Ex Renault UK 172

[philbolton]

Looking at a 172 this week, 52 Reg, 22,000 miles!

It is currently owned by an ex Renault dealer salesman (negotiations should be interesting) but before that the vehicle was owned by Renault UK, i found this out because in the advert the plate had an 'HK' (Hampshire) on the plate. I used to work for Renault UK and i know that all of their cars were registered at the import centre in Southampton.

What do you think this motor has been up to in the early days of its life, employee company car, press car, demonstrator??????????????

Do you think it could be a safe purchase or would i be sitting on a time bomb? :dapprove:

 

[TheCake]

HPI check would reveal a recorded hidden history mate - £39.

 

[Englebert]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Dealers tend to treat car badly as at the end of the day, they didn't pay for them. God knows what has happened to a press car!

 

[blink172]

Tough call.

Its bound to have been thrashed daily from cold, but looked after and worn bits replaced. If you go in knowing that its had a hard life, you should get it at a knockdown price (is it at a Ren dealer or Autotrader?).

Get it HPI'd as Cupcake says and get it RAC/AA checked as well.

 

[Tyson-182]

Leave it well alone imo...They usually get treated really badly!

Tyson.

 

[Rich]

The 182 I test drove was the sales managers car at my local dealership, so chances are its been test piloted and had a hard life just like an ex demo!

 

[philbolton]

The chap who i spoke to (ex renault dealer salesman) is selling it on behalf of his girlfriend, she has had it a year and a half, presume she bought it with a bit of a discount from her boyfriend.

Its on autotrader for £7k registered end of december so had a recent MOT and two new tyres, warranty has just ended too. Would imagine knowing the tricks of the trade its had any problems sorted out.

Your right it is a hard call!!!!

 

[Alex_225]

I very nearly bought a second hand 172 that had been at the dealers a while.

I saw the car after one of the staff had taken it away for the weekend and it was a f-ing state. The seat was broken, all 4 wheels kerbed, interior panels missing!! It had 5000 miles more than they had it noted down on the system and it was just abused. By the time they sold it on it looked as good as knew but it had been given a hard time in its first 18,000 miles so I steered clear.

I'd be pretty wary of this one mate and personally would look for a well cared for private sale with only one owner!

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

What a load of shite. I bought my old dCi from a dealership where it had done 18k miles in 10 months. Once it was cleaned, serviced etc it was as good as any other.

 

[Ad]

My 172 was an ex demo and had been driven hard, new tyres after 5k!!! It was a right pain in the arse as well, although, check it because there will be cars in that area that have the H* prefix that are genuine private cars.

 

[philbolton]

I dont believe this was a demo vehicle as i thought dealers had to register their demos under their own name, in this case Renault Watford, so it should have a watford prefix. However this is the closest dealer to Renault UK so i believe it came through there, hence the 'HK' prefix.

 

[Timmay]

in my experience delares tend to rag the nuts off demo cars - so its perhaps a bit touch and go on this one

 

[philbolton]

its not an ex dealer car, its ex Renault UK!!!

 

[Cupster]

When I test drove the 172 I ragged it! So did anyone else that got it in so I would steer clear?!

 

[Leeshez]

Personaly i would not bother with it. You want to check to seeif any repairs have been done under warernty.

 

[Alan]

in my experience delares tend to rag the nuts off demo cars - so its perhaps a bit touch and go on this one

The 182 i test drove was a bucket, had around 1500 miles on it, was shunted around from dealer to dealer in the same chain for test drives, the dealership where i got mine is right next to a express way so national limit...i come off the forecourt, was around 11am early december....so car was freezing, salesman says just drive it...i said ok....puff of white smoke out the back limited revs as the engine was freezin, traction light flashin like a good un! lol

 

[paul_h172]

you never no the history of anycar( as in terms of it having ahard life) unless you buy brand new. a friend of my works for audi at milton keynes and all there cars all have a mk prefix. apparntly they dont hold as much value, dont kno how true that is tho.

 

[GazCB]

Am I the only one here who thinks there's nothing special about that price? My car is 6 months younger than the one mentioned but with 42k and I reckon I'd get £6-6.5k if I sold it now. At the end of the day that car is a company car so it's gonna have had the tits ragged off it. Would you buy a hire car? So why are you still reading this thread when you should be out looking for a different 172 to buy!

 

[Bluebeard]

The garage i work for used to buy delivery mileage clio 172 cups from renault uk with the prefix H K, so they're not all bad...

 

[Fletcher]

The only problem with buying ex demos is that they get driven very hard on demos, even when they are still cold, but some people drive there own cars very hard all the time.

 

[Rich_16v]

I wouldn't touch it, there's not exactly a shortage of 172's for sale you can basically take your pick and find a mint one that you're 100% happy with

 

[trailerparktrev]

Seeing the car was first registered by Renault UK there could be a possibilty that it could be a press car ie leant out to the motoring press or used for trackday events.
A differnt brand I know but a couple of seat dealers (in the same group) west of southampton and in bournemouth were selling 05 plate Ibiza Cupras with no more than 4k on the clock, for £9995 - cheap, but it was confirmed that all of these cars were press and test cars used for trackdays.

If I was spending a lot of money on a car, in which you will be doing I would rather give my 7000 quid to somebody who has looked after the car from new - rather than a car abused by every tom, dick and harry

 

[philbolton]

Please tell me where you people get your cars from, a couple of you are telling me thats too much, its the second cheapest 52 plate on autotrader bar £4.

 

[GazCB]

?!!! I dunno what search peramiteres you've been putting in but there's plenty of mk 2 172's for £6-7k. Mk 1's are on there for £4.5k.

 

[philbolton]

These 172's are all 02 reg's!

Anyone find me and 2003 172 for under £7k? :dapprove: