Long-term test: Renault 4 E-Tech Iconic+

Until recently the car gave us trouble-free motoring, but during a 100-mile round trip on a day out several minor issues popped up. The first was the tyre-pressure warning system alerting us to an underinflation problem. While this wasn’t a fault as such, when we stopped at the beginning of our return journey (to make sure the tyres were cold when checked), all four were at the correct pressure. Just before the warning had popped up we’d been unable to avoid a pothole, so maybe that activated the sensor – but luckily no damage was done. 

Our other issue was the sound disappearing from the audio system. Everything else was working fine, but despite turning the volume up and down, and switching from the radio to Apple CarPlay, nothing seemed to work. 

My husband was driving and I was listening to a Sunderland football game on the radio, so he was even less inclined to try to get things working using the controls on the stalk low down on the right of the steering wheel, which are awkward at the best of times. 

There are also volume buttons on the top of the infotainment screen, which I was able to access easily, but even they didn’t help. 

I resorted to listening to the commentary through my phone – but maybe I shouldn’t have bothered, because the match didn’t end well. However, when we next used the car, everything was back to normal. Hopefully it won’t be a recurring issue.