2003 Renault Clio DCI (100) from UK and Ireland - Comments

Split Sunroof seal, creating extra wind noise, but not leaking water as far as I know. Being fixed under warranty.

Very fast. It is described as a warm hatch. Slightly sporty. Good pick up in most gears. After driving the 1.2 16V today I laughed out loud at how slow it is compared to my DCI (100). You do need to rev it more than I would like, but it is my first small diesel. It is comparable to the 1.6 16v in performance, but easily does 60mpg and I can manage nearly 65mpg with a light foot. Highest I have ever managed is 78mpg after a 35 mile run stuck at 40mph.

45mpg at 80mph with the air con on.

Service intervals are 18000 miles which is a big saving for me as a high mileage driver.

Comfortable and well specced. I have the Dynamique + climate pack which has climate control, electric sunroof, auto lights, auto wipers, heated mirrors, alloys, disk brakes all round, ABS, CD, trip computer, front fogs and metallic paint.

Doesn't handle a patch on my old Focus Zetec it's bit soft in the corners, but not bad.

Build quality is not as good as a focus, plastics feel cheaper and don't fit quite properly at the door pillars.

I got this as a preregistered car with 6 miles on the clock for £8850. Full price would have been nearly £13000. I wouldn't pay full price for this car. For that sort of money I would get a 115PS Focus TDCI. But for £8850 it is good money. I've never seen them that cheap again though.

I've tried to 1.5 DCI (100) and it's as quick as the 1.4L 16v 95 bhp one.

I've had the car nearly a year now. Just been through the 18000 mile service. Got it done at an independent garage for £70 Vs £140 for Renault. It's a small service oil and filter only really so Renault is cashing in.

I'm not going to keep the car too long. I can't complain about reliability or economy both still good. But I'm finding it just a bit too small for me.

The metal the car is made from seems to be very thin and soft I'm finding the car marks and dents very easily. Being black it makes them stand out.

Auto lights are good, but a bit of a gadget really same for the auto wipers they have a tendency to go off when you don't want them to. I run the wipers in manual now.

Nice little car for someone, but I'd rather have my old Focus back.

Update: 33,000 miles second service in a month.

No further problems. CD can make a funny noise when starting up with a disk in, but that just be the disk.

Still on the first set of front tyres which is really impressive, I'm no slouch round the corners and diesels normally chomp tyres.

Still getting 60-65mpg normally, 50mpg if you thrash it.

Shouldn't need to top up oil before the 36,000 service. The 1.5dci engine is very impressive.

Still find the inside of the car a bit small and a bit cheap. I will be looking to change after 2 years (04/06) but I will find it hard to justify the change.

Anyone looking for a good main dealer, try Mackie Motors in Brechin (25 miles north of Dundee). Nice people. I don't get my car serviced there because of main dealer prices, but they've been very good with warranty work (which has all been minor). They even wash the car which I haven't seen from any other dealer bar BMW.

Service carried out by independent dealer at 37000 miles.

£300!! Clio brakes are a bit delicate apparently. The front disks have only lasted through a single set of pads. Rear disks are half way down and pads need changed soon too. Rear disks are very expensive.

I dread to think what I would have been at a franchised dealer.

Apart from that the car is running well no problems. Returns 62-65mpg doing about 60-70 on single carriageway A roads. Tyres lasting well and should see 40000 from the front set of Michelin's.

Paint still marks easily, but what can you do? Looks dated now with the new Clio out, but depreciation seems to have slowed a little none the less. Seats etc all holding up well against daily use. Electrics etc all good so far (touch wood). Warranty is out in December which will be time to change top something else. Volvo S60 D5 (185bhp) looks promising :)

Should have touched a better bit of wood. Radio now on the blink with very poor FM reception, constant retuning, tuning to white noise. Radio is most likely out of warranty so it'll be into Halfords for a new one.

New tyres due this month. That will have given 42000 from the front set of Michelin Energy Tyres.

Rear brake pads were changed for about £55. Brakes are now out of warranty so I don't have to pay the very expensive Renault parts prices. Mechanic didn't rate the Renault brake parts as being of very high quality either.

Occasional rattle from behind the dash making itself heard.

The engine and gearbox is still very smooth. The car could do with about another 30bhp to make up for the lack of torque Vs the 1.9l diesels out there.

