My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!!

[M@C]

Hi there!!

Just stumbled across your forum after looking for info on my new motor.

After a friend was desperate to get rid of his MOT failed, 52 plate, 172 Cup prior to moving He let it go at a bargain price of £500!!

After failing the MOT the cheapest he was quoted was £1080 fo the work, after looking at his failure list I can do the work myself for £3-400 so it seemed rude to say no!!

I was in the process of looking for a Vectra GSi but V6s and current fuel prices don't go hand in hand too well so the Clio definitely seems the smart option for now!!

Looks like a nice place you guys have got here. I've been a Vauxhall nut for the last 7 years so I've done the round on their forums after owning a Mk4 Astra SRi and a Vectra SRi V6 (for the family thing) and prior to that owned an XR2i and a Clio 1.4 Sport. So it seems a bit strange coming back full circle.

Look forwards to picking your brains on a few bits and pieces.:quiet:

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Could be a good move... what's needed to pass the MOT ?

 

[Dave.]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Stick a list up of all the problems, we will be able to point you in the right direction so,

A. its done properly by the right people
B. Its done at a good price!
C. Your location to be sent in the right direction if further assistance is needed

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

+ your location to be sent in the right direction if further assistance is needed ..

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Desperately needs disks and pads all round.
NSF caliper is seized.
NSF Ball joint needs replacing.
Hazard lights weren't working.
Rod disconnected/missing from the rear axle to the break sensor.

After reading on here, the cups don't come wiith the rod attached to the break sensor and the lever comes preset. So there's one fail point cleared already!!:rasp:

Hazard lights were just the switch, but this threw up three seperate fails on the MOT cert.

Caliper is easy enough to sort at home in the garage but bought a rebuild kit to do it properly.

Disks and pads were badly corroded. Rushed into buying a set of disks and pads which lead to me falling into the rear bearing trap. So now I've bought some bearings that I just need to get pressed.

Ball joint is my biggest problem as the pinch bolt has started rounding on me!! The bolt wasn't a snug fit in either my metric or imperial sockets and is giving me grief so I may have to drill it if my final efforts fail tomorrow. Failing that it'll be new hub time.

I noticed the exhaust hangers were shot so I bought a new set. The centre one played nicely but the rear sheered two of the three bolts so they're getting drilled tomorrow!!

It seems to be all the stupis simple jobs giving me grief, that's why I think the car hates me!!

Also an advisory on the MOT was one of the rear tyres were worn. After looking at it I don't know how it wasn't an outright fail!! So while the wheels were off I got them shot blasted and powder coated for £120. Tidied them up nicely and got rid of the kerbing... which was nice.

Should hopefully have it good to go through the MOT over the next few days so I can see how good they really are.

 

[Sash]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

With all those jobs sorted, you may well have just got yourself a good little bargain!

Do you plan on keeping it or sell on and make a bit of dollar?

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Sorry, as for location I'm in Redditch. J3 of M42.

Getting the work done isn't an issue as I usually do all of my own repairs but I'm happy knowing my limitations so when there are jobs I can't do my brother has quite a few friends with garages that can do the work.

Cheers,
Stu.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Don't scrimp on tyres

 

[Dave.]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

just dont let them touch anything timing related and youll be fine mate

 

[Alastair.]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

You sir got yourself a steal!

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Originally I just saw pound signs, but I've always really liked them especially in the blue that this comes in.

So I think I'll keep it for a year and see how I feel. I know it'll be fun, but I sometimes have quite a bit of kit to lug around. Hence the Astras and Vectras.

Thing is the missus has an Astra so I can just borrow that when I need to move stuff!!

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Don't scrimp on tyres

For now to get it on the road I went with Khumos. So better end of the budget range. I like to think I don't always drive like a knob as I rely on my car too much and can't afford to stack it. So hopefully the Khumos shouldn't be ditch finders until I upgrade them.

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

You sir got yourself a steal!

Definitely!! Originally another friend was going to buy it but convinced him otherwise when I asked how much no claims he had got.

