1994 Renault 19 RT review from UK and Ireland

Radiator leak when I bought it. Fixed (temporarily me thinks) with rad-weld.

Rust on the bonnet leading edge needed attention.

Wheel arch rust and sills needed a minimal amount of welding to pass last MOT.

The previous owner had to replace the alternator at 100,000 miles.

A pleasure to drive. Reliable, always starts first time. Even in the wettest weather.

The most comfortable seats of any car I've been in and that includes my brothers BMW. Very relaxed drive on the motorway and with plenty of boot space and leg room.

Niggles are that being the diesel version the clutch and accelerator are very heavy and need strong calf muscles to drive in stop start traffic. Also the cooling system does not like traffic jams in the summer and heats up quickly.

The best bits are excellent seats, power steering, electric everything! (Mirrors, sunroof, windows, central locking) and the solid and reliable drive. I've never had it let me down so far.

Brakes are excellent and stop the car in good time without locking under all, but the worst weather conditions and with a good set of tyres the road holding and handling is exceptional.

It drives on the nose and is very well balanced, the steering is so sweet. You have to drive very unreasonably to induce understeer and more so to induce oversteer.

It is very sluggish accelerating from a standstill, but has a power spot at about 30 MPH and 2700 RPM. If you put your foot down at this point you get a big kick in the back and can pretty much pass anything on the road including new hatchbacks.

With its Phase II styling, alloys and rear wing it's still a looker after 10 years.

I love driving it for it's practicality and for the buzz you get from the rock solid handling and performance when you put your foot down.