Renault Scenic 2.0 Privilige

It would seem that all of us 'automatic' owners are whinging about the same things - an totally 'orrible 'orrible auto gearbox.

Renaults automatic transmittion is what other manufacturers call a 'semi-auto' or VVT box. You can select normal auto or select gears up/down (like a sports car paddle shift, but nowhere near as sophisticated).

The box is operated by computer softwear and not by the mechical/hydraulic means of the older more reliable autoboxes.

The gearbox is supposed to learn and adapt to your style of motoring.. but this in reality means its nearly always in the wrong gear for what you want to do.

exampple - you are doing 70-80mph on a motorway. Push your foot down gently and the thing drops into 3rd!!! Virtually red lining the engine in the process.

Pull away from the lights a little too lively and the intelligent box thinks you are rally driving and stays in a low gear until you manually over-ride it.

Take my word for it - after a few weeks you will be shouting and swearing at the car - let alone other drivers.

Another point - My wife and I were 'sold' by the amount of gizmo's that come as standard for example speed limiter/cruise control... but....

You can't for example select 50mph - it has to be 49 or 51. Likewise every 5-6 mph the selector 'jumps' 2 speeds.

Reason - the car 'thinks' in kph, of which some speeds are difficult to convert to a nice 'round' number in mph.

In short this is a very French car that has been 'translated' into English.

We won't be getting another.

Lovely spacious design that is let down by a lumpy auto gear box, poor reliability, and build quality issues. The Renault Scenic 2.0 Auto is a really big car inside for a small footprint on the road. Good high driving position. Very versatile seating, with 3 individual rear seats each folding and/or easily removing as required. Very good interior for all-round day-to-day family and holiday needs.

However: and there are lots of "howevers":

The auto box is really lumpy, and worse than Ford's auto boxes of 30 years ago. It's unreliable - we've had 3 Scenic autos from new over the past 11 years, and all have required repairs to the auto, 2ce under warranty, but one expensive repair just after the warranty expired.

The rear seats are very firm, but also very sculpted/contoured: so if they don't fit your back, they aren't comfy.

Other failures included the aircon, the CD/radio, and brake servo.

Our latest Scenic auto cost £17k new, and we got back £4.2k after 4 years and 45k miles. Eeeek! It's the last we'll have as we've spent £5k more on a new Honda CR-V auto, and I'm confident we'll be keeping that for the long term.

I feel that the Renault Scenic is a good all round family car, but of course time will tell if it is reliable or not.

The Renault Scenic 2.0 Privilige People Carrier is a great practical car when new and under warranty, but costly and generally problematic threafter - please see my bad points above.

When ever we need to travel a dirt road , I cringe as I know something will go wrong...from exhaust to brakes to fuel line. A car meant for city commuting only. (European conditions versus African I guess)

Bought my Renault Scenic 2.0 Privilige from new and loved it from the minute I got in it. The leather interior and matching trim makes it a really nice car to be in. Great car to drive bearing in mind it is a small MPV, smooth and quiet on the motorway although the 2.0 litre engine is a little louder than imagined around town (but still OK). Take off with the 2.0 is great (felt the 1.6 was a little "lacking" during a test drive) with a smooth gear change and nice purr whilst driving around. Handles OK both in dry and wet and takes corners and roundabouts with ease. All in all, a nice car to drive and be in.