Faults:

Spark plug (known issue, easy to replace).

And now the timing belt.

General Comments:

I drove it for 60.000 km and it never let me down once. Except for the time when the spark plug blew and it started to make a lot of noise and shake. Luckily I could still drive and my dealer knew the issue (it cost me 60 euro). While other dealers along the road told me prices up to 1500 euro when seeing the car!

Now the timing belt has a problem, which makes me doubt if I will still spend the money, because I would prefer a car that is more relaxed to drive on long distances, like my previous 2002 Volkswagen Passat (which unfortunately has a very poor automatic gear box, as do the Volkswagen Golfs of that period).

Otherwise, the car is very practical, easy to remove the seats, you can transport so many things. And many (also hidden) storage compartments!

Back support of the seats isn't good for me, even with the built in extra support.

Fuel: 9-10 liters LPG per 100km, on petrol +-7,5 liters.

Faults:

Plenty.

Rear shocks went soon after purchase.

It threw fan belts off.

It threw the harmonic balancer off, which threw the timing belt off, which damaged valves and required a full top end re-build.

Rear top window once opened cannot be closed.

Gear box is not far away from dying; clunks badly, and is now starting to slip through the gears.

Engine runs always at a hot temperature, and the gear box also suffers badly under high temperatures.

General Comments:

At first you will love this car. Stylish and spacious interior with plenty of handy gadgets and features. But it is badly let down with high running and maintenance costs, and an unreliable motor and gearbox that doesn't suit Australian conditions, particularly our summer months.

Faults:

Brakes have tendency to get stuck. Very common problem with this car apparently.

Driver side electrical window failed. Turned out to be a very common problem, so finding used parts was impossible and new replacement part is very expensive.

Trunk handle fell off. Turned out to be yet another standard problem with this car. The handle is held in place solely by a small o-ring. Just replace that and push the handle back in. If you've lost the handle, you probably won't be able to find a used part and will need to replace the entire lock.

ANOTHER very common problem with this car is that the TDC sensor gets dirty and makes the car difficult to start.

General Comments:

Very nice car, with good performance, well designed interior, lots of storage space - and some really annoying minor design flaws.

Handles decently despite too soft suspension.

Service is expensive and repairs generally difficult to do yourself. Finding used parts is difficult here in Sweden, especially as pretty much all owners will experience these same issues (handle, window, brakes, TDC sensor) and require the same spares.

Faults:

Transmission - gone. Very expensive to repair. Problem with the computer. Timing belt - gone.

General Comments:

Consistently unreliable. Australia is terrible for Renaults in my experience.

Car is comfortable to drive and spacious, an attractive appearing family car, although always with problems, needs repairing. These cars are very temporary.

Faults:

In one year, we have had problems with ignition spools on three cylinders, not covered by warranty and expensive to replace.

General Comments:

This is otherwise an all round useful family car.

Faults:

Black smoke pouring from exhaust resulting in a breakdown and £350 repair bill as the fuel injector had failed and all glow plugs had to be replaced.

The front brake disks are severely scored and need replacing at a cost of £200.

The cabin does not warm up for a long time in cold weather, (longer than any other car I have owned).

As I drive off, the doors lock themselves, (they have only been doing this for six months).

The battery stopped working after two years.

Have had two cracks in windscreen at quite low speed.

When idling the engine vibrates erratically and the rev counter dips. It only does this now and again and no garage or diagnostic check have found any fault.

On windy days the car feels very unstable.

General Comments:

Drives well for a diesel, quite nippy.

Good size family car with good interior features.

Been to France twice and the car performed very well, comfortable and efficient.

High driving position means it's easy to step in and out of, and there is good visibility when driving.