Faults:

Renault dealership is expensive.

Every time I drive it, vibrations can be heard, especially coming from the front doors.

The seats tend to wear out pretty quick.

I have to pull the hand brake at maximum for it to hold, despite that I had it checked recently.

Cheap plastic interior.

Big steering wheel (as compared to other similar sized cars).

When you start the car in the morning (or after a long while), the revs are higher and take a long time to come down.

On top of that, the immobiliser is absolutely erratic. On some days it will work, on others it will not; for no apparent reason.

General Comments:

Flimsy back bumpers.

Very cheap to run.

Up to now, it has proved very reliable after I have serviced it.

Hold very well on the road; even at high speeds (100 mph).

Faults:

Had problems with the air conditioning, but fixed under warranty in no time.

Paint has faded in some areas, not good for such a new car. Comes back to life with a good polish.

The original Renault spoiler started falling to bits and Renault refused to accept it was their fault.

General Comments:

This car is quick enough for everyday driving and handles really well.

Gets a bit tiring on the motorway due to excessive noise.

I bang my head on the roof every time we go over a bump, whether I am in the drivers seat or the passengers (I am 6ft, not a giant!)

But it looks gorgeous and is a good fun drive.

Faults:

I owned this car for three years, and despite it being an all round good car, I did note the following problems:

1. The air-conditioning stopped working. This was inspected by the dealer (under warranty) and I was told it needed re-gassing (not included in warranty - surprise!). This cost £70.

Three months later (now out of warranty) it stopped again. This time it was a £50 inspection fee to be told the heater unit had broken, cost to replace £1,000 - on a car worth £3k?

Needless to say, this did not get fixed, and despite many phone calls to Renault and the dealer the best offer they could do was a £30 discount on the work (therefore a bargain £970 fix), or to ignore the problem for valuation purposes should I chose to part-exchange the vehicle for a new Renault (neither of which are much use to a person without spare money in the summer!)

2. The center brake light fell off the back window - it is held on with two sticky pads. After 14 visits to the dealer for it to be fixed, (which resulted in various 'fixes' from more glue to a whole new back brake light unit), I gave up and it now resides in the garage on a shelf! Fortunately it is not an MOT failure to remove the light (but it is to have a light there that doesn't work). This was not a serious problem, more an annoyance that every time you opened the boot the light fell off the back window and swung toward your face!

3. The button to lower the back seats has been jammed in for some weeks. I have no idea why or how, but the only way to lower the seat now is to open the catch in the boot using a screwdriver - not as convenient as the button! Renault dealers quoted £850 for a new back seat as the only cure to the problem - and they could not guarantee it would be in the same fabric as the other seats when it arrived - not appealing really.

4. The service light never comes on regardless of how many miles you do over the 18k service interval - however in hindsight this could be regarded by some as a good thing!

General Comments:

Nice car to drive.

Performance from the 1.6 is plentiful if there are one or two passengers, however it does suffer if more fully loaded with people / luggage.

Fuel economy good, even at 90 mph on the motorway I was averaging 39mpg.

Attractive car in the dark metallic blue I had, I certainly think it still looks better than the new Megane with the funny back end.

Never had any reliability problems, started first turn of the key every day, and would happily do 8 - 10 hour drives without feeling tired (as the Clio I had before used to).

Generally a good car, shame about the steep depreciation though!