2022 Renault Kwid - I didn't know you could still buy a car this basic

If this Qwid was built as well as the VWs were......

This post may not be corrupted into an "air cooled vs. water cooled" debate starter. I'm talking overall quality.
 
All you naysayers know that you would kill to have that little car over here…….myself included. :)
You say that but… Mirage didn’t do so did it? Cheap and basic.

I loved the idea but knew I’d hate it after a short while. Around town would be fine, anything more than 15 minutes, not so sure about.
 
I lived in Calgary, AB in the 90's, and the most depressing thing related to the business trips I'd take was riding in decrepit Chevy Impala cabs from Calgary International to home... seats that wouldn't even hold you square with the world (with failed supports), etc...
Burgundy velour and smelled like smoke? 🤣 I think cabs in the 90s were pretty bad everywhere.
 
I like the idea of a simple, inexpensive car, but three issues right away for me would be:
- Only 67 hp, which would be unsafe in passing situations, and unsafe in general for keeping up with today's traffic.
- The completely unfinished cargo area.
- Only 3 lug nuts holding on a wheel?

My '07 Accord is about as basic as I want to get at this point in my life.
I don't know about that, my Grandma owned a late 70s or early 80s tercel wagon with about the same horsepower and she drove that thing like she stole it. Not sure if it could exceed 80mph very easily but it sure as heck got to 60 pretty quick.
 
Picked up the 2013 CX-5 a year ago. While it's not stripped down like that, it does have cable operated temperature and blend doors. And 3 pedals, which is fun. I haven't seen those since my 1990 golf.
Are you sure the hvac doors are cable operated? Most modern cars utilize electronic controls that send a signal to the blend door actuators.
 
There is a market for peppy small cars. Back in '86 one of my colleagues was asking for recommendations on a new car. In addition to the usual BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Audi recommendations, I suggested he test drive a Honda CRX. He came home with 2 of them. One for him and one for his wife. They drove them for years.
 
it reminds me of Nissan Versa, but being that basic in SA it does not surprise me at all since they have been producing VW MK1 with small updates over the years until 2009


Thank you! This explains why the road here is littered with these things (I would call this a Rabbit) and have pretty much disappeared from the US.

KbksFg4.jpg
 
I think for a few years in the future, cars like these will make sense to import as their won't be many used cheap sedans around. I think there's around 3 million cars(sedan, hatchbacks) sold in the US per year now, So the days of being able to pick up a moderately used Accord or Corolla for less than a new Mirage maybe coming to an end soon.
I suspect my Focus isn't really much better than this Renault in terms of NVH and I don't mind driving it for the odd 4-5 driving hour days.
 
Are you sure the hvac doors are cable operated? Most modern cars utilize electronic controls that send a signal to the blend door actuators.
Yup. I’ve had the dash apart to wire up heated front seats and there are cables for air flow and temperature. You can feel it when you turn those knobs as well. Higher end models have individual temperature settings for driver/passenger with blend doors, but the basic GX (sport 2.0, 6sp manual) has cables. I was surprised too. Good car for a new 16yo driver.
 
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