Opinions please on getting a new diesel Clio to replace my 172

[paul806]

Evening people,

I've only had the 172 for 6 months. The purpose is to soak up most of my miles and something I'm not too worried to leave parked up - I have a Megane 275 Trophy which spends the vast majority of the time locked away in the garage.

I've done about 7.5k miles in the Clio, which I've really enjoyed, but the idle is a bit noisy and rattly now and the clutch release whines. Belts are due and I think the dephaser is rattling a lot. Straight through pipe (connected to the SS exhaust which is way too loud for my tastes anyway and gives me a headache) will need swapping for a cat for December MOT too. Basically I fear that if I don't fork out for a massive service soon it'll go bang.

I've been to Renault and been offered a pre-registered 15 plate Clio Dynamique diesel for around £165 a month on 48 month PCP contract, including part ex value of £700 for the 172. A quick calculation on fuel efficiency at current prices and road tax suggests I'd be looking at about £120+ saving every month. Avoiding spending big bucks on the 172 too, this seems like a no brainer...

My dilemma is whether I can live with a 90hp diesel for my day to day driving and whether the refinement and sat nav, Bluetooth etc along with fuel savings will be enough to keep me happy. Looking around at other manufacturers, the Clio seems to be about the only new or newish thing I can justifiably afford.

Has anyone got any experience with the new non RS Clios and can anyone suggest any alternatives for similar monthly deal?

Cheers

 

[con1981]

So you're going to save £120 a month but are going to have to spend at least £165 a month on renting a car not including fuel. I really don't see the sense in this

 

[charltjr]

Hard to know if that's a good deal or not without knowing the deposit, the interest rate and the final payment. Four year PCP's can work out quite expensive because you pay interest on the balloon/final payment right up until the end.

If you're flexible on make and model you can find some good lease deals out there, I'm assuming you're doing 15k miles a year so on that basis you can get a Citroen DS3 for £500 down and £163 a month, Corsa SRi for £440 down and £147 a month.

I guess what it comes down to is are you happy paying the depreciation on a newer car rather than paying out a few hundred to make the 172 more to your taste.

 

[Kosy]

I kind of agree with the above.

I don't know how many miles you do, I assume a lot. Otherwise I would just use the 275. I think when you pay so much to have a stunning car then why not get the benefit of it? Miles doesn't affect value as much as people think on a new car. I had a mint low mileage Impreza P1 which I used to keep for weekends etc. Regretted not using it more when I sold it.

If its an mpg saving you need then just chop the 172 for a £1k Polo TDI or similar.

 

[con1981]

A 172 will easily return 40mpg on a run. Ok so the Clio is not the most refined or quietest place to be. Having said that I had a brand new astra gtr as a rental for a bit and the noise level on that was on par if not louder than my 13 year old Clio.

Stopping kidding yourself you just want that new car smell [emoji6]

 

[paul806]

Stopping kidding yourself you just want that new car smell [emoji6]

Haha this made me chuckle. Partly, yes... Mostly because of warranty and not needing to spend money on it besides basic service for the foreseeable. When I think of the money I'm looking at to sort out the 172 in the coming weeks... I think that difference of about £45 or less a month between monthly fee and fuel/tax saving will be covered for at least 2 years by not needing to fix up the 172.

The deal is with the 172 as a deposit only, not sure exactly the interest figure off the top of my head. The final payment is around £4300 for the option to purchase but o probably wouldn't. It's a 15000 mile allowance.

They're basically calling the car £11k - seems to be the same as a used 63/14 plate with sub 20k miles on. Something to do with a minimum interest rate they have to put on used as opposed to 'nearly new' cars, apparently... Basically I asked what used stock they had and they were the same price on a plan.

 

[charltjr]

Can get a brand new one with 5.9% APR PCP for £12,700 through a broker (drive the deal). Would be worth comparing against your current deal.

 

[Paprika123]

I've got a Golf R and I also have an A3 170 S-tronic for doing the miles. We also have a MK3 dci that that kicks a round the family that I use now and again and I prefer it to the Audi tbh. Plenty poke and does well over 600 miles to a tank. Cracking little cars and quite fun to drive too.

