1999 Renault Clio RN review from UK and Ireland

Remote central locking stopped working after a week of purchase.

Hard to put into first and second gear sometimes.

Lately, boot refuses to open.

I purchased the Clio in February 2006 after passing my driving test and have found it to be an excellent little car.

The fact that the central locking has gone has been a nuisance however. At first I thought it was the battery that needed replacing, but I doubt it's something more serious. I haven't brought it in to my local dealer for fear that the price will be astronomical. I'm just putting up with it for now.

Over the past couple of weeks I have found that the boot only opens when it wants to. The fact that it can't be opened by the key is annoying to say the least. You have to press the central locking button inside the car to open it.

Despite these minor niggles I am thoroughly enjoying owning the Clio. It's nippy around town, cheap to run and I love the looks. It's also proved popular with my friends at school although I think they would be grateful for more legroom in the back-but what do you expect for a small car. The car does struggle when full and needs quite a lot of revs to get going (which is embarrassing in front of my friends).

Overtaking is quite good as long as you give it some welly. The 1.2 litre engine can struggle though.

It does sound like I am being quite negative, but this really is a great car. I recently put some alloys on the car which really makes it stand out from the rest and the interior still looks quite fresh despite the age of the car.

The Clio is the perfect first car and I'm glad I picked it over the corsa which looks dated and not as stylish.