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Pre-purchase Ph1 172 advise?



Hello people,

Hopefully, if everything goes as planned, i am getting my first clio this next week. I've got my eyes set on a Ph1 172 -01 that a local dealer has. However since i've never bought a car before i have about a million questions. Most of them i have found answers for right here on the forums or other places but i still would like to get som opinions before spending my next 6 months pay so to speak ;)

Now i really like the Mk2 Ph1 but the 'regular' ones (up to the 1.6 engine) around here are about £1700 while the 172 i've been oogling has an asking price of just under £3000. This is around £6-700 over my initial budget for a first car, but i've really gotten a craving for a 172. The one i found has just under 130k on the meter, is unmodified and looks like it's in really good condition except for som wear on the leather seats (Picture below).

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I ordered a carfax report on it which was clean and had the traffic department mail me the last 3 years MOT tests and there seems to be no bigger issues (front right linkage had some play in it one year and broken brake-disks another are the biggest ones, but also the history says it was re-tested within 2 months on both occations and came out with no faults, so those are fixed). It has also just been through this years MOT with no problems.

Now my concern is that if i go through the classifieds i can find 172's in similar condition (according to seller and pictures), but with either less milage or a lower price (or both). The downside is that those are private sellers and they all have something setting of warning bells in my head (one has only 60k, but is 'missing some service-stamps'. Another is pimped out and is being sold by a 22 year old so im guessing it's pretty abused). Also buying from a dealer here in sweden gets you stuff like an automatic 6 months warranty for everything except driver screw-ups, both summer+winter tyres incl rims. also they are not allowed to withhold information that may be of interest meaning that if i buy it and it turnes out the seller didn't tell you about stuff that was not up to spec, you can get a refund or compensation and such. It's a hassle since the dealers don't want to do it, but by law it's there.

So my question is basically: Assuming that it's in good condition and serviced properly, would you guys say that having the safety of buying from a dealer is worth an extra 20-25% on the asking price? Also, whould the milage pose any problems like stuff tending to break at higher milage? Any help and/or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 
  1.6 Focus, 1.6 122S
It might be quite difficult for UK owners to offer a valid opinion. UK dealers / garages can be very untrustworthy, making the additional spend less worthwhile. They may come with a warranty but will always try not to pay out if there is a problem. Having said that, it seems you are comfortable with the dealer you are looking to buy through.

With regards to the car, provided it has been maintained properly and regularly it should be fine. Some marques can have a life of abuse and just keep going, like Volvos etc, but Renault really do need to be looked after!
 

boomerbang2006

ClioSport Club Member
  clio 172,2001
Please....Just under £3000 for a 130k ph1.....Mines done 114k and its probably worth £1000,...seems a lot of money you pay over there for the same car.
 
It might be quite difficult for UK owners to offer a valid opinion. UK dealers / garages can be very untrustworthy, making the additional spend less worthwhile. They may come with a warranty but will always try not to pay out if there is a problem. Having said that, it seems you are comfortable with the dealer you are looking to buy through.

With regards to the car, provided it has been maintained properly and regularly it should be fine. Some marques can have a life of abuse and just keep going, like Volvos etc, but Renault really do need to be looked after!
I do realise it's not an easy thing to give advise and such for a market outside your own, and of course in the end i'm still going to have to decide for myself if i really trust the dealer enough for it to be worth the extra cost. But i'm also thinking that most people here have a good deal more experience and knowledge than me. It's also why the post is so long as more information makes it easier, if still not easy.

Of course the market here is different. Here we can usually trust the dealers. The last couple of years there has been a lot of backyard and driveway dealers popping up like mushrooms and even so i think most of them are serious. Not all of course but if dealers in the UK are very untrustworthy i would think that the comparison would be if buying from a dealer where almost all signs point to it being trustworthy with reluctant warranties(regular swedish dealer) versus buying from a dealer that at best might be trustworthy and that leaves no warrantys at all(private seller). whould that be worth an extra 20%?

Please....Just under £3000 for a 130k ph1.....Mines done 114k and its probably worth £1000,...seems a lot of money you pay over there for the same car.
Yeah the prices here are stupidly high. I could probably find a 1.4 or a 1.2 from around -00 or -01 with 120k for around £1000, but it would be pretty run down and most likely a bit rusty, not well taken care of and generally crappy. An Mk1 would be in better condition for that money, but still not prime. But the fact that the price-levels differ a lot is why i asked if the differance in % would be worth it.

For instance when you bought yours, whould you have paid an extra 20-25% to be reasonably sure there was nothing wrong with it?
 
  Arctic Blue 182 FF
It looks like a really nice car but overpriced for here in the UK but in Sweden i suppose is a bit of a bargain,also i would think your dealerships are a bit different to some of the cowboy outfits over here.Have you tried to negotiate the price with a cash offer ?worth a try
 
It looks like a really nice car but overpriced for here in the UK but in Sweden i suppose is a bit of a bargain,also i would think your dealerships are a bit different to some of the cowboy outfits over here.Have you tried to negotiate the price with a cash offer ?worth a try

Not yet, i'm going there this wednesday to have a look at it and do a test-drive and such. It does seem a bit overpriced considering the milage but i am hoping i can use that to lower the price a bit. I am thinking i can probably get it for around £2-400 less than the asking price. That would land the actual price closer to the asking price for the private sellers which would be nice.
 
  LY 220 Trophy+IB PH1
Something fairly important is Documented major service (Belts and tensioners etc) see if the dealer has any receipt for the cam/aux belt change as it isn't cheap over here, let alone where you are !
 
  Ckio Sport, 9-5 Aero
fan vad trevligt med en till svensk... or in english... SO nice withe another swede...

problem in sweden is that there are like 4 Clio Sports ph1 for sele in the whole contry...

ps. I just bougtht the black one in Helsingborg 3weeks ago!..
 


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