Used Renault Captur review: 2013 to 2019 (Mk1) - Interior, comfort and safety

Comfort is one of the Renault Captur’s strengths, as the soft suspension does a good job of absorbing bumps in the road. It’s not ultra-smooth, but you wouldn’t often expect a cheap car to be, and it’s comfy enough to make long trips easy as well as trips to town.

The Captur’s low cost is pretty obvious when you get inside, though. The interior has an interesting design, and it has a height-adjustable driver’s seat and steering wheel, so getting comfortable is easy, but the materials in the cabin feel cheap and it’s not the most modern-looking dashboard. It feels much more dated than a Citroen C4 Cactus of a similar year, for example.

What’s the Renault Captur like inside?

The Captur’s dashboard has an interesting design, but the materials are hard, scratchy and feel cheap, so it’s not very upmarket. The design is also looking rather dated these days. As part of the 2017 facelift, soft-touch materials were added to improve the feeling of quality and a two-tone covering made for a more attractive design.

There’s scope to give the Captur’s interior a personal touch, though. For instance, the seat covers can The Renault Captur is comfortable, but the interior looks dated. A five-star crash rating means safety is goodbe unzipped on some models (it was a £100 option when new), allowing you to change them for a different design or wash off any dirty marks or stains.

The technology in the Captur is lacking a bit, though. It’s got enough functionality but the DAB radio has issues with not working, and models with a touchscreen display suffer from a poor user interface that looks ancient and is slow to load.

What’s on the equipment list?

On earlier versions of the Captur (from 2013-2017), the trim levels are Expression, Expression+, Dynamique Media Nav, Dynamique S Media Nav and Signature. 

Expression models come with cruise control, electric windows and mirrors and are distinguished by 16-inch alloy wheels – but not air-conditioning. This becomes standard on the Expression+. Dynamique MediaNav adds a seven-inch touchscreen with sat-nav, Bluetooth, climate control, 17-inch alloy wheels and cornering lights. 

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The Dynamique S MediaNav adds privacy glass, electric folding door mirrors and parking sensors to the list. The posh Signature model has leather upholstery, an upgraded stereo and rear parking camera.

In later versions the trims changed to Play, Iconic, S Edition and GT-Line. The basic Play trim includes two-tone paintwork, 16-inch alloy wheels and an R&GO smartphone app that includes navigation.

The Iconic model features some chrome interior touches and a seven-inch colour screen fitted in the centre of the dash. All Captur models from the Iconic trim level upwards are fitted with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. There’s also climate control, 17-inch alloy wheels, leather embellishments and tinted rear windows for security and privacy. S Edition adds LED headlights, different alloys and sportier interior touches like dark headlining, red stitching and Alcantara suede trim on the seats.

Go for the GT-Line range-topper and the Captur gets self-parking tech, front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, folding door mirrors, part-leather upholstery and heated front seats.

How safe is it?

The Captur’s five-star crash safety rating from Euro NCAP is a good sign. It scored well for adult (88%) and child occupant (79%) protection. That’s down to a body that’s designed to crumple in a controlled way during a collision, as well as six standard airbags.

To help keep children safe, Renault has put ISOFIX child-seat points to the passenger seat and the outside back seats – this makes fitting child seats easy and safe. Blind-spot monitoring and front parking sensors were available, as were autonomous parking. Look for models with those options fitted for maximum safety.