How would you rate a 1*2 on reliability?

[Jamie16v]

I was unsure when I was buying mine due to the french car stereotype but touch wood it hasn't skipped a beat! At least 3 of my friends have asked how reliable they are and I can hand on heart say mines been much more reliable than a VW and an Audi and cost half the money to buy!

Would you suggest it to something as a reliable performance car?

EDIT: owned an Audi TT with 40k on, nothing but trouble. Bought a Mk5 Golf and even more trouble then bought the Clio when I moved out my parents house.

 

[spanishbhoy]

mine has been ok... i think the saving grace with a 1.2 is that the parts are really cheap. my mate has a rx8 and it is money money money....everything is extortionate... im forever telling him to buy a clio...

 

[Fletcher]

10/10.

I have never broken down in mine 6 years of ownership, now on 137,000.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

10/10

Never had any problems.....until I messed about with it, so hardly the car's fault.

 

[Chip-mk1]

engines are ultra reliable IMHO
dashboards etc arent very well made and end up rattley in most cases, but thats s not really unreliable as such just annoying
gearboxes arent upto trackday hard use really but fair ok on the road normally or on trackdays if you drive like a girl

In general, I view them as fundamentally reliable cars with just some niggles like people have problems with the aircon servo or the central locking or other minor electical bits like that.

 

[Jamie16v]

In general, I view them as fundamentally reliable cars with just some niggles like people have problems with the aircon servo or the central locking or other minor electical bits like that.

I think I agree with electrics, although mechanically mine has been fine I've had a few electric problems which have been minor fixes usually on my drive.

 

[Rob]

I'd certainly give mine 10/10.

 

[Sam@NP]

9/10 for me. Mine has been extremely well looked after by all its owners and the only problem I can find in the service history is a broken lamber sensor.

The PAS pump went but that was because of some hero spec driving on some hero spec tyres.

 

[MarkCup]

I had a few early issues sorted under warranty (wiring loom, front suspension knocking) and have had two replacement throttle bodies.

Apart from that, from brand new to over 130k miles, the engine has never missed a beat, and yearly dyno runs show it building more power year on year. Even today, it still idles almost silently.

 

[one in a million]

my clio only done 24k when i bought it last year, since then i have broken down once due to water getting behind my brake pedal, i changed the brake pedal sensors, rear discs and pads, alternator and replaced the exhaust. Yesterday i started my car and had every single light come on possible, but then dissappeared after a while. i think it likes to decorate itself for christmas. Renaults have always been shite for me, an ive been very unlucky with my cars. But hey im still hear and im still loving them. overall rating in my eyes.........7/10

 

[Martin_172]

10/10 for engines and running gear.

7/10 for interior fitting/rattling etc not great but not terrible.

id give mk3 clios 10/10 for both!

 

[koi]

Never broken down on me but at 100k some parts are needing to be replaced now but I put that down to wear and tear.

 

[Tony Hunter]

All these cars are now 6 or more years old,bound to get a little gripe now and again,but all in all very good.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Mines had some fairly major chops / changes in the past and the only time it's let me down was when it blew a spark plug as previous owner used s**t super-fags.



never let me down otherwise..

Oh it ate metal once... spat it out and kept on going... strong b*****ds

9/10

 

[baynton1991]

only time mine has played up is when the driveshaft popped out of the cv joint due to the internal circlip failing but that is the only time its stopped me getting from a-b

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Had mine 18 months or so and had 1 problem with it - Some crappy sensor thingy on the PAS went and it shat out all it's PAS fluid. Alas I don't part in a regular spot and so didn't notice until the steering went funny. Quick and relatively simple fix though - New sensor, new fluid and away I went.

Can't complain at that - Last winter was pretty brutal and it coped with it no worries.

 

[Will.]

The only things that have ever gone wrong on mine are when I have fiddled. For example, putting an aftermarket steering wheel on and I touched some wires I shouldn't have and now I have dash lights galore.

Oh and a wheel bearing.

 

[Dan519]

they're damn good if well serviced, it's neglected ones that tend to give issues

 

[imprezaworks]

Bought mine 15 months ago. Couple of initial issues that if had got it diagnosed properly and not been impatient would have solved the problem much quicker. Two trackdays on and its been spot on, uses no oil, water etc and anything it need along the way it got. Like allready said look after it and it will serve you well

 

[montana]

To be honest mine feels solid and starts like a dream everytime (could just be a good battery helping here )

Never let me down (touch wood) - i have owned the cup since Aug 10

Therefore 10/10

 

[Jamie16v]

they're damn good if well serviced, it's neglected ones that tend to give issues

This, as with any car. People who don't service their car and wonder why its causing problems are idiots!

 

[Cub.]

Mines been 10/10 since I bought it in May. I'm hoping it stays that way......

Its due for some significant mechanical love end of Jan, so i'm hoping it will tick on happily for another 76k if well looked after.

 

[Jimbo_M]

Only thing that has let me down so far is a battery (which is general wear n tear), so I'm over the moon with the cup tbh

 

[DrR]

my 172 was hurrendous, broke down all the time, had new gearbox, cambelt cam go on it, etc etc etc

182 has done track days, 53k, and has had a damper, new washer jets and rear brake calipar,

 

[jenic]

they're damn good if well serviced, it's neglected ones that tend to give issues

This.

All my problems were because it wasn't serviced properly before I got it (aux kit not replaced). Once I had it done everything was just wear and tear.

