The dilemma: We have a 2001 Renault Scenic which needs to be replaced this year. The Scenic - the Corolla of France but a rare bird here - is brilliantly designed to fit our family of five and all our luggage in a car no longer than a Mazda 3. But it's European so, for the sake of financial sanity, we want to return to the Japanese mainstream. Trouble is, we live in inner-city Auckland and have only a tiny car pad to park a car off the street. Our next car can be, at very most, no more than 30cm longer than the Renault to avoid overhanging the footpath too much; and it must have a relatively low bonnet line to avoid colliding with the house's front deck supports, which rules out something like a Honda CR-V. Hatchback preferred. Might a Toyota Prius fit the bill? Every second taxi driver seems to drive one and they are definitely roomy, but I've heard they don't have much of a boot. Budget? Let's say $20-25,000.
- Peter from Ponsonby
Sounds like the older Scenic shares many similarities with the front-wheel-drive BMC cars of old that I served my apprenticeship on; ahead of their time in terms of generous amounts of interior space, but let down with ongoing reliability and build quality issues. I remember marvelling at the early Japanese cars and wondered how they could possibly put an engine together that didn't actually leak oil amongst other things!
Because you are fairly tight for parking space I suggest you run the measuring tape around the Renault to enable some comparisons to be done with other vehicles. Boot space may be another story, however, as you may have been spoilt with the Renault in that regard.
The budget: $20-25,000
