Rating the Ride - 2010 Renault Kangoo

Because we were going to be in Europe for more than three weeks, there was a significant cost advantage to leasing the car, versus renting. I went with Renault's Eurodrive option because of the car offered. I specifically zeroed in on the Kangoo because I thought it would give us the space to carry two bikes inside the car, along with our two bags, and the two bike boxes and the miscellaneous bunch of stuff we dumped into the bike boxes that wouldn't fit anywhere else.

http://www.renaultusa.com/

http://www.renault.com/en/Vehicules/renault/Pages/kangoo.aspx

I was right, although we ended up loading the vehicle differently than I envisioned before the trip.

Out front of Hotel Safari ready to be loaded.

I thought we would collapse the two boxes, lay them flat in the back of the car, and then place everything else on top of them. It turned out better to just place the boxes in the car, one on top of the other, and then placed my bike to the side of the boxes, and Linda's bike was small enough to place sideways behind the front seats. The boxes then served to hold the bikes upright, instead of them lying on top of one another and falling/sliding around the back. Our suitcases and other paraphernalia fit around the boxes, on top of the boxes, and into the many nooks and crannies Renault built into the vehicle.

Final configuration--boxes on top of one another, my bike to the left. . .

. . . Linda's sideways across the front of the boxes, behind the front seats.

I was able to find the interior dimensions of the car on-line, but I was never 100% certain they were accurate. Turns out the car was perfectly suited to what we needed.

Easy access all around--sliding doors both sides, hatch rear.

Price? It was about $1884 for 28 days. We paid an extra fee to drop the car off in Milan, vs. returning it to a French location. We would have opted to return the car at Marco Polo Airport in Venice, but Renault didn't have arrangements available there. Milan was the closest to us, thus we had to drive back to Milan from Venice, but that wasn't too bad. We could have driven it easily in about 5 hours, but we broke it up into two days, stopping at Lake Garda en route.

We put 2605 kms on the car, about 1, 618 miles. It performed great, though it wasn't sexy or fast. The gas mileage was pretty good, too. It, like many cars in Europe, was diesel powered and diesel was a little cheaper than regular gas.

Gas stations there are interesting. There's none of the fume-capture technology used here. The nozzles are frequently dripping and/or leaking. At our first fuel-up, there was diesel and gasoline puddled all over the ground and on the pumps. It was a little bizarre. And don't look to Europe as the cutting edge for auto emissions control. Their cars spew, spit, fog and belch smoke with impunity. Plus there's a reason California was without diesel vehicles for so long. . . they're dirty.

Anyway, back to the car. It served us well. Gave us no problems. Was easy to drive. Never caused us any problems in the mountains (not that it was powerful) and it did its job. I suppose there's a reason Renault's aren't sold in the U.S. and I can't speak for the long-term viability of the car. For 1,618 miles it was perfect.

At the end of the trip, we called Renault, I told them the flight number and departure time, they said they'd meet us in front of the Swiss Air door #16 at Milan's Malpensa airport at 6:30. We did, they were there, handed over the keys, and that was that. Easy.

If you want to have a car, and you'll be there long enough, leasing's a great way to go. The Kangoo won't impress with its o-60 times, or amaze with its cornering abilities. If I was single, it is not the car to impress women. In the end, it did exactly what we needed--allowed us to travel with the bikes inside the car with plenty of room for everything else. It is the exact same reason I drive a Honda Element at home: its utility. It does exactly what I bought it for--carries my wife, me, and our bikes wherever we want to go.