Renault Grand Scenic 1.6 16v

Overview

We bought the Renault Grand Scenic recently 2nd hand, as a weekend car to take all the family out together. Apart from the initial horror of having grandparents, children and my husband all in the car together… the actual practicality of the matter has worked very well.

With 5 seats as standard, and the extended boot space, this is a very practical car for my usual weekly activities – shopping, trips to the recycling centre, school runs etc., and the ISOFIX car seat fittings make it easy to take the kids car seats in and out. The boot is enormous with plenty of space for luggage, pushchairs, golf clubs and shopping.

The 2 additional seats are in the boot, and are hidden under the floor space. They are easy to pull up… just remove the floor cover and pull the red cord! The whole process takes around 10 seconds – really useful when it’s raining.

I have never felt that comfortable putting the kids and seats in the boot, so this usually means that my husband has to squash himself into the back, leg room is very tight, and the luggage, gets packed around him. If the 7th seat is needed, the amount of space in the boot is minimal, and trips need to be on the short side, or have very regular breaks!

Getting into and out of the ‘boot-seats’ is also tough. One can attempt to barrel roll out of the boot, or alternatively, the middle seats do fold forward, but you need to be a size 10 or less to shimmy through!

Some Techs

The car is more functional than a pretty crowd pleaser, and is a little bit of a workhorse with its less than aerodynamic shape. However, it is a comfortable ride, and has plenty of ‘headroom’ (my husband is over six foot and has no issues).

To drive, it feels a little more like driving a van… the steering wheel and dashboard layout feel quite horizontal, and you are slightly higher up than in a standard saloon.

The onboard computer monitors the usual, speed, distance, petrol left, average MPG, average speed, and this is more than ample for the casual user.

Most of our driving is around town, with the odd bit of motorway, and it achieves a relatively respectable 35 miles per gallon with its 1600 engine. Running on unleaded, I believe that the versions with a 1.9/2.0 diesel engine, would achieve much greater efficiency and have greater ‘green’ benefits.

Insurance wise its cheap to run, and bar an horrific initial bill for new tyres (all 4 needed doing!), the service done when we got it was approx £ 150.00.

As a mother, the safety of the vehicle is paramount, and the ABS and ‘surround’ airbags give the Grand Scenic a very safe feel, and the heights of the windows are fantastic in the middle seats, allowing my 3 year old to be able to see out!

The Air conditioning is helpful; we just need some decent weather to need it!
· Alloy Wheels
· Leather Steering Wheel
· Hands free Renault card
· All electric windows
· 7 Seats which move tilt and fold
· ABS, ESP for Safety
· Air Conditioning
· Automatic Headlights/Wipers
· 4 x 15W RDS radio CD MP3 with fingertip remote control

Summary

As a 5 seater, you have a safe, efficient, reliable (touch wood) people carrier… as a 6 seater, one of you is slightly uncomfortable… as a 7 seater, no one bar the driver is comfortable as the luggage is stacked into foot-wells, knees etc

It does a good job and the rear seats are easy to put up, and whilst it isn’t pretty, it’s not bad to look at either.

One note of caution, if you are over 6 foot when the swing back door is open, its at a very awkward forehead height, and my husband ‘cracks his skull’ regularly!

The Renault key card is easy to carry, and slips in the pocket much more comfortably than a bunch of keys.

I like this vehicle, and I’d recommend it for families with occasional grandparent visits, or who go camping or on regular day trips out!