£1000 Clio 172 - What problems to look for?

[JimF]

Hi all,

I’m looking to buy a 172 in the coming few months to avoid me ruining my 335d with track focused mods (also I don’t think a full leather interior, autobox and diesel engine will be as good as my last car on track!). In an attempt to avoid buying something simply to give me something else to modify and polish and put expensive shiny bits on, I’ll be looking at the cheaper end of the market to keep costs down, to give me more budget for maintenance, to give me more money for the refreshing of tired components and more money for trackdays!

My question is, there’s quite a few hovering around between £800 and £1200, what can I expect to go wrong in this price range.

These are mainly higher mileage examples. I’ve been reading buying guides, and am aware of them needing the cambelt & dephaser doing, with proof. I’ve also seen various steering angle sensors having problems. Airbag lights may be on but probably due to the underseat wiring. Am I missing anything? I’ll be putting coilovers on and potentially polybushes depending on what needs doing. Any other weakpoints?

 

[Fraserb]

Aside from what you have mentioned look for regular servicing, worn bushes, ball joints, wheel bearings etc as you would with any car tbh mate

 

[JimF]

Perfect, thank you. So nothing nasty to sneak up on me then? I'm expecting for my budget it may need a bit of TLC on items like that.

 

[theburns1]

It's pot luck mate, I paid top money for mine, went over it with a tooth comb and read through the service history. It broke down on the way home. Read a project thread that a lad paid £600 on a none runner put 4 new injectors in and been fine ever since

 

[JimF]

Ah jesus sounds like a minefield. That said, no worse than buying any other car I suppose!

 

[Fraserb]

Ah jesus sounds like a minefield. That said, no worse than buying any other car I suppose!

No worse than any other car tbh, also look for signs of poorly repaired crash damage as these cars will have been driven hard so most likely will have seen the wrong side of a hedge or too.

 

[ilovewilly]

As already been mentioned, prices don't depict the quality/reliability of a vehicle.

You can have someone wanting £2500 for a 172 Cup with s**t paint, moon miles and a drivers seat with more semen content than Peter North - but that doesn't mean it's immaculate because they think it is 'for a 13 year old car, with marks -to be expected'.

Look hard enough, wait long enough or simply be in the right place at the right time and you can even find gems for several hundred quid, that would have even sold easily for twice the price. Some people under value a really nice car, others over price something because they compared apples with pears.

£3k, £2k, £1k, £500 vehicle - inspect them all to the same degree. Don't take a sellers word for a dearer car because it must simply be worth the higher price.

 

[JimF]

Great advice thanks guys.

 

[bloke]

i've got an 02 cup, 87,000 miles, jjst had belts done if you're interested?

 

[JimF]

Any more info/pics?

 

[Andyman]

Don't forget the clutch.

 

[VR46-G@Z]

I've been dabbling with the same idea, I've always loved the iceberg silver on the 172, looking at the 1000 quid range... I'd expect anything knowing these cars quite well, both cam and aux belts done properly is a must..... Other than that I'd be happy to take on most other likely issues such as tyres, brakes, shocks, springs, various bushes, injectors, coil pack, spark plugs, ht leads, thermostat etc etc.. The beauty is most parts are inexpensive really, just look hard at the car in question, I'm yet to see a hidden gem.......

 

[Akay]

I bought my 182 back in 2012 for £1,800.00 from a respected member on here - turns out it was a complete dog, and I spent over £1k to put it right. That said, I should have done my homework a bit more in the first place!

I viewed 5 early in the year, x2 ph1s and a ph2 under 1k, and they were just complete wrecks. I dont expect FSH on a car of this age but I would at least look for evidence its been cared for, which you can get a feel from the owner I think! I looked at 2 £1.5k examples, and they were both much better, had belts done, and loved by the owners. I bought one of these in the end based on the amount of spares and modifications it had that I could sell on to recoup the cost, it was also a car known by SJM on here, so I was more comfortable buying. My advise would be to spend that little bit extra, or buy very very cheap (sub £600) and fix it up, at least you know what has been sorted then.

 

[JimF]

Thank you good advise as well!

 

[RS Charlie]

I may as well share my views .

In most people's eyes I paid too much for my car (feel free to say either way). £1.5k for a 172. It had 69k, in great condition all round and alot of desirable extras including the Cup/V6 rear spoiler, Cup front splitter (OK, it's a Fabia item...), CF front washer jet blanks, genuine Renault Sport mats, a very clean set of Speedline Turinis with great tyres all round (Toyos and Contis), and at the time newish discs and pads up front. Also with the car came an almost complete service history and plenty of receipts from when the car was new. However, it did have a few issues including:

Non working AC - A regas seems to have done the trick after a leak test with it lasting.
A rattle from the engine (I did not notice at the time) -Cambelt and dephaser change sorted it albeit at an expense
Rumble upon braking - a Numpty did not bother to clean out the caliper carriers ; Some time with a wire brush drill attachment, some zinc primer and brake/ceramic grease along with new braking plates has sorted that problem and improved the brakes no end.

