My car

This is my current car:
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Not very exciting, I know, but it’s got four wheels and an engine (plus a boatload of electrical gizmos to break) It’s only a 1.8 16v, surprinsingly non-economical (with me driving, anyway) with un-necessarily large wheels (which makes the tyres expensive) but I think it looks pretty ‘cool’ for a family estate (not that I have a family, just loads of stuff to cart around.)

Of course, I’d love a diesel but I suspect the cost of replacing turbos on a Renault 1.9 dCi would probably outweigh any economy advantage, plus I don’t think a Renault gearbox would stand up to the kind of tuning I’d feel obliged to do if I had a modern turbodiesel engine (at least a big turbo and a corresponding remap.) The ridiculous key-card is a talking point (especially when I have to break out the emergency key and enter via the passenger door (the only one with a lock barrel - it’s the driver’s door in France and they were genuinely that lazy) and on the subject of talking, it likes telling me my tyres are flat. Or that a wheel doesn’t exist. Very bossy :smiley: Also, the electrics are very reliable - so much so that owning the dealer-only ‘CLIP’ diagnostic/programming tool is pretty much obligatory when you drive an early 2000s Renault.

My previous 2 cars:
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(Why yes, that is gearbox oil all over the ground - it all came from the car on the right, which we managed to pull the driveshaft out of the gearbox on whilst trying to change a wishbone.)

And finally the one before that:
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As you can see, I’ve done my best to add some variety to my vehicle ownership by buying a Renault Laguna, followed by a Renault Laguna, then a Renault Laguna (just to shake things up a bit) and finally, a Renault Laguna. I wonder what my next car will be? :smiley: Yep, it’s a bit sadistic, but I think Mondeos ride rather uncomfortably, Vectras are dull as dishwater and drive like a boat, and I haven’t thus-far really been able to afford a German or Japanese equivalent.

My dear old mum has owned the same Clio from new since 1995. No rust, never failed an MOT, comfy armchair like seats and starts every time. You cant really knock it.

Oh just turned 11k miles :laughing:

Well, at least it has one thing going for it, aside from the comfy seats and nice ride:

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I know a lot of cars have a similar crash test rating these days, but in 2001 it was shiny and new - and even so, I wonder how many other 5-star rated cars you could drive into a non-deformable pole at 55MPH and still be able to open the front doors.