Faults:

I had done about 5,000 miles after getting the car brand new and the starter motor stopped working.

I had to call the AA out to jump start me at work to get me home, and then call the AA out again to get me to the dealer the following day.

The dealer was unhelpful to say the least and went white when I said I'd need a courtesy car... she then tried to charge me £25 for the pleasure, something to do with insurance?! I eventually managed to get a courtesy car without shelling out any money!

The sun roof used to rattle and I had to take it back to have it "modified" but was told it was a design fault, its stopped rattling now though.

The fuse for my horn keeps blowing...

General Comments:

The car handles well.

Responsive, I can confidently put my foot down on country lanes and not worry about the approaching corner!

The inside is a bit "pound shop" but other than that well put together.

Faults:

The car cut out whilst sitting in neutral gear in traffic. Renault resolved this problem, after stressing there was NO problem.

Sunroof rattles on the lightest bumps making it sound like you are driving an older car.

Now - drastic problems with the paint work which has corroded to the primer due to Bird Droppings, even though the car is well maintained and washed twice a week.

Renault are adamant that this is my problem and not a fault with there paintwork. They also say that this is not covered in there 3 YEAR PAINT Warranty???

General Comments:

The Renault Clio was recommended to me and I have been deeply disappointed with the after-sales care from both the Renault Dealership and Renault UK.

Please be warned, paint warranty is just sales talk don't be fooled, you would need a lot of time on your hands to "remove bird droppings from your car in a maximum period of two hours" as we were told by the Dealership and Renault UK.

Faults:

Split Sunroof seal, creating extra wind noise, but not leaking water as far as I know. Being fixed under warranty.

General Comments:

Very fast. It is described as a warm hatch. Slightly sporty. Good pick up in most gears. After driving the 1.2 16V today I laughed out loud at how slow it is compared to my DCI (100). You do need to rev it more than I would like, but it is my first small diesel. It is comparable to the 1.6 16v in performance, but easily does 60mpg and I can manage nearly 65mpg with a light foot. Highest I have ever managed is 78mpg after a 35 mile run stuck at 40mph.

45mpg at 80mph with the air con on.

Service intervals are 18000 miles which is a big saving for me as a high mileage driver.

Comfortable and well specced. I have the Dynamique + climate pack which has climate control, electric sunroof, auto lights, auto wipers, heated mirrors, alloys, disk brakes all round, ABS, CD, trip computer, front fogs and metallic paint.

Doesn't handle a patch on my old Focus Zetec it's bit soft in the corners, but not bad.

Build quality is not as good as a focus, plastics feel cheaper and don't fit quite properly at the door pillars.

I got this as a preregistered car with 6 miles on the clock for £8850. Full price would have been nearly £13000. I wouldn't pay full price for this car. For that sort of money I would get a 115PS Focus TDCI. But for £8850 it is good money. I've never seen them that cheap again though.