I currently have a 53 plate Renault Scenic and am looking to get a new / newish car very soon, hopefully within the next week or so.

I have been doing some research and am considering getting the 1.4TDI version as a more or less direct replacement for the scenic I have at the moment, or alternatively I am thinking of getting a newer scenic, i.e. the 1.5dci. I was just wondering what people would think of either of these options?

Hi And welcome,

I have had the Roomster 1.4 tdi for the last six months and covered 5000 miles in it, my veiws on the car are 100% positive, build quality is first class, fuel consumtion over the 5000 miles is 55mpg,motorway cruising at 70 mph very comfatable,no problems at all with the car would highly recomend.

I have a Roomster 1.4 Tdi and SWMBO has a Scenic 1.9 DCi. The Scenic has been a total disaster. Just about everything electrical on it has gone wrong at some point and faulty engine design lead to a total rebuild when the auxiliary drive belt shredded and took out the cam belt. Would you believe that the cam belt does not have a protective cover? Renaults are cheap to buy because it's the only way they can sell them, but they are an expensive proposition to run. Parts are expensive and they are designed to make work for the dealers.

The Roomster is not quite as big as the Scenic, though there isn't a lot in it, it's mainly the width. The Roomster is much nicer to drive and immeasurably better built. For me it's no contest. If Renault were the only company left making cars, I'd go for the pushbike option!

Rob.

Agree with all that, Scenic and Picasso both dreadful cars compared to the Roomster.

I have been trawling the internet and found an 08 1.4TDI with 9k on the clock (looks like an ex-mobility car) for sale for just shy of £8000, I am really tempted to go have a look at it... but looking at the car buyers guide it seems to be over the odds price wise (by about £800, so not 100% sure if it is worth the look :$

Hi GT and welcome to the Forum.

I agree with what others have said. My previous car was French - suffice to say I will never buy another French car.

I bought my new Roomy two years ago and consider it by far the best car I have ever owned.

I suggest you consider the 1.9TDI as well as the 1.4TDI. One more cylinder, loads more grunt and near-identical fuel consumption.

I'm not sure my wife would let me get a 1.9, she thinks I would 'speed' haha

I am gonig to go look at the 1.4 tonight, hopefully it is what I am after, I have spent numerous hours searching and looking at cars to the point where I am dreaming about them :$

A very low milesge car ia always worth a premium, but I am sure you could barter the price down by a few hundred pounds. Is it from a Skoda dealer, because they give you 12 months warranty and breakdowm cover with Skoda Assist (RAC). No harm in looking and good luck.

It's from an independent dealer, but does come with a 12 month warranty, as for breakdown cover, I have only recently renewed with the AA so that doesn't bother me.... T minus 1 hour and counting to viewing haha

I just hope I like it, especially after all the research I have done into both roomsters and other makes

I've had 2 Scenics from new which were wonderfully comfortable but woefully unreliable. Now I'm a Fabia 2 1600 petrol owner and as it's similar to Roomster feel able to comment. Average 42 mpg, totally reliable over 2 years and 24,000 miles. Easy to service and maintain. Unfortunately some people still remember the Old Skoda Days - however the prices are competitive and the quality of the cars is up there with the best. 4 other members of my family have Fabias all of which are delighted. My first requirement in a car is that it doesn't break down! Scenics do break down and Skodas don't - QED. You get a fair idea of the relative merits reading Auto Express Driver Power survey which criticises most Renaults for unreliability but puts several Skodas in the top 10.

The problem I have is I did have a fabia estate in the past (02 model) and got stuck with the last remaining skoda engine and the fuel economy was rather bad :$

I think I have been very lucky with my Scenic and not really had many problems, other than the usual age concern problems, ie. belts changing.. oh wait... had to get a new washer motor (£110), wiperblades (£40 a go), electronic dashboard replacement (£100).. hmmmmmmm perhaps I have had more problems than I can remember :\

OK, so I have broken my cardinal rule....

went to see the car, drove the car, examined the car, and bought the car...... bought the first car I seen, but it looked almost like new, and with it being ex-mobility, full service history (3k miles per year hahaha)

Congratulations to your new car! Hopefully the decision will prove to be a good one! The Roomster is really amazingly spacious once you learn all the tricks, and great to drive.

Enjoy!

Congratulations GT. Enjoy your new car.

Thank you, I should be able to pick it up in a couple of days or so, just got to wait for them to change the windscreen as the one on at the moment has a few scratches on it

And I forgot to say earlier, thank you to all for the welcome :D

Congratulations on your new car. Enjoy!

and with it being ex-mobility, full service history (3k miles per year hahaha)

Not ours then! (43k and due to be handed back next month!)

