Firstly, hi and welcome to Cliosport.net.
Just for a bit of back ground, ive owned a Mk1 V6 for over 2 1/2 years. I now own the Mk2 version. So i would say that my opinion counts, but it is still just my opinion, lol.
The Mk2 IS a better car, but not as much as the journos would have you believe, if you can afford the extra, buy the Mk2, but dont wory if you cant, the Mk1 is still awesome.
£17500 for a car that has covered 13,000 miles is a little high, my Mk1 was sold through a dealer for £17k, it had 10,000 on the clock and that was 5 months ago.
Other stuff to look out for on the Mk1 other than that, that has already been said are:
the brake fluid reservoir leaks out of the cap if the car has been driven hard constantly (i.e. track dayd). Potentially this isnt a problem, just makes a mess, but if it gets onto the under bonnet plastic bin, it will rot the plastic, these are £280 + vat to replace. Renault had to replace three for me on my Mk1.
The wire mesh on the side air intakes can work thier way loose, not sure of the cost of replacements but not a difficult job to sort out. I had mine replaced under warranty.
The front rubber splitter is fragile, if it gets caught it usually gets ripped off, and yes youve guessed it, theyre not cheap to replace either, about £110 + vat. But ive got a brand new one for sale if you find a car without one and require a replacemant
.
Hope all the above is useful, any questions PM me, happy shopping, Steve.