| Current Owner: | Andrew (User:r5gordini)
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| Registration Number: | B290 TKO
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| Country Registered In: | UK
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| Year of First Registration: | 1984
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| Colour: | Silver
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| Renault Colour Code(e.g. 720): | 720
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| VIN Number: | not supplied
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| Number of doors (3/5): | 3
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| Current Odometer Reading: | 70,382 miles
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| Odometer Read on: | Sun 20 Oct 2002
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| Last Seen/Known: | not supplied
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Current Status: Scrapped
Full Photo Album
I bought this Renault 5 TX a few days before Christmas 2001.
I first knew of this car when my then fiancee (now my wife) rang me up at work to say:
"There's a Renault 5 TX parked at the bottom of the road - should I leave a note in its windscreen?"
I replied that she should!
I didn't hear anything for ages, but then one day I got a call from the brother of the owner of my local Renault garage. The car belonged to his mother, or some such elderly lady, and she had just got a new car with which to enjoy her last years of motoring. So, her Renault 5 TX was for sale for 200 pounds.
Anyway, 200 pounds was more than I could spend at the time, and I already had too many cars (somewhere around 5 Renault 5s), so I didn't follow the car up.
Several months later, the owner of the local Renault garage rang me to tell me he was going to dispose of the car (scrap it), so he thought he should offer it to me before it got scrapped. I said that I wasn't so sure I could cope with the car, but asked him how much he wanted for the car.
"Fifty Quid" - he replied [50 uk pounds].
"I'll only take it if it's got an MOT," I said - feeling I might be pushing my luck!
So, the end result of this conversation was that I test drove the car, and agreed to purchase it!
What a bargain! The car has proved very reliable so far, apart from at the start, when I had to bash the starter motor to get it to work. I've driven a few thousand miles in the car since I bought it, and it's amazing how much I like it.
The car is much more capable than the equivalent 1.1 model - the TX has a 1.4litre engine, and has power steering and electric windows - both a luxury.
I find the car is quite spritely and I've often given some modern cars a run for their money.
The TX is much quieter than a TL (1.1), and the engine is much more flexible and willing - so it's easier to drive.
On this particular car, the power steering is not that effective, but it still reduces the effort required to turn the wheel when parking. Really, it could do with a reconditioned steering rack (or pump), but I don't want to spend the money!
I had to buy a new exhaust for the car shortly after I purchased it, which cost 3 times the amount of the car. When the exhaust fitters fitted the new exhaust, the front passenger floor was not solid enough to take the weight of the exhaust as it was clamped into position. So, if I want to keep the car, I will have to do some welding on it.
The pictures you see here of the car were taken in October 2002, and show it in its full glory - warts and all. I've not yet washed the car - not sure if I ever will! The future of the car is undecided. I have considered fitting the power steering to my Gordini Turbo. In many ways I'd like to keep the car as I really like it. It's just such a shame the bodywork is so poor.
UPDATE 2003:
Sadly, I scrapped the car some time during 2003, as it did not pass its MOT at the end of 2002. However, some of its parts have been put to good use - its power steering rack and steering shaft are now in my Renault 5 Gordini Turbo.
