Having owned the Espace for less than 1 month, here's the list of technical woes so far:
1. Clutch pedal broke (this is a common problem with the Espace). There is an offset bracket welded to the clutch pedal to which the clutch cable is attached, the weld begins to break over time and it appears as though the gearbox or cluth is faulty (difficulty in selecting gears).
2. Rubber fuel hose replaced.
3. Corroded terminals on radiator cooling fan switch.
A new baby in addition to my 2 boys really forced me into buying the Espace. It's in good condition for the year (the interior has worn very well), although the colour on the roof has faded (a common problem). The Espace is very versatile in so far as all the passenger seats are removeable, although quite heavy.
The Espace drives well, but does seem just a touch undergeared and there are numerous rattles from the interior.
Things to watch for when buying include making sure the clutch is good (a big job to change), and the heater matrixes are prone to leaks (an expensive job due to length of time it takes to strip and rebuild the dash).
This is an update to my last review:
I'm still quite pleased with the Espace, it's proving quite economical (28-35mpg) and the only real problem has been faulty central locking - turned out that the master switch on the drivers door had got a bit corroded, I now give it a spray of Wd40 (through the door lock) every couple of weeks to keep the moisture off.
Over the winter the paint is blistering on the door tops, but this happened on the GRP roof of a Porsche 944 I once owned.
The interior trim could be better, poor choice of materials, with 3 kids it gets a bit mucky and doesn't stand up to well to being vaxed.
It always has leaked a bit of oil, I think it's coming from the sump, I tried the sump bolts & they were all loose, I couldn't get to the rear sump bolts because there's a crossmember in the way.
Overall I can't complain for the money that I paid for the Espace - I'm now getting quotes to have all the drive belts replaced.
My advice to anyone buying an older Espace as I did would be to put service hisory above cosmetics.
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