I'm not familiar with your consumer laws and possible recourse in the UK, but here in darkest Africa, apparently Renault can and do get away with their "couldn't care less" attitude. I complained about the issues I have with the vehicle and between Renault SA and myself, we have less than 5 mails go between us and I have heard nothing from them. Not a single word. They just don't give a hoot. Subesequently, I have done a bit more research and discovered that when the turbo blows, it does something to the piston rings and engine blow-by becomes a big problem. Engine blow-by is when combustion gasses pass the piston rings and these gasses contaminate the engine oil. This then causes a reduction in oil protection which causes excessive wear and this leads to more blow-by until the engine eventually wears out completely. One of the more reputable Turbo companies in SA no longer offers a guarantee on Turbos fitted to the DCi engine. That is how severe the problem is here in SA. Renault SA have gnored me and are porbably hoping I will go away. No chance of that and I am now going to embark on an anti-selection drive and warn anyone and everyone, not to buy a Renault, or a Nissan fitted with a DCi engine. (It is in fact the Renaut power plant.) Renault will get away wth it because they have enough money to ignore the consumer and we are basically powerless to do anything about them. I don't have the resources to take them to court and in SA, most likely, nothing will happen anyway. So I will loudly bark from my tree-tops and advertise to the world that it's a poor product backed by a "couldn't care less attitude". A dutch friend of mine says this: Rust En Naarigheid Agtervolg U Lange Tyd. It translates to Rust and Nausea will follow you are around for a long time if you own a Renault. So if you're thinking about buying a Renault diesel, go ahead if you are willing to have the entire engine (piston rings, bearings et al) redone every time the turbo fails. And bear in mind, they do have alimited lifespan. They do fail without warning. You will not get away wth merely replacing the turbo.

Im not cconvinced that engines are not made to last. Maybe this is the case with modern engines, mybe not. My previous car was an Opel Astra (Same as Vauxhaul) which for many reasons wasn't treated as well as I would have liked. I dd all my own servicing and sold the car when she was about 17 years old and had almost 300,000 km on the clock. Like I said, life wasnt always easy so sometimes she went too long between service intervals, we had a radiator problem and I "cooked" her engine a few times and still she kept going. Admittedly being a bit of an oil user (as opposed to guzzler) by the end of her life with me. (About 50 ml per 2000 km) Fuel consumption was still in the region of about 7 liters per 100 km which is excelent. She still had a lot of power too. With all the trouble I'm having with this piece of French toast, I regret selling the Opel. If the engine (and I assume you're talking Renault DCI engine) has plastic bearings as you say, my mind is now made up and I will sell the Frenchie for whatever I can get for her and never venture near another again. Good luckin your quest. Here in SA I have only one chance and its not very good at all. I have logged an official complaint on a website and expect absolutely nothing in return. If I even mamage to put one person off buying Renault, then I consider my job done. The more who opt out of the decision to but one, the better.

I"ll take your word for it since I dont have the knowledge to argue the case. Although we do have a family member who has a VW Toureg which has the 1.9 turbo diesel. Her turbo failed about a month or so ago and she just had another one fitted without any issues. Total cost of about ZAR 10,000. Total cost of the Renault Scenic repairs (Engine and turbo only and near in mind, the "new" engine is now blown so we need to be making a decision on this one soon.) runs to about ZAR 50,000 excluding repair work now needed. The parts alone Sleeves, rings and bearings will be about another ZAR 12000. Conclusion remains, Reanult is a no go. A Dutch friend says Rust En Naarigheid, Agtervolf U Lange Tyd. Spells RENAULT and translates to roughly "rust and nastiness follow you for a long time."

There is a known fault on the renault DCi engine (which was unknown to me at the time of purchase) in that when the turbo fails, it damages the engine in such as way that engine replacement is indicated. I am not sure of the technical aspects, but the resultant engine damage is that "blow-by" is the result and this in turn causes massive oil consumption and contamination which leads to early turbo failure of the repaired or replaced turbo unit. So when the turbo on the DCi engine fails, it is of little value to merely replace the turbo, as with other engine manufacturers. Either the engine is damaged in such a way that the piston rings and sleeves need replacing, or as is stated by most mechanics, it's easier to replace the engine. In South Africa, there are an increasing number of mechanics who refuse to work on Renaults forcing one to utilise the dealer network and pay exorbitant costs. There are also a number of Turbo repair specialists who no longer offer a warantee on replaced turbo units for the DCi engine. Whatever the problem, it is a factory fault / design fault that Renault refuse to acknowledge and simply say "well, we don't know if the parts / material /labour used met with our specifications". I do understnd this but see it as a huge cop-out. This all leaves a bitter taste in ones mouth and I would strongly advise that anyone thinking of buying any vehicle (Notably Nissan who use the DCi engine in some models) or any Renault with a DCi engine to rather consider buying another marque. STAY AWAY FROM RENAULT, especially if the engine is a diesel. I know this because we purchased a second hand Scenic ii just on 15 months ago. At the time of purchase, the previous owner said he had just replaced the turbo and therefore the car, according to his estimation, was in good condition. We took it to a Renault qualified mechanic who had started his own workshop for a service and asked for the cam belt to be replaced. The service was due to huge oil consumption of the engine. About 100 ml per 100 km. He took off a breather hose and it was full of oil. His prognosis was "this engine is (Expletive removed). I wont even do a service on it." So my SO who owns the car made arrangeents for another engine to be installed at huge cost (around the equivalent of 3000 pounds). The car was off the road for some 3 months due to this. Then when it was en route from the garage who repaired it to our residence, the turbo failed. It stood for another 3 months and we then took it to have the turbo repaired by a specialist Turbo shop. The oil consumption on the new engine is now about 100 ml per 1000 km travelled which is way less than before but still excessive. So I did some reasearch on the oils recommended and have used the manufacturers specification oil (5 w 40 and this stuff is expensive) We took the vehicle back to the turbo place and they checked the breather and pronounced that engine blow by was significant and they would not honour the warantee if the turb fails. In 15 months of ownership, this vehicle has stood in the garage for the better part of 8 months and despite everything we have done, (new shocks and shock mountings, new engine mountings and many other new items) we have been offered less as a trade in on the vehicle than we spent on the engine alone. So sorry to say this but Renault sucks. I will never, ever even contemplate buying one. Which is such a shame, the scenic is a really nice car to drive. This is a serious warning people. DO NOT BUY RENAULT. EVER.

probably a bit late but we purchased a Scenic II with the 1.9 Dci engine, about a year ago. We noticed almost immediately that the vehicle used massive amounts of oil with surprisingly little oil smoke. We subsequently found out that the engine was blown due to an earlier turbo failure and managed to find another engine. I guess the main point of my post is that I should have done more research before entering into the purchase and had I read this forum, I would not have bought the vehicle. I am disgusted with Renault in particular and once we manage to sell the vehicle, will never buy another Renault. Its a nice car to drive but definitely not worth all the pain and drama around being an owner of one. I'm not sure yet what we will replace it with but it won't be a Renault. The experience with this one has cured me for life.