Renault Avantime..the case for and against.

[Emsman]

Would i be mad?

I want four seats and a big boot, these seem cheap (no doubt for a reason) but i for some stupid reason, quite fancy the idea- saw one on a repeat of topgear last night, and saw one today.

Are they quirky, practical and different, or are they a load of old merde?

Over to you (whilst stongly suspecting the latter)

[Agoogy]

rear legroom is not good
gearstick and steering wheel look awful
not very economical...or quick

I'd have one in a heartbeat, it's just a great looking thing...with weird doors and lots of glass.

[Si 330]

My wife wanted one a few years back.
Local Renault dealer lent us one for a couple of days.
They are big perfect for wafting, spirited twisties would leave you feeling sea sick.
Think of them as a 2 door espace similar sort of size outside but with only 4 seats inside.

[Emsman]

Thats what i thought- a semi stylish version of the espace.

Bloody cheap too, given the spec??

Is it going to ruin me to have one though?

[chr15b]

you'll not see many other ones when you're driving it

[Eviltad]

Its an unusual choice but I quite like them.

Saw one this morning in a pale grey. Looked nice.

[OnTheOverrun]

I love large, quirky French cars like this, so I'd have one in a heartbeat. There's an absolutely mint one for sale on a drive I pass most days so I've started going a different way so I don't buy it. . . . . .

[Cecil]

It might be worth checking out what replacment window motors, headlights, central locking, radio, etc cost, a weak point on the other renaults, hope it deos not suffer from the dreaded EGR fault that the espace had or the garbox fault from the safran etc.

[Bill]

Agoogy said:

I'd have one in a heartbeat, it's just a great looking thing...with weird doors and lots of glass.

But I'd always have the niggling concern that if it goes pop (which is likely given it's French) it'll be bd to sort out.

[fluoxetine]

Ha ha!

I leased one for a year, back in 2004 - It was around two years old when I had it, but I couldn't complain at £199 pcm for a top spec 3.0 V6 auto Privilege (?) in 'Top Gear' blue / silver...

It was an absolute riot - I remember when the agent for Renault Business Finance first dropped it off...I was at work, and got a call to say that the 'weirdest, ugliest spaceship vehicle in world' was sitting in the drive...

The beige interior was a *nightmare* to keep clean...It returned 23-24mpg at best (i.e. 50mph on the M Way), and was slow for having 210bhp / handled like a hearse...

On the plus side, I loved driving it - Made a superb M Way cruiser...The elevated driving position was great...And other peoples reactions were always amusing...I didn't see another during the 15,000 miles I put on it...

(The 'magic' button that opened the roof / all the windows with one touch, was seldom used - The wind buffeting at anything over 30mph was horrendous!)

Very reliable too - Only issue was with the CD multichanger playing up...Nothing mechanical at all...

I was sad to see it go - Replaced with an A4 V6 Quattro, which was a far better car, but had none of the character...Do find myself tempted to actually buy one (an Avantime) some day...Future classic!

[B17NNS]

I think they look ace.

Very brave of Renault make it, ahead of it's time in my opinion and that's the reason they don't fetch much.

The car buying public in general are very conservative.

Edited by B17NNS on Monday 8th March 17:10

[Hub]

They are getting on a bit now so the electrics are likely to cause headaches, and rarity could mean body panels and other unique bits could get expensive. Whilst they still could become a future classic, I wouldn't pay too much for an 8 year old Renault! Personally I think the front half looks good, but from the rear it is just a fat Megane!

[ArtVandelay]

I'll add another big plus point here: The funny hinges on the doors.



Why couldn't they incorporate that into their other models, genius idea.

[bazking69]

Novel, quirky, good looking. Check.

Renault badge. Check.

[Syndrome]

It was featured on a top gear challenge which was repeated on Dave last night. Do service it, don't modify it

[ajprice]

I do like them, I suppose it would be great as a big comfy 4 seater. As the mpg doesn't seem to be so good, was there a diesel model or were they all petrol?

[thinfourth2]

fluoxetine said:

(The 'magic' button that opened the roof / all the windows with one touch, was seldom used -

Apart from you gave me a lift in which case it was the first thing to do in the car was to hit the magic button

[RB26DETT]

Buy it.

[Emsman]

I may well do just that- as soon as I sell the ranger.
Events with jnr took proirity at the weekend.

[Chris_w666]

I would be terrified it broke like other Renaults of that era but think its a cool car.