I must have seen a few £1k Clios then and plenty of other cars ; I was not in the market for a Clio around then. Most others just did not 'talk' to me and had little faults like more play in the gear lever, airbag lights on, kerbed wheels and tatty interiors. I know some people don't car about some of those but I'd like to think that if someone has taken care of the car as a whole there is a good chance less shall be wrong with it. I could not believe the amount of dross for sale below £2k of any marque of car.

At the same time I saw someone pay £2k for a 45k 172 that looked like a tired dog next to mine, complete on the original belts (well, they looked like it compared to mine), a tattier interior and exterior!

IMO at that money buy from a person who looks like they have cared for the car. They are out there, but tricky to find. I would look out for a car with has no electrical issues, or EML faults either. At that money my thinking is if it was simple they would have fixed it themself.

 

[CrippsCorner]

It's pot luck mate, I paid top money for mine, went over it with a tooth comb and read through the service history. It broke down on the way home. Read a project thread that a lad paid £600 on a none runner put 4 new injectors in and been fine ever since

Absolutely! They're completely random lol... spent £6,000 on my first Clio 182 and it was a heap of s**t! Fell apart in 9 months and ended up costing me thousands.

Then I bought another one for £1,850 and it was absolutely brilliant, honestly the best car I've ever owned. Still lots of problems, but only tiny cheap niggles. Ended up on 3x the mileage of the first one!

 

[VR46-G@Z]

What I like about the 182 is that I'm an average guy on the spanner but I can do most of the work on my 182 with my half price Halfords/draper portable tool kit. This forum has been so helpful to get things sorted on my car. My 182 was a very well cared for forum car but I've still pretty much replaced everything on it in 4 years of ownership but as I say not to great expense like my previous Alfa Romeo GTV V6... parts are so affordable for the 172/182 I can see me owning a few more in years to come.....so much bang for buck it's great!! :smile:

 

[Martin_172]

tbh they don't rust so everything else is fixable, as long as its not a crash damaged wreck.
I bought a heap for £800 couple of years ago, spent a grand on it and it drove like new!

they are good out the box on track so id look at buying cheap, spend £500-£1000 getting it driving as it should from the factory, belts, bushes, dampers, good tyres, ball joints etc etc then enjoy it and decide what you think needs improved!

 

[JimF]

Thanks! Great advice! I'm expecting a few niggles but I suppose the lack of rust is a blessing!

 

[Andyman]

Try and buy from someone who's owned the car for a while.
Those who are selling after owning after only a couple of months with the usual excuses written in the ad rings alarm bells.
Also when you clock a car you like, worth visiting that MOT guv check site thing to show previous MOT failings

 

[RS Charlie]

Try and buy from someone who's owned the car for a while.
Those who are selling after owning after only a couple of months with the usual excuses written in the ad rings alarm bells.

A good shout but not one to follow. An Audi TT 225 I saw before buying the Clio was described as 'mint' and was owner by the same guy for 2 years. If I told you it drove worse than my Mondeo at the time with 260k on the clock I would not be lying. The car knocked from pretty much every corner, didn't really hold the road that great (it felt 'loose'), had oil blacker than the ace of spades along with a missed cambelt change the owner thought nothing of. That is before I get to the electrics where some didn't work.

Suffice to say, I walked away :lol:.

 

[Andyman]

Yeah agree mate there will always be exceptions.

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

I bought a 'mint' 172 a few years ago, for 2k! didn't do my homework and got burnt, yes the Interior was actually mint and the bodywork was really tidy, bought it on a whim, only when i was driving it home did i realise it was a bag s**t, ended up spending 1k+ getting it up to scratch, as the dealers were nearly a 100 mile round trip!

There's no such thing as a 'good' cheap 1*2 unless you get very, very lucky!

 

[j4mes-c]

Bought my 172cup "cheap" compared to the prices they usually go for standard, although it had no paperwork or history with it and it needs the dephaser done. I was in 2 minds with it but when I did a bit of digging it turns out it used to be running a 230bhp turbo conversion and has Koni adjustables, ktec stealth exhaust, polybushed bits and pieces like ARB and dogbone to support the engine mods. But the replacement engine is a 182 block I think with a decat pipe and has been remapped. Without any info it may have more as it was easily sitting with a CTR.

I know I've done really well with my cheap buy and will admit it was a risk but it's been reliable as anything, 33mpg and what has needed done or still needs done was just typical maintenance like tyres, bulbs and airbag light on. The worst issues were the dephaser, a snapped rear Spring and the horn not working.