 

[paul806]

If you're flexible on make and model you can find some good lease deals out there, I'm assuming you're doing 15k miles a year so on that basis you can get a Citroen DS3 for £500 down and £163 a month, Corsa SRi for £440 down and £147 a month.

I'll have to look into the DS3, there's a dealer not far away. I've never been in one or really heard anything about them. I've driven a couple of more recent diesel Corsas and I thought they were horrible to drive and really cheap inside - I don't think you can get the features like sat nav either (although I could be mistaken) so I wouldn't go for one of those.

The Clio genuinely seems to be about the best thing for fuel economy figures.

Regretted not using it more when I sold it.

If its an mpg saving you need then just chop the 172 for a £1k Polo TDI or similar.

I do get this argument about using the trophy. I am told this all the time and I do agree but I usually have to park in the street in Edmonton for work.... There are also issues with it being too identifiable as mine (LY with cherished plate) which I won't get into.

I do want something newer and more refined. I also like the idea of the sat nav and Bluetooth etc which the new Clio comes which are difficult to find when looking at other older used cars.

 

[paul806]

Charltjr - cheers I'll have to look into this. Any broker in particular? Essentially what I looking at is a brand new one but registered by the dealer on a 15 plate (delivery miles only). The initial quote was about £185 but haggled down to a lower interest.

Paprika123 - Thanks, that sounds good then! Do you leave it in the Eco mode for the higher miles?

 

[Ezra-RS]

I drove the new clio (diesel) and was surprised how well it handled! Compared to its counterparts from other brands that is.. But changing for a grandpa car also means changing your mindset. I know from experience, you can't overtake like you used to, etc, etc. But it does save on gas!

 

[paul806]

I know, I'm not sure how well I'll cope with the lack of power. In the last 6 years or so I've gone from a basic fiesta to a 182, then a Megane 250, the the trophy and 172. It's going to feel very different.

Thanks for all your input everyone. As you can probably tell I'm almost decided on going for the new diesel Clio but I'll keep my options open for now. Just done a journey in the 172 and thought 'I would miss this'.

 

[chaski]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but why have the Trophy just to garage it forever?

 

[Goodj]

Kia ProC'eed GT

 

[Paprika123]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but why have the Trophy just to garage it forever?

Because MarcR™.

 

[Goodj]

Saving money by spending money?

Oh CS, you never change.

Just think, all that time with the megane in the garage, you'll be able to save up for those coilovers.....

...hang on, no, that was the last guy that did this thread

 

[coverman]

You will be pleasantly surprised with what deals some independent Mercedes dealers are doing on CLA and A series manuals

 

[Goodj]

CLA and A series manuals

1) Front drive Merc? GTFO
2) a MANUAL merc? GTAFO

Next someone's going to suggest a Jaguar with a cloth interior

 

[charltjr]

'course, you could buy my Alpina off me for that money

 

[paul806]

I've looked around a bit and spoken to some dealers - Kia and Mercedes as suggested. Cheers for the advice. The Pro-ceed is a car I like the look of but main dealers won't do anything near the same price unless it's got a fair few miles on and less of the kit. They were also talking only £200-300 part ex on the 172... The A class at first glance looks like a good value monthly payment (out of my budget anyway, but still) but then the deposit was well over half as much as I'd like to pay in 2 years spread over monthly payments!

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but why have the Trophy just to garage it forever?

I appreciate your point, however the trophy does get used and I don't have it just to live in the garage. Maybe I over-egged the point of the Clio getting much more use. I just don't use it to drive to work and I keep it in the garage when not in use.

I used to drive my Megane 250 to work every day and it sustained a lot of damage from malicious scratches, parking shunts and what I can only assume was just reckless damage. I often have to park in the street in Edmonton. I also don't want to drive to work in something as distinctive as the Trophy - in truth, another reason the loud 172 may need to go.

Saving money by spending money?

I've spent some time doing my sums and it would, without doubt, cost me less to have the new diesel for two years as I'm considering than to run the 172 for that time. That is, baring any issues the warranty doesn't cover, all things considered. I think I'm going to get the new Clio.

