RENAULT MEGANE SCENIC 2.0 RXE 5dr (1997)

Good for us and the kids, big enough for holidays etc

We had our Renault Megane Scenic for about six years and it really did us proud.

We got it when our third child came along and it had three seats big enough for them in the back. We decided on the larger 2 litre engine because we often tow a caravan and so it made sense to opt for a larger one. That's paid off really, as it towed our 4-berth quite comfortably across France. I think the French react better to a Renault as well! Those long journeys were really comfy too, and I've got a back back so I'm hard to please. The driver seat (that's me most of the time) has good lower back support which I found really important. You can move the steering wheel up and down as well to get the right position, that was a really good detail. The kids in the back were happy too, they had a little flipout tables for their games and things. There were cup holders everywhere in it too, which made feeding them less of a nightmare.

I say the Scenic comfy but it really has some quite noticeable limits to that. I seldom drove fast, but occasionally played around at faster speeds - got it above 100 on the odd occasion - and it really didn't feel happy then. I had one really worrying time when I was going quite fast and the wind picked up, really nearly felt like it would tip over. At more normal speeds it's fine really, but don't buy it expecting to be able to zoom around. Also, on that note, it's pretty sluggish with overtaking. The 2 litre came into its own there but even so, it felt like a lot of effort to get past lorries up hill.

I saw we had a caravan, but when we didn't take that with us (sometimes went camping) it was a bit annoying how little overall space there was inside. The boot on the Renault Megane Scenicjust ends about half a foot before you want it to. In the end we got a roof rack, but that was a bit pricey and felt like we shouldn't have had to get it.

It's pretty economical (we had the diesel Megane Scenic which got about 50-60MPG I think ), and insurance was ok. Replacing parts on the Scenic got a little tiring after a while though. That was eventually why we sold it - that and we were expecting a fourth baby. In the last year we had it we replaced the exhaust, the battery, the sunroof seal, even had a little bit of welding done on the bodywork (we did leave it outside though). The plastic panelling inside had started to come away in places as well, and not only where the kids had been tugging at it. I just thought the bodywork could have been quite a bit better, it seemed a shame to see it falling apart when it was only about 8 years old in total. In fairness I think Renault have raised their game with later versions, so maybe look out for one of those. I was otherwise pretty pleased with it as a family car.