Returning member - looking for a 200, all advice appreciated!

[Jenesaisqoui]

Hi all,
As the title suggests, I'm currently in the market for a Clio 200, however admittedly I don't know a great deal about these vehicles, so I'm hoping for as much advice as possible before committing to a purchase.

So feel free to dump your opinions, experiences, suggestions and advice below.

I've currently got my eyes on a model in what I believe is ultra red (https://www.bournemouth-cars.co.uk/used-renault-clio-bournemouth-dorset-1458355). I've never been hugely keen on red before, however it seems to suit the 200 perfectly. All advice welcomed!

Cheers,
Joe

 

[boultonn]

Depends what you want to know tbh.
They're great cars and red is a good choice.
The one you linked has red calipers which (generally) means its got the cup pack so harder suspension and faster steering.
When you test drive it check that the gear change is relatively smooth and doesn't crunch.
Also at that mileage/age you'll want to check that it's had cambelt done and generally check the history on it and see when things like brakes were last changed as the rears are quite pricey to replace.
Other options to consider are recaros, they look better imo and improve the residual value but depends how many miles you're gonna be doing in it.
If you have any specific questions just shout.

 

[NaplesValver]

Welcome back dude

I believe I now own your old RB182

 

[mossyv6]

Hello matey and welcome back.

Please be very careful in your search, the 197/200 are a little more flimsy than the 182 so make sure the following is checked:

Manifold flexis are made from cotton wool and blow apart and sounds like a tractor - not cheap to fix.
Gearbox are made from chocolate - test drive and high revs 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th will show any crunches.
Front lower bearings are expensive to replace so scrutinise the mot advisories. They can be bought separately but still not cheap as the labour bill to replace mounts up.

In short buy with your head not your heart as they are great looking motors so please do your homework mate.

 

[Darren S]

Hello matey :smile: and welcome back.

Please be very careful in your search, the 197/200 are a little more flimsy than the 182 so make sure the following is checked:

Manifold flexis are made from cotton wool and blow apart and sounds like a tractor - not cheap to fix.
Gearbox are made from chocolate - test drive and high revs 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th will show any crunches.
Front lower bearings are expensive to replace so scrutinise the mot advisories. They can be bought separately but still not cheap as the labour bill to replace mounts up.

In short buy with your head not your heart as they are great looking motors so please do your homework mate.

s**t like the above from the manufacturers just annoys me. I appreciate that there is no such thing as a mechanically perfect car - but manifolds are rarely an issue on a 1*2, so why on the newer models?

Likewise - the gearbox. Come on Renault - under your own marketing juggernaut, a RenaultSport vehicle is meant to be driven. Not tickled about with on a brief trip to the shops and back.

Suppliers can change processes. Manufacturing may involve different components. But on the whole, each iteration should be improving on the previous version. Especially when elements key to what that car is all about, suffer in due course.

Crazy logic... :unamused:

 

[Jenesaisqoui]

Depends what you want to know tbh.
They're great cars and red is a good choice.
The one you linked has red calipers which (generally) means its got the cup pack so harder suspension and faster steering.
When you test drive it check that the gear change is relatively smooth and doesn't crunch.
Also at that mileage/age you'll want to check that it's had cambelt done and generally check the history on it and see when things like brakes were last changed as the rears are quite pricey to replace.
Other options to consider are recaros, they look better imo and improve the residual value but depends how many miles you're gonna be doing in it.
If you have any specific questions just shout.

Thanks for that buddy. Coming from a predominantly 172/182 background I'm a unfamiliar with the spec list of the 200's, so thanks for the pointers on the calipers. I'm guessing timing belt/dephaser intervals as similar to those on the 182, definitely one to watch out for anyway! I heavily favour the red over all other colours, however it's the only colour that I haven't seen in the flesh. Second to that I think I'll probably opt for white, there's a plethora of white cars currently listed so they're evidently a much more common choice in the 200's. I'm guessing from your profile picture you've got a UR 200 yourself?

