Renault badly misjudged how popular the first Scénic would be: it planned for a niche model built at just 450 a day, but demand pushed the Douai factory to nearly 2,500 a day.
Median 101 hp across 11 similar cars
Lead trim: 1.4 (E7J, 75 PS) · up to 137 hp
Renault Scénic / Scénic I1996–2003
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FactRenault badly misjudged how popular the first Scénic would be: it planned for a niche model built at just 450 a day, but demand pushed the Douai factory to nearly 2,500 a day.
The Mégane Scénic, launched in November 1996, was Renault's compact multi purpose vehicle, smaller and cheaper than the Espace and mechanically identical to the Mégane hatchback, itself based on the older R19. It traces back to the 1991 Renault S.C.E.N.I.C. (Safety Concept Embodied in a New Innovative Car) concept designed under the supervision of Anne Asensio, and the production car, designed by Patrick Le Quément, kept the concept's independent seats but not its sliding doors. Renault predicted a niche model of only 450 cars a day, but production at Douai eventually peaked at nearly 2,500 a day. The Scénic was restyled at the front in September 1999 with redesigned rear lights and the newer 16-valve engines, and from then it was officially the Renault Scénic; production in France ended in June 2003. It was also built in Curitiba, Brazil from 1998 to 2010, with flex-fuel engines, and at Nissan's Cuernavaca plant in Mexico from December 2000 to mid-2004, the first cross-manufacturing operation of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
Collectors Spotted in the Renault Scénic Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Renault Scénic yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
15 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 (E7J, 75 PS) | 1996–2003 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 74 hp | 79 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.4 16V (K4J, 95 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 94 hp | 94 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.6 (K7M, 75 PS) | 1996–2003 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 74 hp | 96 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.6 (K7M, 90 PS) | 1996–2003 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 89 hp | 101 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.6 16V (K4M, 110 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 109 hp | 109 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.8 16V (F4P, 116 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.8 L Inline-4 | 114 hp | 121 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 d (F8Q, 64 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 63 hp | 89 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 d (F8Q, 65 PS) | 1996–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 64 hp | 89 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 dCi (F9Q, 102 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 101 hp | 148 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 dT (F8Q, 95 PS) | 1996–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 94 hp | 130 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 dTi (F9Q, 80 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 79 hp | 118 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 dTi (F9Q, 98 PS) | 1999–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 97 hp | 148 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 dTi (F9Q, 99 PS) | 1996–2003 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 98 hp | 148 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 2.0 (F3R, 114 PS) | 1996–2003 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 113 hp | 124 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 2.0 16V (F4R, 139 PS) | 1999–2003 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 137 hp | 139 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The Scénic Vision concept behind it had a floor made from recycled milk bottles and pipes, and a hydrogen fuel cell as range extender.
This Scénic earned a 5-star Euro NCAP rating partly because of a safety feature no other compact MPV offered as standard: emergency braking with pedestrian detection.
This Scénic generation spun off a rugged crossover sibling, the Scénic Xmod, with roof rails and body cladding years before 'crossover MPV' was a trend.
Some Scénic IIs built between 2003 and 2006 could lose their entire dashboard at once — a soldering defect let the all-electronic instrument cluster overheat and go completely blank.
Moving the Scénic RX4's spare wheel onto the tailgate meant building that tailgate out of plastic to save weight — and it was prone to cracking under the spare's own weight as it aged.
Renault badly misjudged how popular the first Scénic would be: it planned for a niche model built at just 450 a day, but demand pushed the Douai factory to nearly 2,500 a day.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
The Touran quietly introduced a first for Volkswagen: electro-mechanical power steering, a segment first that varied steering weight with road speed and saved fuel by drawing no power at idle.
Romania's own president bought the first B-Max off the Craiova line, on 25 June 2012, before anyone else could.
Opel's first Zafira OPC put a 192 PS turbo four into a seven-seat minivan in 2001.
Opel's in-house tuning division built this Zafira a 240-hp turbocharged heart — turning a seven-seat family minivan into one of the quickest people-movers of its era.
Porsche co-developed this Zafira's clever fold-into-the-floor seven-seat system, marketed as Flex 7.
Vauxhall killed the Zafira Tourer in Britain because buyers had moved on to SUVs.
A fire in one Zafira wrecked up to 300 cars in a single Stavanger Airport parking garage in January 2020.
This Touran generation had a firm end date: Wolfsburg stopped production in April 2026, exactly 11 years after it started.