Thinking of buying a phase 1 172, need advice please

[chris79]

Having owned Renault 5 turbos (3 in total over a 10 year period), and once upon a time was the owner of a brand new 03 reg 172 cup.. the glory days came to an end in when my 2 kids arrived and they were all traded in \ sold for a Renault Scenic DCI. My biggest regret was selling my 'mint' Renault 5 turbo a few years ago for £1200.. wish I'd never done that!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I need a cheap 2nd car in the family to get from A to B and I'm kinda weighing up the possibiity of buying a phase 1 172 - mainly because I've spent ~6 years driving a boring car, and also because the phase 1 looks like a normal clio to the untrained eye and would put fun back into the commute in and out of work.

So, need advice - I'm looking at spending between £750-£1500 on a clean standard example with service history.. suppose I take a 2001 reg with say ~80k on the clock, what are the likely bills I will encounter, what is the reliability like on them at this age, and is there anyone out there selling such an example? (I'm in the North East of England).

Also having stripped and rebuilt Renault 5's twice in my lifetime from the pistons up, how do the Clio's compare for getting the bonnet off and doing the work yourself? I'd rate myself as 'average to good' with a spanner and a Haynes manual.

 

[Daniel]

The best advice I can offer you is this...

Buy on Condition/Service history and reciepts for parts replaced over mileage. A prime example is jamesstone's car in the cars for sale section. The car needed nothing and was mechanically perfect. But it wdidn't sell due to mileage so he broke it for spares.

These engines will go on and on and on with good servicing.

I'd rather have one with 120k on it with FSH than buy one with little or no history with 60k on it.

Put it this way, cambelt, aux belt, dephaser, set of brakes and some bushes, you're looking at a £1000 bill.

 

[arg_carra]

I'd say the F4R engines are fairly reliable.
Main thing is history - has it been serviced? When and at what mileage was the cam/aux belt etc replaced? Its this that puts value on Clios. IMO a ph1 172 that is due a cambelt change is worth £800-£1000, however if this has just been done I'd say £1400-£1600 would be a fairly good deal - however I have seen low mileage ones going for slightly more.
I am a novice when it comes to repair work, but I hope to learn as I go. Even if you did spend say £1400 and it did let you down, you would get very close to your money back if you broke it and sold all the bits.
Hope thats a help!

 

[R-Sport.]

I can honestly say for every 1 good one theres 20 dogs to go with it-

They are getting old now- & the availability of anything decent is getting wider apart each month- theres loads hanging around ebay- but there cheap & cheap for a reason-
Most 2000/2001 cars are due second belt change- thats ~ £500, if they need a dephaser you up to near £700
Thats before servicing, Parts on other bits & just routine maintenaince-

Interiors are knackered on 'most' steering wheels have perished, seats have given up, bodywork is susceptable to rust under the arches & then you get the general wear & tear marks-

they are great cars IF you can find a cherished one-
for £1500 you will get a reasonable car, but to get one thats spot on you will need to spend 2k all day long- whether thats say 1200 on a car & 800 on bits or 1800 on a really good one & a bit to finish it off-

Budget V quality of car is always a compromise- £1500 will be a start but theres not a lot around on that price that wont need at LEAST 200-500 of work to get to a very good standard-

Good luck-

R-Sport

 

[Daniel]

This is a prime example of what i'd buy with your budget.

Sadly small minded people think at exactly 100,000 miles, the car will explode and their mothers will burst open all over the living room.

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...nault-Cambelt-Aux-Kit-amp-service-%A31-349-00

 

[arg_carra]

This is a prime example of what i'd buy with your budget.

Sadly small minded people think at exactly 100,000 miles, the car will explode and their mothers will burst open all over the living room.

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...nault-Cambelt-Aux-Kit-amp-service-%A31-349-00

lol this is so true, I used to have a mental block with the whole 100,000 miles appearing

 

[chris79]

Cheers for the replies guys ... would it not be worth buying a rust free one for say £700 with no real history and just dropping in a brand new engine and gearbox from Renault?.. Any idea how much they cost, I could probably do this myself in my garage....

I guess what's been said is correct, it's either spend £500 + £1000+ on essential servicing etc... or spend £1500+ on one which has had it done with receipts to prove. In the grand scheme of things it's still amazing performance\fun for less than 2 grand... insurance quotes are coming back just under £300/year, all in all it with everything factored in it works out something like £40 more per month to run than a 1.2 (based on 8000 miles a year)..

 

[chris79]

By the way don't suppose anyone in the North East owns or knows a 172 Cup reg CK03CKY ?.. I purchased that new in 2003.. I saw it a few years ago drive past me so I think it's still in the Newcastle area.

 

[R-Sport.]

If your going that way - just buy any one & then if the engine blows up buy an engine off here-

you *COULD* buy one for £750 & not service it- just ruin it until it dies & then another few hundred on the next engine-

interesting way of running it!

S

 

[chris79]

Hah! That's actually not a bad suggestion at all.. apart from the 1 day a year stranded on the side of the A1 waiting for the AA guy hehe.

 

[Cookson]

This is a prime example of what i'd buy with your budget.

Sadly small minded people think at exactly 100,000 miles, the car will explode and their mothers will burst open all over the living room.

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...nault-Cambelt-Aux-Kit-amp-service-%A31-349-00

Bonnet pins, issues with gearbox and play in the dephaser all put me off that when I was looking. If it had play when it was off, why not just replace it, especially given the 27k it had done from the last service

 

[Daniel]

Ffs.

None of that was mentioned in the advert!! Can't trust no one these days.

 

[Cookson]

It is all in the advert, LOL, hence it put me off it.

 

[Daniel]

Oh I knew that, I thought you'd been to look at it.

Slight play in dephaser... As long as its not rattling who cares?

Gearbox.... They all do that. I've driven brand new ones that did it! Full box refurb costs next to nothing from Agency.

Bonnet pins... meh.

I thought you'd been to see it and it was a lot worse than described.

 

[Cookson]

Nooooo, they are the bits that put me off doing that amount of miles to see it.

Not knocking the car, it just wasnt my ideal motor for the money

 

[Adamm.]

Mine may be up for sale soon ideally needs a bit of money spending on it to get it perfect, hence how iv lost interest will rather put the money aside get rid of this and go for another 182.

Cambelt and aux kit was all done 8k ago 80k on the clock and was owned by james stone before winter. Bit pissed of with myself as its got brand new bilstein coilovers on it now so that was a big waste that I'll never make back, could be a little bargain for someone that is a bit more mechanically minded than me.

 

[chris79]

Mine may be up for sale soon ideally needs a bit of money spending on it to get it perfect, hence how iv lost interest will rather put the money aside get rid of this and go for another 182.

Cambelt and aux kit was all done 8k ago 80k on the clock and was owned by james stone before winter. Bit pissed of with myself as its got brand new bilstein coilovers on it now so that was a big waste that I'll never make back, could be a little bargain for someone that is a bit more mechanically minded than me.

Ok sounds good, how would you like the £500 transferred?

On a serious note if you are selling drop me an inbox with price and details.. looking for one which is as standard as possible, don't want any silly exhausts, carbon bonnets, after market alloys, etc... just a plain standard looking Phase 1 which Mr. Company Rep Mobile is gonna try and bully..

 

[Adamm.]

Paypal gift will do mate

Yeah if/when I decide to sell I can pm you if you like.