 

[z8jay]

Mine is reliable as in it starts first time everytime

However as it gets older more and more things are breaking and costing me money to replace

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

My 182 was the first car i spent any real money on in terms of repair. Had it for 3/4 years and it needed, work done on the loom after it decided to not start. Renault wanted 900 but it only needed a new battery in the end. Gearbox died costing me 1000 and i was without the car for 2+ weeks as it happened over xmas. The engine punched a sparkplug out the top of the engine, i was lucky to get away with just helicoiling and fitting a new sparkplug. I treated the car like it was made of glass most of the time so i would hate to think what else would have gone wrong if i had thrashed it everywhere.

 

[scott1205]

10/10.

I have never broken down in mine 6 years of ownership, now on 137,000.

how much have you replaced now its on the mileage?

 

[Fletcher]

how much have you replaced now its on the mileage?

Off the top of my head..

A pair of driveshafts.
Alternator
Cambelt/ aux belt (due another cambelt change soonish)
Gearbox had a recon at 130k. Clutch was also changed, but was still spot on.
1 wheel bearing
2 Batteries

I think that's it. IIRC it cost a fair bit between 72-80k in terms of things needing replacing, wearing out.

 

[Ben.]

My 172 was dreadful, constantly going wrong, final straw was when it broke down on the way back from the nurburgring- granted it was normally small things such as sensors but everytime i turned the key i was worried it wouldnt start

My dynamique was the same, in the garage most months with problems

 

[CrippsCorner]

Probably 4/10...

Had two now and unfortunately both revealed faults within just a couple of weeks of ownership. First one had manifold to CAT ring break, lambda sensor fail, exhaust needing replacement due to failing emissions on MOT, and occasionally failed to turn on (never found out why!) and this was just in 3-4 months... the car was 3 years old with full service history!

Second one only picked up this month but already it's got the SERV/ABS lights flashing up on the dash.

Edit: Just remembered the first one also had a problem with the alarm.

 

[ch!ppen]

I've had 4 french car's and apart from thing's which were owner induced (when i was younger nailing my mk1 from cold lol) they've been fine, touch wood.

My Dad is an auto electrician and mechanic and literally they have no end of German stuff in. They're awful.
That said the worst is Range Rover's. They have at least 2 a day and all of them go out with very expensive bills.

 

[Harpham]

I've had my Ph1 for 2 months. Going well up to yet, bar the issues that I knew about when buying the car anyway (mostly wear and tear issues anyway).

My Ph2 Flamer was very unreliable. So much went wrong with that car. Still miss it like hell though.

 

[Don]

My old 172 Cup was immense in terms of reliability...only ever had to call someone out once because the immobiliser was being a pain in the arse...wouldn't start with 2 out of the 3 keys, but worked fine on the 3rd....AA Man (through Renault Warranty) sorted it, but even he didn't know what he'd done to fix it.

Apart from general servicing, cam and aux belt changes, 2 rear dampers (one had failed, so replaced both) and 2 wheel bearings (same, one failed, so replaced both) it was fine in the 5½ years I owned it and 99,500 miles it covered before it was written off.

The 182 I have now, has had a front wheel bearing done, the drivers door card taken off twice as wasn't locking when all other doors were locked in the almost 2 years I've had it. Worst one was when the drivers door wouldn't unlock, car was in garage and only front door accessible was the locked one, so had to climb in through the boot, and unlock door from inside! (That was embarassing!)

On the whole 9/10 for the Cup and about 7.5/10 for the 182 so far

 

[.Kev.]

As reliable as any other 7 year old car.

 

[mark smith87]

I've had my Phase1 172 for just over 3 years and so far its been really good. It's had a few electrical niggles but nothing mechanical except the dephaser pulley got very noisy,but that's a common fault apparently. I had that replaced recently when the cambelt was done. The gearbox is fine on trackdays. I've done 13 days since I got the car which amounts to well over 1,000 miles of track use. I drive the car hard most of the time,which is what it was built for. I'd give it a huge 10/10.
I've fitted K-Tec engine mountings, Powerflex Dogbone bush, engine damper, Ferodo DS2500 pads all round, Brembo high carbon front discs, braided brake lines and DOT5 fluid,& Green cotton air filter with standard 172 airbox, Toyo R1-R tyres for summer and track days. The rest is standard and the car still looks good inside and out.
It's got 120,000 miles on it and it hardly uses any oil,even on trackdays. Maybe a litre a year to top up over 10,000 miles. I'd recommend a decent Phase1 172 to anyone wanting a fast hot hatch. They aren't expensive to maintain and own. My insurance is cheaper than my wife's Astra1.6!

 

[dmallett]

Any prolbems ive had are normally i own fault. Once rectifying things that ive caused its 100% reliable, touch wood!

Minus my window mechanism, that always broke untill i replaced the whole lot bar the glass. Broke a McDonalds drive through on the way to a cs meet once

 

[mikeh]

Mine is on 142k.

It had a replacement gearbox and dephaser pulley earlier this year and I've just done a full suspension/bush/balljoint refresh. It's never yet let me down though.

 

[subarufreak]

had a 1.6 vts saxo before and it was bad, let me down on numerous occassions,
the clio never, use it daily, sleeps outside because my subaru sits in the garage, always stars up nicely. I can't see myself selling it in the near future, had it for over 4 years now

 

[Cup_Phil]

10/10 - 2 years of ownership, it's now on 116k+, never had any problems at all except the starter motor failed which cost £30 and took 2hrs to fix

Best car I've ever owned