Welcome back dude

I believe I now own your old RB182

You do indeed, hopefully it's going well! I'll be considering CSF if I've got a vehicle in time, if you're there it would be amazing to see KTV again!

Hello matey :smile: and welcome back.

Please be very careful in your search, the 197/200 are a little more flimsy than the 182 so make sure the following is checked:

Manifold flexis are made from cotton wool and blow apart and sounds like a tractor - not cheap to fix.
Gearbox are made from chocolate - test drive and high revs 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th will show any crunches.
Front lower bearings are expensive to replace so scrutinise the mot advisories. They can be bought separately but still not cheap as the labour bill to replace mounts up.

In short buy with your head not your heart as they are great looking motors so please do your homework mate.

Hi there chap, hope all's well your end!

Much appreciated advice, thank you. Is there an early tell tale sign of the manifold going duff, or would it be something instantly recognisable on start up? Have you suffered from any of the aforementioned with your SG 200, or any 200 in your past ownership for that matter?

Thanks again for the words of advice.

s**t like the above from the manufacturers just annoys me. I appreciate that there is no such thing as a mechanically perfect car - but manifolds are rarely an issue on a 1*2, so why on the newer models?

Likewise - the gearbox. Come on Renault - under your own marketing juggernaut, a RenaultSport vehicle is meant to be driven. Not tickled about with on a brief trip to the shops and back.

Suppliers can change processes. Manufacturing may involve different components. But on the whole, each iteration should be improving on the previous version. Especially when elements key to what that car is all about, suffer in due course.

Crazy logic... :unamused:

I'm with you 100%. You would hope during the testing phases these problems would be highlighted and rectified, but far too often we hear they're not. I wouldn't know exactly why, however, my guess would be cost saving via cutting corners (evident more recently in the Focus RS misfire saga). It seems rather counterproductive to have a performance vehicle fall to pieces when pushed haha!

 

[Knuckles]

Spec and options guide here

https://www.cliosport.net/threads/197-200-model-guide.764458/

Have you ruled out 197s completely?

 

[mossyv6]

Hi there chap, hope all's well your end!

Much appreciated advice, thank you. Is there an early tell tale sign of the manifold going duff, or would it be something instantly recognisable on start up? Have you suffered from any of the aforementioned with your SG 200, or any 200 in your past ownership for that matter?

Thanks again for the words of advice.

!

Glad to help and yes I have had these issues

My Alien Green 200 needed a new manifold within a month of buying it!!!! The car had a small farting noise coming from the engine at 2,500 rpm when I'd drove it home and within a couple of weeks it started to sound like a tractor at 2 to 3k revs. It cost me £400 to have repaired at that was using a Toyo manifold and uprated engine mounts. I had some crazy quotes to repair ranging from £600 to £900!! This car also had just had a brand new gearbox fitted and brand new bearings under warranty and only on 40k!!

My LY 200 had a crunching 3rd gear which the owner tried telling me it was there driving, lol. Ended up having a replacement low mileage gearbox fitted but of course this was all used to get the price down. It had also had the bearings done recently with a receipt for £500.

My current Storm 200 is still going strong (touch wood) but of course doesn't have the troublesome manifold and gearbox.

 

[mossyv6]

s**t like the above from the manufacturers just annoys me. I appreciate that there is no such thing as a mechanically perfect car - but manifolds are rarely an issue on a 1*2, so why on the newer models?

Likewise - the gearbox. Come on Renault - under your own marketing juggernaut, a RenaultSport vehicle is meant to be driven. Not tickled about with on a brief trip to the shops and back.

Suppliers can change processes. Manufacturing may involve different components. But on the whole, each iteration should be improving on the previous version. Especially when elements key to what that car is all about, suffer in due course.

Crazy logic... :unamused:

Totally agree with you Darren it is absolutely mental.

