My mother-in-law had to stop driving because of her age. She owned this 1985 Renault coupe and it had sat in her garage for a little over three years. She told me that if I wanted it, I could have it free. When I arrived to check it out, I couldn't believe the condition. It was near factory mint with only 48,000 original miles.
I must confesse, I had my reservations about owning and driving a French car. I am no fan of France. However, I couldn't turn it down because of the condition.
The battery was dead from sitting so I stopped at the local Advanced Auto store and bought a new one. Renault has three differant batteries for this model of car, hard to understand. But when I put a regular 12-volt battery in the car the hood wouldn't close because the battery was too tall. Going by the model number of the car, the parts dealer got me the proper battery. Once installed, the car actually started on the third turn. It sat in the garage running smoothly. I figured the brakes would give me problems from sitting over three years, but they were just fine.
I drove the car the four miles to our house. It ran perfectly. We've driven the car over 30,000 miles so far with no problems.
The Renault has a 4-cylinder engine with an automatic transmission. The radio is only AM. The heater works very well and everything else is in proper working order. It even has heated door handles on the outside...weird!
It's a fun little car to drive. We've taken it on the freeway many times and have driven it on 60-mile trips and have had absolutely no problems whatever. It's actually a great little car that gets very good gas mileage.
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