Faults:

The automatic gearbox needed some maintenance, as it wouldn't shift into first gear, which didn't keep me from driving it another couple of thousands of km.

No major defects were recorded, but it's only been in my possession for a short time.

General Comments:

This car is the most comfortable small car I've ever driven. True, you can't take a corner any faster than the average senior citizen in a wheelchair, but it cruises like you're on a magic carpet. Much better even than my Xantia!

Rust is its greatest enemy, you have to actively fight the onset of it in every spot exposed to water.

The seats are brilliant, and even tall people have room to spare (in the front seats, that is). The brakes are good, too.

Average fuel consumption is about 14 km to the liter, which is decent for an automatic I guess.

Steering requires some force, but I can live with that. I intend to keep this little gem as long as it will run.

Faults:

The exhaust went, which is only to be expected after 10 years and 120,000 km.

Apart from this, nothing more than regular maintenance items.

General Comments:

This is an excellent little car. It runs at least 17 km to the liter on average, it's very comfortable, and with the 1.4 liter engine it can keep up with other traffic very well. The gearbox handles smoothly, it's roomy and very, very comfortable.

You don't need power steering on this car, as it turns very easily.

The seats are better in the more expensive models, though on short rides they're just fine.

Unfortunately, some parts of the bodywork are rather prone to corrosion, which is the only flaw I can think of.

Faults:

This was my first car, which was to be followed by another "5" three years later, a TR. Both 5-doors BTW. The latter one I still own and somehow this proved/proves to be a much better car than the TL described here... Reviewed by yours truly as well.

I don't have the TL's exact records anymore, but this I remember:

* Outer sills rusted badly; were replaced shortly before I got the car at a relatively huge sum of money, but even then were "through" once again within two years.

* Engine and carb needed frequent tuning, tell-tale was a gradually declining top-speed of sometimes not more than 125 kph in fifth and random stalling - preferably at junctions...

* Frequent starting-trouble in damp conditions. In hindsight it could have been that the starter-motor was a lemon. Not quite sure.

* First gear's tendency to drop out of engagement eventually turned so bad, that driving away from a steep incline was no longer possible. I had to keep it pushed in first while moving off at all times, and was just one hand short to use the handbrake! Lucky to live in a flat country... Foreign trips were plain impossible because of this and indeed were never made by me with this car.

* Bonnet showed severe underside-rust, but then the whole car gradually acquired a brownish hue. From '90 onward, better rustproofing was used at Renault.

General Comments:

The TL was a lot noisier than my TR is, as its diminutive 1.1 engine struggled to keep up with traffic.

Interior trim and dashboard were almost punishingly sparse.

Steering was, strangely enough, significantly more vague than the TR's; which is better than average.

Fuel consumption was pretty bad for a 1.1 at about 1:13 (1 litre in 13 km's) as my TR will always better 1:15, on longer trips even up to 1:17,5. That's with a bigger engine (1.4)!