Renault Clio running costs and reliability

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• Impressively low CO2 and high fuel economy
• Pricey diesel is the economy champ
• E-Tech doesn’t disappoint around town

How much is it going to cost to run?

The Clio has a selection of small, efficient engines, with a petrol-electric hybrid E-Tech version which is perfectly suited for city dwellers.

MPG and CO2

Going off its CO2 and mpg figures, the E-Tech is a good compromise between petrol and diesel. We returned 46.9mpg in testing, but this included a lot of motorway miles – expect it to be much better in and around town.

Petrol

• TCe 100: 54.3mpg, 99g/km CO2
• TCe 130: 49.6mpg, 118g/km CO2

Diesel

• dCi 85: 73.9mpg, 94g/km CO2

Hybrid

• E-Tech: 64.2mpg, 98g/km CO2

If you’re going to be doing regular long-distance trips, then opt for the diesel. Even with its low running costs it’ll take you quite some time to recoup the purchase price, too – diesel models are around £2,000 more expensive than the more powerful, 100hp turbocharged petrol.

With careful use though, you should be able to post impressive economy figures in either of the two turbocharged petrol engines too. Renault’s worked very hard on CO2 emissions, with its headline TCe 100 engine boasting 100hp and 99g/km of CO2. Even the most powerful 130hp 1.3 emits just 118g/km. Fuel consumption is equally impressive for both of those engines. 

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 Clio, but the previous model (with lower interior quality) scored an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5.0. There have been no safety recalls so far, but we’ll continue to maintain the situation.

Remember that much of the technology in the Clio is already used throughout the rest of the Renault range, 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.