2002 Renault Clio Sport 172 2.0 16v

Summary:

Great car, but some serious safety problems

Faults:

Air bag warning light came on several times. Dealership suggested a "Renault modification" of cutting the wiring loom for the air bag and soldering in new wires! About 30 miles from the Dealership in Inverness while doing 70 MPH and overtaking a line of traffic the passenger seat airbag deployed. Dealership refuse to repair the car without my insurance paying for it. It is also 5 weeks since the incident and there is still no sign of the seat or airbag. On back order - nice one Renault UK who are not interested in the slightest. Truly remarkable as I was about to place a fleet order for 6 Clio vans and 3 Clio cars (all diesel). They will not respond to my solicitor, so it looks as if they will get the car back.

General Comments:

Great little car.

Pity about the airbag and their safety.

Pity about Renault UK lack of interest.

Pity about dealer's lack of interest.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th July, 2002

31st Jul 2002, 17:35

I have a Clio Sport 172 mark II (September 2001) and the air bag warning light is now coming on also. It's the passenger side air bag - there is a wire up the back of the passenger seat which is strained when moving the seat back/forth to get access to the rear - upon tugging the wire back of the seat the air bag light goes off. Hopefully the air bag will not deploy when I have a passenger. Dealer can't rectify the problem.

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2002 Renault Clio Extreme 1.2 16v

Summary:

A car with known faults !!!

Faults:

It has been towed away for engine management failure at 6800 miles.

General Comments:

The performance is good for a 1.2 litre engine. However, it has had some strange faults since it was new.

The AA told me that they have seen the same faults on a lot of new Clios.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd June, 2002

29th Jun 2002, 14:31

What are the faults that you mention in your review?

Not mentioning the faults in a more descriptive way makes the review sound more like scare-mongering, especially the "AA told me" bit!

A better description would be much more useful to potential buyers of this car!

Liam.

30th Jun 2002, 04:44

Not scare mongering at all. Not exactly going to lie about my car breaking down.

The most common fault on the 2001 new shape Clio is that it developes engine running trouble. The AA engineer that looked at my car said that he had towed 4 Clios the same shape of mine in the past month.

Renault Leicester informed me that 4 injector packs had broken down and needed replacement.

At present, since the car has been repaired, it intermittently tells me I have no oil and it needs servicing. It has been on the Renault "Clip" diagnostic 3 times to find the fault.

Other than the running trouble of late, the car is very good. Only one rattle coming from the steering wheel; which is not serious.

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