Seen a tidyish looking one for £800, MOT till next Sept. I was after an MX5, but I’ve heard the Clio is pretty awesome.

Any thoughts?

Great cars, I’ve had 2, first one was a dog, bought unseen off ebay as a track car project, still sat in a friends garage half finished, 2nd was a cup which I covered 30k in over 2 years.

Be aware that the cambelt is due every 72k or 5 years and is a £500ish job so budget for replacement if it’s not been done recently (which on an £800 car it probably hasn’t) failed cambelt will write off the car as new valves would cost more than the whole car to replace.

They have a habit of eating rear shocks, but they’re easy to change and should only cost about £80 a pair. Exhaust hangers collapse, but again fairly cheap to replace. The steering wheel will look like it has melted and you will get airbag warning lights, a quick wiggle of the connector block under the seats normally sorts this out.

They’re pretty good on fuel, I averaged 32mpg out of mine and it regularly saw the limiter on cross country runs 😉

Sensibility overruled in the end (and increasing annual mileage) and I went diesel for my daily driver, sadly didn’t have the space at home to keep a second car.

My old one

[url=https://flic.kr/p/aLuQok]P1010958[/url] by le_grande_momo, on Flickr

Your vegetables aren’t doing too well, momo…

G

Was an overgrown mess when I moved into that house, left there over two years ago now, but looked a lot better when I moved out.

Aye I figured the cambelt would need doing, it’s quite high mileage too (125k). Looks like it’s a pain in the arse job too!

for 800 quid , if its got a years test just run it into the ground and scrap it for 150 at the end.

my old bosses berlingo was on 170k over 12 years – on original timing belt – him having done 130,000 of those miles. – timing belts on those are 5 years /80k.

It is, there’s not a lot of spare room in the engine bay and you need specific locking tools. It’s the only job I wouldn’t have a crack at myself on mine.

Cliosport.net is a good resource for information, and spare parts, there’s always someone breaking a car on there! I saved my membership fee many times over by using the club discount and buy/sell forums.

If it’s been well looked after the engines are fairly strong, just go into ownership with your eye’s open and be prepared to walk away if it all goes wrong – like any low budget performance car really!

Just had a read about the cambelt change, sounds like a reet pain! Turns out this car has no history at all, reckon I’ll leave this one…

Carefully check the oil, under caps/coolant and around the engine block.

If the engine bay looks clean – I’d walk.

At £800 I wouldn’t throw £500 at it unless I’d owned it for a year first to see it was ‘ok’ everwhere else. Go with a view that you’d get £170 back scrapped or sell for parts worsecase on ebay.

TBH- at £800 for such a car you’d end up spending Circa £200 a month in bits and bobs keeping it on the road. Some with say no but I bet its not far off. That’d equal £2000 a year…..

I’d buy as late a plate/condition etc possible 172/182 Clio with receipts for a recent cambelt- spend alittle more in other words!

Yeah I’m starting to think spending a bigger chunk of budget (around 2k) is a better idea tbh.

That said I’m off to look at a £350 MX5 on Saturday.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGyY9V068x4[/video]

ok so its a 182 🙂

my friend had a 182 cup or something, hated it 95% of the time but loved it for the fun times. was certainly quite good fun. timing belt went and had a replacement engine fitted, sounded very expensive.

I will have a 182 trophy one day!

Walk away from that one, there are plenty of cars out there that have been maintained properly

They are good little cars, but there are plenty around so look for one with a slightly more history.

Condition and service history matters more than mileage (unless its been to the moon) on cars that age

Any clio cup milleage id take with a pinch of salt as the speedo pick ups are a common fault and ive known people drive round with no speedo for years on end and fix it just before selling on.
A hoot to drive though a mate bought a 172 for sub 1k and on the 1st drive out the speedo packed up the headlights fell out into the engine bay the stereo fell out and a drive shaft snapped.

That said I’m off to look at a £350 MX5 on Saturday.

😆 – look at the rear arches and sills very carefully. Again- up your budget, a 04 MK2.5 MX5 with one owner/full history bought in winter should only be £2,500 if you haggle hard IMO.

Walk away from that one, there are plenty of cars out there that have been maintained properly

This is why I never owned/bought a clio in general- its an ‘easyish’ performance car available to every Tom, Dick and Harry who still lives at home with his parents, buys the car and just about manages to pay the insurance premium whilst neglecting every single service item.

Aye I’ve seen a few nice MXs with FSH and everything done for £1,500 – £2,000, just quite like the risk of something super cheap (it LOOKED pretty good for rust, the sills have been replaced, but I need to go back for a proper look ) even though I know it’s a silly idea.

Heard good things about the Clios.
At least in driving terms.
It’s still a Renault Clio in the end though.

