Deeply disappointed

[JPandDeb]

It seems that all Clios are garbage and it makes me wonder why they have such a big following.

Every Clio (4 to date) I have owned has had major problems. My current one cranks but won't start and seems to be giving the garage a major dilemma. The wife's 1.2 eats fuel. My old Cup had 12 warranty repairs in a year. And the 1.2 Dynamique I had before that fell to bits after a year.

You read about hundreds of faults and speak to anyone randomly and they'll tell you that Renaults are reknowned for dodgy electricals and lack of reliability.

I am posting this looking for reassurance.... having been without my car now for 3 days, I am seriously worried.

 

[CHRISK172+]

I hear what your saying and it has crossed my mind before....but the 2 Clio's i've had have been trouble free to date.

 

[DrR]

I agree, i'll never have one again without warrante, having spend about £4k fixing my 172 this year.

 

[timmmah]

Eeeek!!! I'm skint quite a lot lately and i'd hate to imagine what would happen if I had to pay out for something.

 

[wickedbitch]

so far since mid may ive done coil pack, plugs, clutch, and fan belt, but that was all within the first month of owning her so hopefully not much else will go wrong (she says touching wood)

 

[daviebroon]

... why'd you buy 4 of them then?

I've owned ONE renault in my life... and making sure i don't buy one next time.

 

[wickedbitch]

... why'd you buy 4 of them then?

I've owned ONE renault in my life... and making sure i don't buy one next time.

when they run as they should theyre lovely to drive and comfy too

 

[JPandDeb]

... why'd you buy 4 of them then?

I've owned ONE renault in my life... and making sure i don't buy one next time.

Well, first one just fell to bits inside and wanted a 172 Cup and got very good trade in deal. Then didn't have one for ages and the wife wanted a Clio. So I bought her one.

Then I thought it must be just me, and saw the Exclusive for sale, and thought go on... I'll have another.

Should have learnt my lesson.

 

[Fletcher]

I think my Mk2 172 is a great little car, now on 80k i've spent quite a bit of in the last 12 months with the big 72k service and it also needed two new driveshafts, new alternator, brake pads and discs thats just off the top of my head. But atm she is running really well [touches wood] i doubt i'll ever sell it.

More then likely get another RS clio in the new year, as i like them so much.

 

[DrR]

I don't even think the RS clio is that great to drive.....

 

[drunknmunky]

The 1.2 drinks fuel?? Slow down a bit maybe?? (Maybe make sure there no hole in the tank)

12 Warranty repairs?? Again slow down, take them speed bumps a little slower my 182 is 3 years old and not had 1 repair :approve:

This being my first clio, i think there a cracking car even though ppl say its french.

I hope you get it sorted mate

 

[cat171]

It seems that all Clios are garbage and it makes me wonder why they have such a big following.

Every Clio (4 to date) I have owned has had major problems. My current one cranks but won't start and seems to be giving the garage a major dilemma. The wife's 1.2 eats fuel. My old Cup had 12 warranty repairs in a year. And the 1.2 Dynamique I had before that fell to bits after a year.

You read about hundreds of faults and speak to anyone randomly and they'll tell you that Renaults are reknowned for dodgy electricals and lack of reliability.

I am posting this looking for reassurance.... having been without my car now for 3 days, I am seriously worried.

Sounds like you've bought duds tbh.

 

[bmh.01]

To the opposite i've had 3 now and haven't had any major problems with them (touch wood).

 

[DrR]

I think problems all depends on what you expect from a car, like poor starting in my opinon could be fine to someone else, and when one of my dampers went a "normal" person would not be able to tell.

 

[BBC]

I have owned 4 and still have 3 including my 182. Never had any problems and all have been pretty perfect. The first one was a T reg (1999) 1.2 and bought it at 54,000 miles for £2200, took it to 80,000 miles and both my sons learnt to drive in it, then sold it for £1900 after 2 years, now that is cheap motoring!

