1988 Renault 5 GTS 1.4 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A pretty good little car

Faults:

The accelerator was sticking.

Choke knob was stiff and I pulled it too hard and snapped it off.

There is sometimes a faint smell of petrol inside the cabin, possibly from the carburettor when the choke is left on for a while.

Nothing really apart from that, except that the bright red paint has started to fade slightly.

General Comments:

Nippy little car, even though it isn't a turbo version.

Good as city car and on the open road.

Hard to find certain parts for it in this part of the world as they aren't very common.

Nice sharp handling, even without power steering.

Nice to drive, only the clutch seemed a little heavy, but I am used to it now.

No rust, pretty amazing for a 14 year old car.

Kind of rattly inside, mainly the the dashboard

The body panels are rather tinny, even with side intrusion beams.

Practical 5 door, with a large boot compared to similar sized cars.

A bit nicer than the common Japanese cars.

In my opinion, nicer than a Peugeot 205.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th January, 2002

22nd May 2006, 06:25

I have had my R5 GTS 1988 for 6 months, I have had to replace whole clutch system, cooling fan, engine mounts, it also smells of petrol inside, the window winders don't work, in car heating doesn't work, radiator leaks and overheats a lot. Apart from that it is a really fun car.

21st Aug 2007, 07:49

---original author here----

I sold the car in early 2003. Prior to that I did have a lot of fun with the rear brakes. Fluid leaking from the cylinders caused the brake surface to separate from the shoe and cause binding. Replaced all cylinders and shoes, but the self-adjust mechanism played up. This led to brakes overheating and bad unbalance problems (annoying at safety check time!) Had to realign boot catch on a few occasions too, as it would not shut (mysteriously).

Never had any problems with the cooling system as such, but did have a small leak somewhere I suspect though. The twin barrel weber carburettors on the GTS are odd thing; easily flooded, probably something to do with the petrol smell too.

Never had a clutch cable break on me either, luckily!

Undeniably ace little cars though; I'm always on the lookout for my old red 1988 R5 GTS with its cool poly/plastic trim and bumpers. ha ha.

1988 Renault 5 GLX 1.7 from Netherlands

Summary:

A fun car to burn rubber in

Faults:

The exhaust had a leak, but it was fixed for free.

When I was rally crossing through the woods I lost control (the car had no power steering) and flew into the woods over a few very deep holes and ended up against a tree. My suspension broke because of the holes. My bumper had just a little cut.

But it was the death of my Renault, because the suspension would cost 700 dollars to fix.

General Comments:

My mother bought me the car when I turned 19 for about 575 dollars.

The car was performing, despite its age, very well. When I took a sprint with a friend of mine, who had a Alfa 33 1.7 16v from 1994, it simply looked like the Alfa stood still.

The car felt like you were driving a go-kart, and when I was driving in the woods on gravel it really gave me the feeling that I was driving in a rally.

You can make it drift in the corners very easily and make some really cool "Tommi Makkinen" moves.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd August, 2001

1988 Renault 5 Campus 1.1 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

The best small cheap economic car as long as it has been looked after - service history a must

Faults:

Carb failed weeks after buying the car.

Track control arm worked itself loose (just needed tightening).

Clutch pedal was very sharp and needed replacing.

General Comments:

The car was bought and within days I was spending money on a new carb, but apart from that it is a very cheap car to insure and drive with 100 miles to £10 unleaded petrol (at 77.9p per litre). The car runs and handles well and I am generally happy with it and it is a car that I would recommend.

My friend has just bought one and the gears feel very floppy with rusty sills. This has made me realise that mine is particularly good. As I have a good one the body work is very tidy and I wouldn't sell it for double what I paid because of ther money it is saving me on petrol.

A common problem seems to be the car having the wrong clutch pedal as there are 5 different types - a new one is easy to fit and costs about £15.

As I said, I wouldn't swap it for any other car even though the doors clang, the driving position is great and the driving quality is wonderful.

If you have a rattly one with tappet noise, you can get it SILENCED for about £10 at any good garage.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd March, 2001