xsara picasso vs scenic-thoughts please

[Fillyjonk]

can't decide

mileage is prob about 5 k per year and we'd be getting a diesel. We have about 8k to spend really (but the less the better as we're paying it back), so are prob going to get quite high mileage and an 03 car.

Am worried about the false floors on both, the official advice is not to use car seats with "feet" on false floors.

We have a 6 week old, a 2.8 yo and a 4 year old.

yes I know this is deeply boring. I would rather gnaw my own leg off than look at more car info but I am not sure that that would help much.

We need to change cars soon as we need to be able to fi two car seats and an adult in the back. I'm hoping to get a diesel Corolla Verso as my current car is a toyota and in 5 years (until this year) I had spent £100 other than services and MOT which I think is good going for a 1998 car.

I don't know anything about the floor though. A garage locally has a diesel with 55k 03 plate £6.5k if that helps with an idea of price. The 2004 model changed to 7 seats so are more expensive.

ok but of the cars I've said-which is better?

Please just bloody tell me, I no longer care

as standard renault gets a better write up than citreon

have you compared them on what car or autotrader websites?

I would go for the picasso as Citroen have a better write up on reliability. Agree with you on the boredom stakes.......snore!

Having said that - I wouldn't go for either of those! (after spending 3 months researching cars with car freak dh!)

I have a Picasso and am pretty happy with it - 2001, still reliable. Guzzles fuel though (petrol) and not brilliant on those Euro safety tests, esp. for pedestrians (ENCAP)? Also suspect that the emissions are not great, although that's almost certainly true for the Scenic as well.

Don't know what you mean about car seats with 'feet' - mine don't have any feet... You're an Isofix girl aren't you (or was that someone else?) Do they have feet?

Congratualtions on the baby BTW.

gwan then clucky-what would you go for? Otherwise it will eat away at me...

I think the problem is really that BOTH renault and citroen are pretty crap for reliability.

I mean those things that go on the floor in stage 0 seats, pw. I THINK all first stage seats have them?

secnic is actually quite good for an mpv re eco-ness (though taking the bus far better).

we've ruled out several cars, eg honda frv, because they don't actually appear to have ANY fuel economy

Have you been looking at the What Car? site? That's where I got most of my info from.

I have looked at that site until I want to puke, tbh. I have looked at them all.

The thing is, its the reader comments. Both the picasso and the scenic have readers saying that, on occasion, their car has cut out on the motorway, and is basically not massively reliable. I can't get a sense of whether this is just disgruntled one - offs or whether this is a real known problem

It's been a while since I used baby car seats so maybe they have grown feet in the meantime.

Diesel should be better than petrol - but of course it's more expensive to buy now

I do like driving the Picasso - it's a bit like driving a van, but it's smooth and all that. I'd better stop before I start throwing around words like 'poke' and 'traction'.

Yes, I know what you mean about the reviews. I think people tend to post reviews only if they either absolutely LOVE a car, or OTOH have had some horrendous experience. Neither is representatiev of course.

I'm sure that, if Picassos really did regularly cut out on motorways, they wouldn't be so blooming ubiquitous. Certainly never had any major probs with ours, and as I say it's older than the models you're looking at.

we have Picasso. I love it. It is bigger (slight;y) than scenic.

Picasso is quite plasticy & wearing quickly inside....but it was loads cheaper (we got ours brand new for at £8.5K scenic would have been at least £3K more...

what seat(s) are you using with feet? We used a graco autobaby base and the foot sits on solid floor between the trapdoor and the back seat so doesn't actually sit on the trapdoor. Also we prmairly used it in the centre seat and again doesn't sit on the trapdoor.

I like my trapdoors... you can store all sorts of bits in them.

I always forget about the trap doors. Heaven knows what DS2 might have posted in there.

lol yes that is true, if they WERE death traps we'd know.

I'm nervous because about 85% of my driving is on the motorway, always with 3 kids in the back. I don't actually see how I could get them all out quickly in an emergency.

useful info re the autobaby base, so if need be we could just go buy one of those, I imagine the britax one is similar though.

dp said the same re the plasticiness. Also he was concerned re visability.

I don't care that much really. if it goes when I put my foot down and doesn't kill us all-who bloody cares? HOW is a lump of metal exciting? My brother tried to explain this concept of "drive satisfaction" to me but really failed.

filly I will have a similiar age age as you and got a Focus CMAX recently, it's ace will be able to get them all in at a push and it's good to drive.

BF has a Scenic and hates it apparently she was told that 04's have a design fault with the electics, her brakes failed recently and she went into the back of someone, she has had it back at the garage 6 times since she bought it.

Picasso's are v popular.

It's true that there is a bit of a visibility issue - there are bars to the right and left of the windscreen that you have to peer around a bit - can be a bit irritating at roundabouts, I've found, but not disastrous.

Re. getting them out quickly - you could get the passenger seat airbag removed and put one of them in the front? Not sure whether that's better than having them slightly inaccessible in the middle, tbh.

I've heard good things about CMAXs - aren't they very good for emissions? However I don't want to muddy the waters...

I have a Renault Scenic but am currently driving a Picasso as mine is in for repair after someone reversed into me. So.... I love my Scenic. Space - fab, three seats (although the design of the seat belt clips in my is rubbish, kids can't do them on their own as they are low down between the seats but it is an old model and they have improved on that), I can take all the back seats out and use it as a van for tip runs and picking up furniture, back seats recline so great on long journeys, back seats go forward and back so if you need more boot space and less leg room or vice versa you can adjust. All in all, it is a great family car. Mine is diesel and does about 500 miles to a tank - excellent. I stick in £20 a month!

The Picasso is also great and has similar features but I don't like the massive sloping windscreen and I think there are blind spots as there are pillars at the front on the side IYKWIM and I feel I have to treble check before pulling out instead of just double check!

actually the cmax sounds interesting, dunno why i didn't think of it

how much of a squeeze are the seats? Can you fit a proper booster in or is it a cushion thingy?

does it feel big to drive?

am off to google to see if i can actually afford one though

ah interesting re 04s having design faults too

there is a known fault with the wing mirrors causing spontaneous combustion, apparently

We have a 2006 Scenic 1.5 diesel - excellent fuel economy and very comfortable car. According to Honest John quality has improved greatly in the last 18 months - but we have had 2 Scenics now (old and new model) with no real problems. Diesels are more expensive than petrol engined models to purchase though you save long term if you do enough mileage.

recent thread on Scenics

yes that thread is why i am hestitating

dp will try focus on tues to see if it can get 3 x car seats in

ok whatcar forums don't like cmax either

Pesky fora