11th Jan 2010, 14:49
Oh my god, I am so shocked and nervous now. We have a 54 plate 1.9dci Grand Scenic. It has 54000 miles on the clock, and has just gone wrong for the second time.
We bought this car as an ex demo from our main dealer at nearly a year old, and I can honestly say it hasn't let us down (until now). The car wouldn't start on drive, and dash said "injection fault", just had it towed in to diesel specialists and "phew" the battery has gone dead "a common fault" by the looks of this forum, so they are changing the oil and filter, new cam belt and a new battery.
We also have had to change the window regulators (were told they needed a new window system by Renault at £135 plus vat). Did a bit of browsing on ebay and found out it is a plastic clip, which cost me £3 plus postage.
After reading all comments, I am now seriously thinking of getting rid of it before it costs me a packet.
Apart from my minor faults compared to some people, I have had nearly 5 years good motoring from it, but I definitely won't buy Renault any more.
31st Jan 2010, 09:50
My wife was driving our Renault Grand Scenic DCi (55 plate) and there was a gentle whirring sound whilst accelerating, which after 20-25 miles popped loudly and stopped, although there was then heavy smoke out of the exhaust. Thankfully she had the sense to stop straight away and call the breakdown people, who seem to think it was the turbo that has gone.
Does anyone know how much this may cost me to get repaired?
23rd Feb 2010, 15:00
I bought an UK reg Grand Scenic about 18 months ago. Lovely car, high spec, loads of space etc etc. But unfortunately Renault's true to what I was told... let me down.
There is now 54k miles on a 5 year old diesel car 1.5 CDI... not unreasonable for a diesel engine I think.
Got it serviced in an independent garage that I have used for years. About 2 weeks later, the car revved uncontrollably and spat out black smoke. Next day losing power constantly... took it to the dealer, Renault. EGR valve fault, repaired at cost 500 euro.. mechanic was driving the car out for me to collect, when it did the same thing again.
Diagnostics.. AGAIN had to dismantle the whole engine, oil in the intercooler... turbo heads OK, 1400 euro to fix. Weeks without a car in total. They tried to blame the garage that did the service for over filling the car with oil.
Now 4 months later " injection fault" on the dash and "stop" blamed dirty diesel. Drained fuel system in main dealer. 230 euros. Told to drive the car despite the fault being still there when I came to collect the car... rang back to the garage... insisted we "DRIVE" the car despite it reading the fault and STOP.
4 injectors now need replacing, 400 euro each plus 300 labour. Total... 2100 euro.
NEVER NEVER EVER BUY A RENAULT... I LEARNT THE HARD WAY.
10th Mar 2010, 08:09
Where to start, I brought a 05 Grand Scenic with 6k on the clock. Everything was fine for 18 months, then the window came down on its own and wouldn't go back up. This was fixed free of charge by the Renault dealer, as they had extended the warranty on windows faults to 4 years.
Next we had an oil leak at the cost of £600, as I had the timing belt changed at the same time.
The heater only works on number 2, Renault say £320 to fix, not going to bother until it's gone altogether.
Today it's running like a tractor, only done 200 miles since it was in for oil leak, garage say possibly ignition coils gone, booked in to have that seen to, no idea of cost yet.
Just gone outside and drivers window is down, went back up when the car was started, but won't work again, garage say another £300 to fix, again won't bother until it gets stuck wide open.
So £320 needed for heater, £300 for window, and spent £600 already on oil leak and timing, plus the cost of doing the ignition coils, I wish I'd never clapped eyes on it, in all the years I have been driving, I have bought better cars for £300 taxed and M-O-T, and had less problems.
12th Mar 2010, 07:08
Always best to buy quality, even if it means buying older and more miles.
We likewise have an old Volvo on 160,000 miles, and it just plods along totally reliably, and needing so few parts that I would struggle to name two or three non-service items.
I will never buy another Renault.
24th Mar 2010, 04:44
Bought a S/H 2.0 petrol auto on an 04 plate about 18 months ago.
First the good:
I have owned a Mk1 Zafira, and the Grand Scenic is a more practical car in every way. It goes better, and feels much more planted to the road.
I love the fact you can totally remove the middle row of seats, and the rear two seats fold flat as with the Zafira.
The Bad:
About 8 months ago the window mechanism failed (a common fault). Quoted £250 by Renault. I got the part of Ebay for £8 and replaced myself. It took me about 4 hours, and is one of those jobs where you need more than two hands, but after about 100 expletives, I did it!
Been getting an intermittent "check injection" fault on and off for a couple of months now. Last week the fault showed, followed by an emissions fault and the car just died. The Renault Stealer has diagnosed a corroded engine wiring loom and after trying to repair, a complete replacement is required at a cost of... are you sitting comfortably... £1400!!!
For a six year old car I find this appalling. My advice, if you're thinking of buying one, buy a Zafira instead, I had no issues with mine, or if budget affords, get an S-Max!
4th Nov 2009, 10:15
We bought a 2 yr old (54 plate) Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi in 2007. It was a brilliant car until it got to about 60,000 miles when literally it fell apart.
Power steering failure, electric window failure, glowplug failure, instrument panel playing up, turbo hose blew off, spurious "STOP" warnings accompanied by an ear splitting beep, the panoramic roof wouldn't close properly, bits of the interior fell apart, and to cap it all, we got a grands worth of bill when the clutch slave cylinder exploded without warning (the bang woke up my 2 yr old daughter who was sleeping in the back), soaking the clutch plates in fluid and immobilising the car.
Then you find Renault's ludicrous policy of refusing to sell you individual parts, but instead only offering complete assemblies at hundreds or even thousands of pounds. We got it to a point where we could flog it on, and cut our losses.
In terms of practicality and design, it was a lovely car. The rest of it was junk. I don't know how Renault actually get away with selling such appallingly made cars with so many inherent design faults. They seem to think £1,000+ bills every few months on a car that's not even four years old is acceptable. I've rescued £50 bangers from scrapyards over the years when times have been tough, which have given more reliable service. I would never buy another Renault.