2003 Renault Clio 1.1L gasoline, 2/3

Summary:

Good for driving in the city, cheap to service, but not that reliable

Faults:

Lot of things.

First, I had some minor issues with the car, like the driver's window stopped working. It couldn't be pushed up or down, so I took it to the service place and they found out that the metal window holder just broke. After I got that fixed up, I had some minor issues with the electronics, like the windshield wipers stopped working etc.

Until one time, the car suddenly just shut down in the middle of driving. It was winter and raining, probably the electronics got somehow messed up. Fortunately, I could start the car shortly after that and parked the car somewhere safely, but I wasn't confident to drive it.

A car electrician changed few parts from the car electronics (something connected with the alternator) and the car was fixed.

Next winter, the car couldn't be started one time, but fortunately only the battery was dead, so I bought a new one.

After couple of weeks the car stopped again in the middle of driving. It was again some problem with electronics, somewhere in between the battery and the lock a short circuit appeared and burned a lot of parts in between. I had to change the complete lock which was a bit expensive.

Later, the sensor lamps on the display were sometimes showing false alarms like the baby security lamp (which was disabled by the lock, but still showing like it's not available).

The signal lights suddenly stopped working for few kilometers and then they started working again. When I went to my electrician, they were working, then the next day they were behaving the same. After 20 days of spinning around like that, the signal lights started to work normally? I never figured out what the problem was.

The clutch was very hard to press, so after I went to the mechanic he told me that it should be changed permanently, which he did. He also said that something was wrong with the gear shift, so he repaired that as well. The left spring was changed as well.

Oil started to leak somewhere on the left side of the engine, but never found out where, because I sold the car in the meantime.

General Comments:

The consumption is small, because it is a small car, but it is also powerless when driving up a hill (especially when the air conditioning is on).

It is a good city car, because it is small and easy to park. It's good for 1-2 people, but not for more. The space in the back is very small, so it's good to drive with more people only for short distances.

The seats in the front are comfortable, and it's easy to drive.

The car is generally cheap to service, but a lot of things went wrong in the 3 years that I owned it, so the running costs were generally high.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd July, 2016