Renault Kadjar 2020 review: Zen

There is a certain amount of French style in the exterior with a well designed shape, and it’s still funky enough to compete with its Korean and Japanese rivals with cool looking headlights and grille, while still keeping it’s European design credibility. It’s a great fusion of the two very different styles. 

Inside keeps up the good looks. There is a lot of plastic on the dash and doors but it doesn’t come off as cheap which is down to the styling.

Inside keeps up the good looks but is a lot of plastic on the dash and doors.

The seats are fabric and the quilted finish gives them a premium feel, while the faux leather trim keeps things practical. The steering wheel is also faux leather but actually feels great and it’s also a good shape with a slightly flat bottom.

The centre console is well designed, with glossy black to help lift the overall design. It feels good to sit in and drive on the road. 

The Kadjar is surprisingly spacious for this size car and definitely leans more towards a mid-size SUV in the interior. The front has a good amount of leg and head space even for the taller members of my family and space between the passenger seat and driver’s seat is also ample.

My children, aged six and eight, had plenty of space in the back seat. At 161cm I had lots of room in the rear and there was enough space between my knees and the seat in front of me that it will fit taller adults and teenagers easily. I couldn’t get three car seats in the back, though this is typical of this category. 

There is plenty of space in the back seat, but three car seats don't fit.

The boot is on the larger side for a small to mid-size SUV. At 408 litres it’s bigger than a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross but smaller than a Nissan Qashqai.

It fits the CarsGuide pram well and you’ll still have a little bit of room leftover for school bags or groceries. So while it’s not huge, it’s still decent and you can get away with it for a family of four.

The Kadjar is a good height off the ground for small children to climb into, and an easy height to lift things in and out of the boot. 

There are two cupholders up the front and even a tiny spot for your espresso (very French). You’ll also find a large centre storage bin, a small spot for keys and a phone and bottle holders in each door.

There are two cupholders up the front and even a tiny spot for your espresso.

Rear passengers get two cupholders in the centre armrest and most impressively, rear air vents which are a rarity in this category and especially in this price range. They were very much appreciated on our week of driving through a hot Sydney summer. 

The Kadjar has airbags for driver and front passenger and side curtain airbags that extend to the back row.

Advanced safety is limited, with the Zen model getting city-speed auto emergency braking, lane departure warnings and blind spot monitoring.

You’ll have to go up in the range to get a park assist feature and no model has rear cross traffic alert which I think is the most useful advanced safety feature. 

It comes with two ISOFIX points and three top tether points to fix kids’ car seats in safely. The Kadjar hasn’t been ANCAP tested yet but scored a maximum five Euro NCAP stars in 2015. 

The Renault Kadjar Zen costs $32,990. Fuel consumption is a claimed 6.3L/100km and I did an average of 10.3L/100km. But note, I didn’t do any highway driving at all this week and city driving uses more fuel. 

It’s covered by Renault’s '555' ownership scheme, for five years of unlimited kilometre warranty, five years of roadside assist, and five years of capped price servicing.

The Renault Kadjar Zen costs $32,990.

Servicing is recommended every 12 months or 30,000km, whichever comes first.