Hi Mark68, difficult time say how long. I’d been monitoring Clio 182’s for around 12 months, but had originally wanted a OEM spec Saxo VTS (had one many years ago). But finally came to the conclusion that they don’t exist any more (which is the way the 17(8)2’s are going). Normally the first or last of the generation are the most sight after (Later 197s grew in size so although good cars are not the old-school low weight!) so I kept looking out for 182’s through the normal channels; Autotrader, PH, FB Marketplace, etc ... I then drove a friends RS Mégane 250 as part of my YT channel and it really blew me away. It was then that I started looking harder. It felt like 95% were modified and of the 5% that weren’t, very few had FSH (and to me that included receipts/invoices, not just stamps!). Then out of the blue, I noticed a 182 on FB Marketplace that apparently was OEM and FSH. Some messaging later I drove across to view the car and more importantly the paperwork. I must have spent 30 mins trawling through an inch thick of receipts. It was comprehensive and robust! A quick test drive later and the deal was done.
What is currently happening to 172s/182s has happened to all hot hatches over the past 30 years I’ve been driving. They get to such a low value that younger drivers are attracted to them (quite rightly) and then want to make them there own by modifying. The market gets saturated with these modified cars and general lack of maintenance (normally due to financials) so the number of clean, OEM spec cars with FSH starts to climb. This is happening now. In 5 years time we’ll look back and not only not believe how cheap they were, but actually how it’s going to be almost impossible to buy OEM spec as owners like I are likely to own for the long term and not put on the open market. My advice is get in now if you want one, as in 5 years time, regardless of the price, you probably won’t be able to find one!