These 3 issues are well documented issues and very expensive to repair yet still nothing was done to rectify them from the 197 to 200!

 

[boultonn]

Thanks for that buddy. Coming from a predominantly 172/182 background I'm a unfamiliar with the spec list of the 200's, so thanks for the pointers on the calipers. I'm guessing timing belt/dephaser intervals as similar to those on the 182, definitely one to watch out for anyway! I heavily favour the red over all other colours, however it's the only colour that I haven't seen in the flesh. Second to that I think I'll probably opt for white, there's a plethora of white cars currently listed so they're evidently a much more common choice in the 200's. I'm guessing from your profile picture you've got a UR 200 yourself?

There aren't a huge amount of options on them but finding one with the ones you want and decent condition/history can be tricky. Main things are RS monitor, cup or speedline wheels, couple of spoiler variants, xenons, recaros and the occasional one has parking sensors.
I had all my belts done at the same time, but not dephaser.
There aren't that many and they all look good (except black imo).
and yeh, i've got a UR 200 altho it's got black speedlines now rather than the grey cup alloys in my pic

 

[imprezaworks]

I really like the 200, visually.

But tbh just buy a Megane r26

 

[Jenesaisqoui]

Spec and options guide here

https://www.cliosport.net/threads/197-200-model-guide.764458/

Have you ruled out 197s completely?

Cheers for that buddy, lots of useful information in there. I haven't ruled anything out completely (225, 182, 197), I've just got a preference for the 200 front end, although I realise many prefer the 197.

Glad to help and yes I have had these issues 😧

My Alien Green 200 needed a new manifold within a month of buying it!!!! The car had a small farting noise coming from the engine at 2,500 rpm when I'd drove it home and within a couple of weeks it started to sound like a tractor at 2 to 3k revs. It cost me £400 to have repaired at that was using a Toyo manifold and uprated engine mounts. I had some crazy quotes to repair ranging from £600 to £900!! This car also had just had a brand new gearbox fitted and brand new bearings under warranty and only on 40k!!

My LY 200 had a crunching 3rd gear which the owner tried telling me it was there driving, lol. Ended up having a replacement low mileage gearbox fitted but of course this was all used to get the price down. It had also had the bearings done recently with a receipt for £500.

My current Storm 200 is still going strong (touch wood) but of course doesn't have the troublesome manifold and gearbox.

Ouch, sounds like a complete ballache! Did you complete the megane turbo conversion on the storm 200 in the end? I remember when we met all those years ago you had the idea in mind for your AG.

I think the main difficulty will be finding garages to work on them down here in Cornwall, I remember most flat out refused to touch the engine in my 182. There used to be Nick at Pure, however he's heavily invested in parts manufacture nowadays and therefore sold his garage... sad times!

There aren't a huge amount of options on them but finding one with the ones you want and decent condition/history can be tricky. Main things are RS monitor, cup or speedline wheels, couple of spoiler variants, xenons, recaros and the occasional one has parking sensors.
I had all my belts done at the same time, but not dephaser.
There aren't that many and they all look good (except black imo).
and yeh, i've got a UR 200 altho it's got black speedlines now rather than the grey cup alloys in my pic

Very nice, speedlines are definitely the best wheel choice, however I'm inclined to say that I quite like the 5 spokes, despite all the hate they get haha! Recaros would be nice, but I'm happy to settle with the standard seats. There's an UR200 coming onto the market in the next few days from a Vauxhall dealership in Southampton, so fingers crossed for seeing it at some point.

I really like the 200, visually.

But tbh just buy a Megane r26 :smile:

Who cares about performance when you have visuals?... Cough.

 

[Knuckles]

Dat front end though.

And those speedlines.

And dat yellow.

