Renault Scenic Bose Edition 1.6 130dCi

Many years ago, a family friend who at the time flew for the United States Air Force gave me a personal tour around a Fairchild A10 Thunderbolt and said: “Y’know, Al, she ain’t a plane she’s more a gun with wings.” Something similar could be said about the Scenic Bose Edition which isn’t so much a car as a stereo system with a …

[Anonymous Coward]

Expensive stere system

>isn’t so much a car as a stereo system with a tyre at each corner.

And from my experience of Renault Scenics that's all it will be.

I got an, at the time, top of the range scenic mainly because a brother-in-law worked for Renault and I got a huge discount. The build quality was poor, the sump seal was badly fitted and it leaked oil from right out of the dealership. Quite a number of components went awol within a few months. Fortunately the BIL ensured everything was fixed.

Biggest error was when the Renault mechanincs replaced the fuel gauge sensor they cross threaded the unit in the petrol tank so when I filled up there was petrol all over the filling station forecourt. Having to drive that back to the garage was unsettling.

Also the electrics had a mind of their own, especially in cold weather. Things would turn on or off by themselves and sometimes not off when you wanted them to.

That said, the engine itself couldn't be faulted.

[Anonymous Coward]

A match made in heaven

Cars are great places to install Bose systems, if you hapen to be in the business of selling Bose systems.

That's because it's going to be impossible to do an a/b comparison with a sytem that actually sounds good, rather than one that uses cheapo components, tuned to bang out thumping one note bass, and fizzy hi-hats.

Child catcher, because the car in the photo looks like something he'd drive to the school gates.

[Giles Jones]

Wave radio

Not to mention Bose sell rather overpriced radios that sound worse than cheaper competitors.

[rhydian]

Renault + complexity = oh heck...

While this car does seem to be a better bet than some rivals I simply can't see myself spending real money on a renault for one reason: build quality.

Many family members and friends have bought renaults and the difference between reliability on what should be near identical models is amazing. Some have no probs while others suffered major fuel system and mechanical maladies on cars of a similar age and condition. Add to that the 1.9 DCi's tendency to lidderally blow itself up and you get a range of cars id never consider.

[Kevin7]

Is this what Scenic owners want?

Most people with Scenics buy them because they've got kids, like me. Their workhorses for families and generally have few complaints. For the life of me I can't see where a £1500 sound system really figures in this equation. If you're vain enough for this kind of thing you probably wouldn't want a Scenic. When it's full of kids, pushchairs and shopping you really don't care about the sound system. We only use the CD player in ours to play nursery rhymes for our daughter and she won't really care about the sound given that she's two. It's a big premium on a practical family car - not sure what market this is catering for.

[Ian Stephenson]

Agreed

I have a Megane - mechanically it is fantastic

Electronically? It's a fucking mess.

Electric windows ceased working (common fault) .

Sometimes the dash lights won't work - you have to turn off the engine and restart to get them to work

Stereo sometimes decides it won't do anything except beep (play cd - beep, eject cd - beep, insert cd - beep, select radio - beep)

Oh and you have to be a contortionist to change a headlight bulb (search for 5th gear megane headlight on youtube) - Renault claim a basic safety item is not user servicable and charge £60+ to change a bulb as they have to removbe the bumper........

I'll never buy a renault again

As for the Nissan Lleaf? an electric car renault has had their inept hands on?

Ha ha ha ha....

[Elmer Phud]

Bottom End

With some serious bass under the drivers seat it could prove a handy remedy for constipation but not when crawling along the motorway in a 10 mile section of 'average speed' roadworks.

[Fab De Marco]

Those Wheels are horrible

They look after market and cheapen the whole look of the car.

My Renault experience stems from a clio that did far too many miles for its own good. Electrics were fine, but the wheel bearings seemed to be made of chocolate and were replaced twice within 40k miles. After the second time I replaced them I thought there must be another more expensive problem afoot, so it was sold.

Renault ownership is a lottery, sometimes you get a great reliable car, other times you get a nightmare. Sadly you don't often hear from the happy owners.

