Me neither.
As a former Scenic II owner, I would have been happy if they'd simply sorted the old one out so it could do more than 60,000 miles without falling to bits. The design of the old car was near perfect for the job it was intended to do.
|
|
Apologies for taking this thread slightly sideways, but has anybody seen the current model Laguna? I've seen quite a few new Meganes (hatch and coupe) but around two Lagunas in a year. Is this some kind of reflection of current Renaults in general? What are their sales figures like at the moment?
|
Rumour a few months back was that the Laguna factory was running at 1/3 capacity & would close.
However this is Socialist France -Farmers, Lorry Drivers, Ferries and strikes in sympathy so it may not close after all.
|
I've been thinking about the OPs question.
The Scenic I was a good, reliable car. You still see loads of them around with starship mileages and still going strong. The Scenic II was a great piece of design which improved on the original in almost every way, and probably got a lot of repeat sales from satisfied Scenic I owners looking to simply upgrade and modernise. The Scenic II was a pretty widespread disappointment from a reliability point of view, and I don't know of anyone who's owned one who would buy another (including me), despite its amazing talents as a practical, comfortable, refined, well equipped, and spacious MPV. I suspect many Scenic II owners have moved on to the likes of the Ford C-Max, S-Max and the various other talented MPVs which have been launched in the last 5 years.
I despair of Renault. The cars are so likeable, and an absolute pleasure to own and drive (reliability aside), they really are. As a product, you cannot fault them, and not once, until it started playing up, did we ever wish we'd bought anything else. It drove well, it had every single piece of kit we could ever want, it had loads of space, it was versatile, it looked good (by MPV standards), the interior had a style and generall lightness and airiness you will never get on anything coming out of Germany, the diesel engine was an absolute peach of a thing, and we drove it all night once to Italy, covering 1200 miles in 14 hours, and it lapped the journey up.
We drove an S-Max while we had the Scenic, and yes it was "sportier", but nowhere near as comfy or as "likeable". The Renault really did have a certain "je ne sais quoi". I loved its superb ride quality, it's effortless, loping driving style, and that brilliant dCi engine which put the more powerful 1.8 TDCi Ford lump to shame in every respect. But the car just wasn't built to last, and cost a fortune to fix when it did go wrong. And boy did it start going wrong with a vengeance.
That car had more go wrong between 60,000 and 62,000 miles than in the first 60,000 miles in total. We bottled it and sold it.
Edited by DP on 16/11/2009 at 16:01
|
Sorry, that should be 1000 miles in 14 hours. It wasn't that fast! :-)
|
I had one as a hire car in Spain back in August - 400km on the clock when we got it.
'Ours' was a 1.5dCI - comfortable, smooth, and quite willing, but bogged down terribly in 2nd gear when slowing down (at about 10 mph) but too fast to go into 1st. Since driving it I have bought a C4 Grand Picasso - so guess which I prefered!?
|
I would like to agree with DP
And I know ive said this before
Renaults are great in every respect bar one, and that?s build quality.
I had a Face lifted Laguna Mk1, and it was fantastic in every respect it?s the most comfortable car I have ever sat in, good looking design very light and airy, kitted up well, spacious, you could change gear on the manual box with your little finger it was that easy, but the build quality was just terrible it really was.
I would not by another unless Renault could prove that they have built a quality product, I have seen only one of the new Laguna?s on the road and but that?s it. Who is going to spend >15K on the Laguna or the Scenic (maybe I cant speak from experience as I never had one) when in the past (and the two that I have had) the products are shoddy, and sometimes downright dangerous.
I had two Laguna?s after my 1st one was written off, and they where both unreliable and the same shoddy build quality so I don?t think that I got a ?Friday afternoon? car. I love the design and comfort but I want it to do more than 40k miles before they leak brake fluid down the street , the bonnet cable breaks free or the ABS constantly lights up every time there is a drop of rain in the air not to mention the amount of times that I have had break pad and disc replacements.
|
>>Is this some kind of reflection of current Renaults in general?