 

[Martin_172]

I have one we use for the pram when going out and we need space and my mrs bangs 45k a year on it, I absolutely love it.
plenty torque means it doesn't feel slow day to day like a 90hp petrol would, however ours is now running superchips software which I believe should be around 110bhp and 200lbft and It goes really well, remember they weigh about the same as a 172, not big lardy things despite the size of them.

cracking chassis, has about as much grip as my trophy lol

ours does 70 odd mpg average most weeks going up and down the motorway but both of us are heavy with it so would do more easily if you take it easy.

few down sides for me...
Stereo sound quality is terrible, unacceptable tbh.
you cant turn the ESP off
eats tyres for breakfast (a trade off of having unlimited grip I suppose!)

 

[paul806]

Martin, that's very helpful. Thank you. I think I've made up my mind after reading that.

Is the stereo that 'bass reflex' thing? I remember that being on a courtesy Clio I had a couple of years back. I think it sounded ok with Bluetooth from my phone but hardly what you'd expect from the 'upgraded audio' pack. Can't be much worse than the Megane's though!

 

[Martin_172]

hi mate, yes its the media nav unit with the bass reflex speakers. maby I just expect too much from it but the one in the twingo/mk3 clio was much better and the Cabasse unit in out mk2 blows it out the water lol

as I said above I love ours, its very grown up feeling to drive, so refined compaired to previous generations, the ride quality is fantastic, and the sat nav is brilliant too. brilliant fun to throw about too, it may not have the power but as long as you keep it moving and use the chassis, it makes progress well, as I said ours is now mapped but we done 30k in it standard first and had no issues, had a shot of a TCE 90 petrol one and wasn't a fan, it really needed revved to keep it moving

 

[Scrooge]

Don't kid yourself that you're saving money, you won't be.

I totally get why you want to do it though,f**k worrying about a shitty old daily all the time. Will this break, will that break? Life's too short. Get the dci Clio bang the miles on it carefree and enjoy the trophy at the weekends.

People forget on there that to most normal people 1*2s are old buckets of s**t that are not a massive pleasure to drive and people don't want to be tinkering every weekend.

 

[coverman]

I suggested manual Mercedes, knowing full well that 88% of MB cars worldwide are sold as autos, because dealers will work very hard to move manuals on(and it doesnt seem to affect residuals adversely on MB PCP's, ie the balloon is proportionate to the auto version).Mercedes have made fwd cars since the '90s incidentally.

 

[Goodj]

Mercedes have made fwd cars since the '90s incidentally.

Yes, they certainly have

And as much as a front-dragging benz with a clutch pedal and cloth seats is certainly workable as transport....so is the bus.

May as well just get an old Vectra, it's already lost all it's value so you wont need to calculate anything.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I had a 1.2 Mk4 Clio for a day. I loved it, despite the pants engine.

One of those with the 1.5DCI engine would be a perfect daily for a normal person (i.e. someone who isn't going to run a brand new Merc as a daily). You have a Megane Trophy 275 which is an epic car and I can see no scenario where you'd choose a 172 over that Megane.

Do it.

 

[Goodj]

the clio range could be shortened purely to
1.1 TCe
1.5 DCi
2.0

Everything else was a waste of material

 

[chaski]

Makes much more sense if the clio is just the work/tip runner. The idea f such a beautiful car like the 275 trophy being a garage queen made me sad inside that's all! Haha.

If you're really looking for economy have you considered getting an old mk2 dci? With a small amount of money they can be 120 odd bhp. Mega economy, much cheaper over all and still reasonably nippy for what they are?

 

[Ricardos]

I bought the new shape Clio Media Nav S (14 plate) the end of June this year, so 4 months ownership and I have to say it's been a really good all round car. Coming from a 262bhp supercharged Clio 182 they're obviously poles apart but obviously knew this the minute I set upon buying the new shape Clio. Personally for me I love the new shape, not fussed about the fact it's 4 doors. I like the fact they 'hide' the handle in black near the top. The amount of 5 door cars I see with the rear door handles positioned much higher than the fronts, to me it breaks the flow on the body (again that's my opinion)

I wanted that new(ish) car feel, I wanted good fuel economy, I liked the shape, I even like the 17" Drenalic diamond cut and black wheels. To me everything works together on the outside. I like the fact it has the screen built in the dash in the centre, once Bluetooth is enabled it allows you to make calls and play music from your mobile, USB port for MP3 or others, 3.5mm jack point. I ended up upgrading the sat nav myself courtesy of Renaults free software to allow a near full postcode option to be used. This is my only gripe, maybe it's just me but after using TomToms satnav setup for years I find the Renault satnav a little frustrating to use. Not a big issue but when Renault rolled out this satnav across the board (Captur and Dacia models too) they didn't have the postcode option to hand, it did start out as a paying option but after many complaints they dished it out free online.

