Perhaps it’s the colour – to me it’s more mud than ‘Mocha’, which is how it’s officially defined by Renault – but I was initially underwhelmed when I first set eyes on the exterior of our new long-term Renault Grand Scenic.

Whatever you think about my previous long-termer, the Kia Sportage – and I was in a minority who felt its looks were a little too bold – one thing you couldn’t accuse that car of is a lack of presence on the road, which you can with our brown Grand Scenic. It’s not that the design is unattractive – in fact, some people think it’s stylish – it’s just that it ‘blends’ into the car park. Granted, it’s early days, and I’m sure we’ll get used to it, particular once the blue Sportage becomes a distant memory, but my eyes haven’t yet become accustomed to picking it out in a line-up of other models in a multi-storey car park.

On top of that, my partner, who likes the colour, has labelled the styling as “mum-mobile”, and by that she means that while she is a mother, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she wants to be seen in a car that suggests she is when the kids are at school/nursery. What she wants is a car that might be ‘mum-mobile’ at the weekends, but is more ‘girl about town’ during the week.

Renault Grand Scenic 1.6 dCi 130 Dyn. TT
Mileage 555
Claimed combined
consumption
64.2mpg
Our average
consumption
39.4mpg
Forecast CPM 52.4p
Actual CPM 56.3p
Why we’re running it To sample Renault’s crucial
new 1.6 diesel engine in the
UK’s most fuel-efficient
seven-seater
Plus Engine power and refinement
Minus The not-so-scenic Scenic?