Yes.
>>What are their sales figures like at the moment?
Renault Share of Market
2005: 7.16%
2006: 5.89%
2007: 5.28%
2008: 4.20%
2009 (year to date): 2.95%
Clio sales are down, but remain respectable. The Clio was the 7th best selling car in the UK in October 2009 - though it is not in the top 10 for the year to date. (The Clio was the 9th best selling car in 2005, 7th in 2006, 9th in 2007, but out of the top 10 last year. So Clio sales are still reasonable - it is the rest of the range that are not selling in the numbers they used to.
|
Similarly to DP, I loved my Scenic.
I had one of the original Scenics, then I had a facelift version, and then I had a Mark 2 Scenic, all with diesel engines. Somewhere on here I have a thread reviewing all 3 Scenics.
The Scenic 2 was excellent, it was a complete package, it was very functional and, by far, the best MPV I have ever driven or been in. Ideal for kids, for storage space, flexibility and had lots of toys twin sunroof, electric brake, keyless entry etc etc.
However, the big but for me was the build quality. I changed my car in 2007 and never got another Scenic due to
a. my version was still current so would have been swapping like for like
b. I gave up with the continuous creaking coming from the twin sunroof and the B pillar. It just drove me to distraction and ended up ruining the experience for me.
I traded it for a Seat Altea XL and although the Seat is nowhere near as flexible or versatile as the Scenic, it does not creak!!
|
I tested the new Scenic a few months ago and have seen x 3 on the roads. I have a 57 Megan and 06 Espace. Both are well used and fully serviced and have been great cars. The Espace in particular is very well loved and we not parting with her easily. The Megan is a practical workhorse but covering my communte of 230 miles now (was 330) with ease at 56mpg.
Nothing has come loose or broken in either.....I would have them again.
|
Maybe the following text from motortorque.com might offer an explanation:-
"Despite having a model range littered with new and updated passenger cars, including high profile sporting versions, so far this year Renault in the UK are really struggling with new car sales."
"Despite the Government incentives with the Scrappage Scheme and VAT at 15% Renault sales so far this year are down by 40.3% whilst the overall market has recovered somewhat to a deficit of 12.3%, according to figures published last week by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders."
It would appear that Renault might be one of the casualties from the wretched scrappage scheme, their sales being 'crowded out' by people buying cheap Indian-built Hyundais. I also remember reading somewhere that SEAT sales are down sharply in the UK.
|
I did 50k trouble free miles in my scenic 1. My wife did 40k trouble free miles in her clio 2, and I did 47k trouble free miles in my laguna 2 untill..
the secret is to crash them and write them off big time before they become troublesome.
|
mmm, had a mkII Scenic diesel as a hire car for 2 weeks in Spain in 2008. An absolute delight to drive. Gutted this year when we thought we'd booked another Scenic only to be given the keys to a Dodge Journey (no I didn't know either!) at Malaga airport.
Had a mk1 Laguna for 70/80K previously, great car, very reliable, only problem was the old 1.8 8v engine which was rough as pink fluffy dice over 4000rpm.
Quite fancy one of the new mk III Laguna Diesels secondhand. I'm guessing that reliability/build quality is much improved over the early/mid noughties mk II's and they also seem to depreciate rapidly making them a good 2nd hand purchase.
|
>> the secret is to crash them and write them off big time before they become troublesome.
You certainly did that didn't you? (IMMSMC)
|
It would appear that Renault might be one of the casualties from the wretched scrappage scheme their sales being 'crowded out' by people buying cheap Indian-built Hyundais. >>
Isn't that because people who use their own money to buy cars will choose something with decent build quality which they can trust to be reliable
>>I also remember reading somewhere that SEAT sales are down sharply in the UK.
Strangely I get the impression (could be wrong) that there are alot more SEATs around than there used to be - ever since the current model Leon appeared a couple of years ago
|
|
|
