Mrs Bullheart and I have just purchased a '05 diesel Espace with 78K on the clock. I am aware that there are horror stories about them, but also really good stuff. So, if you've owned/fixed an Espace, tell me the pro's and cons...
No 'my mate knows a fella who has a wife that...' anecdotal stuff please. Just real ownership or mechanical experience stories please!
We have an 05 Grand Espace.
3.0 DCi
... all good now but we have had problems....
Had a 57 plate one and it was a utter POS, got rid after 7 months. BUT, Renaults and Pug's of that era tend to be a bugger in their infancy and mature to be fairly reliable motors. NEVER take to a renault dealer, their rates are shocking, oh and don't be tempted to turn the second row of seats rearward facing, the kids WILL spew their intestines up relentlessly
Basically a 5/6 year old out of warranty car with a fault that it had been in and out of the dealership for.
Then the fault became much worse and running to several thousand pounds to repair.
Renault customer service and warranties stepped in and paid 90%. They apparently paid 90% of cost for turbo failure of a similar but older Espace at the same dealership too.
Just make sure you keep service history and keep it within Renault!
No 'my mate knows a fella who has a wife that...' anecdotal stuff please. Just real ownership or mechanical experience stories please!
Not quite that level of remote 'ownership', my other half's sister has one (06 reg, diesel), got about 110k on the clock I think.... they've got 4 kids, and use it loads, seems pretty bombproof for them, kids love it, parents love it.
Last time anything went wrong was some water in the fuel line/filter, spluttered a bit, bit of white smoke.... garage drained the fuel, changed the filter... sorted.
Last weekend we had lunch on a windy seafront, 8 of us in it... bit cosy, but no bruises :). It also does 3 weeks in france most years, trailer on the back etc.
Only other downside they've commented on is that they can't fill up at pre-pay pumps nowadays, max fill is £99, but it takes about £115ish from empty to brim :).. not the espace's fault that though!
Looked at them but went for a Galaxy. Cost of repairs frightened me off. Can do most stuff myself but fuel pumps & turbos at £1500+ a time... 
taki - IME the £1500 accounts for the labour. Just to get the engine out!
Fortunately we didn't have to pay for it!
Thanks guys,
We went for the 1.9DCi because of the issues listed above; I felt that the same lump as the Laguna/Scenic might be a bit better for parts and servicing.
Any good independent Renault specialists in the SE?
Brave man to even touch one. Gook luck, hope you didn't pay too much for it. Renault have now stopped selling these in the UK.
Excellent input angeldust, just what I was after. Many thanks.
Mechanical bits are as other Renault, so not that bad.
Body bits (including silly bits like door handles) are through Matra and are ruinously expensive. Even Renault dealers are shocked by the costs of them.
Great to live with due to all the smart touches, but a Galaxy is a more sensible alternative.
You are welcome.
Top tip - Have a go at being less touchy about the ludicrous car purchase you just made when people make comments about it. You'll be getting lots of them, so thought I'd give you a head's up.
02 2.2DCi Grand Espace, shocking electrical problems, that I've mainly managed to fix myself, but parts are a fortune. £120 for a rear wiper arm + VAT.
Hopefully the newer ones are more reliable, its a shame as its a VERY spacious 7 seater or all seats out and its a transit sized van.
Good luck.
Clutch/gearbox issues appear to be fairly common. I had a test-drive in three and all the same issue, a very definate clunck and lurch when changing gear and an odd movement of th gear stick, bought something else instead.
I'm told that any issues which require replacement clutches will have to be at a main dealer as there is a special tool required that costs about £3k so not many independants have one...
Had two Scenics and a clio, first Scenic wasn't too bad, second one and the Clio (all owned from new a properly serviced) were totally nightmares and Renault customer service was even worse. Probably racked up in excess of £ 5k in repairs (not including wear and tear things like tyres) after the warranties expired, not that they were much good. Wouldn't touch a Renault again, hope the one you've bought is OK but from personal experience and others close to me Renaults are terrible.
Bit late now, but having just spent a week touring Flores island in a Toyota Innova, I wouldn't be looking at anything else.
You are welcome.Top tip - Have a go at being less touchy about the ludicrous car purchase you just made when people make comments about it. You'll be getting lots of them, so thought I'd give you a head's up.
Again...
No 'my mate knows a fella who has a wife that...' anecdotal stuff please. Just real ownership or mechanical experience stories please
Got one? If not, pop onto another thread, there's a good chap.
Thanks to the rest of you with valid and relevant comments. I knew it'd be the type of car that'll either work or not. Think I'll look into a warranty, just in case.
Had a couple of Espaces in the early versions, pretty much when they were the only people carrier about, they were both fine, a bit sketchy in strong side winds but otherwise cool.
Yeah, I read (and ignored it) the first time. In case you didn't understand my adice I'll put it another way: If you are sensitive about what car you purchase it pays to not buy something crap. 
Hi Bullheart - this is an old story, so bears no relevance to the modern car but it is funny and I thought I would share it.
Years ago, when the Espace was a new car, some friends of my parents bought one. They had two small children at the time, one six the other four.
They were on a visit to Windsor Safari park and were in the lion enclosure admiring the large pussies when the older child pipped up with 'look daddy, the car is on fire'.
Thinking that this was an attempt at humour they laughed the remarks off, to which the child said 'no daddy, the car REALLY is on fire'.
