Very little has actually gone wrong with the car, which is rather a relief.
1. Car stalling/cutting out whilst driving, followed by a refusal to re-start for about 3 minutes. 'Solved' by getting Renault to re-programme the injection system.
2. Rough idling.
3. Rattle on sunroof. Apparently fixed by modification to handle, but the rattle came back.
4. Poorly fitting glove-box.
The Renault Clio is an extremely well specified and comfortable car, available on some very attractive deals which make obtaining an attractive car relatively cheap.
On the Dynamique spec, the sports seats, leather steering wheel, and leather gearknob give the car a luxury feel and even journeys of 300 miles can be completed in relative comfort.
The 1.2 16v engine is fairly quick and has enough power in reserve to get out of trouble on the motorway. It is however, a little noisy at 70mph or when cold and this can get tiresome.
Although our problems have been few, and all have been fixed under warranty, there are some issues. Build quality is not what it should be - the boot doesn't always shut easily and much of the plastic feels like it has come from biscuit packaging. The rattles are irritating and shouldn't happen on such a young car - sunroofs are a particular problem on Renault cars.
Problems with cutting out and rough idling are common on Clios and do spoil the car somewhat. Although they are fixable, it does damage your confidence when the car cuts out in a flow of traffic - something which makes all that safety equipment seem pointless.
Although service intervals are long, you don't actually save any money because Clio services are expensive when you reach them. Average price for the 3-year/36,000 mile service is a whopping £325, whilst the camblet service at 72,000 miles would cost an average of £900 at a dealership.
If you are interested in buying one, don't discount it, but (particularly if used) make sure that you give it a thorough test drive in a variety of roads and conditions. Also make sure that you get a decent warranty - you may need it.
900 quid to change a cambelt???!!! Is this true?
My son purchase a Clio, on an 02 plate November 2005 he had less than a month when the engine management light came on and the car started to miss fire after diagnostics by a main dealer it was found to be the DIS coil pack & plugs at a replacement cost of £175+ VAT due to the age of the car this was not covered by the manufacturer's or the dealers warranty's.
I am at the end of my tether. About 6 weeks ago my Clio Extreme 52plate developed a leak from the sun roof. It presents itself as a drip coming through the roof just above the sun visor. Of course the car is out of warranty. The sunroof never leaked since we first had it in 03. I have had a mobile chap out who does windscreens etc. He has been out 3 times now and took the glass out cleaned it checked the seal etc. On the last occasion he ran some sealant around the sun roof as I stated that I had no intention of using it.
Every day I am having to dry my front seats with a hair dryer as best I can. At night I have a bin bag on each seat and put a plastic cover over the top of the car. problem there is the plastic needs tucking into the car doors and this brings in some water penetration.
Has anyone any suggestions?
Search for New and Used Renault Clios available in the UK
Click here to advertise your car
Read Clio RL Biarritz 1998.
1.2i petrol.
UK and Ireland
167 words
Stylish, yet affordable Super-mini.
126 comments.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site