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Hi Aparesh,

You know what? I wouldn't. Renaults from that era are not the most reliable things and your budget could be as easily eaten up fixing a catalogue of minor problems. Your budget though should be able to get you into a Toyota Corolla Verso - one of the most reliable cars around and a firm favourite in CompleteCar Towers when it comes to affordable, reliable family transport. 

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Hi Des,

As with all Suzukis the Grand Vitara is impressively well bolted together and there are very few reports of any major reliability issues. The only recurrent problems seem to be glitches in the electrical system, but as long as the car you're looking at has a full service history, you should be OK. There are only two major downsides: the interior looks and feels pretty cheap and old-fashioned compared to some rivals, while the 1.9-litre diesel engine (which Suzuki actually bought in from Renault) can be very thirsty, as the Vitara is no lightweight.

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Hi Bryan,

I'd say about €15,000 on average, perhaps slightly below the €14,000 as a trade-in.

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Hi Dawn,

Pros are that it's pretty, reasonably good to drive and on a nice day you can get a tan on the way to work. Cons are that it's heavy, thirsty, slow, the roof is complicated and prone to getting stuck half way up or down and Renault reliability in general isn't great...

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Hi Mark,

The more recent versions of the Renault Grand Scenic are at least reasonably reliable, and the commonly-seen 1.5-litre diesel engine is a sold enough old lump, and well proven in various Nissans and Renaults. The recurring nightmare is that of electrical problems. Renaults, older ones at any rate, just seem to eat through their cabling and wiring and everything from electric windows to engine management and injection problems can crop up. Buy very, very carefully if you're looking at  anything older than 2008.

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Hi John,

You know what? Just avoid the lot of them. In the early 2000s Renault was going through a period of very poor build quality that wasn't really resolved until the launch of the current Mégane in 2008. Older Renaults are generally just to be avoided. Electrical problems are commonplace and frustrating, and just because they're working now doesn't mean they'll stay working. These cars are marked down in price for a reason.

Hope we were in time to stop you buying!

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Hi Kellie.

Generally speaking, they should be OK. All the mechanical bits are old, proven Renault and Nissan parts, and thanks to the fact that Logans are pretty well shorn of equipment, there's not that much that can go wrong. Dacias also come with an optional five-year warranty, which should put your mind at rest.

However, it's worth pointing out that the Logan estate we tested recently had a wonky driver's door, putting some doubt over the quality of the assembly and the German TUV (the national safety and quality testing organisation) rates the Logan as having a 13 per cent fault rate. Now, that figure is only a guideline and it does encompass the old Logan (the one that was never sold here) as well, but just for comparisons, the TUV rates a Ford Fiesta at a 4.8 per cent fault rate.

In other words, they're probably fine, but try and make sure you buy one with lots of warranty left, just in case.

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Hi Mary,

I presume that's either a Laguna or a Scenic you're talking about? In that case, it looks like a very good price for a car with very low mileage. However, with that kind of small miles on a diesel you need to be careful of two things. 1 - make sure that the previous owners have been doing enough long, high-speed runs to generate temperature in the exhaust system to clear out the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and, 2 - carefully check the history of the car to make sure that the mileage is genuine. Renault build quality is generally a little better than you might think, but you still need to be more careful than with other brands. Check carefully that all the electrics are working properly, especially the windows, and make sure the car has a full and complete service history.

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Hi Suzanne,

I'd be wary. That second generation Mégane doesn't have the best reputation for reliability. Everything electronic, the credit-card style ignition keys and the brakes can all give trouble, as can the window seals (water gets in occasionally) and the electric windows themselves. A total of 112,000 miles isn't the massive mileage it once was, but on a car with a poor reliability background, I'd say it's of concern.

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Hi Chris,

We checked with Renault on this and here's the response we got:

"There is nothing technical to stop a customer carrying out an LPG conversion on the TCe 90 engine, but there is no manufacturer support to do it.  There is no such thing as 'an approved convertor'  for LPG on any Renault/Dacia so the customer would need to be satisfied themselves in the quality of work and warranty provided by whoever carries out the conversion.

"Additionally, carrying out a conversion does not necessarily invalidate the manufacturer warranty as a whole and is still valid for non LPG related parts. However, if an incident arises that is directly or indirectly found to have been caused by the conversion, that would not be our responsibility. In other words, normal warranty applies on anything that is not in any way connected to the conversion (e.g. an internal electrical defect with an alternator would not have been influenced by the conversion)."

Hope that helps