Buying a used... Renault Kangoo (2nd generation)

Date: Thursday, October 11, 2018

If you were Mercedes-Benz, you wouldn’t put your badge on just any small van would you? asks Ian Shaw.

If you happen to be passing a Mercedes-Benz dealership the phase two version of this second-generation Renault Kangoo may look strangely familiar.

It is, of course, re-badged as a Mercedes-Benz Citan, although the Kangoo is an older hand that can trace its history back to 1997.

At its launch I remember thinking it was no more than a Citroen Berlingo copy and that surely a company with such diverse interests as 44.0t trucks and Formula One engines must have something to offer the small van sector.

And so it did, as almost half a million second-generation Renault Kangoos have been sold in Europe since its 2008 arrival.

At its heart is Renault’s proven 1.5-litre dCi common-rail diesel turbo unit that powers everything from the Clio small car upwards and half of Europe’s Nissans.

In the Kangoo it offers 75hp, 90hp or 110hp outputs, or you can opt for a 1.5-litre petrol unit or an electric EZ model.

The latter is seemingly ideal for multi-drop urban work – let’s face it, we used to get our milk that way – but you should exercise caution as the range and ability to hold charge is a bit of an unknown with used electric vehicles and resale values are still far from cast-iron, notwithstanding the need to fill it up with volts on a regular basis.

Maybe one is worth considering for your next van, when the situation regarding electric vehicles is clearer.

Innovations

The old Kangoo always had a few good innovations, which have been carried over to this model.

Not only does the passenger sear fold flat for longer loads, extending the capacity from 1.47m to 1.73m, but since the mesh bulkhead must swing open for this, the rear seat forms a guard between the driver and the load and adds half a cubic metre to the already generous 3.0m3 load volume too.

Optionally, a rear roof opening flap can be had too, like the old Fiat Fiorino, that’s handy for ladders or lengths of timber.

The internal height is 1.2m with a width of 1.4m at best and 1.2m between the wheelarches, with a decent 1.2m-wide rear door aperture, although the side door could be a bit bigger.

Payload is 650kg, which is not as generous as a Vauxhall Combo or Citroen Berlingo.

A few faults have cropped up over the life of the second-generation Renault Kangoo, including a seatbelt mount issue – but only on the left side, apparently – and some immobiliser glitches.

One contact of ours also suggested that the light commercial also suffered from high clutch wear, but that might be drivers over-estimating the ability of the Grip XTend traction control – which I never found very effective – to go off-road.

As ever, main dealer stamps in the book and lower annual mileage have to be the best start points in your search for a second-hand vehicle.

Five Best Options

1) 90hp diesel engine
2) 110hp diesel engine
3) Folding seat
4) Roof hatch
5) Sport trim

Five Best Avoided

1) 75hp diesel  engine
2) Petrol engine
3) Electric model
4) Metallic paint
5) Grip XTend

Second-Hand Buys

Version

Plate

Year

Mileage

Price ex.VAT

ML19 1.5dCi 90

63

2013

18,000

£6,395

ML19 E.ZE

14

2014

7,000

£6,995

ML19 1.5dCi 75

64

2014

21,000

£7,595

ML19 1.5dCi 90

66

2016

23,000

£7,995

ML19 1.5dCi 75

67

2017

3,500

£9,995

 

 

 

 



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