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• General poor driving nowadays in Blighty 1 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  I've not long returned from a long weekend in France (and very enjoyable it was too) and the thing that struck me quite noticeably was the vast difference in driving standards between the two countries 'er indoors was quite vocal on the subject too and she's one of those people that very much prefers to sit in the passenger seat and let me get on with it (fortunately) some examples are: when you're catching someone up on the m/way, who they themselves will need an overtake shortly i.e. they also are catching someone up (2 lanes for them, 3 for us which ought to be to our advantage, but due to the CLOG isn't) the accepted practice over there is for the vehicle in the middle of the equation to throttle off a bit and wait for you to pass, then pull out and do their manouevre...yet over here it is pull out early and make you wait absolutely everyone pulls back into the nearside lane after an overtake, whereas over here they dawdle along in the o/s lane mirror usage in France is more than acceptable, over here it seems to be optional when I got back to good old Blighty, pulled out of Dover and went up the hill on the A2, for the whole length of the up hill dual carriageway, some woman in a blue Escort did the whole length of it at 55mph in the o/s lane, thus preventing a queue of us 'popping off' the lorries before the single lane bit at the top, she could have quite easily moved back to the nearside but couldn't be bothered...doesn't happen in France on several bits of dual carriageway and m/way up the M2 there were a number of people unnecessarily staying in the o/s lane (i.e. nothing directly in front of them), to the extent that some motorists started under taking, which although i'm not a fan of I had a degree of sympathy with the final straw was the coach that did a sudden 'signal, manouevre, mirror' despite not being that close to the vehicle it wanted to overtake (thus not giving me much of a chance to realise it was a possibility) and when he realised i was having to brake quite well, swerved back into the nearside lane, then gave me a load of main beam once i'd gone past...marvellous, try checking your mirrors first pal, i wasn't going that fast, had headlights on in the dusk and was fully loaded with my kid in the car, so not willing to push it that much there were others too, like the fool in the green Audi A4 estate that felt it was reasonable to do 4 lanes of the M25 in a high speed swerve from the slip road to the o/s lane in one mad blast ..heaven alone knows what would have happened to a filtering m/c, as the lanes were fairly congested (approaching the toll bit)... and the blue Renault Clio with the young chav that accelerated as hard as he could away from the toll (saw it in my nearside mirror) and thought he could do the double white line lane markings and barge in front of me, but misinterpreted the situation, because by then i'd become Mr Grumpy and closed the gap..which had him accelerating right up to my bumper, revving like hell, then dropping back all the way through the tunnel (the temptation to dab the brakes at a critical moment was severe, but I managed to resist it).
• Protection from rear impacts 13 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  d be interested to see the comparative rear-impact performance of say Fabia and Focus hatches against their saloon and estate versions. I see Fifth Gear are to (frontal) crash a Renault Modus into an old Volvo (240-ish) on tonight?s programme. I?m betting that the Modus will be deemed to ?have done well, and have minimal deformation of the passenger compartment?, ?but what G-forces would its passengers have been subjected to?
• Best van for up to £4000 please 7 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  OK - was driving twoards Liskeard this afternoon when the Renault Trafic came to a sudden stop - and I mean sudden! The front wheels locked for no apparent reason (tyre marks on the road bear testament to this) and the van screached to a halt - from around 40 mph.
• Transporter, Vivaro, Transit - Small Motor Vans: What you need to know! 14 Apr 2013 (Forum)
  I have chosen the following vans because I have extensive personal experience of them. 1.  Volkswagen Transporter from 2010 2.  Vauxhall Vivaro (Renault Trafic, & Nissan Primera are the same van) 3.  Ford Transit from 2006 To get the tedious stuff out of the way first, all of these vans are suitable for putting quite large heavy things in, driving to a different location and then taking them out again.
• News of Russian Motor Industry 29 May 2007 (Forum)
  Avtovaz's share of the Russian car market went down from 38.7 to 32 percent in 2006, while foreign carmakers like Ford, Renault and Toyota for the first time took up most of the market -- 51 percent. Even Lada loyalists fond of the car's resilience during Russia's harsh winters and the ease with which it can be repaired are giving in to a flood of foreign models that are becoming increasingly affordable.
• (my) Autotrader gems 25 Aug 2022 (Forum)
  postcode=ab421nh&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=year-asc&price-to=10000&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&include-delivery-option=on&radius=1500&make=Renault&page=1">202208048483732  Not usually a fan of leather but in the case of this hi spec Renault 5 Monaco, the beige leather along with the metallic brown paint, well it makes the car!. With a garage to keep it, this would make a great distinctive urban runabout. Cars with soul 21 Apr 2020 (Forum)
  Rover 220 Turbo Tomcat - Never lift the bonnet, these were always covered in oil and often suffered from horrible gearbox problems. 200bhp in a chassis designed to handle 100 did result in tyre smoking understeer but it was attractive and fast which was good enough for me. Renault 5 GT Turbo - Terrifyingly fragile and refused to start when hot but so much fun when it was working well that it was worth the pain. Citroen BX GTi 16v - Not many left now as most have seen their engines pinched for 205 GTi transplants but these were a joy to drive back in the day.
