Thinking of buying a Clio 172

[neekowinston99]

Hey folks completely new to the clio idea and scene having owning mr2's for the past two years. Long story short my car broke in Feb and I couldnt affored to fix it so come september (when i get a bit more cash) I intend to either get another mr2 or a clio 172, I really like the look of them love how they're rather descrete little things and can easily be mistaken, I also love the little details that make it stand out from up close

Anyway I have a couple of questions i am 6'2 would this be an issue in a clio,

Where about is the best place to look for a decent 172 (I have a maximum budget of 2500).

Is there alot of members in Scotland would love to be taken out in one so that I know they're like inside aswell,

What are the most things to look out for i've heard that the gearbox's can be a bit fragile it this true?
And how often do you'se have meets.

Thanks for yourtime guys.

 

[turbo tom]

hello and welcome to the club,

i am a rep for the mr2oc as i have had a few of them and my girlfriend still has an mr2, they are great cars,
the clio 172 has very different characteristics being fwd and no where near as refined but is also a great drivers car, so i doubt you'll be disappointed, i'm not though i do miss rwd!

 

[JCC]

Welcome from a fellow Scot.

Your height won't be an issue, I'm around the 6'1" 6'2" mark and I fitted in my 172 no problems, still had room to go further back on the seat and was plenty of headroom.

Best place to look would be on here, safest bet to find a good example is obviously with an enthusiast owned car.

There is a fair amount of Scottish members, if you sign up you'll see the Scottish regional section for meets etc.

Biggest thing to look out for is making sure both full belt kits have been done at a specialist according to Renaults intervals. Gearboxes are made of cheese compared to the likes of CTRs but only if you go abusing them really, few owners on here on 100k+ with the original box still in.

Hope that helps.

 

[Goodj]

Hey there new boy!

As much as you could search on here, I've got a couple of pointers for you:-
)Gearbox - made of cotton wool, when test driving, see if you get get a clean change into 3rd with a healthy amount of revs on the dial. If not, then walk away
)Cambelts - Need doing every 5 years and it's a £700 specialist job. Your average garage will only make a mess of it, if they even try (I took mine to one place that phoned me up 20 minutes later and had just given up). If you dont see a receipt for this having been done, either knock the price down accordingly or move on to the next one.
)Alignment - Breath on your wheels and you'll need to get the tracking done again

As for where to look? Anywhere, there's always plenty about (according to Autotrader anyway). As much as there's a "For Sale" section on here, Entheusiasts seem to think their car is worth a lot more than it really is, especially if they've been throwing money at it hand-over-fist on 'mods'. A clean, standard example is a much better bet.

There's also the question of "which 172/182", you've got cups, full-fats, trophys, ph.1's & ph.2's. Simply, if you want a nice interior, you dont want a cup... although (and just to confuse matters), a 182 with "cup packs" will have nice trim.
Phase (ph.) 1's - Are the older-looking Clios's, with rounder lights & an older-shape dash-pack, some have aluminium bonnets which makes them a bit special.
Ph.2's - The shape that only died more recently.
Cup - Has slighlty better suspension and is lighter due to the poverty-spec interior and in many cases a lack of air-con. If you think you're Jackie Stewart then you'll swear by the "improved handling" and the 0.1 difference in 0-60. 99.99% of drivers wont notice any difference, but 99.99% of cup owners will tell you how they can feel the difference every time they go to the shops.

£2500 will net you a tidy 172, with climate control, cruise control, Leather/alcantara, Xenon lamps and a few years left on the cambelt.

One thing to note is that, if you drive steadily, they will return you 35-40mpg, which, compared to most modern hatches of comparable ability, is damn good. They can be a bugger to insure sometimes though.
Hope this helps

 

[Gt rob]

thats a good guide, missed the knocking top mounts problem, just listen out for it on test drive, easy fix but should give you some leverage in price, but dont confuse topmount knocking with something more serious.

and theres nowt wrong with cups! its all down to personal preference mate

 

[Goodj]

and theres nowt wrong with cups! its all down to personal preference mate

Sure isn't.

Do you prefer to sweat heavily in the summer or not?
I wasn't saying that the cups aren't any better than "regular" 1*2's, just that it seems a lot of owners believe that the suspension changes and weight loss turn them froma hot-hatch into an actual racer, which is laughable at best

 

[Matt W]

Only people who don't own cups are jealous of cups.

You have to be a driving god to keep them out of hedges iirc.

 

[neekowinston99]

Sorry thought i posted a reply ages ago but it never worked aw well anyway thanks for the information i never realised there were so many variaitions when it came to the 172 but really it will come down to the right price at the right time, checked the insurance and its managable for me. The MPG that the clio does is crazy considering the engine size and was a major factor in my car buying decision.

Turbo Tom I was a member of mr2oc was more of a reader than poster but found the site to be a major help and even recieved help off of a fellow member on a number of occassions so cant fault the club and as for the cars I adore them and wish i could affored a turbo (I intend to own one some day) but would have to be an N/a, just fancy change,(I no doubt will end up with an N/A again at some point to lol.)
Thanks for your comments much appreciated.

 

[msm]

Go for it I bought my 172 since I registered in .net thats been 5 years I think and I love it, big smile in my face every time i drive it!

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Welcome along buddy, alot of Scottish members on here.

Where are you based? Id be happy to take you out in the 182

 

[Martin_172]

gearbox issues are blown out the water, nothing wrong with them. if you drive like a spazzy it will probably break quicker than some other cars will, ive done 100k hard miles in 172s and never had a gearbox issue, infact never had an issue with the cars full stop.

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

gearbox issues are blown out the water, nothing wrong with them. if you drive like a spazzy it will probably break quicker than some other cars will, ive done 100k hard miles in 172s and never had a gearbox issue, infact never had an issue with the cars full stop.

+1

They take the abuse as well as any other tbf

 

[neekowinston99]

Danny172 stay near Stirling I would definetaly have to take you up on your offer to take me out in one if your close enuogh that is.
cheers