 

[mattsport182cup]

i have 182 cup from march and i hadn't problems with it. before i owned 1.2 p reg and i hadn't problems either. what i did and do just regular services. for example mercedes are great cars without problems ain't they? my brother owns one and goes to garage often why? some are fooked up when leaving factory and that is shame.

 

[John D]

Had mine for 18 months, covered nearly 20k (its on just over 50k now). Only problems have been 4k rattle followed by back box dropping off, a clip broke on the drivers side electric window, gear gator had to be replaced (£7 IRRC) when a clip broke.

All in all nothing major has gone wrong and it seems to be running really well :approve:

 

[DrR]

You all make me jelous with your reliability.

 

[John D]

You all make me jelous with your reliability.

Seems that some just get Friday afternoon cars unfortunately.

At the end of the day are there any manufacturers that can boast truely bullet proof reliability? Especially in this price bracket?

 

[DrR]

I don't mind odd problems, but my cars had new everything.

 

[John D]

Is that it going off track in your avatar?

 

[monkeyman103]

Had mine 8 months and spent most of the time in renault. Had a whole new exhaust as it fell of on the motorway plus 2 other mid sections as they kept going. New cylinder head as tappet seized and destoyed the cams. (expensive one). New driveshaft along with new bushes and new engine mounts. Gotta love renault.

 

[DrR]

Had mine 8 months and spent most of the time in renault. Had a whole new exhaust as it fell of on the motorway plus 2 other mid sections as they kept going. New cylinder head as tappet seized and destoyed the cams. (expensive one). New driveshaft along with new bushes and new engine mounts. Gotta love renault.

Mines had 3 gearbox's 2 cambelts, one due to pulley snapping so had to have heard removed and valves replaced, and new clutch, exhaust, dampers all in last 12 months + much much more.

 

[nath17t]

iv had 7 cars sins 2003 and 6 of them have been mk1 clio's and 1 of them was a pug 106 xsi and i spent more money on the pug than all the clio's put together your best bet is to get and old one so easy to fix and cheap,
too much electrics in the new ones.

 

[Fletcher]

.[/quote]

Mines had 3 gearbox's 2 cambelts, one due to pulley snapping so had to have heard removed and valves replaced, and new clutch, exhaust, dampers all in last 12 months + much much more.[/quote]

How did you get through 3 gearbox's?

 

[John D]

Had mine 8 months and spent most of the time in renault. Had a whole new exhaust as it fell of on the motorway plus 2 other mid sections as they kept going. New cylinder head as tappet seized and destoyed the cams. (expensive one). New driveshaft along with new bushes and new engine mounts. Gotta love renault.

Mines had 3 gearbox's 2 cambelts, one due to pulley snapping so had to have heard removed and valves replaced, and new clutch, exhaust, dampers all in last 12 months + much much more.

Exhausts do seem to be consumables on 172s' (2 mid sections is taking the piss though!)

Rollo - any idea why you're going though gearboxes like that? I know they're not the strongest but thats taking the piss. How many miles is that over?

 

[DrR]

Sorry it's actually had 4 lol. Orginal fucked, put one in then it jammed in gear, so got a brand spanking new one from Renault, was fucked from word go, rattled and made some weird noises so was replaced.

 

[Fletcher]

Sorry it's actually had 4 lol. Orginal f**ked, put one in then it jammed in gear, so got a brand spanking new one from Renault, was f**ked from word go, rattled and made some weird noises so was replaced.

That is bad luck mate :S

 

[MarkRS]

The trouble is you dont know if you are buying an abused car or not if its second hand, so you take your chance. Alot of people i know drive like dickheads and i'd never buy a car off them. These are the ones that have 4 gearboxes and tyres every 5k miles. You just dont get that from 'normal' road driving.

You cant count things like shocks/brakes as any car you use even normally they are knackered by 40-50k.

You must remember you get probs with any car, i know two people that bought new Audi's (52reg, one 56reg), one had a new gearbox after a week, and the other they rejected as the steering was knackered from new. (common problem on all new a3's apparently) unless i knew these people i would have thought Audi's were really good, but they are no better.

