I see that many people have found this blog after searching for information about the Renault Clio. I have now had my Clio for 20 months, so what do I think of it?
I have to be honest, it wasn’t my first choice. Having had several Vauxhall Corsas when I was with BSM I knew that I didn’t want another Corsa. My last BSM car was a Fiat 500, which I personally loved, but it wasn’t too popular with my customers.
Leaving BSM meant that I could choose whatever car I wanted. I read loads of reviews, had some test drives, and plumped for the new Ford Fiesta. But a misunderstanding over the end of my BSM contract meant that I had to cancel the Fiesta I had ordered. Then I ……… oh, it’s a long, boring story, but I ended up choosing my Renault Clio.
Fantastic. I loved it, but more importantly, my customers loved it. It wasn’t as much fun to drive as the Fiat 500, but it is a very easy car to learn to drive in. The clutch is very forgiving, the engine is very flexible, it has good all-round visibility, the brakes are excellent (almost too good) and it has a pleasing, uncluttered driving environment.
But what don’t I like about it? Tough question, my answer is “not a lot”. The seats aren’t the best - you feel a little like you’re sitting on them, rather than ‘in’ them. I don’t feel comfortable with having a ‘tyre inflator’ instead of a spare wheel. The steering isn’t quite as sharp as I would like it to be. Renault extended the wheelbase on the current model and (especially after the Fiat 500, which was as responsive as a Go-Kart) the steering felt a little unresponsive. The only other thing I can fault is reverse gear; there is no button, trigger, push , pull, or other mechanism to prevent accidental selection - it simply won’t let you go from a forward gear straight into reverse. This is fine most of the time, but every now and then it gets stuck and you have to go through the faff of putting it back in neutral, clutch up, clutch down, then it will go into reverse. These extra couple of seconds can add extra pressure in the middle of a parallel park or turn in the road.
But these are very small niggles. The Clio is an excellent tuition car. When a bus rear-ended me last year, the insurance company provided me with a Peugeot 207. Although I liked how it looked, my pupils... (passage removed because it caused offence) ...and we were all pleased when, a few weeks later, we got the Clio back.
But, as Echo & The Bunnymen once sang, nothing lasts forever. My relationship with my Clio seemed to lack the spark it once had.
After 20 months, 76,000 miles and over 100 pupils, we had been through a lot together. But where I once used to lovingly polish her body, these days I am more likely to call her names when my pupil struggles to get it in reverse gear. Perhaps it was time to move on. She was to be binned, dumped, given the elbow, ditched, tossed aside, drop-kicked and given the big heave-ho.
And so, last Tuesday, I took her for one last spin. I drove down to Glasgow. She was as lively as ever; steady and assured on the winding roads, but responsive when I wanted her to overtake. Each time I saw another Clio heading towards me I would look at the styling, look at the smile on the driver's face and wonder whether I was doing the right thing. Perhaps the Clio and I were made for each other.
We reached Glasgow, where I was to say goodbye to her. It felt less like a relationship break-up, but more like taking a favourite dog to the vets and leaving her there.
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