Greetings from Luxembourg, where I'm waiting for my flight home after a rather long day. As I repacked my laptop bag after security I found myself facing a near-lifesize poster of a new Renault bus - and a larger-than-life Kevin Spacey. Apparently I can read about his experience - or is it, that word being a faux ami, experiment? - with it on Renault's website.
Not sure what's going on here. Could just be a play on his name, of course, but I didn't even know he was a name outside the English-speaking world. I know he's revered in some English-speaking circles for his rather overblown American House of Cards, but you don't suppose, do you, that this means the new Espace will appear our side of la Manche?
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Are you badmouthing the Espace WDB? I can't quite tell.
Always thought it was OK, classier than a Transit bus sort of thing... can't remember if I've done any miles in one. Don't remember ever driving one.
Would certainly have been better than the 14-passenger VW Microbuses I went in in the desert. Those were terrible, but they were amazingly resistant and kept going, chapeau.
Went in a beautiful brand new matt khaki Swedish UN VW Microbus up the hairpins in Algiers once. Sweet as a nut, can't have had 1,500 miles on it, God I so wanted one...
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Are you badmouthing the Espace WDB? I can't quite tell.
No - I've never driven one and I don't think I've even travelled in one. But we have - or have had - our own experts on the Big Renault phenomenon and I wondered.
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he's left us. couldn't stand the constant cycling row on here.
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Has he said that to someone? Strange - it's easy enough to ignore, usually just going by the name at the top.
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That's a great shame if Humph / Runfer has given up: he's someone that you feel you'd get on well with if you ever met.
He had, I believe, a diesel Espace from Renault's 'bad period' of the early 2000s, and it gave him a lot of grief. I had an early petrol TXE new in 1988, when there was very little choice if you had four children and didn't want a minibus. It did 125,000 miles with no major problems.
After the Espace I had a Safrane and then a Laguna V6. The Laguna had almost as much room as the Safrane, and similarly the Grand Scenic does the 7-seater job almost as well as the Espace, while being cheaper and wieldier. I should think that's why Renault don't think the new Espace will sell in the UK.
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He hasn't posted since the 23rd July. A piece about snobbery on a housing development where he lives.
Did he show signs that he was getting tired of arguments? There could be a number of other reasons why he has stopped posting.
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It'll be a shame if he doesn't come back, a very amusing and informative poster...........for a mountain biker, that is.
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I read in one of the car rags recently (can't remember which) that Renault are not bringing the Espace or the new Talisman (Laguna replacement) to the UK.
I don't think Renault UK ever really recovered from that period around 2002-2006 when their cars were just full of inherent, expensive faults, and the UK customer services people treated every case of failed Megane electric window regulators, dash failures or F9Q diesels with catastrophically failed turbos as "unusual"....
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And they wont until the quality improves further (although I understand under the tie up with nissan it has got better) and the customer service / dealer performance gets better
A friends recent experience with Renault confirms they have some way to go, and as a result he has left the brand. He was actually quite happy with the car, and had they been more suportive with his issues rather than obstructive he may have replaced his owned from new car with another. They've lost him and his wife to VW
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>> And they wont until the quality improves further
making them pig ugly didn't help either.
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Seems not to be doing Mercedes any harm.
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well if you wanted reliability and good looks you should have bought a vauxhall
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 4 Sep 15 at 19:28
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>> Seems not to be doing Mercedes any harm.
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Merc have the advantage that the badge will sell the cars. Renault however dont.
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I saw one today, one of the many PITA SUVs in the outside lane of the autobahn plodding along like they have a field to mow/sow.
From the back could have been a Ford Kuga.
Next !
When will the EU do the decent thing and ban all things agricultural from the roads ? They are nothing but a flaming nuisance. If you need one then you need one but holding everyone up in the outside lane 'cos you're too tight and it costs too much to hit the loud pedal is wrong.
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