Newbie, considering a 172

[Jamieccfc]

Hi, first and foremost, great site you guys have here!

As the title suggest's im a newbie and will be in the market for a 172 shortly.

I currently own a 55 plate Golf GT TDI, its an R32 replica (always hated replicas as i thought it was cheating but i kinda fell for the looks and the 50+ mpg on this one!!) and been remapped to around the 170bhp mark. Ive just bought a house with the ball and chain and so am looking at selling the golf, paying off a loan and credit card, which should leave me with around £2000.

Out of that £2000 i wanted something small, as reliable as poss for my budget, and SORT OF economical, but more importantly i wanted something that would give me a bit of a grin every now and again, hence why ive landed here!

I've owned all sorts in the past the good including a 350z, boxster s, 231 RX8, and the not so good, corsa 1.2 8v first car, £900 hyundai coupe shed, and a fiat coupe 20v turbo which loved visiting the local mechanic!!! But ever since i saw the phase 1 172 ive had a soft spot for the little clio sports, but for one reason or another have never ended up buying one.

That will shortly change, and im ideally looking for a phase 2 172 clio with the trimmings, im sure you refer to it as 'full fat', prefferably i'd like it to be standard but am not adverse to some subtle improvements. What i really want to know is what should i expect for my budget, is it realsitic and some general buyers advise really on what to look out for etc etc. I promise i'll use the search button as im guessing all of this has been answered before but its always nice to get some direct responses,

Thanks in advance,
Jamie

 

[Brian]

Welcome to the forum, Jamieccfc!

 

[jme_159]

Hi mate, welcome! I'm a newbie who has just got a Ph2 172 FF – as they say. Spookily I have also had a Fiat Coupe (tho 16v Turbo) and my name is Jamie as well!! In my brief adventure I would say that's a realistic budget, I paid £2125 for mine, late 2003 on a 53 plate. I believe the later ones had all the kit, traction control, cruise control etc. mine also has the cd changer. I'm not massively mechanically minded (so you are now probably thinking what on earth were you doing in a fiat coupe!) but I guess its all the usual jazz, belts done etc etc. I think there is a buyers guide on here somewhere, am sure I read it beforehand, very useful. It's been great so far, I still haven't gone for a proper blast, but it's no slouch! Even if I do kinda miss the coupe turbo b0000st!! My around town mpg is usually about 36/37 and a steady motorway/A road cruise is an easy 42/43 – I didn't expect that even after I had read it!