It's a cracking car, I had an 11 day driving holiday around Europe in which we covered just over 3000 miles and it didn't miss a beat. A couple of days we were in the car for 8 hours driving, I can honestly say that after the days driving I still felt pretty fresh, plenty of room inside for the driver and passenger. It put down the miles in comfort, cruise control played a big part, nice cold aircon driving on the south coast of France in the mid 30s.

 

[Jack!]

I do laugh sometimes at the cars people buy second cars to protect.

 

[Martin_172]

I do laugh sometimes at the cars people buy second cars to protect.

its not always about "protecting" My 182 Trophy lives in my garage, sure having a daily runner keeps miles off it and keeps it looking good but at the end of the day its a £5000 car, for me the fact that probably 10-15 days a year ive got a car that I take out just makes it feel all that more special.

sure it costs me more having a runabout, but I don't do it to save cash, my runabout is something as economical as possible to limit how much it costs me, but cars are my hobby and as I said, getting to take the car out on a nice sunny day and then washing it and putting it back in for another few weeks is just all part of the ownership experience, I don't think the car would feel as special, or still be here for that matter if I used it every day as my only car.

@Ricardos, that's the part that impresses me the most about our mk4 DCi, its so comfortable to do long drives in, so much room in the front, I absolutely love the driving position, nice low seat, gearstick in front of you rather than under you, miles apart from the mk1,2,3 but I suppose that's just progress. if they would improve the sound quality from the stereo it would be perfect!

 

[paul806]

Once again, I appreciate the input from everyone. I've asked the dealer to provisionally go ahead with the finance checks for that deal so I can go for it by the end of the week if I decide to. The 172 is sounding less healthy by the day so I've almost made my mind up.

Chaski and Ricardos - thanks for your comments. I've had a drive in one now and thought it was quite a pleasant experience really. The only thing I missed was seats with decent side bolsters - no big deal for non hooligan driving though and I'd soon get used to it. Yours looks great, Ricardos. I wish there was a white one at the dealers after seeing those photos. The mk4 shape is growing on me, even in the Billy basic style I'm looking at with rubbish wheels. I like the back end. Feels a bit big for a 'small' hatchback but the smaller models don't seem to have any equipment.

Chaski - the mk2 is a good shout but I think I'm set on going for something new now for the equipment. Seeing as they are telling me the same money for new mk4s, brand new (pre registered) seems quite appealing!

 

[paul806]

I do laugh sometimes at the cars people buy second cars to protect.

What would you have instead of the Megane?

 

[paul806]

@Martin_172 do you own a mk4 dci at the moment?

That's how I felt taking one out for a drive - nice comfortable experience where nothing feels awkward. Even the steering wheel is pleasant to hold coming from the massive one in the 172!

 

[Ricardos]

Yes! I agree about the stereo sound quality 'Bass Reflex' but again it's a Renault and not a BMW or Audi so there has to be some short comings in quality in some places. Again, personally I just cannot fault it as a complete car package. Small things like the dash how it's lit up looks so fresh, it beats looking at the orange 182 clocks, again like you say it's all progress. They've started on a clean slate and done everything different.
I average between 55-59MPG (if you believe the clocks) £20 of diesel at £1.10 a litre can see into 210 miles.

 

[SuperJ]

Why not just use the Megane for everything?

 

[Goodj]

Why not just use the Megane for everything?

Because it'll lose even more value every night

 

[SuperJ]

Yeah that's true. Just buy another car and save some money, somehow.

 

[Martin_172]

@Martin_172 do you own a mk4 dci at the moment?

Yeah mine is the black one at the top