Renault Scenic

Renault Scenic generations at a glance

Scenic I (1996–2003): the original compact MPV

Renault showed a concept car called Scenic in 1991, a futuristic one-box family car. The old 1cars text places its debut at the Frankfurt show and notes ideas that reached production, such as recyclable materials. The production Mégane Scénic went on sale in November 1996 on the Mégane platform, with a tall body and individual rear seats on a hatchback footprint.

Buyers loved it. It was named European Car of the Year 1997, and Renault's original forecast of 450 cars a day at Douai proved far too low. By our calculation, peak output of nearly 2,500 a day was about five and a half times that plan. The car was also built in Brazil from 1998 to 2010.

A facelift in September 1999 dropped the Mégane name and brought 16-valve petrol engines and a 1.9 dCi diesel. The old 1cars text gives the boot as 410 litres, rising to about 1,800 litres with the rear seats removed. According to the same text, about 2.8 million first-generation cars were built by June 2003.

Scenic RX4: the 4x4 version

From 2000 to 2003 Renault built the Scenic RX4 with four-wheel drive. It used a viscous centre differential from Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and about 40,000 were made. The old 1cars text gives its ground clearance as 210 mm, against about 120 mm for the standard car. The 2.0 16V petrol reached 100 km/h in 11.9 seconds and 180 km/h, while the 1.9 dCi needed 14.3 seconds. In 2001 it was France's best-selling four-wheel-drive car.

Scenic II (2003–2009): Grand Scenic and more space

The second generation went on sale in June 2003, again on the Mégane base. In April 2004 Renault added the Grand Scenic, a longer seven-seat version with a 2,736 mm wheelbase and a length of 4,493 mm. A facelift arrived in September 2006, and a two-wheel-drive Scenic Conquest with a raised look followed in 2007.

Petrol engines ranged from a 1.4 16V with 72 kW (98 PS) to a 2.0 turbo with 120 kW, and diesels from 60 to 110 kW. Australia's ANCAP awarded five stars in 2004. The old 1cars text adds a 430-litre boot with a full-size spare wheel under the floor and praises the quiet cabin.

Early cars had electronic problems. In 2010 Renault recalled about 695,000 Scenics built between June 2003 and June 2005, and a further recall in August 2010 concerned the electric parking brake. Check that this work has been done on any used car.

Scenic III (2009–2016): a refined family car

The third Scenic was launched in July 2009, two months after the seven-seat Grand Scenic. The Grand version measured 4,559 mm on a 2,769 mm wheelbase. Renault gave it a mild facelift in January 2012 and a bigger update in March 2013, with the new brand face developed under design chief Laurens van den Acker.

The same March 2013 update introduced the Scenic Xmod, a version with a raised look and Grip Xtend traction control instead of four-wheel drive. Petrol engines now started with a 1.2 TCe turbo of 115 PS, and diesels spanned 63–118 kW. The popular 1.5 dCi with 82 kW (110 PS) was also available with the EDC dual-clutch gearbox.

The old 1cars text gives a boot of 437 litres. It also quotes a 2.0 petrol with a CVT that reached 100 km/h in 10.6 seconds, with fuel use of about 10.3 l/100 km in town and 6.5 l/100 km on the road. Renault did not sell the third generation in Australia.

Scenic IV (2016–2022): the crossover-style MPV

Renault unveiled the fourth Scenic at the Geneva show in March 2016. Its design came from the R-Space concept and gave the MPV a crossover look, with a steep windscreen and two-tone paint. Every version had 20-inch wheels, which our report from the Geneva debut covered at the time. Ground clearance grew to 170 mm from 130 mm, according to the old 1cars text.

The boot offers 572 litres in the five-seat Scenic and 765 litres in the five-seat configuration of the Grand Scenic. In the standard car, the sliding rear bench changes the space between about 496 and 572 litres. The old 1cars text counts 63 litres of storage in the cabin, including a 13-litre box under the sliding armrest.

The range had two petrol and six diesel engines over its life. At launch, 1.2 TCe petrol engines gave 85 kW (115 PS) and 97 kW (132 PS), and three diesels covered 81–118 kW. The Hybrid Assist option followed in 2017. It added a small electric motor of about 10 kW and a 48-volt battery to the 1.5 dCi 110 diesel with a manual gearbox.

Euro NCAP awarded five stars in 2016, and autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection was standard. Sales faded as buyers moved to SUVs. Renault stopped selling it in the UK in 2019, announced the end in May 2022 and built the last standard Scenic IV in July 2022, after 190,636 units.

Scenic E-Tech (2024–): the electric crossover

The name returned with a new idea. The Scenic Vision concept of May 2022 previewed an electric family car, and the production Scenic E-Tech was unveiled at the Munich show on 4 September 2023. It won European Car of the Year 2024, the second such title for the name, 27 years after the first.

The Scenic E-Tech is built at Douai on the AmpR Medium platform. It is 4,470 mm long, 1,864 mm wide and 1,571 mm high, with a 2,785 mm wheelbase. By our calculation, that is 164 mm shorter than a Grand Scenic IV. Kerb weight is 1,842 kg.

By our calculation, the long-range version's figures equal about 14 kWh per 100 km, a low value for a family car of this size. Euro NCAP's test under the 2022 protocol gave 88 % for adult occupants, 89 % for children, 77 % for pedestrians and 85 % for safety assist. Renault built 34,282 in 2024 and 35,687 in 2025. More electric family cars are listed in the 1cars electric cars section.

Reliability and what to check

Each generation has its own weak points. Early Scenic II cars suffered from dashboard electronics faults covered by recalls, and the electric parking brake needs checking. On the third and fourth generations, look for a full service history and test the EDC gearbox for smooth shifts. The 20-inch wheels of the Scenic IV make tyres more expensive and are easier to damage on kerbs.

Rivals of the Renault Scenic

The Volkswagen Touran and Opel Zafira were the Scenic's main rivals for two decades. If you need more space, the larger Renault Espace is the brand's own alternative. You can line any two of them up in the 1cars comparison tool.