I got a 52 MX5 Mk2.5 1.8 VT Sport, single owner, FDSH and 29k miles for £2k at the end of summer.
Feels like driving a new car.

Crikey, that’s a reet bargain. Why do I never find these cars?

Why do I never find these cars?

How far/radius are you searching currently?

I bought my last car from Bridport near Bournemouth and the one previous in Ayr (I’m in Manchester)

Aye I maybe need to widen it a wee bit, looking within around 50 miles of Hull at the moment. Hull is a bit of a dead zone for cars!

I had a 172 cup as a project for a while. Seats are crap, steering wheel melts, ride is awful…. but great craic tipped into a corner.

As a mod of transport i would give it a miss, as toy, go for it!

25 miles down the road. Was on local gumtree.

As a mode of transport i would give it a miss, as toy, go for it!

god, yeah – I was a passenger in one once, an hour each way. Noisy, uncomfortable, chucked around like a rag doll. Not an experience I’d like to repeat!

buying local only really works ime if you are buying on price rather than a specific car.

looking for a specific car – start local and work out.

my last car i wanted a specific spec and engine and ended up going to fort william for it.

momo – Member

Great cars, I’ve had 2…………………………………….sadly didn’t have the space at home to keep a second car.

This really post covers everything really – love my 182! Most jobs are fairly simple to do, even I’m happy putting the car on axle stands and getting in amongst it these days! Worth getting to know a specialist for anything tricky though – and Renault main dealers do not tend to know what they’re doing with 1*2s.

If the engine bay looks clean – I’d walk.

Which is a little daft, as it’d rule out a big chunk of the market – lots of these are kept very clean.

had a replacement engine fitted, sounded very expensive.

Replacement engines can usually be had for around £600. So even if a belt does pop and ruin the engine it’s not rediculous just to replace the whole lump.

Seats are crap, steering wheel melts, ride is awful…. but great craic tipped into a corner.

Cup seats are really nasty. Normal ones and Recaros from a Trohphy are pretty good though. Steering wheels do indeed melt, must get mine re-trimmed at some point! 25% MOAR stiffness in a Cup iirc, shame so many took this option as, unless you are spending a lot of time on track, the normal setup is great!

Ex 182 Cup owner here – cracking little car, little being the operative word. Couldn’t get away with a “full fat” 182 due to the overstuffed leather & alcantara seats. Poverty spec cloth on the 182 Cup meant I could just about fit. I’m not quite 6′, though quite long in the leg…

In all the discussion of cambelts above, the crucial thing that no-one has yet mentioned is that while the cam belt is 72k miles, the auxiliary belt which is right next to it is due every 36k miles. It’s a much easier (and cheaper) job to do, but frequently overlooked – more often than not, a failed auxiliary belt takes the cambelt with it… The variator pulleys often get a bit sticky, but can be left until the cambelt gets done – a sticky variator pulley results in more of a step change as it comes on cam.

I had mine for just under 3 years, racked up almost 60k miles, averaging 35mpg or so over that time – pretty respectable for the kind of car. I was kinda sad to see it go but my driving habits had changed and it wasn’t a relaxing drive for smashing in motorway miles. And bikes fit in the back of my current car a little easier…

“Replacement engines can usually be had for around £600. So even if a belt does pop and ruin the engine it’s not rediculous just to replace the whole lump.
“

Do check it hasnt been replaced in the past.

Engine replacement even like for like is a declarable to insruance cos.

vin + engine numbers wont match.

Which is a little daft, as it’d rule out a big chunk of the market – lots of these are kept very clean.

I wouldn’t touch any car unless it was a classic or collectable that had a recent jet-washed engine. For many reasons.

Cars come with a service book. The engine can tell you its history too visually. Ontop of that- what do you avoid spraying? Do you know where all the connectors are, the ECU, the wiring? You can cover them but unless you really know what your doing your washing the whole engine. Not good.

A friend took his alfa into a alfa garage- they jetwashed the engine bay. No idea why (unless they had made a cockup) – he had engine light and oil problems post-that. Too much of coincidence.

Ignore Hora, he hasn’t a clue what he’s on about

Ebay/Ownersclub for parts and if neither have them, GSF.com. French cars are a bit more involved to work on but 172/182’s are popular cars so plenty of stuff on forums and youtube.

As said for £800 you could run it without doing the belt and scrap it if it goes bang. Buy it, change the coolant and oil and run it until it breaks.

Given a choice between a Clio or an MX-5 I personally would have the Clio. Any Mx-5/Miata that I’ve looked at around that age has been riddled with rust. Also, we did a track day at Spa, me in an RS4 and my mate in a played with Focus RS. There were two blokes there in an Ex-palmer sport Clio with a sequential box and slick tyres but standard engine. We could destroy him on the straights but man alive was it quick through the bends.

