I bought a 15k 53 plate 2.2dci Grand Espace auto which was bought by the a forces guy and imported into the UK. The best bit was that I paid £12500 for it. Its got a warranty until 2006 but I have to claim it at a Cyprus dealer! I suppose its an excuse for a holiday.
I work for Inchcape and our Renault guys tell me these things cost a bomb when the go wrong, I understand that a clutch is a grand.
The handbrake on mine is fine. The ride is ok and you feel very safe encased in all that plastic on the interior which rattles and creaks.
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Re the Grand Scenic spare wheel, I could be wrong but I thought the reason that it didn't have one was because the rear seats are in the place that a spare wheel would sit?
You might find that if you buy a spare it might need to sit loose in the boot?
Goes back to my other thread about reading manuals, are you only finding out now that it doesn't have a spare?
I have had no trouble with my electric handrake, in fact I think it is a great device. And it actually makes hill starts easier as far as I am concerned?
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2 concerns...Why did we buy it?.....Four kids....7 seats, and the grand scenic is better than a mini-bus.
...The car IS designed to carry a spare wheel...But Renault tell me they consider it an "optional extra"...They want £336.25
to fit one.
The point about about a torn or blown tyre is totally valid...the foam stuff may rescue you from a nail hole...But not much more...Can't risk not having a spare wheel any more...I'm going to get one, but three hundred quid is a rip off....Oh dear....I've got that Victor Meldrew twitch thing starting...Again!!
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Dont blame Renault - Currently in a Touran with no space for a spare wheel.
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TourVanMan < yes its RF reborn >
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PS....Bobby....I assume you live somewhere fairly flat... Norfolk maybe?
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PS....Bobby....I assume you live somewhere fairly flat... Norfolk maybe?
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nice attitude !
i bet bobbyg lives miles nearer ben nevis than jharvey5 and knows what hills in the uk really mean.
btw - harvey, when did you realise your mistake in buying this renault? why did you not search for, and fit a suitable size spare wheel from the cheapest source available. solutions are there for people who want to find them. easy to blame others for our own failings.
as for your handbrake problems, have you considered the possibility that the difficulty you as you experience it may not be seen as a difficulty by other people?
just being fair, although you may not like it.
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Dalglish, correct!!
I am based in the Strathclyde area of Scotland. I still don't get what is wrong with doing a hill start with this? If necessary you can use it as a normal brake and release it yourself - but why bother, just lift up the clutch, feel the bite, and the handbrake releases?
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...The car IS designed to carry a spare wheel...But Renault tell me they consider it an "optional extra"...They want £336.25 to fit one. ..Can't risk not having a spare wheel any more...I'm going to get one, but three hundred quid is a rip off
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A steel wheel, tyre and maybe a set of wheel bolts is a lot less than £336.25
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At least Renault aren't like Audi where there is no charge if you order one with a new car - aftermarket is over £200. First thing I bought for the A2 was an official spare, but I managed to find one secondhand and have just sold it on.
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Sounds like Renault are making extra profit to me, by selling a model that doesn't have a spare tyre as standard. I ask, have Renault reduced their list prices to take this into account whenever it was that they switched from spare tyres to tyre gel?
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Bentleys now come with a puncture "repair kit"...
Mind you you can get 20" split rim alloy wheels on them, bit big to have one of them as a spare!
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Bentleys now come with a puncture "repair kit"... Mind you you can get 20" split rim alloy wheels on them, bit big to have one of them as a spare!
Not really, it's a very large car. My car is smaller than a Bentley yet the manufacturer still managed to provide an 18inch spare!
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2 concerns...Why did we buy it?.....Four kids....7 seats....
So has the Zafira, and the Galaxy. Both of which come with a spare wheel and mechanical handbrake. As I said earlier plenty of other vehicles on the market to choose from.
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This is what I would do - get a spare wheel from a scrap yard, oh sorry, 'vehicle dismantlers'. Make sure it's not damaged and then get a new tyre fitted. I expect you will find the Scenic uses the same wheel as the Meganes and Laguna. Lot cheaper than getting a new one from the dealer.
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"French....Bound to go wrong."
I've been testing that theory since 1975 - Ren 4, 4 again, 5, 18, Cit BX, BX again, Xantia, Xantia again and Berlingo. Son and daughter also engaging in research, Ren 5, 5 again, 5 again Clio, Clio, Clio, Cit C2. Many of these cars done over 150k. You know what - in that time, 2 breakdowns (much to the advantage of RAC to whom I pay mucho money every year) requiring call out. One broken accelerator cable on a BX, one punctured radiator on a Ren 5 on M1. Yeah, the usual service items, oil, filters, wiper blades, spheres etc- sometimes severe electrical faults requiring a replacement bulb. I once had a new clutch on a BX at 120k - disgraceful, some of these needed new cambelts at designated intervals and I once needed some new glowplugs. Blimey, I neede some new tyres a week or so ago. Damned Michelins, bound to go wrong - only done 28k on the front.
French wine - yes, very unreliable - sometimes I require half a bottle before I fall over, sometimes a whole bottle.
Cheers
Phil
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PS On a very expensive car (to me anyway) did you not check the parking brake and spare wheel before laying out the money??
Phil
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PhilW
You could set up a lucrative internet business, acting as a broker supplying reliable new French cars for nervous customers. You buy them and then sell them on at list price +10% - got to be worth that sort of premium to get a good one? ;-)
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Ap,
Can only go from experience! Afraid I would only be able to supply reliable OLD French cars. But I think you would agree, that on the whole the XUD engines were pretty good, (we've never suffered the dreaded HGF)and the HDis we have had are, as yet, not up to 100k so have not required owt doing to them except cambelt at required interval. Cits have also been rustproof, (more than can be said of the early Rens - but at least they were mecanically sound)and we have been lucky with the electrics!
Up to a few years ago I went for cheap second hand cars - and you can't beat a froggy car for fulfilling that requirement! Also have found the hydra suspension on Cits to be reliable - OK a new sphere (or ten!) but that's easy to do, one new pump (second hand from scrappy, cheap and easy to fit) and one new "octopus" which was a pink fluffy dice to fit, but I managed it. Son and daughter's Rens have also been reliable - worst one is daughter's year and a half year old Clio DCi which has gone into "limp home mode" a couple of times but now seems sorted (after a Mr Angry letter or 2).
Froggy cars may not be the peak of perfection but they have served us well and we like them - especially the hydro susp which is great for towing and for comfort.
Anyway, each to there own - and glad to see that Ford are adopting the PSA diesels at last!
To tell the truth, I would like a BMW diesel (or MB) but they have always been out of my league - oh well, one day perhaps.....
Regards
Phil
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