Faults:

Had the car for 8 months, no faults as yet.

General Comments:

Starting with the good points. It has electric windows, remote central locking, steering wheel controls for the stereo, ABS, and four airbags all as standard equipment. The Clio also has a nice comfortable ride and handles well.

Now for the bad points, not that I have any real problems with this car.

First of all theres the engine, although quiet and economical, it is fairly slow, I think the 0-60 time is around 16 seconds.

Second, the relay that controls the intermittent wipers emits a loud clicking noise, this was also noticed by a friend who owns a 2002 Clio.

As you can see, the good points far outweigh the bad.

Summary: a great little car with a couple very minor bad points.

Faults:

At a few thousand miles the airbag light came on and the headlight washer leaked, both fixed under warranty.

Recently the washer bottle has decided to empty itself completely so I'm guessing a tube or somthing has popped off, any advice on how to fix would be appreciated!

General Comments:

The car is a blast, its to quick really for the size of car and encourages you to drive too fast!!!

Great value, bought mine new from trade sales, loads of toys etc.. and clmate control which is a big bonus.

Handles well, but not as good as my old Puma which is a shame.

Faults:

Dashboard rattles.

Sunroof rattles.

Replaced steering rack.

Windscreen washer failure.

General Comments:

Extremely fun car to drive hard and a compromise between performance and practicality.

Like the old Alfa Romeos; you have to put up with questionable build quality for the sake of the driving experience. However in this day and age this shouldn't be necessary - and not at the price in South Africa.

Very much a "Q" car which surprises a lot of other machinery. Wish it had more "road presence" so that BMW's and others would let it through on motorway fast lanes.

Very willing to please dealership in Sandton Johannesburg - but lacks the skills or experience on the Clio Sport 172 to be able to diagnose and fix faults the first time. Car has been in 6 times for rattles - patience is a requisite since getting angry and annoyed doesn't help.

At first service, oil was under filled - serious enough to warranty an additional 1.5 liters, owners should double check after a service on their own.

South African imports don't come with traction control or e.s.p. (despite the sales literature) which can be a hand full if you're reliant on electronics to get you out of trouble. Also wheel sizes are different - 15" rims here, but on Michelin Pilots rather than Continentals.

Generally, a great drivers car, but not a tribute to quality control in the Renault production system, or in the dealer network.

And, enthusiastic drivers should consider getting a radar / laser speed trap detector to keep "running costs" down.

Would I buy another one? Probably.

Faults:

Atrocious build quality - rattles from sunroof, glovebox, footwell trim and parcel shelf, frayed seat trim and baggy carpets by the time it was 9 months old.

Mayonnaise around filler cap caused by head gasket failure. Renault tried to get out of paying for it saying the engine was abused. Threat of court action was needed to get them to honour the warranty, which they did.

Strong smell of petrol which was denied three times by dealer. Eventually the fuel tank was found to be pressurising - a known fault apparently. Sorted under warranty, but if it's a known fault, why was the car constantly returned to me as OK?

Horrendous misfire caused by a coil failing. Car was towed in and fixed, but then happened again 2 weeks later. Again, a known issue, but instead of replacing all four coils last time as Renault recommend when this happens, the idiotic dealer had changed only one.

Passenger window wound up outside the door frame the first time it was used! Duff regulator replaced under warranty.

Boot leaked, allowing water into the tail light cluster which promptly shorted out. The fuse blew, but not before the circuit board and a few centimetres of wiring melted.

General Comments:

How Renault have the nerve to sell this piece of junk is beyond me.

Yes it performs amazingly and yes it handles well. But there is no excuse for such shoddy engineering and quality. Dealers are useless too which really doesn't help.

Got rid of it at nine months old and I'm now happy with a Civic Type-R. I will never touch another Renault with a barge pole.