Faults:

Not that many in the three years I owned it funnily enough.

Developed an odd phenomena where if I started up, then switched the lights on, the engine stopped: garage traced it to a cracked circuit board. Replaced then fine.

Slight rust around the top of both rear wheel arches (they all went in this area apparently)

Other than the above, only the usual brake pads, bulbs etc.

General Comments:

Mine was one of the first Renault 9's. Interestingly, they were awarded Car of the Year for 1982. I can't understand why. Very plasticky squarish interior, typical of the period.

Overall, it proved to be pretty reliable. Even though it had never been converted, it would run perfectly happily on unleaded.

An interesting car in cross winds, due to Renault deciding to make the body work out of light steel alloy (tin!).

I traded it in 1994 for a Renault 19...apparently, it's still out there somewhere going strong.

Faults:

Sunroof leaks slightly. Paint on bonnet cracked from heat.

General Comments:

Very fast with boost turned up. Seats are very comfortable. The car is lowered and sticks to the road. Very rare where I stay and get a lot of looks of admiration for the car.

Faults:

So far the only problems have included:

Heater matrix has blocked so when we're driving around we have to wear our woolly jumpers and gloves.

The engine has got a flat spot, so when accelerating it jogs a bit.

The bulb in the fog light switch was flicking on and off, so I disassembled it, and broke it, so ended up replacing it.

General Comments:

This car was given to me by a relative who gave up driving. We didn't want the car at first, but it has proved to be a life saver! It's in daily use now, and after removing the 3 layers of seat covers, discovered a set of un-used seats which was a bonus.

The cabin is fairly big for the size of the car, and the dashboard colours are modern for the age of the car.

The car features a 5 speed box, which is also a bonus for a car of this age, as my '83 Escort 1.6 didn't have one!

I'd recommend this car, despite the fact it has no street credibility, but that could easily be sorted with a splash of metallic paint and a lowering kit. The only thing I'd want to change about this car would be the wheels. It has 13" wheels with replacement wheel-trims. If anyone could send me a full set I'd be happy :) Thanks a lot.

Faults:

Bought from a dodgy garage for silly money, the car went fine at first then after a couple of weeks it just stopped on the motorway. AA diagnosed dirt in the carb jets. This occurred at least a dozen times until the fault was traced to residue in the tank coming through the fuel system. After the tank was removed and cleaned the problem was solved.

Clutch went at 78k, nearly 400 quid for a new one and that was not even a Renault garage! Only 2 problems but they were big ones!

General Comments:

I only paid 600 quid for it and after driving a rusty Mini Clubman about for a couple of years I thought I had arrived in the executive league!

Great spec for its time, sports seats and wheel, lots of nice jaeger instruments and alloy wheels.

Had a nice 5 speeder and was a great motorway car, it took me from Manchester to Southern Spain and back without a single problem.

It was 12 years old when I got it and the paint finish was still in very good order and the engine was spot on.

A much more charismatic alternative to an Escort, but beware pricey parts. My local Renault dealer was superb and offered me discounted parts and labour because of the cars age. Think he felt sorry for me and having such an old Renault in good condition at his garage was probably good for business, to show the longevity of the marque.

Faults:

Nothing. I kept trying to kill it for years but it just kept on going.

It was indestructible.

All I ever did was put petrol in it and that was it.

It's only downside was that it was plug-bloody-ugly.