Renault Scenic owner reviews
“The Renault Scenic MPV is now as stylish and well equipped as it is practical, giving SUVs and crossovers a run for their money”
Carbuyer Rating
3.5 out of 5
Owners Rating
3.5 out of 5
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Reviews
Owner Reviews
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- 1 out of 5
50%of people would recommend this car to a friendCommon Problems
- Brakes, Electrics, Other (1 case)
Review 1 of 2
5 out of 5
Car Details
Model
1.5dci dyn
Year
2006
Avg annual mileage
More than 20,000
Owned
3 - 5 years
Bought Car
New
Typical MPG
59
Tell us what you think about your car?
Bought this car 5 years ago for £400 with 97k on the clock, had to replace the front brakes. I have now cover 90k with it and has never missed a beat so car just under 200k went for it mot last Saturday pasted with only a ball joint, never uses or leaks oil between services, still looks tidy for its age, best car I have ever owned.
Would you recommend the car to a friend?
Yes
2 out of 5
Car Details
Model
1.6 vvt Tom Tom Dynamique
Year
2011
Avg annual mileage
0 – 4,999
Owned
3 - 5 years
Bought Car
New
Typical MPG
38
Tell us what you think about your car?
Have had the 1.6 VVT Tom Tom dynamque since 2014. Bought as an ex-motability vehicle with just 8,000 on clock and full service history. Has spent nearly a year of its life in garages being repaired, most of this being down to failures by insurance authorised garages following two minor scrapes and one serious accident. Bottom line, the only place that has ever been able to repair complex issues is an authorised Renault dealership.
I love this car WHEN it works. Right now I'm sitting in my garage with it up on chocks fixing the brakes for the third time in two years due to brake piston failures. It's unreliability is so awful that I now own two cars. A small runaround for normal life and this is now basically used as a tug for a trailer and a caravan.
My cars are always well maintained, serviced through authorised dealers and driven with care. I rarely get faults apart from with this vehicle.
Within five months of getting the car the car was unusable and had to be towed away due to the alarm module failing completely.
There have been regular failures on the ECU and various sensors. Sensors have had to be replaced. The ECU remapped at least twice.
The yaw sensor failed resulting in the car braking of its own accord on roundabouts and the like which was extremely dangerous and out of driver control.
The spare tyre footwell also serves as a paddling pool due to water ingress from under the car. I emptied out 22 litres of water from the well earlier this month.
Water ingress has also affected the rear towing electrics resulting in relays needing replaced.
Leaks are common place for this car when fitted with a tow bar. Be careful.
Tyre wear on the front wheels is high due to the nose weight and they needed regular replacement and slow cornering to preserve their life when I used it as my main vehicle.
The panels inside have proven flimsy and this is the only car we've had where the panels (two of them) inside have literally fallen off our kids.
The electric handbrake is great when it works but ours started to fail at about 70,000 miles. This is a common fault seemingly and I really just wish it had an old fashioned handbrake now.
The camshaft dephaser pulley has started to fail and makes an awful start on ignition. Seemingly this is also rated for about 70,000 miles and is changed with the timing belt.
The aircon has developed the most horrible mildewy smell that I haven't even got round to investigating yet.
The Bluetooth connection on the stereo is unreliable and frequently disconnects from various phones.
BUT when it's working and running (on those rare happy occasions) it's a joy to drive. There's plenty of power IF you use the gears correctly. (You can accelerate to 60 in third... On motorways to 70 in fourth. Fifth and sixth are best used as cruising gears and if you use these for acceleration the car will feel gutless. It's not. It's got 109bhp on a 1.3 tonne vehicle off a sixteen valve 1.6 engine. It can shift as fast as you'll ever need for a family car and more.
It's big tyres and wide profile make it soak up the bumps and handle wonderfully on motorway drives.
It's fuel economy relies deeply on how it's driven. If you learn to use it right on flat country roads with little braking (we get those in the north of Scotland) I'll get 48mpg off a 300 mile drive in summer. Mixed driving 38mpg. Town driving is awful and in a slow moving city environment it really was about 25mpg. That was Aberdeen where the average journey speed for journeys would never get about 12mph a trip!
On the basis of my car, buy it if you want to tinker and learn about car mechanics (I've really enjoyed my learning experience after I got a second back up car and wasn't left stranded!), but omg Renault. If you read this review you seriously owe me a new car and a substantial reimbursement for the cost of all the components that have failed which you built and their repair. I love my car because I find it fun to fix and keep going now. But utterly shockingly dreadfully unreliable.
Would you recommend the car to a friend?
No 