Ignore Hora, he hasn’t a clue what he’s on about

You must troll harder petal.

hora – Member

You must troll harder petal

Not really as you do appear to be talking bollocks. Head to ClioSport and half the forum members keep the engine bay squeaky clean (and most by using elbow grease over a jet wash). To many 1*2 owners it is turning into a classic/collectable.

Using an Alfa with warning lights has to be the worst example in the history of cars……and examples.

Excellent – So how do you spot the ‘I elbow grease an French/Renault to I used a hose or jetwash?

The Renault 5 turbo is a very rare car. For the same reason the clio will be. Its a Renault.

Not trolling, FACT. I’ve had one, owned by a lad who kept it in mint condition and the engine bay was mint, as was the rest of the car (with the exception of the steering wheel). And who in their right minds jetwashes a car engine these days apart from moody dealers in Sarfend and rental company spanner monkeys.

£800 spent on a car isn’t an investment for life. It’ll break and when it does, it’ll cost a bit more than a cooking focus to fix. At that point, decide whether its worth fixing or throw it away and buy another. You’d lose twice that in depreciation buying a new Dacia for £7k and driving out the showroom. Its not really high miles either – they stopped making the 172 in 2003, so even if it was one of the last ones thats only 12k a year.

Like I said, buy it, change the oil and coolant and drive it ’til it pops.

Oh, and they stopped making the Renault 5 Turbo in 1986. They started making the 172 in 1999. So thats probably why a 5 turbo is rare.

Sorry I wouldn’t buy any car that was a average shopping hatch with a big engine and suspension that had been through a few owners and clocked abit of miles, that was also a Renault. Which ever way you cut it- those that polish it up more than likely wont be the cars first owner either.

You can only buy on condition. Lift the budget abit and buy the best you can afford. Spending £800 is firmly in do I bin it or spend a couple of hundred, which leads to a couple hundred more etc.

I’ve owned a few cars- including a couple of MX5’s. I can’t claim to be any sort of expert on those. Just my experience.

Saying some people on a forum polish there engine bay means all Renault Clio Sports with a recently washed engine bay before sale must mean they’ve all been lovingly hand rubbed down ….come on.

Most would use a hose and/or jet then wipe down. I’m not going anywhere near a car with a clean engine bay. You claim they see them as future classics- Most of those clio’s have been through a few owners now and are getting on.

BTW- I’ve driven a Clio 182/I hated the steering wheel/angle and pedals 😉

Referring to a group of people is a lot better than “my mates Alfa had a warning light” – they come like that from the factory.
Like any 2nd car transaction, you try and guage the owner – if they don’t convince you, you walk away.

You can only buy on condition.

Apart from if it’s tidy, as tidy actually = bad condition??

Everyone hates the overall driving position, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone looking at one of these.

I know no idea why you’re talking about MX-5s, but obviously none of them have ever seen any corners or trackdays or had rusty chassis rails.

I think ‘cos I mentioned MX5s before (they are still on the list, hopefully got some to go see at the weekend).

Anyway, play nice kids!

oh aye, that’d be it!

Hell no 🙂

they come like that from the factory.

Surprising some Alfas are good cars. Like any car out of warranty/3yrs+ though they need money to keep them running well.

Its the dealers that are bad…

Anyhoooo drive both OP. I loved the steering wheel in my lap/driving feel of the MX5 8)

Surprising some Alfas are good cars. Like any car out of warranty/3yrs+ though they need money to keep them running well.

Its the dealers that are bad…

Are you actually out of your tiny mind? Alfa’s are terrible for reliability! For every post on Pistonheads about some fanatical owner who bought a 156 twinspark and has never had any issues, there’ll be 50 people who’ve had one with major electrical gremlins, build quality issues, gearbox issues and so on. I’m not surprised dealers are rubbish, they’re probably boardline going under. I had a 156 JTD as a company car as did a mate. My mate loved his but the gearbox was a proper issue. I hated mine, it was forever at the dealers with stupid electrical faults and eventually did an oil pump. A friend now has a Mito that has engine management problems and has had both shocks replaced (under warrenty). The car is on a 12 plate and has done less than 15k miles.

You’re (the OP) buying an £800 car FFS! First question, is it MOT’d? Second, has it got rent on it? Third – does it run ok (not get hot, start ok from cold, does it idle ok). When you drive it, does it pull to one side, any vibrations under braking and so on. Who cares about milage or number of owners if the above is true? A car that you intend to hold on to, then yes, service history and number of owners matters. If you’re going to run it until it breaks then its all a bit irrelevent.