Renault Scenic MPV (2016-2019) - Reliability & safety

With the Renault Scenic always a popular choice for growing families, safety and reliability are as important as ever. Fortunately, this Scenic has some very impressive safety technology and is covered by a four-year warranty.

Renault Scenic reliability

The latest Scenic has a tough act to follow – the previous Mk3 model was an excellent performer in our annual Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, coming in 19th place out of 150 cars surveyed in 2016. This was a fantastic result for a car that had been on the market for seven years.

Most of all, Scenic owners are fans of its practicality – it saw a 12th-place finish in this category, as well as a 20th-place result for seat comfort. Owners also love its ride quality; it finished in 16th place overall in this respect. It’ll be interesting to see whether this remains true for the latest car with its 20-inch wheels.

Renault’s best Driver Power position was eighth place out of 32 brands overall in 2016. After a couple of years lower down, Renault’s positioning has steadily been climbing again, coming 19th out of 30 manufacturers in 2019. 

The 2019 Driver Power survey saw 18.6% of owners reporting a fault in the first year of ownership. Renault is by no means a maker of unreliable cars but owners have criticised its performance in that department, as well as build quality.

Owners also weren’t sold on the user friendliness of their cars, or the smartphone connectivity. Running and servicing costs, quiet engines, child-friendly features and a fun driving experience all received praise.

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Safety

The Renault Scenic received a five-star rating from the independent safety testing organisation Euro NCAP, scoring 90% for adult occupant protection, 82% for child protection and 67% for pedestrian protection.

This strong overall result was helped by the Scenic’s active emergency braking system, which detects pedestrians in the car’s path. Other safety technologies available on the Scenic, either standard or as options, include lane-departure warning (which vibrates the steering wheel to attract your attention if the car veers over the white lines) and lane-keeping assistance (which takes control of the steering if you don’t respond to that warning).        

Fatigue detection warning, hands-free parking and active cruise control are also available.