Road tax is now down to £50 for the year. The car is too cheap to run to get rid of. Hope it holds together for the next 2 years until I can pay it off.

Fantastic review, I am going to purchase one of these very soon.

I was just wondering though, does the 100bhp version have a 6-speed gearbox?

French build quality is showing its colours now.

Car is on 45000 miles. Radio is seriously dodgy now.

Fails to pick up stations, poor reception when it does, has problems with CDs. Replacements on Ebay are going for good money so I think it's a common problem.

Rear caliper handbrake adjustment has failed on one wheel and it needs replaced (not cheap). Brakes are out of warranty after 1 year. Garage is having a lot of problems sourcing parts. Lucas who make the brakes for Renault have trouble remembering if they ever really did do them.

This worries me as if the brakes fail properly I'll be without a car and possibly with a long wait to get parts. I need to drive to work so this is no use.

Driver side window has failed again with a small plastic guide snapping making the window fall forward. Second time this has happened. Renault are not sure if this is still covered. They won't supply the 10p part on it's own and will only supply the whole window lift assembly at several hundred pounds.

Dash also rattles annoyingly now.

Sunroof squeaks.

Residuals are proving poor. The car is only just matching it's settlement figure and I didn't pay full price.

Even more bleeding dents have appeared. Clios need to be parked well away from other cars to avoid this.

I'm not going to keep the car. These small issues of reliability are happening too often and they are all expensive to fix even if they are not serious. Warranty is up in Dec, but it's getting punted before that.

Positives, engine and gearbox are still good. Still returning 63mpg with a light foot, 55 with a heavy one.

Going to look at a 2.5V6 diesel Skoda this weekend.

Regarding Gearboxes.

I don't know about the new Clio, but the model I have is 5 speed only.

The 100bhp version has the new Megane gearbox which is a big improvement over the other diesel Clios which I've driven as courtesy cars.

Hi ya I have the 1.2 16v Dynamique and the problems are starting to show after just 27000 miles (2003 car) I love it to bits, but Renault dealers are unhelpful I have just had the oxygen sensor changed due to misfire and power loss it's a £300 job and common, but Renault will not issue a recall. they lent me a new shape one while mine was in and it handles fantastically, but not sure i would have another one.

Any way I have a word of warning to all Renault drivers: The suggest cambelt change is 40,000 miles for the DCI and 70,000 for small petrol's (1.2,1.4,1.6). DON'T LEAVE IT TOO LONG AS CAMBELT FAILURE IS COMMON I have been told. One of my dads friends bought a new Kangoo Dci 70 and it had covered 3 years of careful motoring with light use only (he's a decorator) the CAM BELT belt failed at less than the recommended 40k and Renault couldn't fix it the engine had been re-put together, but the engine failed to start and the van was basically scraped.

We'll I'm in my last month or 2 of owner ship with the Clio. The clutch pedal has started to fall apart, some new rattles around the dash, but the radio has at least got no worse if no better.

It's at 56000 miles and will pass 57k before I pass it on. I've not bothered with the 54000 mile service which is no more than an oil change with pollen filters. I had the oil changed mid distance (9000 miles) when it was in for something else and being out of warranty I wasn't in a hurry to do it again.

I shall be changing for a new Octavia VRS 2.0T. Build quality on the Skoda was a different league to Renault.

Trade in of £4700 was good so the little Clio has held it's value reasonably well (mostly due to the heavy discounting up front).

Can't complain about the running costs, 55mpg over my ownership, £35 for a years road tax now (group B) low insurance.

Mackie Motors Renault have always been very reasonable too.

It's a cracking engine in the little car with some guilt free full throttle motoring. Drive train has performed flawlessly.

I won't miss it though.

I have a renault clio 1.5 dci, recelty using a tremendous amount of oil just hit 60,000 miles on it filled up with 5ltrs of oil 3weeks ago and was running dry again any ideas?

Get it looked at quick. Your Turbo is about to go bang. Heavy oil consumption is a symptom of a faulty turbo. A common and very expensive problem with the 1.5 diesels. They are fixing some of them under the Yellow OTS scheme. If it goes the engine will burn the sump oil uncontrollably until it seizes. That'll be new engine time. Parkers have a forum dedicated to Clio problems you might want to pop in there.