2003 Renault Clio Expression review from UK and Ireland

Car had wrong interior trim strip on dashboard upon collection (silver when the rest of the car was blue!)

Wipers did not seem to pause on intermittent setting - dealer said a part would have to be ordered.

Car had bad squeek and rattling in front passenger seat.

After 3 weeks, 435 miles, the car broke down - bad sulphur smell, juddering engine and a flashing warning light - AA had to tow car back to dealers - a coil had gone.

I collected the vehicle from Wilsons Automobiles and Coachworks of Epsom on 17 May 2003. On collection I immediately noticed it had the incorrect colour trim strip on the dash.

Also, the interior of the car had not been well cleaned, and the intermittent wipe did not seem to pause between wipes.

Wilsons said they would order a replacement strip that week. 2 weeks later I had not heard from them so got in touch, to be told they had the strip, but I would have to have it fitted on a weekday and they were not prepared to offer me a courtesy vehicle whilst I was without the car. I eventually got them to have it in on Saturday, but the service said that to replace the strip would involve a complete removal of the dashboard and could not be done that day. Also, the wiper problem required a replacement part that would have to be ordered. I later discovered they did not even have the replacement strip in stock at that stage, making the trip in on the Saturday a complete waste of time.

On that Sunday the car broke down - we had a strong sulphur smell followed by a lot of engine juddering and an engine warning light started flashing indicating that the de-toxifying system was not working. I called out the AA who could get not diagnostic codes from the car, but suspected a coil had gone and he towed me back to Wilsons. As the service dept. is closed on Sundays we were 'greeted' by a member of the Sales team who told us to take the car back outside and leave it on the street. I said I was not happy to leave my 3 week old car in an Industrial Estate, but his response was "Well It Ain't Staying There" - as you can see things were getting no better.

The AA provided a rental car for 24hours, but Wilsons continue to refuse to cover this for any longer or offer a courtesy vehicle - legally they are not obliged to.

I spoke with Trading Standards on that Monday 9th June who advised me to reject the vehicle due to the break down after 3 weeks (435 miles) and the fact that it had the wrong trim on collection (ie the interior trim of the vehicle did not match my order).

I did this that same day by fax, and Wilsons refuse to accept my rejection. I followed up with a fax and a letter from a solicitor.

I have had several mail and telephone exchanges with the customer relations manager of Renault UK who is, it has to be said, fairly sympathetic with my position, but unfortunately he points out that my contract is Wilsons, so there is little Renault UK can do for me.

The biggest problem is that the reason we bought the car is we needed a 5 door as we have a baby on the way. My wife is due in less than 5 weeks - so I don't like the fact that she does not have a reliable car to drive around and no car for when the baby arrives. We need to move quickly on this.