RE: Renault Avantime V6 | The Brave Pill
Discussion
Hugh Jarse said:
Have owned one for four years. It has been good for us but can appreciate they are not for everyone. Ours is the worlds only six seater Avantime courtesy of a Multimac child seat in the back. The rear seat is raised (cinema seating) and pillarless entry and enormous glass roof make beach trips great. The boot must be one of the largest of any car in existence and fits our 40kg Old English Sheepdog plus weekend gear. Here's a pic of ours when we had just two kids on a Euro tour. Ours is the 2.0T manual and its 35mpg is ok I reckon and the engine always feels rapid enough for occasional overtakes and my fast trundling style. The £9K price suggests the UK's no.1 aficionado/expert Sandy B has fixed it up and if true is worth the £9k, Id be happy to have £2k for ours as its "used". The quality of the Matra product shouldn't be underestimated, slightly rusty engine subframe aside, the underside of mine at 150K is virtually spotless, at 20 years old. I also have a series 1 espace as my first job was with Geoff Matthews the (disputed) designer of the first Espace before it went Chrysler>Simca>Renault. The series 1 Espace has about 10kg of galvanising (dont quote me) on the chassis of the bleed-across-type and it is also unrusted underneath (lower front doors are tissue paper but that's another story. It and was beaten into production by the Chrysler minivan by a few months I believe in 1983. Funnily enough, have just bought a 2009 Chrysler Grand Voyager 2.8CRD. Made enquires to buy an Espace 3 to create a cool triumvirate of Matras, (the Avantime is based on an Espace 3) but the pull of electric sliding doors, electric folding down seats, electric tailgate and effing enormous interior was too strong. Fifth child imminent (think Spuckler family from the Simpsons). Avantime has been very reliable but I let the front struts crash for a year or so which has led to more problems, blame my ineptitude not lack of quality,b recently rebuilt the struts, replaced the steering rack. Pics tomorrow! I also "run" the Matra Espace facebook page, I say run, that means blocking people selling t-shirts and accepting members. The Avantime is what it is, a vaguely interestingly shaped practicalish car. Makes a good second car IMO. They have reached scrap/keep age (most cars do this after 12 years) when a big fix comes along. We had a new gearbox as our only big fix (steering column aside), but that was £600 all in cos the gearbox came from a Laguna Diesel. This also means we have the most economical (higher sixth gear) one in the world. The turbo engine is really sweet. I note the usual comments, yes the a silver roof rails have minor bubbling where electrical connections are earthed (the heated windscreen) but laughable as an issue when you compare to other cars 20 years old. The "renault" electrics are from the previous age so not too bad, generation iV espace was the new age can-bus etc. We are probably growing out of it now, though I suppose it works as a second car for for a little while longer - but can see a Nissan Leaf or Zoe might be better for bobbing to gymnastics/swimming/dad-taxi etc. In our 6 seater guise, it works well given we can turn round and supply crisps etc, whereas once you go to three rows family arrangement is less cosy, albeit more roomy. Such talk is of course uninteresting when everyone on PHers constantly hoons...... i.e. off to the DIY store down the legoland drive, two more 30MPH streets, five miles behind a van, two roundabouts and then on to an industrial estate. Still, I just got a scaffolding tower (FYI dismantled) in the Grand Voyager, it cant do that.
They are great cars - I owned one for 10 years. Bought it at 18months old for £12k.Edited by Hugh Jarse on Sunday 20th February 07:56
When my sons were small you could lower the rear windows at put them into the seats that way!
I've been looking at them recently - I think they would make an interesting EV conversion - plenty of space for batteries and a Tesla motor in the front!
Avantime said:
They are great cars - I owned one for 10 years. Bought it at 18months old for £12k.
When my sons were small you could lower the rear windows at put them into the seats that way!
I've been looking at them recently - I think they would make an interesting EV conversion - plenty of space for batteries and a Tesla motor in the front!
Yep there is a EV conversion thread running on the owners website.When my sons were small you could lower the rear windows at put them into the seats that way!
I've been looking at them recently - I think they would make an interesting EV conversion - plenty of space for batteries and a Tesla motor in the front!
We also post the kids through the windows, so much eaier than opening doors, and for buckling beacuse the child seats are so high, they love the view out - and forward- as well
Hugh Jarse said:
Yep there is a EV conversion thread running on the owners website.
