Owning a Clio 182 - Costly?

[thommo41]

Hi,
I have NEVER owned a Renault, or any French car for that matter, nor has anyone in the family. I have heard people rant on that French cars, particularly Renaults, are unreliable, badly built, and will cause you lots of problems. I tend not to listen to gossip though, so am I going to get a shock?

I've come from a Civic Type-R, a BMW 328, and M3, and Boxster S, so they have all been very well built, but reliability is subjective! My options are either a 182 or another Civic Type-R.

Anyone got anything to add? Are they a bit troublesome, and badly screwed together compared to say a CTR?

Cheers, Alan

 

[106GTi97]

Would not at all say unreliable if well maintained, however coming from the cars you have already listed, I would anticipate a big difference in build quality. Not saying its particularly bad however. I would say a Civic Type R is of better build (assuming EK9)

 

[thommo41]

It's EP3 I'm looking at (2004 facelift) and it was an EP3 (2002) I owned. I never had a single thing go wrong with that car in 2 years, it's build quality was also rock solid. Cheers.

 

[Sir_Dave]

A car is only as reliable as its maintenance regime, no matter what the brand.

My 4 x 1*2's have all been fine, & i do 30k a year.

 

[Goodj]

aside from parts tiring and decaying with age, my 172 has worked fine.
FOr a list of faults over 3 years
CV Joint (needs driveshaft £130)
New backbox (£130)
New centre sectio (£70)
new Battery (£30 through AA breakdown)
New alternator (£100 through AA breakdown, would have been nearer £500)

Other than that it's all wear & tear parts... and that cambelt change for £700

but a Honda will be better put together,

 

[.Andy.]

At the end of the day it's going to be pretty much 6yrs old, possibly older so wear and tear is something you must expect! If you buy one with belts done and full service history then that'll be one thing you don't have to worry about. As for my 182 I've had no problems thus far but things are going to weaken and corrode such as exhaust eventually!

 

[Goodj]

Yeah, all the expenses I've incurred are pretty much expected I guess, just annoying. I never had to change the exhausts, alternators, batteries or anything like that on my Mazdas.

One thing though, the 1*2 will be better on fuel than a Type-R, if that matters?

 

[Martin_172]

my 2 172s first one was a 2003 03 plate and my current a 11yr old 2000 W plate have both been solid, not a single major problem, few niggles to be expected but nothing costly

 

[Harpham]

Mine was very costly... But worth every single penny!!

 

[jack_kemp]

My Clio has cost me very little since I've had it. A lot less than my mates FN2 has cost him in the same time.

For decent EP3 money you can belooking at a 182 trophy. Trophy would win for me every single time. No question. I find the civic very dead to drive, not much feedback through the steering at all.

 

[Darren S]

Hi,
I have NEVER owned a Renault, or any French car for that matter, nor has anyone in the family. I have heard people rant on that French cars, particularly Renaults, are unreliable, badly built, and will cause you lots of problems. I tend not to listen to gossip though, so am I going to get a shock?

I've come from a Civic Type-R, a BMW 328, and M3, and Boxster S, so they have all been very well built, but reliability is subjective! My options are either a 182 or another Civic Type-R.

Anyone got anything to add? Are they a bit troublesome, and badly screwed together compared to say a CTR?

Cheers, Alan

I think as others have said, it all comes down to the TLC that these cars get. I've had mine since new (Dec '04) and it's my daily driver with over 84k on the clock. It been serviced when it needs it and mechanically gets a lot of sympathy from me (no ragging it from cold, etc).

If you're the slightest bit handy with a spanner, you can do a lot yourself too. Changing the oil is straight-forward enough, even if the forward location of the oil filter itself is a little fiddly. Changing pads and discs is also easy enough - as too are the dampers which are also cheap to replace.

Mine has been pretty much faultless in it's 6+ years of life. Usual consumables have been replaced - the dampers all-round, brakes, etc - but nothing major. It's still on its original battery and alternator too. Probably the biggest OEM failure that will occur is with the exhaust. The vast majority of 182 owners with have had them replaced (myself included) as they are made of crappy metal and literally rust away. Bizarrely enough, they are massively heavy too, whilst at the same time emitting the same evocative exhaust note of someone farting through a straw. In other words, look to getting it replaced if the 182 you're interested in has the original one.

