buying a 172 - is this worth it

[Mikey23]

Hiya everyone,

ok the time has has come for me to get me a 172. i went to look @ one just round the corner from me. it has 42k on the clock, 02 reg(warrenty till summer next year) uk car, FRSH (just serviced at 42k?!?! not sure why as surely the next service isnt till 48k?)everything seems to be working, although im goin back to have another look. few things i noticed. there is a very small crease/dent on the bumper. i tried to caprture it but it isnt that easy to see..........

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.chu/c_dent.jpg

Heres some other pics of the front and back........

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.chu/c_back.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.chu/c_front.jpg


-2 of the alloys r pretty scuffed up,
- there is a scratch along the plastic silver bump strip on the drivers side
- something on the steering wheel is peeling slightly?! (minor)
- i didnt get to drive it, but he took me out for a spin in it, but the guy was up front with me and said the clucth is quite stiff and heavy (might need replacing soon, or possibly just needs adjusting somehow?)

the guy is asking for £7k but can probably knock him down a bit more (6800ish maybe) is it worth the money?? is there anythign else i should look for?

there were loads of clios up foir sale a few weeks ago, but everyone else now is asking for upwards of 8k so this seems really cheap now!

cheers every1
Mike

 

[toms_cup]

ive got the same kinda dent on my bonnet.....dont know where the hell it came from



that looks nice tho, im not a fan of visible exhausts on mk2 clios but that looks nicely done



Tom

 

[Liam]

clutch is heavy on these cars anyway. The dent will probably be made much better by someone like chipsaway try sort that into the deal. Other than that have a look at a few more get a feel for whats on offer.

 

[McBunny]

mine was going for 7500 with 39k on it ah well its gonna get p/xed now

 

[Lee]

There are lots of these for sale at the moment. Im sure people are prepared to come down in price, so its worth shopping around for one with no faults. The exhausts look okay, but Id be wanting to know what it is and who did it.

The clutches are often heavy in 172s.

 

[Iain C]

looks ok 2 me..

mine has the same dent on bonnet...? Happened about 3 hrs after i picked it up!

 

[Yugguy]

only even consider it if he lets you have a drive.



How modded is it? I notice its got modded exhausts.. How often has oil been changed, is he the kind of driver to thrash from cold?

 

[lifelong 172]

Is 9500 a good price for an 02 172 phase 2 with only 9000 on the clock. Not a mark on the wheels, no chips, no dents, no scratches etc....

 

[McBunny]

looking more like 9k

 

[lifelong 172]

they originally wanted 11500 for it. I told them to &*$£ OFF!!!

 

[Lee]

I chopped my 03 import 172 in with 22.5k on the clock against a 182 and got £8,600 for it.

 

[McBunny]

i was offerd 9k for mine when it had 36 on it but that was against an alfa 147 gta

 

[Mikey23]

thanks for the reply guys. ive been looking around for quite a while now, and this is the cheapest clio ive seen with a warrenty still remaining. i couldnt drive it cos i didnt have any insurance cover (im 23), but im goin down with my dad tmw to have a drive of it. the exhaust is from powerflow, and as far as i could tell its only the back box bit, not the whole system, plus it isnt too loud which is perfect for me. ive got a system from them on my current car and it comes with a lifetime warrenty so all seems in check there.

mods wise, its only the exhaust, although there were different wheels and srpings on it originally but its all been put back to standard bar the exhaust obv.

im not sure about how frequent oil changes an stuff have been, but it has full sevice history so its been changed at least every 12k. when the guy took me out for a drive he was fairly cautious and drove it gently for the first 10 mins or so saying he didnt want to cain the engine while it was cold.....after it had warmed up, then he gave it some stick and it went v. well so from that i can assume hes taken fairly good care of it? id imagine it would be pretty hard to find out how the car has really been treated.

thanks again guys

Mike

 

[UncleRogi]

- something on the steering wheel is peeling slightly?! (minor)

NOT MINOR - I had this and it developed (with use) into a total fragmentation of the Steering wheel leather. To Fix you will be quoted a whole new wheel because Renault dont "Replace" Leather. Unless you know anywhere that does, thats a £250+ repair bill for you in the future.

Check the condition of the Drivers seat Leather, in particular the Right side, at 48000m thats alot of "getting" in and out of the Drivers seat and that Leather can take abit of a battering.

 

[Mikey23]

thanks for the heads up on the steering wheel..........ill try and get a pic of it, but it didnt look all that serious? it was right in the middle of the wheel, and it looked like a v thin layer had peeled off about 3 cms long (2-3 mm thickness at most) is that the same thing u had??

 

[cli0 172]

im liking the zorst !

 

[Jones]

That dint is from closing the bonnet mine has exactly the same

 

[UncleRogi]

Yep, - mine started as a scratch, but developed around the edges then wore out a patch and that kept getting larger

Just a heads up, get a piccy and Ill tell you if its similar

 

[Liam]

always drop the bonnet dont push it to close

 

[Mikey23]

thanks for all the sound advice fellas. i took my dad to have a look at it, and he said there is just too much wrong with it. he spotted more scrates and scrapes so i decided to leave it. bad new eh...........

on the plus side, i am going to pick up a blue 172 on friday. 32k on the clock full service history and not a mark on it...... and the best bit, i got it for £6950!
the car is a bit older (51 plate) but still has 6 months wartrenty on it so that will do me!

the guy was really friendly, upfront about everything. he even handed me over the keys to his car and told me to come back when i liked lol. obv i gave him my keys in return. im not sure i would be so trusting, but it shows he had nothing to hide at least. cant wait now

Thanks again
Mike

 

[Lee]

Nice one Mike, I used to have a Monaco blue one and loved it.