We also post the kids through the windows, so much eaier than opening doors, and for buckling beacuse the child seats are so high, they love the view out - and forward- as well
I'll look out the EV thread - sounds interesting.We also post the kids through the windows, so much eaier than opening doors, and for buckling beacuse the child seats are so high, they love the view out - and forward- as well
XR said:
These definitely divide opinion, I'm in the love it camp.
Back in the day when a iturbo diesel was the popular choice I was disappointed these were only available as petrol in the uk, was a diesel ever produced or even considered?
Yep on the continent, predominantly sold as Diesel. 2001 there was still some snobbishness (especially on here) about Diesels (e.g. Alfa was still petrol only). That snobbishness (lets call it stupidity) soon evaporated once car sales became 80% D for larger vehicles. Might have sold a few more.Back in the day when a iturbo diesel was the popular choice I was disappointed these were only available as petrol in the uk, was a diesel ever produced or even considered?
The Renault Ds of the time 2.2DCI were as good as anybody's. Would have protected the resale value a bit as well. Hey ho.
I had a Vel Satis for almost 10 years. I was originally attracted by the fact that you could pick up a luxury low mileage barge at a vastly depreciated price.
It was a sister ship of the Avantime.
Typically I became far too fond of it. It was huge inside and very comfortable. It also had a highish seating position. Now ubiquitous, this fact baffled many a critic at the time.
Renault’s plan at the time was to launch a luxury arm like Lexus is to Toyota. The luxury arm was to have the overall name of Vel Satis.
Like many other makers, they found it too difficult one to pull off.
It was a sister ship of the Avantime.
Typically I became far too fond of it. It was huge inside and very comfortable. It also had a highish seating position. Now ubiquitous, this fact baffled many a critic at the time.
Renault’s plan at the time was to launch a luxury arm like Lexus is to Toyota. The luxury arm was to have the overall name of Vel Satis.
Like many other makers, they found it too difficult one to pull off.
Hugh Jarse said:
Have owned one for four years. It has been good for us but can appreciate they are not for everyone. Ours is the world's only six seater Avantime courtesy of a Multimac child seat in the back. The rear seat is raised (cinema seating) and pillarless entry and enormous glass roof make beach trips great. The boot must be one of the largest of any car in existence and fits our 40kg Old English Sheepdog plus weekend gear. Here's a pic of ours when we had just two kids on a Euro tour. Ours is the 2.0T manual and its 35mpg is ok I reckon and the engine always feels rapid enough for occasional overtakes and my fast trundling style. The £9K price suggests the UK's no.1 aficionado/expert Sandy B has fixed it up and if true is worth the £9k, Id be happy to have £2k for ours as its "used". The quality of the Matra product shouldn't be underestimated, slightly rusty engine subframe aside, the underside of mine at 150K is virtually spotless, at 20 years old. I also have a series 1 espace as my first job was with Geoff Matthews the (disputed) designer of the first Espace before it went Chrysler>Simca>Renault. The series 1 Espace has about 10kg of galvanising (don't quote me) on the chassis of the bleed-across-type and it is also unrusted underneath (lower front doors are tissue paper but that's another story. It and was beaten into production by the Chrysler minivan by a few months I believe in 1983. Funnily enough, have just bought a 2009 Chrysler Grand Voyager 2.8CRD. Made enquires to buy an Espace 3 to create a cool triumvirate of Matras, (the Avantime is based on an Espace 3) but the pull of electric sliding doors, electric folding down seats, electric tailgate and effing enormous interior was too strong. Fifth child imminent (think Spuckler family from the Simpsons). Avantime has been very reliable but I let the front struts crash for a year or so which has led to more problems, blame my ineptitude not lack of quality, recently rebuilt the struts, replaced the steering rack. I also "run" the Matra Espace facebook page, I say run, that means blocking people selling t-shirts and accepting members. The Avantime is what it is, a vaguely interestingly shaped practicalish car. Makes a good second car IMO. They have reached scrap/keep age (most cars do this after 12 years) when a big fix comes along. We had a new gearbox as our only big fix (steering column aside), but that was £600 all in cos the gearbox came from a Laguna Diesel. This also means we have the most economical (higher sixth gear) one in the world. The turbo engine is really sweet. I note the usual comments, yes the a silver roof rails have minor bubbling where electrical connections are earthed (the heated windscreen) but laughable as an issue when you compare to other cars 20 years old (rub down fill, paint silver about £200). The "Renault" electrics are from the previous age so not too bad, generation iV espace was the new age can-bus etc. We are probably growing out of it now, though I suppose it works as a second car for for a little while longer - but can see a Nissan Leaf or Zoe might be better for bobbing to gymnastics/swimming/dad-taxi etc. In our 6 seater guise, it works well given we can turn round and supply crisps etc, whereas once you go to three rows family arrangement is less cosy, albeit more roomy. Such talk is of course uninteresting when everyone on PH constantly hoons...... i.e. off to the DIY store down the legoland drive, two more 30MPH streets, five miles behind a van, two roundabouts and then on to an industrial estate. Still, I just got a scaffolding tower (FYI dismantled) in the Grand Voyager, it cant do that.