 

[Evil Ally]

Had mine since brand new, ~16 dealership visits so far. Right now my cruise, ESP, CD player and dash clock all have faults which will need looked at before the warranty runs out. To be fair, half the faults have been caused by the dealerships themselves. Drive in with 1 fault, drive out with 2 new ones. I knew it was an unreliable car when I bought it, but the dealership service has been so utterly appauling it has simply ruined the whole ownership experience. My car and it's problems are an on-going joke at my office.

Suffice to say, as much as I love driving the car, I'll be getting shot of it before the warranty expires and I don't think I could bring myself to buy another Renault again.

 

[GordonD]

Is that it going off track in your avatar?

You beat me to it. I was going to ask him if it was him running off the road, or whether it had broken down and he'd had to park it there.

 

[GordonD]

We had this argument a while back. The consensus seemed to be that with cars you can't have all three of cheap, quick and good. The best you can do is two out of three. You have to pick which two. Clio Sports are cheap and quick.

After having a whole series of Japanese cars (cheap and good) I bought a Clio Sport because I wanted something quick, and I thought all car manufacturers built good cars these days, so I'm more than a little disappointed at how poortly designed and built it is. You'd think a company that's been doing it this long would have learned by now how to do it right.

 

[A18XHO]

They seem to be ok if you look after them good, but if just used and not looked after i.e check stuff over when your cleaning it and stuff it should be ok. Mine gets sooooo much abuse and i like to look after it mechanically and its not died or skipped a beat once!

 

[Martin_172]

my old 1.2 16v dynamique done 140k in 4 years and f**k all went wrong apart from a coil pack.

then everything went at once! but tbh my driving just took its toll on it i think!

172 i got at 23k 3yrs old, its now at 32k and nearly 4yrs old and already had the centre section replaced under warranty and now the engine management lights came on, gearbox mount feels like its going too... hopefully not a sign of things to come

 

[GazCB]

I bought my old 172 when it was a year old on 16k miles. I had loads of problems in the first year I owned it but got them all sorted, then no problems at all in the second year. I think maybe just some people don't look after their cars and when you buy them they're fooked.

I had a megane from new and didn't have a single fault in 18 months of ownership.

People think beemers are reliable but I've had to spend bloody £1000's on this one since I bought in April. It's going in autotrader v. soon and I'm getting something with warranty so I can run it without worry for a bit.

 

[JPandDeb]

The 172 I have just bought has full and detailed Renault service history and has been very well looked after and not abused at all.

I drive it like any other car - carefully. Obviously as a sports model I do open it up from time to time in order that the engine is allowed to work to its full ability.

It seems that those who have had no problems with Renaults are the lucky minority rather than the other way round!

 

[JPandDeb]

As for the 1.2 using fuel cos of the way it is driven - it is my wife's car. She drives slowly all the time and only uses it to go from home to work (5miles), home to her mum's (2miles), and home to town (6miles).

 

[Fletcher]

Had mine since brand new, ~16 dealership visits so far. Right now my cruise, ESP, CD player and dash clock all have faults which will need looked at before the warranty runs out. To be fair, half the faults have been caused by the dealerships themselves. Drive in with 1 fault, drive out with 2 new ones. I knew it was an unreliable car when I bought it, but the dealership service has been so utterly appauling it has simply ruined the whole ownership experience. My car and it's problems are an on-going joke at my office.

Suffice to say, as much as I love driving the car, I'll be getting shot of it before the warranty expires and I don't think I could bring myself to buy another Renault again.

I will never take my car back to a Renault dealership/garage again, as i think they are useless, this is why i take mine to Rentech.

 

[Brasseye]

both of my clios had no problems while I had them (maybe the way I drive)
or just plain dumb luck... not the best built cars but very good value for money overall in my book

 

[Neil G]

I've had my 172 over 2 years now and it's been a great little car

Costa fair bit recently getting teh cambelt done but I knew that was coming....have to replace the pads next which is just wear and tear.