 

[Dan Page]

mine also has the dent! i think it is more than likely from the last owner parking his ass on it tbh mate!

 

[Mikey23]

its weird people syaing about the dents. when i went to see the car again it seemed worse than before. if u ran ur hand over the bonnet it seemed to spread out over at least 20 cms. visibily it only looks about 5 or 6 cms across but it just wasnt smooth at all! either someone has been really pressing on the bonnet hard, or some lorry has backed into it! very odd!

 

[Liam]

thats a bargain mikey, didnt realise you could get them for that price.

 

[Mikey23]

lol me either liam. i was expecting to pay about 8k for a good one.it was the only one on the auto trader at around 7k, apart from the silver one posted above and i think this is a much better car. couldnt find a single thing wrong with it. no rattles, no squeaks, no marks anywhere! i checked everyting. full lock both ways on steering, no knocking. gave it some hard accelration in first and second and still nothing wrong. I was expecting sommit to be wrong with it, but it seems straight as they come. i was expecting minor problems from all the stuff ive read on here about renaults "build quality" but from wot ive seen, i cant really fault it........... yet lol.........obv not a friday built car.

lee - the blue really does look nice in the flesh! a bit different, as ive seen mostly black and silver ones knocking about. im sure ill have many happy miles in it! i would hvae bought urs off of u when u was selling up. i remember seeing it for sale....... but i wasnt in a position to purchase back then.

 

[rich[182]]

me likes the zorst !

 

[Mike@Rentech]

looks good to me.

I see that type on dent in the bonnet a lot, its mostly down to people pushing down on the bonnet to shut it rather than dropping it shut.

 

[cupsportmad]

Fork out a few grand more and get one of the remaining prereg cups. It will work out cheaper in the end because your keep it for longer thus negating the need to change cars and lose money, the warranty will be longer etc.

 

[Chili Red]

Quote: Originally posted by Lee M on 24 August 2004

I chopped my 03 import 172 in with 22.5k on the clock against a 182 and got £8,600 for it.

Ooooh thats interesting! I could p/x mine for a 182 then!! It only cost me £9k

 

[Mikey23]

the exhausts on the silver one r nice. thinkin that will b the first mod to my 172, althou maybe some nice 4" slash cut jobbies! who knows!

i often wondered about whether it would be cheaper to buy a newer car and keep it, or buy second hand and then flog it.......... i suppose it depends on the sort of person u r. i personally probably wont keep the car for more than 2 years. hopefully i wont have lost too much money in that time. i would have thought u would lose more if u bought a more expensive car and kept it for longer and then sold it on later.

lol @ metallic black. didnt u just buy urs a little while ago? i remember u replying to one of my posts b4 when i was still thinking about buying a 172! oh the crazy world of car prices!

 

[st33ly]

I must be looking in the wrong places as am going to look @ a mrk 1 172 with 43k on the clock and part service history for £6995!

I feel sh*t now

Ive got a copy of glasses guide for feb this year

Clio 2.0 (00 - 03)

April 01 51 plate 29k miles Trade - £8325 Retail - £9325.


[Edited by st33ly on 01 September 2004 at 11:38pm]

 

[daz182]

the dent in the bonnet would have come from pushing the bonnet shut with your hands rather than letting it drop shut...

 

[Mikey23]

st33............ believe me i know wot u mean m8. i spent absolutly ages looking for a mk2 clio for under 7.5k with some warrenty still in place and not too high milage. id keep ur eyes peeled now thou as im sure there will be a lot more coming on the market with the recent new plate coming out. also i do feel that some ppl r perhaps asking a lttle too much for their car. def have a check out at http://www.whatcar.co.ukhttp://www.whatcar.co.uk

if ur after a mk1, im sure there r some knocking about cheaper than 6995!

Chek the autotrader (http://www.autotrader.co.ukhttp://www.autotrader.co.uk) every couple of days. (ror if ur as bad as me, every day!
cars are coming on and off their all the time! the one i just bought was only up on the site for 2 days, and i called the guy litterally the day it went up!

 

[st33ly]

Thanks for the advie Mikey23. Been thinking about a civic Jordan but they are rare as hell too! I check Autotrader every few days also.\ Are we sad?

Who cares!!



Cheers Mikey

 

[Mikey23]

lol i think we r mate............. but i dont care, i got a mint car cheap so call me wot ya like

 

[Chili Red]

Quote: Originally posted by Mikey23 on 01 September 2004

lol @ metallic black. didnt u just buy urs a little while ago? i remember u replying to one of my posts b4 when i was still thinking about buying a 172! oh the crazy world of car prices

Yeah I bought it in June hehe...Im just being greedy. After the amount Ive spent on it (getting the alarm fitted etc) Ill be keeping it for a while yet. Would still love a 182 though *sigh*

Great news that youre getting your 172 on Friday - ENJOY!!

 

[Mikey23]

Cheers Met B. I dont think the 182 is that much different. i certainly couldnt really tell any diff when i took it out for a test drive. they do come in some rather lush colours thou. artic blue *drool* lol.........

Its gonna be torture for the next week cos i cant drive it until NEXT friday (insurance DAMN YOU!). i pick it up tmw and then it just has to sit on my drive. its not gonna b good waking up and just seein it and not being able to drive it! oh well at least i can errr wash it and clean it every day haha.


[Edited by Mikey23 on 03 September 2004 at 12:09am]