The 1970 VW Squareback has to go and I'm going to need something more family friendly when our Twins arrive. Had a look around today and the Scenic ticks the boxes. Anybody got any experience with them?

Mrs Clwydrider had got the Grand Scenic with the little diesel engine. So far seems good, shedloads of room good economy, a bit underpowered when fully loaded but that's not we have it for. Beware though parts seem expensive, just had discs and pads all round, 279 pounds just for parts, and about 70 for oil and filters for a service.

If by ticking the boxes you are looking for something from a brand with a very poor reliability record, then you've scored an ace. Read this. If it's the price you're attracted to then it's cheap for a reason. There are much better cars out there, just because it was the first does not been it is still the best.

howe old a Megane Scenic are we talking about?

I had one of the originals and my neighbour has the slightly newer version . Both have been great cars -very reliable, flexible, good fuel consumption.

We had an old one t reg 2 litre petrol good reliable and quick .Bad points bloody thirsty 25mph and handled like a van the body roll was awful.I believe the facelift of ours was far better

I know someone who regularly takes his from North Dublin to Suffolk and never had any issues. Huge, pretty, drives well for size, the guy says.

we have an 02 4wd which mechanically has been fine the big plus with kids is the 3 individual rear seats means that you can actually get 3 kids seats in back
agree parts are expensive but i think you have to balance buying a french car which should be highly depreciated and then gamble on a few bills coming along they have an 18k service interval- plenty to choose from and i'd look at glasses or something to see what the common faults are on the age/engine – electronic locking faults are common i think

I had one for 3 weeks in the Alps. Really liked it, lots of cubby holes to lose stuff in, drives ok. Only negitive was the amount of bits of plastic that looked as if they would break easily, especially if you have kids.

Buy something from Massey Ferguson if you want creature comforts and a nice cabin – well, compared to *ANYTHING* french built.

The galaxy is pretty much the same but parts are cheaper.

Have driven a megane, c3, c2, laguna, c3 grande whatever its called, so speaking from driving experience. Gutless, noisy, dull to be in, feels like it's made from all the cast off's from Lego and used VHS cassette boxes.

Can you tell I really don't like them?

No, nothing positive to say unless you have decided to leave your soul.

anything like my Megane and it will slowly disintegrate after time. Mine was an 03 and I bet its in a scrap yard now!

If its a 1.9dci engine the turbo will blow, and then the next one will too, then the next…. get the idea?

I didn't have a scenic, but I did have a standard petrol megane which went to 189,000 miles before I sold it.

By that point, the already soft suspension was pretty iffy and the engine wasn't quite as nippy. The air conditioning had packed in too, but as I hadn't serviced that since about 90,000, I would say that was not unexpected…

Other than that, it was fine. No major problems – I had a small hole in the radiator and I had to replace the exhaust (but then I had nearly knocked it off on a rock, so again, not too worried).

Considering I really hadn't looked after the car (wasn't servicing it etc), that a significant amount of those miles were on country lanes around the Peak and that I had generally abused it as biking/climbing transport, I was pretty happy.

So when anyone tells me how crap Renaults/French cars (I had a citroen before that) are, I tend to completely ignore them.

I very nearly bought a megane estate recently – loads of storage, massive boot. Only didn't because a focus was cheaper and I'm a sheep.

They don't do corners or stopping very well, but apart from that are nice to drive.

Love mine. It's great. I wanted a bike van but this is better, having stripped out two of the seats in the back I can fit two blokes, two bikes, two dogs and two bike trailers for a multi-day bothy trip. Or Three blokes/ bikes in bags to Bristol Airport for a recent weekend to France. I have an 03 1.6 petrol version- and have had to replace the battery, discs and belts so far (I'm at 76,000miles), as well as 4 pencil coils- a known issue so I carry a spare from my local garage and a 10mm box spanner, just in case. Crankshaft sensor failed last year, AA fixed in 30 mins, again a known problem. Easy fix, just reach in and replace the sensor. Approx £30 for the part iirc.

Fully loaded the 1.6 drives poorly- underpowered for it's size, soft handling. But me, bike and trailer alone made a blummin fast run of it up to Mid Wales recently and mates in a 2.0 Audi thought I was tanking it with a similarly sized engine. So with care and attention it can be made to do it. My average milage for the 1.6 is 38.1 mpg.

All in all, I'd buy another, but with a bigger TD lump.

Hmmm let's see.

Bought an X-reg 1.9 megane Dci in 2008

First Week – Low pressure fuel pump failed – Fixed under warranty
5 Months – Belt tensioner failed, causing cam belt to jump out of time, destryoed every valve in the top end – £££, wouldv'e been ££££ but my dad's a mechanic so labour was free.
7 months – Randomly started cutting out when driving – traced to a split wire in a loom by the nth AA man who saw it. He was a very happy bunny.
12 Months – Started drinking oil – Turbo seals were on their last legs.
18 Months – Traded in for a newer car!

On balance, when it was working it was ok to drive, if a little underpowered. It returned pretty good mpg, 55odd iirc, and was pretty good in snow/ice being a heavyish car with narrow tyres. We put 35,000 odd miles on it. If you get one make sure it has a full service history and i'd buy from a dealer and try to negotiate some form of warranty.

Would I have another one? Not for all the tea in china! (i now own a peugeot, so it not about french cars, just renaults!)

Few years back when the Grand Scenic first came out we took the family out for a test drive. In ten minutes three or four bits of trim came off in the kids hands. We bought a Honda Stream.

Had two scenics, the first was fine, the second terrible, kept breaking really badly, drive shafts shearing that sort of thing, not normal wear and tear. Had a Clio at the same time, similar reliability issues. Boss and brother in law both had Lagunas, similar issues. My boss's car actual started the engine by it self in the carpark. Don't go anywhere near Renault. On a more poisitive note we've bolt a VW Touran about a year ago, that's been really good. Fantastic fuel economy (for a 7 seater, rear seats fold out of the way one handed), we actually get over 60 mpg on motorway trips. Good power and loads of room plus VW reliability.

Currently looking at 2, 2006 Privilege 2.0 Petrol Auto with 20,000 and an 2006 1.6 Manual. The auto is 7495 and the 1.6 is 5495. I suspect there's a few more miles on the 1.6 and it's lower spec.

The 2.0 has a beige half leather interior which may not look so good after a couple of years with 2 kids.

Not driven the 1.6 yet and the other one had a flat battery on the forecourt. I've got the salesman to replace the battery and fit 4 new tires.

We live in Guernsey top speed is 35mph so lack of power isn't too much of an issue. We'll also have the occasional trips to the UK and France. So comfort and practicality will probably be more important than speed.

I've had fast cars, I've had classics and now it's time to think of something kid friendly.

Don't want anything as big as a Previa or Sharan. Can't stand the look of the Piccasso, and there's not much else Scenic size around at the moment.