[Anonymous Coward]

A French car full of technology grrrrreat

From personal experience of a high spec Renault most of those lovely fancy electronics will be knackered after 3 years.

In 4 years (from new) the following went wrong on my Clio -

Electric sunroof knackered x2

Drivers window collapsed x2

Stereo knackered

Clutch pedal disintegrated

Rear callipers knackered

Windscreen split because it wasn't fitted properly

Rubber blocks securing the interior roof lining fell off so the roof would bounce and knock

Sunroof seals leaked rotting the aerial lead.

Passenger seat jammed and wouldn't flip forward

In addition the brake disks would only last 20k miles when the tyres would last 40k

The engine would soot up and without fail I was told to "regularly take it for a motorway run to clear it out". I did 110 miles a day on the motorway and it still sooted up.

Renault would regularly deny they had ever made my car making it hard to get parts.

It was actually pretty economical I could get 70mpg from it but other than that it was a hateful little car and I had a miserable 4yr with it.

[Giles Jones]

Handbrake

Not to mention electric handbrake, which the dealers usually charge about £300-400 to replace, when in fact you can repair the unit if you know what you're doing.

[Peter Storm]

"isn’t so much a car as a stereo system with a tyre at each corner"

The words "silk purse" and "sow's ear" come to mind.

[Anonymous Coward]

Aerodynamic drag

"family bus with the drag coefficient of a garden shed." - it has a drag coefficient of 0.32, which isn't bad.

[Jonathon Green]

Title? We don' need no steenkin' title...

"it has a drag coefficient of 0.32, which isn't bad."

But then you multiply that up by the enormous frontal area and end up back in garden shed territory.

Aerodynamics is a strange (and sometimes counterintuitive) thing - your average truck or bus looks like it should be horribly inefficient but the favourable relationship between frontal area and length actually make them surprisingly effective given a little effort at rounding the corners and directing the fllow of air round the gaps, a motorcycle *is* horribly inefficient (especially when you add a generously proportioned rider in baggy clothing) but tiny frontal area means it can go pretty Damned Fast on a (relatively) modest power output, and things like the Renault scenic can have efficient shapes but still need a fair bit of energy to push through trhe air simply because there's so damned much of them...

[Magnus_Pym]

Hmmmm.

"but tiny frontal area means it can go pretty Damned Fast on a (relatively) modest power output,"

perhaps then Drag coefficient is not the measure we require here then. To the layman it just means either faster for the same power or more economical for the same speed.

[Scott Mckenzie]

Err...

And back in the real world, for a decent stereo in a car, try a VW Passat with Dynaudio or any Audi with B&O.

Both available for under £50k.

Though i'm sure that has the best stereo available for under £21k or something.

[Lloyd]

Hmmm, something missing

It needs some naff plastic trim (slightly wonky), a baked bean tin exhaust, cheap chipped alloys, McDonalds/KFC stained bucket seats, a large plastic "spoiler" and some stickers for surf products in the windows (this only applies to owners who've never seen a surfboard let alone used one).

[Anonymous Coward]

Great news for undertakers

This is great news for undertakers.

Cyclists and other road users who will now be put at even greater risk by the sort of idiots that buy cars like this and then drive round with music playing so loud they are completely distracted from the road and other road users.

Maybe Renault think that the russian roulette of car drivers still routinely using hand held phones isn't enough to contend with - I've been knocked off my bike 3 times in the last two years on each occassion by drivers that were distracted (two counts of mobile phone usage and one count of school run mum too busy assing to her daughter to actually bother looking before turning across a junction.)

[Matt_payne666]

Better stereo in...

A Volvo with Dyn audio upgrade - lots under 50k... 900 watts i belive in the XC 90......

2x12"subs in the old C70 convertible!

[Nev]

Nothing Special

Bose is an (expensive, for what it is) option on a number of car brands.

Why do Renault feel the need to mention it in the name of the car?

What next? The Michelin Twingo? The Valeo Espace?

[Ian Stephenson]

The Hal Ford?

I'll get my coat...

