Renault Captur Review 2024

The Renault Captur is a small SUV that'll suit growing families. It's a very versatile little car, but its biggest selling point is the value for money it offers. Not only does it undercut competitors in price, but you also get a lot of desirable features as standard.

An extensive engine line-up over the years makes the Captur a strong competitor on the used SUV market. Some of the best engines are no longer available, though, and we think hybrid competitors like the Toyota Yaris Cross offer a more polished driving experience.

There's no shortage of excellent small SUVs on the market today. The Nissan Juke is a popular choice, as is the Vauxhall Mokka and Peugeot 2008. If you want a car that's fun to drive and well-equipped, you should look at the Ford Puma or SEAT Arona, while the Skoda Kamiq represents good value for money.

We'd also recommend the Toyota Yaris Cross and Hyundai Kona, while it's also worth looking at pure-electric alternatives like the Volvo EX30 and MG ZS EV.

While the Renault Captur doesn't exactly carry the banner for interior quality, it's no worse than an equivalent Skoda Kamiq or Nissan Juke.

Up front, you get soft-surfaced doors and everything around your eyeline is perfectly presentable. It's only when you get in the back seats that the materials are predominantly hard and scratchy. 

All models come with a soft-touch dashboard, which looks and feels surprisingly premium, while high-spec models feel significantly better finished, with extra leather as standard.

Only time will tell how well the Captur copes with day-to-day family life, but we doubt the Captur's cabin will have too many creaks or rattles a few years down the line.

The Renault Captur's infotainment offering has been significantly updated since the 2024 update. A portrait 10.4-inch touchscreen display is now standard across the range. It's a Google-based system, which is easy to use and fast to respond. On Captur Techno and Esprit Alpine models, it also provides acces to Google services, such as Google Maps. Alternatively, you can wirelessly connect your phone and use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto instead.

If you're looking on the used market, you'll have to shop around to find one with an infotainment offering to suit your needs. The most basic models got a seven-inch media system with Bluetooth, DAB radio, USB ports and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

Buy a Renault Captur S Edition (later known as E-Tech Engineered) and you'll get a portrait 9.3-inch touchscreen system. Unfortunately this does feel a bit dated compared to the later display, with frustratingly slow responses and slightly naff looking graphics.

For a relatively small car, the Renault Captur is surprisingly spacious. The Renault Captur measures just over 4.2m long and a little under 1.8m wide. It's noticeably roomier than the Renault Clio and, indeed, the previous Captur. That's especially true in the front, where you'll find generous headroom and plenty of shoulder room. There's loads of storage, too, including large door bins and somewhere to place your phone in front of the gear lever. There's also a useful cubby under the centre armrest.

The Captur's party piece is its sliding rear bench. This means you can prioritise space for rear-seat passengers or the boot. With it in its most forward position, it's pretty cramped in the back, although kids ought to be happy enough. Slide it back and there's way more room and, although taller adults may still need to negotiate some extra room from those upfront, there's plenty of space for four. 

Although three adults will be rubbing shoulders in the back, a fairly flat floor means the middle passenger won't be straddling a transmission tunnel and the middle seat is more comfortable than most. 

With the bench as far forward possible, the Renault Captur's boot space can accommodate a huge 616 litres of luggage - that's more than a Nissan Qashqai. There's a caveat to that, though - the Captur E-Tech loses some handy underfloor storage space, so it's maximum capacity drops to 480 litres. Slide the rear bench back (where we think most buyers will keep it), and the petrol Captur can carry up to 484 litres of luggage, while the hybrid model manages just 348 litres.

There's been quite a combination of engines offered in the latest Renault Captur since it first went on sale in 2020. The range today consists of just two, though: a petrol and a hybrid.

The petrol is badged the Captur TCe 90. It uses a small 1.0-litre engine that's combined with a six-speed manual gearbox that produces just 90PS - that's not a lot of power for a car of this size. Officially it'll accelerate to 62mph in a leisurely 14.3 seconds.

We think the hybrid Captur will be a better option for most buyers. Badged the Renault Captur E-Tech, this is a 'self-charging' hybrid that pairs a 1.6-litre petrol engine with an electric motor to produce 143PS. It's still not quick, but it'll reach 62mph in a much more palatable 10.6 seconds.