Hope it all works out for you. Mine is also ex mobility, 14.5k at 30 months old.

If it's anything like mine you should be pretty happy with it.

Rob.

Was just doing this comparison myself, only because we could not find a decent Roomster in our budget. However we held out and found an excellent Roomster 3 1.9tdi within our budget from a Skoda dealer....with a huge amount of options as it was originally their demo!

Looking back I'm so glad I never went for the scenic, I was impressed by the standard spec which has some great options over the Roomster but if you find a good Roomster 3 with a few choice options they are evenly matched.

I drove several scenics, and they drive very differently from the VAG cars we are used to, and that's not a good thing. Combine that with the Renault styling (ick!), reliability issues, poor resale and the fact they are so common meant that they really are a substandard choice when compared to the quirky, fun, solid Roomster.

I am loyal to VAG, in particular Skoda and this recent brush with Renault has kept me from straying ever again.

Buy the Roomster and enjoy!

The only downside with my wife's Roomster 2 1.4tdi '80', in my opinion, is the high overall gearing. First gear can be a bit tricky starting off on a steep hill (wouldn't fancy that with a caravan in tow), 4th is too high in a 30mph limit unless you're prepared to nudge an indicated 35mph, and I can quite often forget to use top gear, especially coming after driving my petrol Sedici.

Other than that, it seems like a car we'll keep for a few years, so that's a good sign.

The only downside with my wife's Roomster 2 1.4tdi '80', in my opinion, is the high overall gearing. First gear can be a bit tricky starting off on a steep hill (wouldn't fancy that with a caravan in tow), 4th is too high in a 30mph limit unless you're prepared to nudge an indicated 35mph, and I can quite often forget to use top gear, especially coming after driving my petrol Sedici.

I also have the 80bhp 1.4 TDi.

My experience is that 30mph in 4th is fine, even going up a reasonable hill. In a similar way, 5th gear will happily pull from about 40mph. It's not going to do scalded cat impressions at that speed, but it'll get there. There is a fair amount of torque at low revs, not as much as there was with the 1.9 SDi engine (usable power from 600 revs), but enough for most normal purposes. On a 1 in 4 you need to hold about 1200 revs to get it away, but I've never really had many problems in 1st. I have stalled it a few times in 2nd, but that has been trying to do what the SDi would do (i.e. my fault, not the car's).

My only real quibble is that a higher sixth gear might help the fuel economy a bit. There again, it's fairly hilly in these here parts so that doesn't help either.

The only downside with my wife's Roomster 2 1.4tdi '80', in my opinion, is the high overall gearing. First gear can be a bit tricky starting off on a steep hill (wouldn't fancy that with a caravan in tow), 4th is too high in a 30mph limit unless you're prepared to nudge an indicated 35mph, and I can quite often forget to use top gear, especially coming after driving my petrol Sedici.

Other than that, it seems like a car we'll keep for a few years, so that's a good sign.

Diesels do feel high geared after driving petrol, because they pull hard from low revs due to their higher torque levels, but you do soon get used to them.

I seem to remember that the 1.4tdi has a 1000kg towing limit, same as my 1.6 tiptronic, which would apply to quite a small caravan. Mine tows our 800kg caravan really well.

Edited 8 October, 201114 yr by Calomax

Diesels do feel high geared after driving petrol, because they pull hard from low revs due to their higher torque levels, but you do soon get used to them.

I seem to remember that the 1.4tdi has a 1000kg towing limit, same as my 1.6 tiptronic, which would apply to quite a small caravan. Mine tows our 800kg caravan really well.

I've drove diesels for years, starting with a Citreon Visa back in the 80's. Progressing through an Ibiza, Focus, and Bora, so I like to think I've a fair bit of experience with diesel driving. But the 1.4pd triple doesn't seem to appreciate being down near 1,500 revs with any sort of a load on it, and 1,500 revs in fourth gear equates to around 30mph. A few revs more, and up around 35mph, it's quite happy...

That's my impression as well... It just doesn't have the low end torque of the 1.9 in either n/a or tdi form... Not a bad engine, but not the best...

The only downside with my wife's Roomster 2 1.4tdi '80', in my opinion, is the high overall gearing.

This caught me out as well. During the first few days of ownership, I swore the speedo read 5mph high. I soon got used to driving in town in third gear. I forgave the high gearing on my first motorway journey, with the engine barely ticking over at 60mph and the display showing more than 60mpg.