Faults:

Generally electrics to rear - middle brake light, rear light clusters, boot light (arcing on the contacts, repeatedly).

Central locking to boot.

Also clock electrics failed.

Steering wheel stereo volume control.

Generally noisier than previous older Cavalier.

Position of stalk and other controls means you can't see them past the steering wheel.

General Comments:

Great value for 7 seater.

Great versatility for holidays, yet far cheaper to buy and run than M P Vs.

Faults:

Touch Wood - I haven't had any problems with the car. It was in excellent condition from the dealership.

General Comments:

Very good family car.

Spacious boot.

Fast and reliable road handler.

Good cockpit design.

Faults:

Back box needed replacement as it was dragging on the ground!

Annoying continuous squeak from some belt or other under the bonnet.

On a very rainy day, Wellington boots are required if sitting in the back seat on the windward side.

A bolt on the left hand side of the driver's seat was missing. I removed the bolt on the left hand side of the passenger's seat and brought it to a Renault dealer and ordered a new one. It was then that I found out that the inner and outer bolts are of different sizes (Doh!)

General Comments:

For a 1.8 engine, it's very sluggish.

Wouldn't beat Del Boy's van at the lights!

Cruises nicely.

Nice cabin controls - electric s/r and door mirrors, radio controls on steering column.

There is no obvious damage or wear on the rear door seals, but you could have an inch or two of water on the floor on a wet and windy day.

Faults:

One of the coolant hoses failed and all the water emptied out of the radiator within a couple of minutes. This was 1 week after the car was serviced (by a non-Renault dealer) It turned out that the hose was too near a sharp piece of metal and this eventually burst the hose. Renault hoses are not simple "pipes" and this hose assembly had 4 outlets and cost £45 + VAT!

Bonnet catches were worn and had to be replaced. They originally had plastic inserts that would wear out, but the new versions have been modified and are all metal. Bonnet catches are not cheap either and there are 2 (one on each side of the car). These can only be reached from underneath the car and only one is readily accessible. Luckily, the "easy" side failed and the garage repaired the car in around 4 hours.

Paintwork is easily scratched.

General Comments:

The non-turbo diesel engine is economical (but rather slow) and I regularly achieve 550 miles or more on a full tank.

The RN specification is the basic model, but the car still has an RDS stereo with remote volume control etc on the steering column.

The door mirrors provide excellent rear visibility, but they do protrude a fair distance from the side of the car. I've had a driver clipping my mirror when I have been parked in the street (so I sometimes fold them back when I'm leaving the car for any length of time).

The steering and clutch both have a nice weight and "feel" (not too light like some cars).

Even after 122,000 miles, the engine feels sound and there are no rattles in the cabin.

Only bug is the car seems to lose power after 1000 miles of gentle driving and blows soot out of the exhaust. This was only noticed when the "low sulphur" diesel was introduced. I now have to use a fuel additive at every fill-up to stop this happening or drive the car at 4,000 RPM for 10 seconds to clear out the soot.