• Bangernomics 22 Oct 2019 (Forum)
  However to list cars I’d recommend is complicated by the fact that condition is of much greater importance than make and model at this money. I wouldn’t for example walk past a tidy one owner Renault Clio with history to get to a tatty Honda Jazz that hasn’t seen spanner’s in years. That said some are obviously better than others from the outset so if we assume similar condition, history and mileage a list of bargain bucket favourites does present itself.
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  U need a used, reliable family car with space for child seats 4 Mar 2014 (Ask HJ)
  We have plans to grow our family in the coming year or so from one to two children, and I have just discovered that my trusted 2003 Honda Civic won't fit...
• Why DO we have to have such wide tyres these days? 19 Feb 2013 (Forum)
  (If so, that might apply on an autobahn, but on UK motorways I wouldn't be surprised if average motorway speeds are now lower than they were in the 90s or even earlier)   My dad's Renault 16 and Pug 305 had 145 section tyres. These cars were understeery by nature anyway, but it's not as though they were lacking in grip. At either end. A 1990's Pug 405 estate (steel wheels) had 175 section tyres.
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  Can I reject a used car I bought that is leaking? 9 Jul 2025 (Ask HJ)
  In April I bought a one previous owner low mileage 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 from a main Land Rover dealer. Since April it has hardly rained until the...
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  How do I prevent thieves from trying to get into our car overnight? 25 Mar 2021 (Ask HJ)
  How do I stop the local youths from trying my car's door handles overnight when the car is parked on our drive?
• Citroen Berlingo Multispace - Dad-to-be swapping small van for a LAV - which one 20 Mar 2017 (Forum)
  As I love the van, it's so useful and pratical with the massive "trunk", so I'm looking to replace it with a van based LAV such as the Citroen Berlingo, Fiat Doblo or the Renault Kangoo. I'm keen on getting the "new" van at an auction. My budget is £2000-£3000, possibly a little bit more if there's a good reason to do so. Why a van based LAV? Well, they're cheap, I don't mind the ugliness, I want something small with a massive "trunk" - the above vehicles has maximum trunk sizes of over 740 US gallons despite the small size, and I'd like something I don't mind getting damaged - I struggle to not care about vehicles in great condition, while with my battered van, I pay no heed to what I chuck in the back and where I park it.
• New Car Time - Replacing Nissan Primera P11-144 6 Dec 2013 (Forum)
  The car Im most interested in though is the VW Passat, but I think for the CR Engine, and the kind of car I want, Im looking probably £6k to £8k - would have to be 2008+ and a lot of them have quite hgh mileages compared to the petrol equivalent. I've thought about other ones such as, Renault Laguna 2.0 Petrol, Citroen C5 1.8 VTR, Nissan Qashcai, Jaguar -Type 2.5 V6, Nissan 350Z 3.5 V6, but the MPG, CO2, are poor on those last two (understandably) and the others are really lacklustre for MPG and CO2.
• New car shortlist - who's going to help? 19 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  I've tried a Jetta 2.0 TDI with DSG - very pronounced turbo lag and much more so than the A3 or Octavia. Dismissed: Renault Scenic and Citroen Picasso - too wallowy round corners, and the Scenic I tried had trim rattling or falling off at only 7,000 miles. Mazda 5 and 6 - road tests all say how noisy they are and noise is something I'm trying to escape from!
• I kneed a Berlingo 16 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  By the time I returned the van next morning, 150 miles of dump trips after I had picked it up, I was truly sorry to part with it. The cushioned ride and the magic handling made it feel like a sort of expanded Renault 5: quirky and French, flawed by adorable. I recalled how I had toyed with the idea of buying a Berlingo last year, and part of me really regretted not having tried one. This is a vehicle with real charm.
• Car Supermarkets, £8k Midlands 4 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  But (having test drove one at dealers) it is a better car to drive than any others I'll mention. I was looking at 1.6 petrol LX's and lacked much of the equipment of the Clio and C4. Renault Clio - you could feel the quality, which surprised me. And somehow not in such a dull way as a Focus. Bit small still, but comfortable enough. If I'd have been able to find a 5dr Dynamique 1.4 with a/c instead of 3dr for under £8000, i'd have bought it.
• The car you drive.. 21 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  Peugeot Thinks France is the best country in the world and bores everybody with your limited French knowledge and tales of the Louvre and the Sourbonne. Porsche Small penis or mid-life crisis. Renault An eccentric who likes doing things the wrong way around. Usually the one who asks all the silly questions at staff meetings. You fervently believe you have flair, but it's less than that of a French cookbook.
• Nissan Micra - 14 day French road test 27 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  notice!) Compared to Britain, one sees more older cars on the road. There are a fair number of Renault 4s and Citroen 2CVs on the go, and Peugeot 205s seemed to outnumber 206s. Ford Fiesta Mk IIIs definitely outnumbered the current model. Roads were remarkably quiet. One afternoon my wife and I walked down a scenic country road near Cahors in a touristy area for 4 km and were not passed by a single motor vehicle.
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  Legal position with car bought at dealer but has suffered catastrophic engine failure 30 Dec 2012 (Ask HJ)
  My Father-in-Law (a 79 yr old OAP) bought his Grandson a second hand car from a local dealer in Aug 2012 so that he could get to his University placement...