Faults:

Too early for me to tell.

General Comments:

Muscley and fast, but best suited to motorway driving when it will cruise happily and smoothly at 90mph.

Dislikes rough surfaces and is prone to "a firm ride", thank god for the well padded seats!

Fascia looks dated and despite the onboard computer has a clock that looks like it came out a Lada!

Impresses the boy racers in their XR3is and easily leaves them standing!

Requires constant weekly checks of the oil and coolant levels to ensure a problem free ownership - guzzles oil... don't use the cheap stuff, only synthetic or semi-synthetic.

Faults:

Water pump failed (blew up!) on a motorway.

Some bulbs have needed replacing.

Umm...

Thats it!

General Comments:

Although the 1.4 is a little underpowered for the motorway miles I do I have found this car to be very reliable.

Servicing is getting a bit expensive now it's 100k miles plus.

The shape is gorgeous and IMHO better than the latest Megane!

Faults:

Eats front tyres when driven hard.

Diesel filter prep pump failed soon after purchase - £70 and half an hours work later it was fixed.

Off-side front bottom ball joint replaced for its MOT.

Not bad for 3 years ownership.

General Comments:

Excellent built, well equipped car - fell in love with it after my first test drive.

Very economical to run, with good performance.

Compared to my previously owned cars, this is the longest owned, and I hope to own it for a few years yet.

Faults:

Nothing major - just need to maintain the car, I was quite lucky as I knew an inside man in Renault.

It's a must to have regular oil changes and a cam belt change at 72k miles.

The bulbs for the dash have been replaced on several occasions, but they're not too pricey when you know the right people.

General Comments:

A very nice runner, and a good headturner when polished up.

Faults:

Shock absorbers, radiator, clutch.

General Comments:

Great car. That it is a convertible makes it a lot of fun, but also makes the car less stiff = more shaky. I would go for a 16V one in future, but still a lot of fun.

Faults:

The only problem I have had is the gearbox broke.

General Comments:

Great handling, I have lowered mine all round, and added 17" rims, with 40 profile rubber. It sticks to the road better than the white line.

Faults:

Radiator, heater matrix, ABS sensor, ABS computer, road spring, drivers door window motor (6 times), instrument panel twice, clutch cable, brake cable (£140 a time) and many many many more.

General Comments:

Too many problems to list, in all the total cost of all repairs (mechanical and paintwork) total approx £22,000 (yes thousand). Fortunately I have a superb warranty which I just keep extending.

In Renaults defence their paintwork warranty lasts for 8 years (it needs to).

Faults:

Nothing major at the moment although I have only had it for 2 months. Just had a major service at 72,000 miles. Cambelt is a must change. Mine had about 2-3 cm of play in it. Nothing else was found except slow starting some times so we replaced battery and thought it was cured but not yet 100%. Looks like the voltage regulator may be on the way out.

Oh and the fuel computer is suspect.

General Comments:

Given the few things that have gone wrong it's still an exciting car to own. I love it, but then I just love Renault's.

I would not use a main dealer if I can help it. Try to use a specialised dealer - some one that knows what they're "doing".

Faults:

The front disks had to be replaced. This was due to the dealer marking the pads in new condition, when in reality they were very low. Being 16 valve disks, this was £150 for the front pair.

Other than that it has been a very reliable performance vehicle.

General Comments:

The main benefit of this Renault, is while having the same engine as the 16 valve, the insurance is almost half the price. Performance is not far behind the 16V either, making this an excellent, hard to get your hands on, performance vehicle at a budget insurance premium!