• Low CO2 and good fuel economy
• E-Tech works well around town
• Our MPG figure close to official rating

MPG and CO2

Going off its CO2 and mpg figures, the E-Tech is a good compromise between more traditional petrol and diesel rivals. We returned 55mpg in testing, but this included a fair few motorway miles – expect it to be much better in and around town. It also compares well with the official MPG rating, below.

Hybrid E-Tech 145: 58.9mpg, 105g-110/km CO2

Servicing and maintenance

Renault has more than 150 dealers and is still a big player on the market. Customer service has improved in recent years, but in the JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Renault scored a worse-than-average 122 faults per 100 cars compared with the industry average of 119.

Renault offers a selection of service plans that can be covered with a one-off payment or by topping up your monthly finance payment. These cover all servicing costs during the agreement, and take some of the unknowns out of the ownership experience. Three years of cover typically costs £499 or £9.99 per month, and four years comes in at £759.

How reliable is it?

• No recalls so far
• Early reliability signs are good
• Tried and tested mechanicals

We still don’t have any owners reviews for the Renault Arkana, but the firm’s performance with owners is improving. There have been no safety recalls so far, but we’ll continue to maintain the situation.

Remember that much of the technology in the Arkana is shared with the Clio and Captur, and the mild hybrid technology will appear in a variety of other models. The touchscreens are an evolution of what Renault’s been using for a few years, which aren’t completely trouble-free, but are decent on the whole.