[Simon Rockman]

To add to the Renault woes

We bought a Scenic a year old, in the next three years it managed to have faulty brakes, gearbox, suspension and assorted electrical problems - one of which left us stranded in a place so dangerous the police pushed the car onto the pavement .

Every service led to some major expense. We rarely got out with a bill less than a thousand pounds.

If you think Apple knows how to over-charge they have nothing on Renault. One speed went on the heater fan due to a faulty resistor. A part that must have cost less than 8p. What did Renault charge? £8? £80? No. Eight hundred pounds. Windscreen wipers are £100 a pair.

By way of contrast a new heater fan for my Mercedes cost £160 and windscreen wipers £16.

No wonder it depreciated to a third of it's purchase price in three years. Who else would want one?

It was gutless and dynamically poor. This however is A Good Thing as it understeered into a fence and tree. The cost of Renault parts meant it was written off and I never have to drive the hateful thing again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Scammed?

£100 for wipers? You got done mate. £40 for all three at halfords if you fit them yourself. The other items quoted sound like you got ripped off.

[rhydian]

£800 resistor

The resistor pack itself was probably £50 (rover ones that fail like clockwork are about that). The other £750 was probably the 6 months it took to remove the dash to get at it...

[Cyberelic]

Scénic Privilège TomTom dCi 106 - Really bad motor

I have a Scénic Privilège TomTom dCi 106 Registered on: 31 Mar 2010.

This really is a HORRIBLE motor. The turbo waits to spool up so when you start off it barely works. (You made a comment on it on page 2 of the review.) I now have my own technique to get going. When I see the lights are about to change I start to press on the accelerator, bringing the revs up to about 1,500. When the lights have actually changed I start to let the clutch go, but slowly so letting the power feed in gently. It definitely isn't a good practice and should markedly reduce the clutch life, but it is on Renault guarantee etc, so SCREW them!

There were nasty rattles from new, the dealer took it in for a couple of days, gave it back saying it had been assembled wrongly in the factory, and it rattled even worse. Since then, it is just a series of noises and rattles. I have given up now, and as I live in SE London with speed bumps everywhere, I just push it over everything (like the coppers do) and wait to see what breaks first.

There is a lot else wrong with the thing, I call it 'the slug',

I recently did 3,000 miles in it on my holidays. The seat makes my arse ache, there are many door pockets and ledges everywhere, but none actually are usable, there is nowhere to fit an atlas/map book. The glove compartment is a joke. The leather covered steering wheel has joins in the covering just where my hands go.

BTW this is a Motability car so it goes back after 3 years, but I pity the poor sod that gets it next... In fact I'm more likely to replace it before time, it is SO nasty! (Motability allows you to dump one if you have a good reason, although you lose the £250 good condition bonus)

Renault? NEVER again!

P.

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought it was okay until

the Bose branding all over the car. No thanks!

[Gordon 10]

I for one

Wouldn't touch any car with these many separate systems. There is a reason all the quality cars have single integrated system - far simpler testing.

I bet renaults like this will be in and out of the garage once they are a couple of years old.

[Anonymous Coward]

Integrated = expensive

...when it goes wrong.

Updating your GPS maps should not wipe out the radio presents or break the heater controls, for example. Luckily, most manufacturers have wisely not chosen to integrate ABS, traction control or engine management into the same unit as the GPS/TV/trip computer/radio etc. Yet.

Yes, it can be tested as you suggested - but testing in the hi-tech lab with experienced technicians, and flashin the ROM in the field by an ape in a dirty jumper suit using a 10 year old PC full of malware and a RS232 connector full of engine oil are two different things.

[druck]

Drive a better BOSE

If you want a drive a BOSE get an RX-8, with the smooth as silk rotary engine you'll actually be able to hear it, unlike if it's in some clattery old diesel mini van.

[Jan 0]

"very good stereo"?

Compared with what? A cheap tranny perched on the dashboard, maybe?

I've yet to notice any stereo imaging in any car I've ever been in and Bose is the last company that I'd expect to hear a good stereo image from, although I see that they're not bouncing the sound directly off the windows or the road.

