1988 Renault 5 GTS 1.4 petrol
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
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.
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.