I’d go r26 lol

 

[manx313]

Drove by the one yesterday, you posted up.
Have you been to see it? I see they have a White one as well in stock.
Both looked good on the forecourt.
Am hoping to be in a position to purchase come summer
Cheers
Simon

 

[Jenesaisqoui]

Drove by the one yesterday, you posted up.
Have you been to see it? I see they have a White one as well in stock.
Both looked good on the forecourt.
Am hoping to be in a position to purchase come summer
Cheers
Simon

Hey Simon,

Haven't managed to view them yet, however I believe the red 200 is due a cambelt service which is slightly off putting. They reduced the price £200 recently to account for this, but it still means a further £500 investment to get the work done.
Are you looking for a 200 also?
I keep changing my stance on my preferred colour, having seen a Racing blue 200 in the flesh last week, I'm now swung towards blue, white, grey or yellow. Unfortunately this will have undoubtedly changed by the time you read this message haha!

 

[manx313]

Hi Joe,
I'm sure the red one had a price of 5995 on the screen when I drove by!! If I get a chance next weekend around sons football, I'll try and stop by and gain some info etc.
My fav colour is Blue and Red, so those would be my preferred choice.
I hope to be in the market in a few months, I need to sell some items first. (Honda Fireblade Engine for Westfield type car/Caterham 7 Rear Ford Axle and still can't decide also Clio Williams!)
Ho Hum, decisions. Sons football takes up weekend time, plays Sat & Sun, so time to work on Clio is very limited.
His team are coming down to Cornwall the late bank hol in May for a couple of games, around Wadebridge area. If you have one by then I'll pop by and have a look.
Cheers,
Simon

 

[RhysThomass]

@Jenesaisqoui I owned a Clio 200 Cup storm grey for a coulple of months.
Pros:
1). Handling is emmense no other car has come close to the cup.
2). Recaros are comfy and hug you in.
3). Love the sound of the exhaust and the intake.
4). Very good looking car.
5). Acceleration is amazing.
Cons:
1). Recaros bolster wear.
2). Manifold blew so needed replacing.
3). Suspension especially the cup was not nice over bumps or potholes very comfy.
Hope this helps. I had a lot more problems than i expected to have with my 200. I just think i was unlucky in my search and plus previous owner not looking after it.

 

[Jenesaisqoui]

@Jenesaisqoui I owned a Clio 200 Cup storm grey for a coulple of months.
Pros:
1). Handling is emmense no other car has come close to the cup.
2). Recaros are comfy and hug you in.
3). Love the sound of the exhaust and the intake.
4). Very good looking car.
5). Acceleration is amazing.
Cons:
1). Recaros bolster wear.
2). Manifold blew so needed replacing.
3). Suspension especially the cup was not nice over bumps or potholes very comfy.
Hope this helps. I had a lot more problems than i expected to have with my 200. I just think i was unlucky in my search and plus previous owner not looking after it.

Thanks a bunch for this, Storm Grey is most definitely my colour of preference. I'm yet to see one in person but from the photos they look superb (always a fan of Nardo grey, so a Renault version is well received).

I'm currently at a bit of a crossroads when it comes to my next vehicle. Sadly I only have parking for one vehicle at my property, however the art of decisiveness was never a strong point. At the moment I'm considering using my legs throughout the coming months, then possibly looking at an M4 in Mineral Grey to fill the void, however, as always, that's subject to change.

What other issues did you suffer with the 200?

Many thanks again.

 

[R-Sport.]

I have a storm grey 200 FS
£9250 - Hero spec.
If you want details PM me

 

[Kosy]

I have a storm grey 200 FS
£9250 - Hero spec.
If you want details PM me

That's what I would be after. Pics?

 

[R-Sport.]

Hiya ive just got it back today from MOT so its now ready to sell from next week

Renaultsport Clio 200
Storm Grey Full Fat
41k
1 year MOT from this week no advisories
11 Plate

Full Service history 2013/15/17
Belts done for Sale at Christmas 17

New Gearbox on ~ 38k

Spec:
RS monitor
RS mats
GT spoiler
Speedlines
Cup Pack Chassis
Recaros

Going on PH £9250