If you're in the market for a used Renault Captur, we'd recommend looking for one with the TCe 130 1.3-litre petrol engine. This is a more grown-up four-cylinder engine that feels noticeably brisker than the 1.0-litre, while also being a bit more refined. Alternatively, car buyers looking for the ability to travel under electric power alone should also consider the Renault Captur E-Tech plug-in hybrid. You don't get many PHEVs in this class, so it's a shame that it's now been dropped from the range.

At one point, you could even get the Renault Captur with a 1.5-litre diesel engine. This sold in small numbers and we wouldn't recommend it unless you really must have diesel power - perhaps if you cover a lot of motorway miles, for example.

It's worth noting that you can't get a four-wheel-drive Renault Captur. That's not going to be a big loss for many people (such technology is expensive and inefficient) but, if you do want a bit more confidence to tackle a farm track, consider a Suzuki S-Cross or Toyota Yaris Cross instead.

Unfortunately, refinement isn't the strongest point of the 1.0-litre TCe petrol engine in the Renault Captur. Like a lot of small, three-cylinder engines, you'll notice quite a lot of vibration and a distinctive thrum from the engine bay during acceleration. At least a six-speed manual gearbox is standard now - on earlier models, the entry-level engines came with a five-speed gearbox. That means the engine was running at a considerable amount of revs at motorway speeds.

The hybrid Renault Captur E-Tech is more refined, but it's still less than perfect. It'll awkwardly jump between electric and petrol modes, seemingly never settling into a rhythm. The older plug-in hybrid was better, as that could at least travel a significant distance under electric power alone. For true engine-off refinement, though, you might want to look at an electric vehicle instead.

There's plenty of safety equipment available on the Renault Captur and - pleasingly - most of it is standard across the range. Highlights include a lane departure warning and lane keep assist (which nudges the steering if you start to stray from your lane), while automatic headlights will never leave you driving in the dark. There's a blind-spot warning system, too, but this is only available on high-spec models.

ISOFIX child seat fixing points are fitted as standard on the outer rear seats, while Renault's E-Call system will automatically call the emergency services in the case of an incident.

All models come with a tyre inflation kit as standard but a space-saver spare wheel is available as an optional extra. Euro NCAP awarded the Renault Captur a five-star safety rating including a 96% score for adult occupants and 83% for children.

Renault's reliability has improved in recent years, although the brand still performed fairly poorly in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. It ranked in 28th place - second from bottom, ahead of Vauxhall.

While we've heard of very few common issues with the latest Renault Captur, Renault's three-year/100,000-mile warranty is nothing special, unfortunately. Buy a Toyota Yaris Cross instead and, with regular dealer servicing, you'll be covered for up to 10 years 

Insurance groups for the Renault Captur range from 11 to 16. That means any Captur model should be fairly cheap to insure, with the 1.0-litre petrol engine being the most affordable. As ever, we'd recommend shopping around for insurance, though - it's worth getting some quotes beforehand to avoid any surprises further down the line, especially if you're a new driver or have a less-than-perfect driving record.

The first year's car tax is based on CO2 emissions and forms part of the 'on the road' price of the car. That means, even if you're buying brand new, it's not a real concern. If you're buying a nearly-new example, it will have been paid when the car was registered.

After this, petrol Renault Captur models are currently charged £190/year in VED, while hybrid models qualify for a £10/year discount - bringing the annual bill down to £180/year.

Despite being an affordable entry-level model, the Renault Captur Evolution covers pretty much everything you could wish for. Spec highlights include the 10.4-inch infotainment system, wireless phone charging, a reversing camera, 17-inch alloy wheels and automatic air conditioning. It also comes with an extensive list of driver-assistance tech, such as cruise control, an active emergency braking system and emergency lane keep assist.

Step up to the mid-spec Renault Captur Techno and you get 18-inch alloy wheels, front/side parking sensors, electrically folding door mirrors, a modular boot floor, height-adjustable front passenger seat, multi-sense drive modes, built-in Google services for the infotainment system, a 10.25-inch digital driver display and two additional USB-C ports in the rear.

Topping the range, the hybrid-only Renault Captur Esprit Alpine comes with 19-inch esprit Alpine 'Elixir' alloy wheels, two-tone paint with contrasting black roof colour, front grille with 3D graphics, and gloss black window frames. The interior features esprit Alpine styling, aluminium sports pedals, auto-dimming frameless rear view mirror, flying console for auto transmission, driver and front passenger seat with electric height adjustment, heated front seats, heated synthetic leather steering wheel, sun visor with mirror and light, and adaptive cruise control with speed limiter.