The Mk4 Renault Espace was arguably the last cool people carrier, beloved of the middle-class school runners before they switched to SUVs.
It still had exotic aluminium, plastic and steel elements in its construction yet was simpler than its predecessor, being monocoque-Laguna-related rather than complicated spaceframey.
The general specification has all the usuals, while Privilege trim adds alloys and climate control and uppermost Initiale brings leather upholstery.
There are plenty of decent petrol and diesel options. If you don’t do the miles, the 3.5-litre petrol V6 is going to be the bargain buy, along with the 2.0-litre four-pot. Realistically, it’s the 2.2-litre diesel four that delivers reasonable pep and MPG in the mid-to-high 30s, but the 1.9 dCi is a decent enough plodder and the 2.0 dCi is the easiest to find. There’s also an uncommon 3.0-litre diesel V6.
The Espace was revamped a couple of times, in 2005 and 2006. You might notice the redesigned dashboard and front end. Of more use, though, was a sliding rail for the rear seats.
If you’re really into seats and space, there’s the Grand Espace, which lived a bit longer (until 2012) than the standard shortie. It really does have hectares of spaces inside. The seats may fold, but they don’t disappear into the floor. There are loads of storage bins – simply much more space for less money.
As for problems, it’s usually electrics, meaning all the gadgets, plus the clutch, which can have a rather short life. Else, it’s smoky diesel engines, failing ECUs and worn suspension. Composite body panel damage is expensive to fix. As they drop down the ownership pyramid, Espaces become more problematic, because they do need looking after. Even so, we reckon it’s worth the bother of finding and buying if you want a classy family van.
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Joining a recovery service- absolutely necessity.
I had the RAC out to help with an immobiliser issue. The RAC guy had an almost dealer level OBD2 computer on board, where he recoded both my keys to the car. Must have saved about 4 years of subscriptions compared to having Merc fix the issue.