The interior will be a step down from what you are used too. But that said, I used a current-gen Honda Civic CDTi twice last week and I wasn't really bowled over with the quality of the interior. Fuel usage varies, obviously depending on your style of driving. My daily commute of 18 miles each way consists of all three tarmac environments - half motorway and the remainder split between A-roads and urban sections. I consistently get 33mpg - probably a fair bit higher too if I didn't spend my motorway sections at circa 80mph.

The standard tyre size of the 182 (205/45 R16) hasn't got the largest range of options, but there are still enough makes to choose from. Originally the car came with the Michelin Exalto 2 tyres and the last time I checked, theses were at a premium of £130ish each.

Find a good one and I think it will actually be cheaper to run than your previous cars you mentioned!

D.

 

[thommo41]

Thanks for the replies, I will check the belts have been done (anything visually obvious I could spot to tell, incase they don't have proof?) and thanks for pointing out the other bits and bobs!
As for the 182 vs the Civic, the CTR is very basic inside, cheap materials in my opinion, though they are screwed together nicely. The steering on the CTR - quite right, it's not their best asset, quite numb under certain conditions. Ruins an otherwise talented car.

Insurance pricing near enough identical, I find that very odd given the CTR's higher group!

Cheers, Alan

 

[Matt W]

Loads of 1*2's are crashed by chavs/yoofs/lbrenches hence the insurance issue.

 

[z8jay]

Mine's costing me on average 2-300 quid a month but I've been very unfortunate with the issues i've had and it was relatively high mileage with limited history when I bought it.

I still love the car.

 

[Goodj]

Loads of 1*2's are crashed by chavs/yoofs/lbrenches hence the insurance issue.

That's not fair now.

No car's insurance is safe from the lbrench effect

 

[thommo41]

OK, going back to the cam belt... This car has 50K miles on it, the owner seems to of cherished it (5 1/2 years he's had it!) and says the cam belt was done, but it was around 3 years ago now, and he doesn't have reciepts to prove. Is the belt's condition visible, or is there any way to spot a fresh belt? I don't want to commit to a 182 unless I'm as sure as I can be, that it's had the pricey servicing done. It's at 4500 for a 54 plate, both cup packs. Cheers, Alan

 

[Goodj]

Dont take their word on it.
a 3 years old belt will look just the same as a belt that's done 6.
if they've had the car since new then they wouldn't have done the belt 3.5 years ago anyway,

 

[aldo_87]

If I could turn back time I should have went back to jap. I like my 182 a lot but I have never had to fork out this much on a car! I had a starlet GT turbo for 2 years, had to change a CV joint. Had an ek9 for over a year and fixed nothing. Had a stage 2 s14a had to spend cash on tyres! :/ lol Had my 182 3 weeks and excl the belts, the exhaust is about to give up, the mounts also are goosed, PAS pump has failed, xenon washer jet disappeared. Mine has been owned by a woman for years and has 55k on it.

I'm in the huff with mine at the moment...

 

[Goodj]

I'm in the huff with mine at the moment...

Couldn't tell!

To be fair, my MX-3 ran without fault up unti l120l, at which point weverything gave up at once.
same stroy for the MX-5.

it's almost as if Mazda build in an expiry

 

[Begbie]

If I could turn back time I should have went back to jap. I like my 182 a lot but I have never had to fork out this much on a car! I had a starlet GT turbo for 2 years, had to change a CV joint. Had an ek9 for over a year and fixed nothing. Had a stage 2 s14a had to spend cash on tyres! :/ lol Had my 182 3 weeks and excl the belts, the exhaust is about to give up, the mounts also are goosed, PAS pump has failed, xenon washer jet disappeared. Mine has been owned by a woman for years and has 55k on it.

I'm in the huff with mine at the moment...

There's your problem right there :rasp:

 

[Martin_172]

If I could turn back time I should have went back to jap.

JAP IS CRAP

 

[nappo]

Mine is quite reliable, spent 400 quid on few electrical problems at end of last year, dats peoples usual opinion of french cars but once u owned 1 u soon be impressed wiv it, had me 172 year and half and still love driving it

 

[CJGREEN]

Ive been in two EP3 CTRs and they felt tacky and gash on the inside compared to my 182. Glad i got the clio instead now defiantly!