I wouldn't want to own one, but living in France I see they are everywhere, and surprisingly the roadsides are not littered with broken down Renault's, you would expect that they would be but no! There are small Renault branded tin-shed garage workshops all over the place, even in small villages.

But there is always an exception - Ooops!

https://www.carscoops.com/2020/02/oups-french-president-macrons-armored-renault-espace-broke-down-during-state-visit-to-poland/

Edited by Zippy123 on 21/05/2020 at 15:33

They must be using some components in common already. Nissans like the Bluebird and the Almera, and Datsuns before them, used to be as reliable as any other Japanese car, even if not the most exciting to drive.

Nowadays they seem to be well down the order in reliability surveys, particularly the Qashqai.

coincidentally I have just asked a question in the technical section about the timing chain on the 0.9 turbo Cleo engine.

Contrary to a lot of the afore mentioned posts this appears to be a well known weakness on these engines with one post complaining about a failure at 36,000 miles! I won't be rushing out to buy one.

I do own a couple of "French" cars a Peugeot 107 and a 108 both of which I would recommend as cheap reliable run arounds. I appreciate these cars are more Toyota than Peugeot.

Nissan used to be regarded as very reliable cars since teaming up with Renault this is no longer the case. I did previously own a very reliable Nissan but would not buy one now, didn't they have pick up trucks that were actually "snapping"?

Nissan used to be regarded as very reliable cars since teaming up with Renault this is no longer the case.

The best car (for driving) that I have owned was a Renault 5 GT Turbo. But...the steering rack had to be replaced after just 8,000 miles; the turbo seized after 9,000; an oil leak developed around the sump after just 2,500; the battery constantly went flat because the turbo cooler carried on for 15-20 minutes after switching off and the battery did not have sufficient capacity; the driver's seat anchor failed after about 5,000; the wiper motor had to be replaced after about eight months. I could go on, but if Renault improved Nissan's reliability figures I shudder to think what they must have been like before the union.

Edited by Middleman on 29/05/2020 at 12:33

Nissan used to be regarded as very reliable cars since teaming up with Renault this is no longer the case.

I could go on, but if Renault improved Nissan's reliability figures I shudder to think what they must have been like before the union.

Think you have misunderstood - Nissan were known for reliability until they teamed up with Renault.

Indeed - they were always around the upper-middle ranked area on reliability before the takeover/merger, and add to that them being cheaper to buy (by quite a bit) and service than the Hondas and Toyotas of this world (back then), they were excellent value for money, especially as were reasonably decent cars to drive as well in most cases.

Datsuns/Nissans and Toyota were the easiest to maintain of all, normally so reliable all they ever needed was regular servicing and the usual friction materials, plus they were designed to be worked on after manufacture.

Never had much to do with Colt (Mitsubishi) cars or Subaru of the period, rare beasts back in the day, nor saw many Mazdas, again completely reliable cars.

People always called them rust buckets, but so was everything else living in salt heaven until Volvo came along with the 100 and 200 series.

Good news, assuming its true and not waffle diverting our attention, about Nissan confirming British manufacturing stays.

I can concur with the easy to work on part of Japanese cars, my dad had a 2000 Toyota Avensis 1.8 vvti, it needed a new gearbox, it was so easy to work on and chang at the roadside unlike a mondeo or vectra of similar vintage, the engineers designed maintenance on to the building of the car.

Having assured the employees and the CGT union last week that the subject foundry will not closed or be sold off, it has been announced by CEO of Renault, that it will be put up for sale.

https://www.letelegramme.fr/economie/le-patron-de-renault-envisage-la-vente-de-la-fonderie-de-bretagne-31-05-2020-12559576.php

There could be trouble ahead.

I predict a riot - several riots probably!

One thing I was amazed at was how similar and easy-to-use the controls were (especially on the steering column) when changing from my mid-90s Micra to my (current) mid 2000s Mazda3. Even the engine bay is laid out practically the same. Maybe it's a Japanese thing.

The Euroboxes were, in contrast, quite different with some very odd configurations from one to the next.