2001 Renault Kangoo RXE 1.9 diesel turbo

Summary:

Best car I've ever owned, cheap and cheerful

Faults:

Year 1: stuck turbo valve, dealer repaired under warranty. 15000 miles this year.

Year 2: No Faults, Tires replaced due to wear.

Put car in for service at Renault dealer and ended up driving for 3 miles before discovering there was no oil whatsoever in the engine, dealer forgot to fill it back up after service!!! 15000 this year.

Year 3: Front Driver speaker blown, CD Player/Radio has a lot of static build up for first 5 minutes of engine running in damp weather.

Front Offside, piston side brake disk wears down and creates a gouge in the brake rotor, replaced both front brake rotors and brake pads.

2 Front tires replaced due to wear.

Added a tow bar, very easy to fit.

15000 miles this year.

Year 4: Same brake pad as year 3 causes another gouge in rotor. Going to learn to replace myself to cut costs.

10000 miles this year so far.

General Comments:

Great car for a young family going places.

Quick off the mark when it counts.

Very easy to maintain.

Car is classed as a van so requires reinforced tires which are about £50 each.

Car is very economical on the fuel, at todays prices £38 fills the tank and I get around 450 miles to that.

Diesel engine is quite noisy, but not uncomfortably so.

The car itself is very cheap to buy new.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th January, 2005

9th Oct 2022, 14:14

Funny to hear about the oil being forgotten about. I have been in the motor industry for over 20 years (buying and selling), and this happens more often than you might think! Shocking I know, but low or not refilling with new oil I must have heard about countless times over the years.

Some mechanics just have empty heads. As recent as the other week I was picking up my own car for something that was needing done, they kept the car overnight and when they handed me the keys the following morning I found the car had been unlocked all night and left out in the busy street! Words of advice - make sure that oil light goes out when you pick up your car from the garage, and leave the car as empty as you can when dropping it off anywhere.

10th Oct 2022, 08:39

I would agree with this. I had my sat-nav stolen when I left my car at a garage many years ago, when they were still expensive items. I don't suspect the mechanics (I knew them well and a long time and trusted them) but I suspect they briefly left the car unlocked in the street and some passing by opportunist thief just opened the door and grabbed it and ran off. Lesson learned, I also clear/hide my vehicles of most personal belongings of any value even if I am just going in for a quick oil service.

2001 Renault Kangoo RXE 1.4

Summary:

Great car. I will never drive anything else

Faults:

Not a thing!

General Comments:

Great road handling.

The big boot is a godsend when you have kids.

The high driving position makes you feel very safe and gives a good overall view.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st May, 2004

2001 Renault Kangoo RN 1.9 diesel

Summary:

Excellent first year, however now totally unreliable

Faults:

The dealer accidentaly damaged the roof. Then the throttle cable broke 2002. More recently it has had fuel problems culminating in the following items being replaced. Head gasket, timing belt, alternator belt, sump gasket, heater plugs, injectors, exhaust valve and a full modification on the diesel pump. Finally the car still would not work correctly so after seven weeks of it being off the road Renault kindly replaced the engine. Now within two weeks it is back of the road with an intermittent Warning light for monitoring exhaust gas. This results in loss of power with the car, however the diagnostic machines cannot trace the fault so at the moment it is being road tested.

General Comments:

The car has been until recently a fantastic form of transport. It is great for taking the kids on holiday and you have ample space for all the things you like to bring back from abroad.

However the amount of things suddenly going wrong with it have totally put me off from driving it in the future. Unfortunately when repaired I will replace it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 3rd December, 2003