Renault Twingo (2007 – 2012) Review

Renault Twingo (2007 – 2012) At A Glance

3/5

+Quite cute and very roomy for four. Not a bad drive. Brilliant sliding rear seats. Sharp steering only 1.6 turns lock to lock.

-Lacks the practical charm of the original and cute looks of the original.

Insurance Groups are between 9–21
On average it achieves 84% of the official MPG figure

The biggest enemy of the new Twingo is the Fiat 500. Twingo prices are a bit lower, starting at £7,500 for the base model, rising through £8,375 for the Dynamique, to £9,995 for the TCE 100 GT tested here.

So it's not bargain basic and cheap like the original Twingo that found lots of friends for its 1959 Mini simplicity, low price and Kermit-like cuteness.

Renault was so afraid the old Twingo would steal Clio sales (and profits) they never made it right-hand drive. And that low end of the market (£5k - £6k new) is now mopped up by basic version of the Fiat Panda, Ford Ka, Citroen C1, Peugeot 107, Toyota Aygo and Kia Picanto.

Starting at £7,500, there's obviously a bit of money to be made from the new Twingo, for Renault and its dealers alike, if they can find a market for the car.

Real MPG average for a Renault Twingo (2007 – 2012)

RealMPG

Real MPG was created following thousands of readers telling us that their cars could not match the official figures.

Real MPG gives real world data from drivers like you to show how much fuel a vehicle really uses.

Average performance

84%

Real MPG

28–55 mpg

MPGs submitted

42

Diesel or petrol? If you're unsure whether to go for a petrol or diesel (or even an electric model if it's available), then you need our Petrol or Diesel? calculator. It does the maths on petrols, diesels and electric cars to show which is best suited to you.

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Ask Honest John

Does the Renault Twingo use a timing chain or belt?

"Does my 2011 Renault Twingo 1.2 have a timing belt or a chain? And when should it be replaced?"
Cam belt. I'd suggest changing it every 60,000 miles of five years (whichever comes first).
Answered by Dan Powell

Do any small cars have sliding rear seats?

"My wife has a 2014 Hyundai I10, which we use for shopping and transporting our two grandsons in Isofix car seats. The boys are growing, now 6 and 3, and have started to complain of lack of legroom. We need to change, but don't really want anything a lot bigger. Would a car with sliding rear seats give us more rear leg room? We do not usually have much in the boot, when we have the boys?"
The previous model Renault Twingo could be obtained with sliding rear seat that gave a lot more legroom and almost no luggage room: https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/renault/renault-twingo-gt-2008-road-test/ You could also get them in the original Smart ForFour: https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/smart/smart-forfour-2004-road-test/? and the Mitsubishi Colt: https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/mitsubishi/mitsubishi-colt-5-door-2004-road-tes/? But it's not a feature I've seen in small cars since then.
Answered by Honest John

Faulty anti-splash valve on Renault Twingo

"I own a 2009 Renault Twingo with 26,000 miles on the clock. A few weeks ago it developed a problem with the refuelling system and discovered it had a problem with the anti-splash valve. I took it to a garage, which fitted a new tank, with 70 per cent contribution from Renault UK, but the fault persist. What should I do? "
In that case you don't have to pay anything. The fault was not fixed so they have to give you your money back until they have actually fixed it.
Answered by Honest John

Who do I believe?

"I bought my Renault Twingo second hand 2 years ago from Westover Renault in Salisbury just before its MoT was due. They did the MoT as part of the warranty but unfortunately someone in the service department typed in 444,000 miles instead of 44,000 miles. This year I wanted to sell the car with 50,136 miles on the clock and took it to the webuyanycar.com franchise in Romsey, Hampshire and was told that instead of a valuation of £2,565 the car is only worth £2,050, despite the fact that the paperwork in the service manual shows the correct mileage at that MoT was 44,000 miles. I went back to the Westover group who tell me that they are extremely surprised that Webuyanycar.com are taking, in their words ' such a senseless stance' and that while they apologise for 'any inconvenience this error may have caused' but that they are unable to assist any further. I explained that it is Westover Renault's error but that it has left me with a £485 shortfall in the value of the car but, despite the fact that they are a massive group who could easily buy the car from me for the appropriate value, they are just not interested. The delay caused by this means that I have had to extend the insurance on the car and to put it through another MOT - at a different garage. Who do I believe?"
Unfortunately there seems to be a rule that once a mileage is entered on the MoT database there is only a grace period of about a week after which it can never be altered. But, of course, you don't have to sell your car via webuyanycar anyway. You could use http://www.sure-sell.info and declare the mileage discrepancy.
Answered by Honest John
More Questions

What does a Renault Twingo (2007 – 2012) cost?