love the shape and space but it's not too huge
DP thinks Renault is unreliable
Thinks I should get something more robust like a VW touran.
Aibu?
Anyone driven a Renault grand scenic? Any love stories or horror stories?

Forgot to add

Aibu - avoid like the plague
Yanbu- get itttt :)

Mine's 9 years old, had it since it was 6 years old. Not really had to have anything major done on it but it's only done 54k miles. I love it, but they do have a lot electronics that can go wrong. The dash is fully computerised.

Very safe, full side airbags, even in the 'boot', nice to drive and love the satnav and electronic parking brake. I'd be wary of buying a ten year old one, especially if its got a lot of mileage.

i had one. Electrics went wrong and cost £5k and still didn’t work. It’s a daisy chain of electrics. Then it still didn’t work. Gave up at that point. Don’t do it!

Oh no I was hoping for stories of hope and resilience. Damn it DP might be right

I have also heard everything goes wrong with them. The only car I know about in that sense.

Loved mine- had it for 11 years. All the seats were independent- then things started failing & it would have cost more than it was worth to repair. Be careful though, if all the seats are up the very back two are only suited to very short children.

We bought one last year for our house reno, super practical for tip runs and the extra seats came into use more than once. The engine failed on us twice however which we've never had with any other car. Big car without feeling too big on the road. I liked it overall and would have done us for a few more years until a bigger car sideswiped us and the dent was deemed uneconomical to repair so written off. So I would have one again but definitely get top breakdown cover.

I'm on my second. First one the electric handbrake broke which was over £1000 to fix but then ran for years. I got it when my eldest was at preschool and sold it when she started high school!

On my second one and it was 4 years old when I got it, now 6 and things are going wrong. Tempted to get a Kia Sportage instead especially as I no longer need 7 seats.

My current Renault has tiny pop up seats so no good for my teenagers

Bad experiences here too sorry. Dashboard, windows, oil leak, handbrake and more that I've forgotten about. I was on first name terms with the customer service team leader at one point

German cars > French cars.

Better designed and engineered. French cars are notorious for being poorly laid out for maintenance etc. Their car industry only survives because its largely owned by the French Government. (Dont get me wrong, we British also traditionally made shit cars).

Most modern cars are pretty reliable, (if maintained), regardless of marque. DP is being practical, German or Japanese is always a safe bet. Take heed of what former owners say above.

But, ultimately, If you are paying for it, your choice.

Tbh, If I was going to buy a car at 10+ years old, I would probably gravitate to something like a Toyota, which are nearly indestructible (remember the famous Top Gear Episode where they tried and failed to kill a Toyota Hilux).

For similar money, you could get a Japanese grey-import Toyota Alphard - these can have the same number of seats and still fits in a standard parking space. It would be a bit older than the Renault, but a much safer bet in terms of its reliability.

Although they are grey-imports (ie non official imports) the parts are common with other models and so cheap / easy to source.

I had one for ten years, bought because it had room for three car seats in the back plus a switchable airbag in the front for when baby was first born. I loved it, high seat position which is fab for driving round town, huge boot and not bad either with both seats up in the back. Loved the electric handbrake too. The only thing that ever went wrong was that the aircon died but I think if you're unlucky and the electrics go it could be costly. I actually thought about downsizing to the five seater when it was time to replace, but couldn't find the right one at a sensible price.

I traded mine in last year for a Mini. I do still miss it occasionally. It was comfortable, a lovely drive and I loved the built in sat nav and digital screen.

It got pissy about my commute though and scared the crap out of me when it changed the whole screen to a red 'engine failure hazard' alert. I practically crawled to the garage. Turns out my filters were full of gunk and 'a nice run on the motorway doing 50mph+ should clear that'. It did but the warning would come back on periodically. Finally stayed off when we drove it to France. That cleared it properly.

The boot seats offer very little legroom, but we only used them occasionally anyway.

The Mini is fun to drive but definitely not as comfortable or flexible.

I had one years ago, never ever again. We constantly threw money at it to no avail. My favorite car is a Passat, very reliable.
Do yourself a favor and don’t waste your hard earned cash!

What is your AIBU @Brown888 ?

seriously?

Avoid the Scenic.And the Touran, laudable as it is, won’t have the same space.

Your best bet in this class is a Galaxy or a SMax from Ford, but neither are seen as “middle class” enough by the chattering folk that matter, which is why they never get recommends on this forum .

Is your Mini a diesel @RhubarbFairy ?

is your commute less than 20 miles, and not on motorways?

then you bought the wrong car for your lifestyle

My Grand Scenic was a diesel and my commute was 25 miles each way. Not on motorways. That was not my commute when I bought the car, but these things change.

My Mini is petrol and my new commute is 10 minutes on foot. I bought the Mini because I'd had over a decade of having the sensible family car, it was my turn to have the fun one that I bought for me, not everyone else.

But thanks for your input.

I had the Galaxy as a courtesy car just before I sold the Scenic. I absolutely loved it. If I got another big car, that would absolutely be the one.

I had a Grand Scenic from new. It was always in and out of the garage with various warnings and component failures. The ride was comfy but it was too unreliable. I then bought a new Touran. I did 130k miles in it in 7 years and didn't have a day's trouble. Utterly reliable, if a bit lower spec than the GS. I then bought another Touran.

I play the double bass and it sits on a trolley. There are hardly any vehicles that take it attached to the trolley. The Touran's boot is really good if you only use 5 seats. The seats in the boot aren't great but DH and adult DDs are happy to travel up to an hour in them.

Renault Scenic ....avoid too unreliable. We had 2 and they weren't good. Nor want the Citroen either. VW Tiguan was brilliant and Kia Sportage was too.

We are on our second. Tall family of 5 and we all fit just about. The plus 2 seats were useful when kids were small but not great for teenagers, although middle seats move forward to give more leg space behind. We have not had any major issues.

It’s as good as your input about a tiny family hatchback when the OP is asking about a specific model of MPV, but thanks also for your cool car story

Absolutely 100% avoid. I would not have another one if it was the last car on the planet. Great for the first couple of years then an absolute nightmare. Renault are awful to deal with and will do anything to wriggle out of warranty repairs.
Notorious for gearbox issues. Wanted £3000 for a new gearbox unit in warranty.
Have had a Zafira, C4 Picasso, Kia Carens and now a BMW Gran Tourer. All so much better.

We had ours for a few years, the space was great along with the storage just a shame it cost us thousands in regular breakdowns. I would avoid like the plague.

Now have a Audi Q3 which I love ❤️

My engine management light 'story' was about the Scenic!

I'll spell it out for you.

Comfortable drive.
Flexible seating.
Spacious.
Loads of hidden storage.
Decent spec eg built in sat nav.

Filter sensors get shirty if you don't drive it on a long straight road at high speeds regularly, resulting in a light that proclaims imminent doom.

Also, the headlights are a pain to change if they go.

We've literally just said goodbye to our 2011 trusty Renault scenic😭It had done 120,000 miles and had been the most reliable car we've ever had. But things were finally starting to go wrong and we could feel big bills were around the corner... So, younger models we'd have like a shot but I suspect after 10 years everything seems to fall to pieces!