2003 Renault Clio Sport 172 from UK and Ireland - Comments

The interior rattles.

The passenger seat mounting rails have been replaced.

The seat-belt securing bolts have been replaced.

The oil guage had an intermittent fault. causing it to stop working.

Like my last 2002 model Clio, the engine uses lots and lots of oil, why?

I bought this car after I test drove one a few months ago. I had reliability problems with my last Clio, which was the same era (2001 model). I thought that I had just been unlucky.

Seriously disappointed in the car because of its desperately poor build quality. The interior rattles, it just sounds like a bunch of nuts and bolts. After all it is not a BMW, but it did cost £15,000.

The performance of the stereo system is poor in comparison with my last Clio, I must have a faulty unit. My television gives better audio performance and volume!

However, it looks great and drives really well, though not as fast as I thought it would be.

I would be very wary of Renault dealers, as they have no care in your car when the fix it, watch out for marks, scratches and dents!

Renault UK are not very helpful at all, this is a great tip if you are thinking of buying one.

The dealers are not helpfull either.

To resolve problems, takes an ice age and a lot of stress and effort. Most often you don't get the results anyway.

I have had two Renaults, and can quite safely say that I will not be buying another so long as I walk the Earth.

I have to agree with your sentiments too.

My Scenic is a great car, although no sports car, it also has had more than a few faults.

It drives well, doesn't drink fuel, and is one of the most comfortable cars I have driven, but build quality is shocking, it's a pity because Renault build cars with flair.

When i bought the Scenic we were contemplating trading our second car my crumbly mouldy old Vauxhall Cavalier, for a smaller car "a Clio" for better fuel economy, but now now there's little chance of that after our experiences with the Scenic.

My Cavalier is worn out now some 9 yrs old, but even at 120k it is still a DAM sight better built than our Renault.

The Scenic has had window trims fall off, interior light fittings are hanging out, washer motors have packed up, and the coils have been replaced twice, and it's still not running smoothly.

The paint work is in fact poster paint from the ELC which chips VERY easily.

Once bitten twice shy.

On my second 172 now, a Cup this time.

Overall very happy with both of them, but I must agree with the last comment about the paint. I have only had the car 3 weeks and covered approx 1000 miles, but I counted about 10 stone chips and couple of other marks on the bonnet last night.

The dealers response was "all Renault's are like that" and Renault UK said it was my fault!

If you were join all the chips on my bonnet it would make one very large "dot to dot".

I have not known anything like it - Renault's paint thickness must be very borderline, sod the touch-up-pen I might try a paint roller!!

Disagree with the comment on dealers, Gravells of Kidwelly have a very useful and enthusiastic team although they have been unable to solve all of the problems with my cup. As you suggest Renault UK have appalling customer service and offer nothing when there are problems however when the cup is right and running although its overall quality is a bit poor the drive is fantastic (if you want a quality bargain I've just bought a new Leon Cupra for 14K as a company car which is phenominally well built)

I own a Renault Clio Dynamique and the build quality of my car is also appalling. I have had my car for almost 11 months now and have had problems from the start.

At first it was just my engine stalling whilst waiting in traffic in neutral gear - so I kept taking it back the the Renault Approved dealer where I bought my car. After several humiliating visits (as they blamed it on the way I drove the car - apparently 'i just needed to get used to the car') they discovered the problem and rectified it - they said the car wasn't tuned properly.

The problem ceased for about a month and then started again - by this point I was fed up and just put up with it. Then it progressed to refusing to start again after I turned the engine off from any length of journey - I'd have to wait about a couple of hours before it would start again. so I booked the car in 3 weeks in advance (i needed a courtesy car and there was a 3 week wait) but not long after I booked the car in, it started to stall in gear!!! and then not start again!!! and it happened so frequently, I had to call for roadside assistance - who informed me that my car kept stalling because my crank sensors were faulty (i don't know what this means - but he did say it was a vital part needed for the car to function properly.

He also looked under my dashboard for wires which he could not find - there were none. After searching for a while he found them located under my ashtray!!! - very strange. also on looking under my dashboard - he exclaimed that he would not have purchased my car as all the metal were extremely rusted in the interior under my dashboard, and the only way it could be rusty is either that the parts were already rusted before the dashboard was put together, or if the parts had got wet before it was used.

I have not picked up my car from the Renault dealer yet, but i have questioned the rusting, and they say that there is nothing they can do about the rusting and that it is completely normal. Can anyone tell me if this is true? or should I be concerned about the rusting?

My Clio 172, which I had for one year and then sold it (because it was extremely badly built), had rusty brackets under the dash. I told the dealer, and they took to it with a wire brush and scratched the interior of the car.

They shrugged it off and said there was nothing they could do about it.

I sold the car after a long list of never ending problems, some of which made worse by AC Williams Renault of Grantham. Definately do not buy a Renault.

I bought a brand new clio sport 182 cup about three weeks ago, and although I am delighted with the drive and performance of the car, there have been some 'teething' problems. The throttle clicks when about an inch from the floor, the driver seat has a faulty handle meaning it will not fold forward and the 'go faster stripes' are bubbling.

Now I do not expect a car to be 100% perfect as new ones rarely are, but what I do expect is good customer service and prompt actions. I however, have had to wait 3 weeks for it to be booked in to the service centre. This made worse by the fact that my sales advisor did not inform them of all the problems I had, thus resulting in them not having the correct part in stock when my appointment eventually came round. I have now had to book ANOTHER appointment in another 3 weeks for this to be sorted.