I Wanted an Espace for years, love all the room and the Mk2 was a Great to drive which I had on many occasions. Owning a MK 3 (53plate) one has proven a different story.
The key card can't go on a key ring as normal and was forever being misplaced, the seats are so heavy that my Girlfriend had no chance of lifting them out. I am quite strong and lift many heavy objects working on site bu these are something else....and managing the weight when putting them back in is a nightmare. When the back row sit at the back end of their rail then they cannot be sat in normally with the back door shut. We also had a rail pack up within 2 weeks of ownership.
It wears through Front tyres very quickly and they are expensive to replace. At only 68,245 miles the gearbox has collapsed. The gearbox speacialists have said this is common with the PK type box fitted to this and other variant vehicles, Renault deny there is any issue!!!!
Stay away from renault, nice cars but don't last!!
N-Cap 5 Star rated 7 seats
Bad Realibility......just google for evidence
Reviewing a 2003 model.
1.9DCi Authentiqe
Owned for 2 years.
Had 1995 2L Petrol Manual RXE for 7 years and it never let me down, although we did have problems with windscreen seal. Had seats in & out many, many times, new clutch at 130,000 miles and finally scrapped at 135,000. Replaced by New Espace 2002 with 9,000 on clock in July 2004. Better comfort, better dashboard - nice gizmos, fantastic sunroof BUT seats heavy to move in and out, first time we replaced a seat a plastic clip broke and the whole runner had to be replaced (£350), tipped a second row seat forward without depressing headrest and smashed a heater vent(£40). Head light washer cover disappeared for no apparent reason on a short drive(£100). Second row window seats don't recline, much reduced head room in 3rd row. Sluggish turbo pick up, 27mpg max. Poor turning circle and rear view. But the final straw was at 13,500miles when the gear linkage system failed.
bought my 1998 RT Espace about a year ago....generally been very pleased with the car...great drive (quite sporting as it has aftermarket 17" alloys & low profile tyres), comfortable although quite thirsty....first problem was the strips that 'surround' the windscreen.They came loose after a stint through the car wash. They are attched with double sided tape! A call to Renault confirmed that you cannot but the tape, & the cost for new strips & fitting would be £350!!!!!!!!Mine are now secured down with electrical tape, unsightly but £349 cheaper. The car has now covered 46,000 miles with full Renault Service history. In the last month, the automatic gearbox has given up (£1400), a week later the headgasket went (£650), and finally after two weeks the brakes failed (master cylinder).....Fortunately i purchased this car with a good warranty, which has proved to be money very well spent.
If anyone knows a good cure for the windscreen trim problem please let me know!!!!!
I would not buy one again!!!!!, and am left deciding wether to sell it now while it works!!!!!
Now on my third new Espace from 1986. This one is RT-X 1998 and is a very poor example of build, design, quality and customer'service'. It is a heap of (s)crap. New auto gearbox @ 64000 miles £1550 and no explanation of the fault and not even an apology from customer 'service'. It's out of warranty so TOUGH. Last Renault I buy!
grand espace 2.0 16v auto. gearbox fault at 11500 miles, yes, you read that correctly. dealer said nothing wrong so we carried on for another 3000 miles or so. total gearbox failure now needing replaced. also now needs a new driveshaft, two front tyres and possible front brakes, all this after just 14500 on the clock!....my advice. DONT BUY ONE. even though we are getting ours fixed under warranty, the deraler is evasive and renault UK are helpful but vauge. we drive a 7 seater and they can only give us a seat leon, a car so small i can open the boot from outside without leaving the drivers seat!...ok, an exaggeration but com ion reanult, play fair, after all, we paid good money for this and have been let down at both dealer and manufacturer level
Great car but don't buy an automatic - first failure at 22k miles (warranty replacement),second at 45k miles and no joy from Renault, despite fmdsh and 1998 car.
i have owned a Renault espace Quaddra for 3 years now and the only complaints i have about ti is that over the past 6 months it has cost me £1200 (well it is a 'g' reg) and it is very thirsty on fuel (4 wehel drive). It is a fun car to drive, giving good views of the road and will hold oodles of children and all their luggage. I did not like the fact that there is no boot to hide things, but as a workhorse it is great - I do wood working and carrying wood in this is a doddle ! What other car could carry 6x2 sheets of ply and 3 metre lengths of 2x1 ? The seats ar really comfy as well on a long journey and it cruises at 80 all day All in all, apart from the fuel consumptiona great reliable car.
Owned for 3 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2003.
Performance
Reliability
Parts Availability
Overall Value for Money
I have a Renault espace, owned for 3 years now, currently the Automatic gearbox is playing up, the Renault garage cannot find a problem with it, even though the warning light came on, so they have given me 2 options, change the oil or replace the box, how excessive,the change of oil is the cheaper version, but the box will cost me £1500.00, after 80,000 miles only, will try another garage for a better price. Best of luck to all you new Renault customers
Owned for 3 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed January 2003.
Performance
Reliability
Parts Availability
Overall Value for Money
Grand espace td (not common rail)
Despite its size, responsive and pleasant to drive briskly on motorways and town. Bit of roll on country roads.
Wierd instrumentation, and heater gets a bit overwhelmed by the size of the interior leaving cold feet.
Seats a bit heavy to take in and out.
Would have given it an even better report if the waterpump hadn't gone at 100K. This is connected to the timing belt, so that went so the valves all got bent...so I picked up a £2k garage bill.
Am now replacing with something not by renault.
Owned for 3 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed June 2002.
Performance
Reliability
Parts Availability
Overall Value for Money
I was dually impressed with my 4 year old Espace until the automatic gearbox started playing up and needed replacing - very dissappointed.
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