[Robert E A Harvey]

the Bose pack easily justifies it’s £1500 premium

Nurse! I think I just had a heart attack.

£1500? You can buy a rover 75 for that!

[Anonymous Coward]

Rover 75

You owe me a new keyboard.

[darklord]

A sub woofer and nine speakers

1500 quid for an OTT trebly system. No thanks Ive never liked bose its for people who dont know what musical instruments actually sound like.

Audi have been fitting bose for years Its only the amp and speakers but running the same crappy head units as standard cars. My previous car was an Audi A6 With bose.

Listen to a cymbal live or bass its not that fizzy searing sound at all or heavey thump. the instruments should blend together to form the overall sound.

My Bmw 1 series with Hifi upgrade has 10 speakers and 2 subs and is as close to my home HIFI as it can be in a harsh enviroment and no the home system is no cheap system from dixons The speakers are 4.5K alone.

I wouldn't buy a renault unless I prefered to walk as i'd be woried about bits falling off as i drove up the road.

Comfy seats though. Like sitting in your favourite armchair.

Lets face dads will buy for the wife because of the Bose not the car itself. The wife will want it cause its good for the 100m school run around here.

[Simon Brown]

French car... electronics

jeeeeesus - don't get me started. French car manufacturers don't do electrics or electronics very well. The failure rate on Renaults, Peugeots and Citreons (and on the Renault vans - including Nissan vans and Vauxhall vans - it's the same van) is so high it makes Dell look like a reliable brand.

EVERYTHING on these cars, on any modern car, is controlled by computers. The engine, the transmission, the handbrake, the windows, the overpriced stereo... Also why would you fit an expensive stereo to a diesel - don't get me wrong I love diesels but I don't hate music and the sound frequencies emitted by diesel engines, even modern ones, will drown out vast chunks of frequency range. Car stereo sound crap because they are in cars. Expensive car stereos sound even worse because not only are they in cars, but you spent a fortune on it. It's a bit like spending thousands on... I'm trying to think of an analogy and it's hard - thousands on a beach holiday in the Caribbean and then spending your whole time in the hotel. You don't need to spend the money to achieve similar effect.

But this waste of money on an absolutely pointlessly expensive stereo pales into insignificance compared to abortion that is a French car. They have a well-earned reputation for crapulence, terrible quality-control topped off by terrible electronics. From wiring looms that look like they were installed by the old women knitting under the guillotine at the Bastille to electronics systems that just trash the engine and transmission. It's not just that they aren't very good, they are homicidally bad, I am surprised many of them haven't been taken off the road and recalled to be fixed properly, I can only assume that either the manufacturer denies any responsibility or the regulators are wearily used to the poor products coming out of French car plants and know that whatever gets "fixed" would be just as bad as what went in :(

Don't tell me they do good diesels. 10 years ago they did good diesels. Modern common rail diesels are turbocharged and computer controlled - electronics - French - no no no no.

French car... expensive electronics... turbo-diesel computer-controlled engine... electronic brakes... overpriced stereo that you won't be able to hear over the rattle of the engine once it has been trashed by the electronics...

It's like building a truck out of yoghurt...

[Anonymous Coward]

va va vooom

I had a scenic once... 105dci bought new.

I loved the car - spacious, practical, comfy, decent efficient engine when it worked - but had constant breakdowns and spent an average of 3 days a month in the Renault garage who refused to be helpful.

Got rid of it after 12 months... too unreliable.

[Alan Edwards]

Engines that live off the turbo

Yep, recently drove a FIAT van with the 90-something HP 1.3 MultiJet diesel. Get it right and it takes off like a scalded cat, get it wrong and there's no power at all for about 5 seconds whilst the turbo winds itself up.

I see that Scenic has the same stupid stereo as the Megane CC I hired. You'd think the big knob in the middle was the volume or power button? It's neither, they are the little knob in the top left. Turn the big knob trying to turn the volume down and it dives off into some menu.

It took me catching it with my hand to work out how to interrupt traffic announcements, and I never did work out how to disable them altogether. There's a button with a big T on it, but that works something else.