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Advice need on buying a Clio Renaultsport 172



  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
Hi, I am looking at buying a Clio Renaultsport 172 and joining the 'club' on this forum if I do.

The car is a 2002 '01' Plate, 81,000 miles and has full service history up to 50,000 miles nothing after that. It has a years MOT, decent life left on tyres, bigger alloys though all heavily scuffed.

Paintwork is in very good condition hardly only one or two very minor stone chips or dents, definitely good for its age. No scuffs on bumpers or side skirts.

I have a few questions if anybody can help answer any of them.

1. It has no aerial, the moulding is, can I just get a new one and screw one in, are they standard screw in fitting.

2. The spare is just a spare alloy; there is not tyre on it, what’s the typical cost for a 1 new tyre?

3. Despite the exterior paintwork being very good the interior needed a good clean! However there was some slight rust inside on driver and passenger seat rails (the fixed part-not the bit that goes forwards and backwards), is it me or is this a little bit odd? Anybody else had these show a bit of rust at that age? There were also some slight signs of dampness an almost maybe slight mould on some of the seats. Interior carpets seemed fine; there were any signs that the car had been flooded at any time. Do these Clio’s suffer from leaky windows? Could this be the source of dampness perhaps?

Other points in terms of conditions are the steering wheel grip being flappy (believe this is common but imagine it can just be glued down), a couple of nicks to the fabric of one seat, and leather scuffed on the drivers outboard side of bucket seat.

The window price was £3195 but before I had expressed interest the dealer said he would take £2795. Bearing in mind no tax, not full service, no aerial, no tyre on spare and the condition points mentioned is this price a bit too good to be true. Glass's price has this as a £4260 'Dealer Retail price (the window price prior to haggling) and £3601 for private sale in good condition - both assume Full Service History, comes with tax and a spare tyre obviously

Its bugging me a bit because I like the car, the paintwork says its been looked after, I can help be suspicious about the interior thought and the price-maybe I'm scared of a bargain. It has also had 5 owners which for a car its age I think is high, though the dealer thinks this is average for a hot hatch where most who like that sort of car change regularly. The dealer did say if I wanted to buy he would do a HPI check for me for £15 and if there was a problem with it I wouldn’t have to purchase. I've asked the question has it been in an accident etc and he said not that he is aware of.

Seemed to drive fine and couldn’t detect any issues with engine, gearbox etc.

I have heard the following too "the cam belt needs to be replaced every 72,000 miles or every 5 years whichever is the sooner.” - no idea if this has been done


"Clutches can last as little as 30,000 miles if abused but can last up to 60,000 if treated properly." no idea if this has been done.




Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated
 

DrR

ClioSport Club Member
  VW Golf GTD
I wouldn't buy it tbh i don't think it's cheap if it needs a £500 cambelt, never heard of rust before, sounds like it has gash wheels etc.

And your letting the guy your buying it off do the HPI?????

Clutches can last up to 60K, where did you get that rubbish from. Loads of people around with 100K on the orginal.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
I am a perfectionist so I am being very critical. It may well have had the cambelt done I need to check. I got the quotes from a review. I will try and add some pictures
 
It might look like a bargain, but at the end of the day i'd say it's a far safer bet to not buy the car - you might be missing a bargain, but you've given a pretty hefty list of things you are worried about. You're parting with quite a bit of cash, so you really need to be worry free when you're buying it. I'd be looking for something with a far more complete service history - someone who really cares about their car and has nothing to hide keeps every receipt for it, no matter how small and insignificant. In particular if you can't find evidence that the belts have been changed, they probably haven't - no one in their right mind would get rid of a receipt for that.

Don't give up your search for a Clio, but look on more specialist sites i.e. here and pistonheads etc. Being able to speak to the previous owner is really useful too. Having said all this, i'm very wary of dealers, don't trust them at all, but you will save money privately, and you will get piece of mind if you are more meticulous in your search.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
ok here is some pictures. I will have a video on youtube within 30mins

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  BMW 323i Coupe
I'd say no just because of the exhaust. Don't get me wrong, the car looks lovely, but with that exhaust it's screaming out that it's been abused.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
perhaps, but at 81 k miles and that age most exhause will have needed to be replaced. Ive read a lot of the owner reviews on parkers and they do say that renaults direct replacement is the same about the same price as a stainless/performance exhaust.

Problem is my current car is a Civic Type R, worth around 5K and I am looking to get rid of it and get myself a bit of cash, around 2k for my new house. But realistically I don't thind there are going to be many of these cars I could afford in price price range which is £2000-£3000.

