172 Long term review
Changed from a 106 GTi via 12 months with a Cavalier. Bought in Aug. 02 from Virgincars.com. Not the hassle free experience it should have been but £12k price tag was nicer than £15k. 17 miles on the clock, now 56200 miles!
Lets start with the cons.
It’s French and so it rattles and squeaks a bit. Problems / repairs it has had are as follows;
New CAT exhaust section, oil pressure sensor, new lambda sensor, new CV boot at 24k, annoying vibration at 4000rpm - turned out to be 2 wires rubbing behind the dashboard!, replaced part of front suspension strut to stop knocking noise - never fully sorted but a well known issue on 172’s. Headlight washer ball fell out - bumper off to replace washer nozzle unit (£75). More chips on the paintwork than Whitby on a bank holiday weekend. Tyres give no protection to alloys to reduce kerbing.
Pro’s
Cracking engine with good spread of torque and takes off at 4500rpm. Throttle response was superb. Fuel economy was good for a 2 litre with short gearing (~4500rpm at 90mph) Average about 34 mpg with lots of acceleration / braking and hills. Never dropped below 30 mpg and could get over 40 on a sedate motorway run. Something a MINI could not ever match.
Brakes were good and responsive, resistant to fade, and now approaching the end of the second set at 56k.
Equipment levels are superb for a £12k car. Electronic climate control, auto switching and levelling xenon lights, leather / alacantra seats, no EBD / TC or cruise - car was too early for these features. 6 CD changer and in-dash single CD. Variable rate windscreen wipers. Tyres can be had for £45 upwards - OE Contisport Contacts are approx £60 fitted.
I have been really pleased with the car and enjoyed it despite its niggles. Handling was great although I think it responded better when driven harder. Very little understeer in the dry although traction in the wet requires a careful throttle.
The back end was sometimes a bit nervy but more than usually it highlight a low pressure in the tyres. The suspension was very sensitive to tyre wear and pressure, tramlining and diving over white lines especially under braking were good indicators that the tyres were getting low.
Unfortunately getting the car in black was maybe a mistake - although looked fantastic when clean and polished, this usually didn’t last long as all black car owners will testify. Looked a little like a clio Dynamique rather than the sport so was a bit of a Q car which surprised a few people.
Overall, the 106 was more fun to chuck about but the power, extra space and equipment made up for it.
I would recommend them to anyone wanting a fun and cheap car although it does have flaws.
Collecting a 350Z tonight to replace it. Oh and the insurance is £2 cheaper than the 172s.
Rich
