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Hi James,

At that low mileage it should be fine. Electrical gremlins are what strike the Scenic, especially the electric windows, but also watch for problems with the cruise control, alarm, electric parking brake and even the indicators. The good news is that the engines are pretty robust and either the 1.5 or more powerful 1.9 dCi diesel engines are good choices. 

Oh, do watch for bits of the cabin coming off in your hand too...

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Hi Denis,

While it shouldn't suffer from any massive mechanical issues, the second generation Mégane upheld Renault's unloved reputation for electrical problems. Basically be suspect of anything with a copper wire coming out of the back - electric windows especially, but also wiper and light stalks, keyless ignition and remote central locking, which all seem to give problems. The engine management system can also go for a bit of a bath, causing sluggish throttle response and poor starting. Squealing brakes usually just means that the pads need changing.

Hope that helps

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Hi George,

By and large, if you’ve got a Volkswagen on a list, then it’s going to be the most reliable, and the Caddy is hugely spacious inside too. However, most vans are generally very reliable (simply because a van that’s off the road isn’t earning money), so as long as you’re buying carefully and with a full and complete service history, you should be fine with any of those listed.

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Hi Gerard,

It’s a very good family car from the point of view of safety and comfort, and yes that 1.5-litre diesel is hugely economical (you should see better than 50mpg on a regular basis). You just need to keep a close eye on electrical items such as the central locking, the key-card and the windows and beware of traditionally steep depreciation for large French cars.

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Hi Gerard,

I write this as a former (recovering?) Laguna owner and the best I can tell you is to tread very, very carefully. Admittedly, I owned the previous generation Laguna that was quite simply a reliability disaster and one that cost Renault a fortune in warranty claims. The third-generation car, the one you're looking at, is much better in reliability terms, but still, you need to be suspicious of anything that uses electricity – make sure absolutely everything electrical is working properly and watch it like a hawk to check for failures. The 1.5 dCi engine is actually pretty good, and robust too, and you should pretty easily get high-forties mpg out of it. However, you're going to be on a pretty steep depreciation slope as nothing loses value faster than a big French car. That's fine if you're planning to keep and use it until it dies, but not so good if you're planning to trade-in in a few years. As a family car, it's actually quite good though – spacious and comfy, with a big boot and Renault has an excellent reputation for safety too.

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Hi Brid,

Let us know which way you go

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Hi Katie,

We've been on to Renault about this, and its response was that no current Renault models come with flat-beam headlights, and that your best bet is to use stick-on beam deflectors that can be bought from any good motor factors. 

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Hi William,

In general, Renault has picked its reliability game up over recent years,  but we would still advise a little caution. Electrical problems are quite common, especially with the windows and the engine management system, so buy carefully and make sure that it comes with a full service history.

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Hi Peter,

OK, you've a couple of good options here. There are five-seat versions of the Citroen C4 Picasso and Renault Scenic that are slightly less bulky than the seven-seat models and which will easily take three car seats across the back. Or you could try one of our very favourite cars of all, the Skoda Yeti, which has just about enough width to fit all three seats in the back. My best advice is to make sure you bring the kids and seats on any test drives you might be doing and make sure that all three fit and that the bigger ones can happily clamber up into their perches.

Let us know how you get on.

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Hi Andrew,

Hmmm. Well, spotted. The Sharan has indeed disappeared from Volkswagen price lists in Ireland (much as has the S-Max and the Galaxy from Ford's) and we're awaiting a call back from Volkswagen Towers as to its fate. The good news is that SEAT's definitely still selling the identical Alhambra, and that's a crackingly good car. You do need to go for the top spec Exclusive DSG model if you want to get an automatic version though.

Next year, Ford will be launching an all-new S-Max, which might be worth holding on for, while Renault's surprisingly still-good Espace (a touch old school but very, very comfy) is still just about on sale, and there's always the Chrysler Voyager. And then there's the Opel Zafira Tourer, a more direct rival to the S-Max than anything else. There's a 2.0-litre CDTi diesel automatic for €34,495 and it's almost as good as the S-Max to drive.

What do you think?

Update:

Just an addendum to this: Volkswagen Ireland has confirmed that the Sharan is no longer available, not even to individual order. 

Presumably, if you really, really want one your local Volkswagen dealer could get hold of one for you, but why go to the hassle when the cheaper, better-equipped Alhambra is there?