Overall I'm happy and would recommend buying on condition than miles/owners unless it's scary high. Mine will possibly be sold next year as a track car for someone with alot of the work done and supporting mods ready fitted. Then again it's so much fun when the mood takes

 

[tsoob]

I dunno, i've seen some mint cars with broken timing belts for cheap! tbh that's how i'd do it. Buy a broken Tbelt car. Yes it'll cost money to put right, but at least you know it's done - Better than spending runner prices and having to do the belts anyway

All depends how cheap I guess, both mine have been broken Tbelt cars that were well maintained otherwise

 

[JimF]

Doesnt the cambelt snapping knacker all the valves or are they a non interferance engine?

 

[bloke]

If you're lucky it will only take out eight valves.

 

[JimF]

Ouch

 

[bloke]

you could of had mine by now and be happily thrashing it round:wink:

 

[JimF]

Apart from the fact it was £150 over my top budget, and £350 over what I wanted to pay, and I haven't sold my classic mini yet....

 

[bloke]

it's only money:tonguewink:

 

[JimF]

:laughing:

 

[bloke]

and sell your mini quick before it rusts away:wink:

 

[tom172w]

To give you an idea, Im putting mine up for sale once I've taken all the mods off. Just bought a 106 Rallye.

Problems with mine:

Cambelt due next year
Speedo sensor needs cleaning or replacing
Airbag light needs turning off
Tie rod could do with replacing
Cloudy headlights

To give you an idea of what you get for your money I'm going to aim for £1100 which I think is fair, only 85k on it with stamps in the book up until head rebuild about 25k ago and I serviced it 10k ago so only 15k undocumented miles.

Everything but the Cambelt can be sorted for £100 tops.

 

[RS Charlie]

Apart from the fact it was £150 over my top budget, and £350 over what I wanted to pay, and I haven't sold my classic mini yet....

For the right car that is pocket change, but of course it is easy for me to say .

 

[JimF]

For the right car that is pocket change, but of course it is easy for me to say :wink:.

Of course. However I'm of the mind that any car can have issues, and I'm fully expecting to have to sort out issues with the car, so paying over my budget and THEN having to do an oil change, new brake fluid, etc at a minimum wouldn't sit right with me. And that isnt aimed at Bloke's car, thats any car that is over my budget; and in fact any car I'm looking to buy. I'd much rather buy the ph1 I've seen for £695, however tired it may be, then I've got it, and can spend my time and money fettling it and getting it up to standard, and the spending isnt all in one go. I've been stung in the past and no offence to any sellers, I dont take recommendations on condition without viewing a car.
The whole reason for a Clio is as a 2nd car. A disposable track toy to stop me ruining my BMW.

This is all academic until my mini sells! Got a viewing lined up for the weekend though!
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi.../mini-998-30-000-miles-very-clean/5014953?v=b

 

[RS Charlie]

Of course. However I'm of the mind that any car can have issues, and I'm fully expecting to have to sort out issues with the car, so paying over my budget and THEN having to do an oil change, new brake fluid, etc at a minimum wouldn't sit right with me. And that isnt aimed at Bloke's car, thats any car that is over my budget; and in fact any car I'm looking to buy. I'd much rather buy the ph1 I've seen for £695, however tired it may be, then I've got it, and can spend my time and money fettling it and getting it up to standard, and the spending isnt all in one go. I've been stung in the past and no offence to any sellers, I dont take recommendations on condition without viewing a car.
The whole reason for a Clio is as a 2nd car. A disposable track toy to stop me ruining my BMW.

This is all academic until my mini sells! Got a viewing lined up for the weekend though!
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi.../mini-998-30-000-miles-very-clean/5014953?v=b

No worries, I guess I think I have been there in the past with bargains, and in 90% of cases been stung, causing me to be a little too ruthless about cars these days! I could give examples but this would soon turn into an essay!

As for recommendations I fully agree. Maybe I am too picky about secondhand cars these days but when people say a friend's car is mint 'bar this, and bar that' I do soon begin to wonder. Upon seeing them I end up with further dissapointment, to the extent where some of my previous cheaper buys did not look that bad! I guess that is one good thing (and bad) about forums and people talking over what history their car has.

Many thought my Stag was 'mint' when I sold it last year but I did not describe it like that and priced it accordingly. Sure enough the new buyer has sunk in £2-3k into it already, which could have been £1.5k without the mods.

The spreading the cost thing is probably a reason many of us do it TBH :smile:. It certainly was for me until recently and in many ways it did make sense.

I'd be honest, I'd be tempted to do a swap with your Mini if it was a 1275 ; I almost bought an honestly described 1275GT with a Stage 3 1330 as a daily (I must have lost my marbles!) but the chap considered my offer too low until a day after I bought the Clio! However, I would want far too much for the Clio as it is a daily ultimately and probably the best one I have owned for some time as a result of the above ; read that as a way of trying not to sell it :lol: :smile:.

There goes my attempt at being short and sweet with my reply!

 

[JimF]

Half of the mini belongs to my old man and he wants his share back!