2002 Renault Avantime Privilege review from UK and Ireland

The sunroof jammed in the open position and required four days at the dealer to be fixed.

The large centre drawer/bin broke and thus remained permanently open.

The lid of the ashtray refuses to close.

The lid of the centre armrest storage bin came of in my hand. The ratchet adjustment of it's fore and aft adjustment is loose causing it to rattle to it's foremost position under anything, but light braking.

Firstly the automatic skid control then the anti-lock brake system failed causing the brakes to lock and render the vehicle un-driveable. Three weeks after giving the vehicle the all clear the same fault reoccurred.

Rear parking sensor fell out.

Passenger seat mechanism erratic and prone to jamming.

I love this car. To me, and those like me who bought one, it is Renault's finest expression of car making made all the more special by it's now rare status.

Unfortunately it would seem Renault enlisted the help of some blind, drunk, work-shy, incompetents to construct this car.

It is impossible to describe the sense of occasion you feel arriving anywhere in this car. Every head turns and tries to absorb it and I feel I have converted all who had reservations about the styling into true lovers of it.

The ride is actually a little firm and you would expect a taut-handling car to be the result which unfortunately isn't the case. the 3 litre V6 however has power in abundance and it is a wise option to make use of the speed restricter on open roads lest your license go up in a plume of points.

The interior is huge, supremely equip intuitive to use. Couple this to the full expanse of glass roof and pillar-less doors and you feel like you're driving your docklands penthouse appartment down the high street.

The hatch will swallow pretty much anything you throw at it and the split fold rear seats will deal with anything else.

It would seem that, with regards reliability, owner experiences are very much hit or miss. Unfortunately for me, at the moment mine is very much a miss. But I hope these faults can be rectified and the true care revealed to be as special as I know it can be.

You cannot make a decision about an Avantime from photographs or reviews. You simply must get behind the wheel and drive one for at least an hour, get out, look at it, think about it and then decide if it will still make you feel the same tomorrow. For all it's faults, mine still does.