After his reply of "Well that won't matter, how bad could it be??" I had to educate him as to what he was actually buying!!

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

No need to drive "like a knob" to lose out to cheap rubber. I nearly binned the OH's 182 at 20mph thanks to the cheapies on the rear end of that. Nearly put an old car in a hedge as the first time I hit the brakes in the wet, the fronts just locked...

Never ever again will I buy crap tyres Cheap doesn't mean crap BTW. Some of the khumhos have good reviews.

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

I had Khumos on my Astra when I was in Germany and for budget tyres they did really well that's why I'm happy to go with them again for now.

I'm just wary that this has less weight and more power so it should be pretty interesting.

I think what the guy originally had on the fronts were cheap and nasty from the look of them, so I moved them to the rear for now and will swap them out over the next month or two.

 

[Alastair.]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Ive never had a problem with cheap tyres, dont get me wrong you notice the differnce in the wet but for day to day driving they are fine.

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Last Friday I finished work on the car at quarter to twelve at night and managed to get it booked in for an MOT the next morning.

Sailed through with the only advisory being a numberplate bulb!! Which was nice.

Had it on the road for the last week and all I can say is that it is awesome!! The missus keeps stealing it for work as I'm supposed to doing DIY in my time off and I struggle to get it back off of her.:evil:

Definitely going to keep it for at least the next year. Not really going to change the exterior as they look pretty good as they are but I've already bought a Sports Cat and have Inlet/Exhaust Manifolds, Stealth backbox and a remap on the shopping list!!:rasp:

Don't let the missus read that though as she made me promise I wouldn't play with it!!:quiet:

 

[Sargara]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

If your car was a bargain then keep your eye out for another bargin for your missus too. That way you have a backup and donar car should the worst happen

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Lol, I like your thinking but she needs something a bit more practical for lugging the nipper around with all of his stuff.

Now I've fixed the main proble there are a few niggles left to sort.

Antenna base needs swapping as a previous owner has cracked the top fitting an after market antenna and decided to superglue it back together!! A lot of which has ran onto the paintwork and needs to be slowly chipped off.

Also there is a slight whine from by the pullys when cold. I think it's either the Aux tensioner or alternator pulley but I haven't had chance to have a proper look yet. If I put oil behind them it goes for a bit then comes back in a day or so but I just need to narrow it down.

Fun and games...

 

[JD]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

What a bargain! Welcome to the club fella

 

[SimonR.]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

What a steal!

Out of interest, how much did you spend on repairs?

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Balljoint £11
Exhaust brackets £13
Headlight £40
Rear shock absorber £40
Disks and pads all around £90
Rear bearings £26
Hazard switch £30
Rear tyres £140

Parts Total £390

Bolt removal £10
Pressing Bearings £20

Services Total £30

Wheels refurbed £120
Tyre removal/re-fitting £20

As I rushed into buying disks and pads I fell for the trap of buying without bearings, so I had to buy them seperate and get them pressed.:dapprove:

The hazard switch was expensive becuse I bought it from Renault.

I had to get the pinch bolt removed from the hub by a mate as the bolt started rounding on me. So I just got a friend to weld a decent nut to it and free it that way.

So parts and services to get it road worthy came to £420 in total.

The wheels had been abused so I got them shotblasted and powdercoated for £30 and now they look like new!!

Just need to finish colour coding the centre caps as I'm struggling to find a proper colourmatch. I've got one that's close but not quite there.

At the minute I'm taking a mould of a spare set of silver 2.0 16V badges from the doors so I can make some out of carbon fibre. I got an air bubble in my first mould so I've got to have another go next week. Moulding the clips might be a ballache so I'll probably just do the faces and glue them to the trim.

 

[P17 TOO]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Looks like you have the same problem as me with some little thief trying to steal your car

 

[Poopensharten]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

lol @ the kiddies in the driving seat so cute!

That my friend is a serious bargain!

 

[M@C]

Re: My Clio was a bargain price and now I think it hates me for making it feel cheap!

Lol, apparently it's an organised car ring across the country!! Little buggers!!