Anybody any idea about the aerial?
 

DrR

ClioSport Club Member
  VW Golf GTD
I'd say no just because of the exhaust. Don't get me wrong, the car looks lovely, but with that exhaust it's screaming out that it's been abused.


It was the headrest srpings and gearnob that did it for me.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
If it has not been serviced after about 50k can anyone detail any major things it might have missed on service (i.e. one that dont happene ever service or every second service)

Thanks
for your thoughts so far guys.
Does no one think the negative sides of the condition etc that I ahve expressed are reflected in the price?
 
  172
i have a 02 plate 172 in the same colour with less miles stainless stealth (no ugly back box on show) lowered 40mm and great condition inside and out £3500 and its yours, alot better motor than the one you are looking at.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
How can you tell its neglected mechanically - other than missing recent services.

All those links are out of my price range. I dont like black alloys etc either.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
I've emailed the seller (pretending to be another person) and asked a few more pokey questions, and also about the cam belt.

If its not been done I definitely wont be interested if it is a £500 job - anyone able to confirm it costs around that much (if you don't do it yourself obviously)
 

Daniel

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
That is a heap of s**t. You said you're a perfectionist, but you're clearly not.

I wouldn't even waste my time reading the advert.

Its tatty, the alcantara inside is filthy, as is the carpet. Its been chavved, needs a cambelt/tyre/ariel and theres rust on the inside....

Do yourself a favour and look elsewhere. I wouldn't pay £1000 for that.
 
LOL, nicely put Daniel.
The market is flooded with clio sports, why your looking at that is beyond me, complete shed. Any dealer that advertises a car in that state obviously doesn't value their reputation.
Usually any sign of damp in a car means its been left standing somewhere for a while usually incomplete. Or by its more common name damaged repaired!
 

DrR

ClioSport Club Member
  VW Golf GTD
All the ones i posted are either simular price, or add up to what it would cost to fix that one.
 

Daniel

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
I think the original poster wants to buy the car and is looking for us to justify it to him.
 

DrR

ClioSport Club Member
  VW Golf GTD
Just noticed washer yet balls are missing, so technically shouldn'y pass a MOT.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
I think the original poster wants to buy the car and is looking for us to justify it to him.

I'm not Daniel trust me. I cam on here because I really wasn’t sure, and to be honest love the kind of car, and cut see its cosmetic pitfalls I could easily tidy. It was the mechanical side of things I was concerned about and there are no signs of anything wrong there other than of course missing some recent services.

It was obvious it needed a bit spending on it, namely an immediate service, an aerial a tyre for the spare. I've been asking myself the question with the cost of them was it sill a good price. It is over £1000 less than the glass' price.

I wasn’t aware of the cam belt either, so factoring that in is a biggie. I came here with my thought and concerns. We all see cars and get excited at the prospect of buying them, it’s hard to step away and look at the bigger picture. That’s what I came to this forum for, so Daniel, no offence but you don’t need to be rude about it.
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172
All the ones i posted are either simular price, or add up to what it would cost to fix that one.

i've been looking for a car between 2k and 3k for a while something, but I dont want to step down too much from my Civic Type-R, at least not to a 'Plain Jane' car. Spending much over 3K on a car and initial costs just wont give me the money I'd rather have to put to my house.
 

Daniel

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
I'm not being rude mate, i'm voicing my opinion.

Every single person that has posted in this thread has told you to steer clear of it. I think that in itself speaks volumes.

You mention that the paintwork has been looked after, but I can safely say that that car has been mopped. Give it a few weeks when all the forecourt wax has worn off it will be swirl heaven.

I'm trying to stop you buying a dud. I've been selling cars for around 8 years and I can tell you now, that is not a bargain!!
 
  Golf GT TDI
david for 2795 you could get a much better car, that one you posted looks s**t, bet its done the last 40k doing wheelies round the local Mcdonals car park with under age girls crammed int the back, there is some nice cars in the for sale section. look on auto trader to
 

DrR

ClioSport Club Member
  VW Golf GTD
But the ones that are more expensive don't need another £1000 spent fixing them
 
  Silver ph2/Mk2 Clio 172

thanks, my postcode is LA12 0HN so most those are well over 200 miles away, some decent ones there tho price/mileage wise
 
  Golf GT TDI
its just an idea of what else you can get for the money, its worth waiting for the right one bud trust me, good luck with the search and ffs leave that blue one alone lol;)
 


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