nimbev,
Mine was never right from the beginning. Even during the six (!) months warranty that was all you got in those days, I was complaining about being down on power: they palmed me off with "It's still a bit tight, sir - after a couple of thousand miles more it'll be all right !
Of course it wasn't, but functioned well enough with minor ailments (the autobox had a total-loss oil system, I put the oil in the top and it leaked out at the bottom) and they could never fix even that.
Up to around 70,000, then the engine troubles began among clouds of steam. I will not bore you with the harrowing story: suffice to say that it would have been cheaper in the end for me to have thrown the engine out and bought a new one (I don't think you could get exchange reconditioned Renault ones as you could with Ford and others then). The thing was off the road for three months in a bad winter, when they at last got the (Renault) spares, they had to go to a local machine shop before they'd fit the car (all on our bill, of course).
Eventually they got it back on the road again ; things weren't too bad till 140,000, then timing chain bust (by great good fortune, outside the shops in our local village, right opposite our garage). Then the full beauty of the back-to-front power plant idea was revealed - you had to lift the whole "lump" out to get at the chain ! As this would cost more than the car (11 years old) was worth, and the rot had got a good hold, anyway, it went free against the cost of towing to a scrapyard.
I'm a glutton for punishment. After it we ran two other (2/h) Renaults - a 5 (the best of the superminis of its day) and an 18 Estate (both fine cars). To be fair, those were the times when Red Robbo ruled our industry: British cars were a byword for unreliability, too.
Danny.