Renault Fluence X38 (2010-2015)

Surprise package – I recently bought pre-owned Renault Fluence Privilege petrol car. I did try driving other cars before taking the decision. I was quite surprised at the high quality components, comfortable drive, smooth transmission, spacious boot. The features were stand-out for the quality built vs price when compared with the likes of Mazda, Ford, Holden & Toyota . Never knew Renault made good cars as they are missing out on misinformation on Renault from other car buyers. I would highly recommend anyone planning to purchase to give a shot at Renault before taking final decision.... you won't regret the decision.

Renault Fluence – I've had my Fluence for just over 1 year now and so far I am very happy. The looks are different to most other cars on the road, so it does stand out some what. I have never owned a Renault before & heard the usual story's of poor quality, up until this purchase I've been a Mazda owner, so it was a big gamble. There are the usual trade off's where it's LHD origines are a little a annoying, indicator stalk on LHS, hand brake lever of set for LHD, lights indicating automatic drive position are not visible due to gear lever position, and a few others that you soon get use to.

It's very comfortable on long trips, I do Adelaide to Mildura often and find you arrive refreshed. Fuel economy is ok if you are not a lead foot.

Standard features were impressive. Style, over all quality, ride and road manners. Speedo during the day can be a chore to read due to reflections of door trims, very small glovebox, bottle holders in centre console are useless due to small size.

Magnifique!!! – I had a short drive of a an Australian registered Fluence ZE at the GeeenZone Drive event, Royal Pines on the Gold Coast. The finish, presentation, drivability & performance of this vehicle can only be described as magnifique. Hopefully Renault Australia & Project Better Place get the pricing right because the Fluence ZE is potentially a winner, its definitely light years ahead of the overpriced, pig-ugly & under-performing Nissan Leaf / Mitsubishi MiEV. Anyone expecting the Fluence to be a slug on the road will be bitterly disappointed because the thing flies!!! My biggest concern would be avoiding contributions to the blue uniformed thuggery as the car is so quiet that its very easy to get well over suburban speed limits in a very short distance. Some kind of noisy speed alert system would be essential if one doesn't watch the speedo constantly. General driveability, performance, appearance, finish Only the uncertainty about pricing & release date in Queensland

Does nothing out of the ordinary – Had this as a hire car for a week whilst touring Tasmania. The car was well presented and well equipped. All the electronic gadgets were there except for SatNav. The engine felt strong when pushed but being the first CVT transmission I have driven, it felt very soft on light to medium throttle positions. Only when pushed hard did the car really want to get going.

There is a whine from the CVT when pushed along that can get annoying. I found that selecting "gears" manually helped through the windy hilly sections.

Sound system was tricky to use but the quality from it was good. The seats were a little flat but overall a good drive Quiet (generally) well equipped Gearbox softness. Wine from gearbox when pushed. Fuel usage was a little high for a 2 litre