Faults:

Squeaky brakes (dealer fitted new pads - no different)

Loose seal around rear passenger door (dealer fixed this)

Intermittent aircon fault

ECU fault (dealer replaced this)

Noisy wiper blade (dealer replaced - still noisy)

Loose trim by drivers footwell (to be fixed next trip to dealers)

Rear tailgate lock jams open occasionally

Irritating rattles around dash and doors

Key occasionally decides not to work (opening battery cover, then fiddling with it and closing it up again cures this)

Glove box light doesn't go out (can sort this myself)

Awful musty smell through vents - (dealer will do nothing - says it's not a warranty item)

General Comments:

Bought this car in December, new from our local Renault dealer. The car was a dealer import from Malta, but (fortunately) I have the full 3 year warranty.

Although registered in 2006, it is the older 120bhp 1.9dci instead of the new FAP 130 engine. I don't mind this as it only needs servicing at 18k intervals instead of 9k, which would have been a real pain. The drawback of getting a car at £5k below uk list price is I had no choice of colour. The metallic dark blue I have is okay, but would not have been my choice. It shows the dirt too easily.

Our previous car was a VW Touran, which was a company lease car. When it went back and we had to buy a car we tried several - Zafira, Ford Cmax, Touran again, but the Scenic felt lighter more refined and more spacious than the others. It was also much nicer to drive. The Touran had let us down several times and the old 1.9TDi engine was really noisy and smoky - (owners will know what I mean). So we setteled on the Scenic.

The niggly faults above I hope will go into the cars history as teething troubles, but I suspect I will have more trouble to come looking at other posts.

The car itself is really a joy to drive most of the time. On smooth roads it is incredibly quiet with little evidence you're in an oil burner (unlike the Touran). On poor surfaced B roads it's a bit choppy, but at least it doesn't have that wallowy ride you get on many French cars.

Driving position is good, the very futuristic dash is easy to read (once you are used to it) and the controls all fall to hand nicely.

The stereo controls on the steering wheel work well, though the sound quality is rather poor. Also, it would be nice if you could turn it on and off at the wheel controls, instead of just at the stereo.

Fuel economy is pretty good - I get around 44mpg average, and getting better as the car gets more run in. The VW used to give 49mpg, but had less poke.

Space is good inside the cabin, with useful cubbys under the seats and floor. I particularly like the floor lighting that comes on when the ignition is turned off or doors open.

The key card can be a nuisance. Easy to sit on, which is probably why mine has failed a couple of times. It's not serious, I think it's a problem with the battery contacts because it always works when fiddled with.

Aircon has been an issue on my Scenic. Most of the time it works fine, but about 1 in 3 times it doesn't come on. Restarting the car will usually correct it, but I have noticed this problem as the weather gets warmer. The dealer regassed it in case it was a lack of coolant (poss a leak) but so far I can't see any difference. They did the whole diagnostic thing, and of course it worked for them! I also get that musty smell for a couple of minutes after startup, but the dealer insists this is normal (yeah maybe on a 7 year old car!) and all I can do is use one of those cleaner bomb things.

Brakes are ridiculously powerful, and you need to develop a technique to use them properly. They have something called brake assist, which appears to add the entire potential braking power to the car if you do anything but the lightest touch. I have no idea how much extra wear this causes to the pads, but will no doubt find out in the future.

The electric handbrake is a nice feature - so far it works well, but electric gadgets do worry me - especially on this car.

Overall, I do like this car a lot, and if I can get all the niggles sorted, and providing I don't then get any serious problems I will be happy and able to recommend this car. Whether I'd buy another - I don't know. I'm uninspired by the dealer service - makes me feel I'm being to fussy, but hey this is a new car.

A more likely situation is I'd keep the car to within a month or two of the warranty expiring, then hope there is something better available. For the moment it does the job well.