Thinking of buying a renault clio 172 year 2000
I asked him about any faults and this is what he said.....
Hi,
To answer your questions;
1) The car drives fine
2) It does not have any untoward noises, but there is a slight whistle from the auxiliary belt that drives the alternator, This doesn't need to be remedied as it does not affect the function it is intended for, The only reason not to remedy this is that its quite a time consuming job due to its location and the only benefit will be the eradication of the noise, If it was not an awkward job I would have my mechanic rectify it, but the car will be due a cambelt replacement at 70,000 miles and the auxiliary belt and cambelt are in effect next to each other and it makes sense to replace them both whilst going to the trouble of doing one or the other it would be foolish to only do one. You may not even notice the noise, however as this is my job it stands out to me. If you need more insight into this get back to me and I will try to explain it more clearly
3)No mixing of the fluids, both oil and water are as they should be, The engine in the 172 isn't particularly prone to headgasket failure.
4)The marks on the steering wheel are there to stay, The only way to resolve them would be to have the steering wheel recovered or replaced with a new one, option one is a very time consuming job and as such would cost somewhere in the region of £100 and I'm not that confident it would be the best job in the world, option 2 is only really feasible if you were to fit an aftermarket item or if you could find a second hand item from a breakers, A new one from Renault costs in the order of £200 plus vat. The steering wheel is no worse than any other mk1 172 I have seen, they are bound in leather but the leather has a rubberised coating to give more grip, this hasn't stood the test of time and Renault were aware of the problem not long after the cars release as they had to replace many under warranty, subsequently this method was removed from later incarnations and is no longer available on any of their range, If it was to be my car I would live with it as in no way detracts from the car and I couldn't justify the expense.
5)The mark on the bumper is more of a slight crease, it can be seen in the rear shot of the car I sent you directly below the sport badge on the tailgate.
6) The electrics and air conditioning function perfectly.
7) There's no real way to tell how much life is left in a clutch without seeing it, however it works perfectly and shows no signs of wear or fault, it really comes down to your driving style as to whether it will serve you well, Some people are prone to wearing clutches out, some aren't. I myself needed somewhere in the order of 4 clutches in my first years motoring, but this was due to my own fault and can now confidently say I put little or no wear on any clutch.
8)The car has been serviced at 12, 25, 35, 46, and 54 thousand miles.
9)Due to the nature of the car, i.e.. suspension set up and power delivery all 172's tramline and torque steer under certain conditions, firm suspension and 172 hp through the front wheels coupled with the vvt that's just the nature of the beast.
I hope I have answered your questions thoroughly,
Regards
Simon
I asked him about any faults and this is what he said.....
Hi,
To answer your questions;
1) The car drives fine
2) It does not have any untoward noises, but there is a slight whistle from the auxiliary belt that drives the alternator, This doesn't need to be remedied as it does not affect the function it is intended for, The only reason not to remedy this is that its quite a time consuming job due to its location and the only benefit will be the eradication of the noise, If it was not an awkward job I would have my mechanic rectify it, but the car will be due a cambelt replacement at 70,000 miles and the auxiliary belt and cambelt are in effect next to each other and it makes sense to replace them both whilst going to the trouble of doing one or the other it would be foolish to only do one. You may not even notice the noise, however as this is my job it stands out to me. If you need more insight into this get back to me and I will try to explain it more clearly
3)No mixing of the fluids, both oil and water are as they should be, The engine in the 172 isn't particularly prone to headgasket failure.
4)The marks on the steering wheel are there to stay, The only way to resolve them would be to have the steering wheel recovered or replaced with a new one, option one is a very time consuming job and as such would cost somewhere in the region of £100 and I'm not that confident it would be the best job in the world, option 2 is only really feasible if you were to fit an aftermarket item or if you could find a second hand item from a breakers, A new one from Renault costs in the order of £200 plus vat. The steering wheel is no worse than any other mk1 172 I have seen, they are bound in leather but the leather has a rubberised coating to give more grip, this hasn't stood the test of time and Renault were aware of the problem not long after the cars release as they had to replace many under warranty, subsequently this method was removed from later incarnations and is no longer available on any of their range, If it was to be my car I would live with it as in no way detracts from the car and I couldn't justify the expense.
5)The mark on the bumper is more of a slight crease, it can be seen in the rear shot of the car I sent you directly below the sport badge on the tailgate.
6) The electrics and air conditioning function perfectly.
7) There's no real way to tell how much life is left in a clutch without seeing it, however it works perfectly and shows no signs of wear or fault, it really comes down to your driving style as to whether it will serve you well, Some people are prone to wearing clutches out, some aren't. I myself needed somewhere in the order of 4 clutches in my first years motoring, but this was due to my own fault and can now confidently say I put little or no wear on any clutch.
8)The car has been serviced at 12, 25, 35, 46, and 54 thousand miles.
9)Due to the nature of the car, i.e.. suspension set up and power delivery all 172's tramline and torque steer under certain conditions, firm suspension and 172 hp through the front wheels coupled with the vvt that's just the nature of the beast.
I hope I have answered your questions thoroughly,
Regards
Simon