Interesting post, thanks for sharing.Edited by Hugh Jarse on Sunday 20th February 08:35
Have had a 2.0T Auto Espace IV for many years and many miles and it has been utterly fantastic. The petrol turbo is a lovely and practical drive and probably the one I'd want in the Avantime, but getting very rare in the Espace now.
Would definitely love an Avantime at some point. Unique modern classic.
First Avantime I've scene was around Xmas new year 2001 in Gran canaria obviously on Spanish plates spoke to the owner who was a Swedish man , didn't see 1 back home for s while , Think they have aged very well and only 850 sold in the UK over 3 years , Renault must have offered some big discounts to shift them and some fantastic deals as they dropped in depriciation big time, Didn't they buy one on top gear for 4 or 5 grand for 1 well over 10 years ago, I personally like it if I wasn't divorced and my 2 kids weren't grown up I'd love 1 now.
Hugh Jarse said:
We also post the kids through the windows, so much eaier than opening doors, and for buckling beacuse the child seats are so high, they love the view out - and forward- as well
What?? Don't you know modern parenting rules decree that you must hide your children away in the back of a car behind as much 'privacy glass' as possible so that no-one can see them and they can barely see out?! How on earth are yours supposed to concentrate on whatever they are watching or playing on their iWhatsit with the appalling distractions of real life and the outside world catching their eye? Madness I tell you... 
As to the Avantime, I still love these. I'm also still ashamed to admit this to anyone I know...
i had one as a demo for a couple of weeks when they first came out and i just loved it.
I've thought about buying one when they were around £2500 to £3000 but the thought of all the NLa parts and daft money for things like window regs meant i never pulled the trigger as it seemed like it was always close to being a write off for such simple things,
I've thought about buying one when they were around £2500 to £3000 but the thought of all the NLa parts and daft money for things like window regs meant i never pulled the trigger as it seemed like it was always close to being a write off for such simple things,
I love these, they were a real product of their time, when grey faced PH naysayers didn't exist (or were ignored) and the car market was rather more diverse. I'd always rather talk to someone who bought one of these than someone who only ever bought an Audi (because depreciation).
I can't remember whether it was this car or the Vel Satis but the windscreens were very expensive and or hard to find which would be a worrying issue, and one that often plagues low volume production cars.
I can't remember whether it was this car or the Vel Satis but the windscreens were very expensive and or hard to find which would be a worrying issue, and one that often plagues low volume production cars.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 26th February 20:30
[b]Although the rear windows motored down automatically when the front seats were folded[b]
no they didn't on any production cars..had mine (V6 Privilege)(same colour as ^^^) over 12 years now and love it to bits
bought at 27k and now approaching 70k these cars are more reliable than your average BMW or Land Rover, a couple of coils and basic servicing is all i've needed. Electrics are no worse than anything else, as for tyres i'm on my 2nd set.
And they're a darn sight more interesting than the current crop of beige lookalikes !!
p.s. i'm biased !!
no they didn't on any production cars..had mine (V6 Privilege)(same colour as ^^^) over 12 years now and love it to bits
bought at 27k and now approaching 70k these cars are more reliable than your average BMW or Land Rover, a couple of coils and basic servicing is all i've needed. Electrics are no worse than anything else, as for tyres i'm on my 2nd set.
And they're a darn sight more interesting than the current crop of beige lookalikes !!
p.s. i'm biased !!
Edited by shms on Wednesday 22 May 19:30
Edited by shms on Wednesday 22 May 19:34
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