So there they were, in an Espace with smoke and flames licking out from under the bonnet, in the lion enclosure of Windsor Safari park.
Fortunately the wardens were right onto them. One stood guard with a tranquilizer gun while they ferried the kids between the two cars and made their escape.
The Espace was a right off. Renault gave them a brand new top of the range one!
Like I say, the issues with electrical faults were all a very long time ago...
Are you going to bling it up? 
Yeah, I read (and ignored it) the first time. In case you didn't understand my adice I'll put it another way: If you are sensitive about what car you purchase it pays to not buy something crap.
Okay, lets work through this. I asked for real-life Espace experiences. I like them, but I know there are some issues, so my hope is that those with experience can guide me a little on what I have to look for. Everyone does; except you and your pithy comment -
Brave man to even touch one. Gook luck, hope you didn't pay too much for it. Renault have now stopped selling these in the UK.
No information, nothing of relevance, no experience. Just a vague pop at my choice of car with nothing substantive. But y'know what. I know that sometimes all may not be as it seems. Perhaps you do have good knowledge, maybe you just aren't able to articulate it in a helpful manner for my thread, but have done for other threads.
'lovely to drive and pretty inside'
Not going to happen for 3K...Also, I have a couple of friends with Passats that have had loads of problems with them. I think the Mazda is better built and certainly more reliable.
We purchased a new VW a few years ago and were very dissapointed by the build quality. Trim quality was very poor - parts literally falling off and very rattly. So bad I would not buy VW again. Lots of stuff on the net saying the same thing - VW build quality is now a myth.
MF - The oldest X model is the X5 (updated 2-3 years ago), which is the only good looking one imo. Doesn't look dated at all (again, imo).
The X3 has just been updated. Is getting very good reviews, but the looks are still questionable. The old one was ugly and crap.Almost universally reviewed as being WORSE than the Golf it's based on (also my experience). Only reason for buying one is that you REALLY like the shape and don't care about all the other parameters you consider when buying a car.
I suspect the Beemer driver also feels a nice warm glow when he looks back and thinks 'This traffic jam sucks but at least I'm in a nice, safe, high performance car, not a worthless piece of crap like this guy'. Deciding not to buy(or not being able to afford)a nice car really does not make you a better person. You are just tight, cheap or have other priorities (which is fair enough, but the chip on your shoulder isn't doing you any favours).
'Ex demo/dealer ones are more than brand new due to waiting lists'
Don't be ridiculous, it's still a Skoda, no ones going to pay over list price.
Er, apparently not.
With respect, anyone can google, which would appear to be the basis of your extensive Espace motoring knowledge. Everyone else but you has provided valuable information. You come across as the shouty bloke in the pub with an opinion of everything, but with very little practical knowledge.
I've no doubt that you're a real 'petrolhead' and that you know how to 'drift' and 'apply a dab of oppo'. Leave this thread for those that, in the spirit of STW, want to help me, not bark out baseless opinion to mask their lack of experience/knowledge of the subject matter.
Touched a nerve? Guess I have if you've gone to the bother of researching previous posts 8O.
Just checking your credentials tiger.
Didn't find any. 
Know enough not to buy an espace. Enjoy the ownership experience
Next!
We ran the older style of Espace and it did 250,000 miles of good family motoring, when it came to replacing it I went for a Kia Sedona as I wanted a car that had longer front leg room for the driver as I was getting cramps on the way down through France. Our other problem was finding one for a good price as they were very expensive compared to the Kia!
As a modern day equivalent I run a Vauxhall Vivaro it has the more modern 2lt Renault diesel engine and so far its a great van. The gearboxes and engines are the same and yes the gearboxes can play up, but my friend will rebuild it for me if it does and it's mainly the fact that they use plastic cages for the bearings which break up and then cause problems, he replaces them with proper metal caged bearings and he's never had a gearbox returned!
Espaces are good cars, I think they've been overtaken by the more modern people carriers with sliding doors and seats that disapear into the floor rather than having to be taken out, but the Espace is still a good looking stylish car!
There's probably a forum for them somewhere. The Galaxy one has been a godsend for info. Statistically there's probably plenty of Espace's out there that have been reliable. Hell, the Galaxy has had faults, plenty of them. All you can do is give it clean oil & filters regularly & drive it sensibly.
I've got a Scenic - not the Espace, but I think it's the same motor. We got it second hand, 6yr old with 120,000km on the clock. Not new, but not that old.
Seems to have something go wrong on a regular and expensive basis: the injectors needed replacing, the dashboard failed, some other heat sensor in the engine went wrong, the boot wouldn't open...
It's a lovely car when it's working, but as and when we can afford to get rid of it...
Just be careful if considering putting a bike rack on the back- bloke at work did it (after consulting Halfords etc when buying the rack) it totally wrote the rear off because of the weight of 3 bikes
I have a 2006 Espace that I have had from new. Now 80,000 miles. i am an ex petrol head and for the first four years of its life drove it very fast (for an Espace) Has been fantastic with big European family trips, downhilling race weekends and carrying huge amounts of logs, dogs and building materials etc.
Had a blip with drive shafts recently but eventually diagnosed and fixed for about £1000. Until all the speed cameras nothing was better at flying through France fully loaded in the middle of the night.
When they introduce another Espace (if they ever do) i will get another one.
Still feels modern and design is old now.
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/renault/espace-2002/?section=bad
Like any Renault then
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