Id budget and be prepared to fork out £500 or so about twice a year if I were you. I had a 16V and spent a lot over two years on it (but I was a perfectionist and the car wasnt the best to begin with).
Ive now got a low(ish) mileage Willy with 57k on the clock - its going to need a new front wheel bearing, coolant flush, tyres and probably some rear brake callipers within the next few months at about £500. Nothing out of the ordinary and probably the sort of stuff youd not notice unless you were fairly clued up about cars.
Id not recommend a 16V or Willy (or any old hot hatch) to someone looking for absolutely 100% no big bills. You can find some that literally just need oil every 6,000 miles and nothing else, but theyre fairly rare. Equally, the horror stories are pretty rare too.
Buy wisely and you should be OK.
As a guide: diffs £500; gbox up to £1000; rear brake callipers £250; wheel bearing £80; springs £100 fitted; track rod ends £60+; cambelt £2-400; tyres x 4 £150-300 etc etc
(Ive not updated this recently, so forgive anything Ive left out):
Exterior:
- Rear arch lips are susceptible to rusting, front ones are plastic so arent a problem. Rust also possible on door bottoms, around window rear quarters and boot bottom. Rear arches are now only available as an entire quarter panel - £330 from Renault inc VAT each side - so make for an expensive repair. Other body panels are surprisingly reasonable after a recent price cut.
- Front fogs (expensive) are prone to cracking due to stone chips.
- Bonnet and front bumper also prone to stone chips.
Mechanical:
N.B. due to engine size, many otherwise simple jobs on 16v/Willy are engine-out jobs.
- Cambelts must have been done before 72k (many advise a cambelt change far earlier); fairly big bill in itself and mega bill if it snaps in service.
- Diffs, gbox and clutch are all expensive jobs so check carefully. Jump off the accelerator in 2nd to see if it pops out of gear: if so, then suspect the box or the "dog bone" engine-to-subframe engine mount.
- Rear brake callipers can seize. New rear discs also necessitates new wheel bearings.
- Check aftermarket exhaust mountings - often a poor fit; rumbling under load can be caused by poor exhaust manifold to downpipe gasket (cheap job, disturbing noise).
- Erratic idle commonly due to faulty throttle potentionometer or idle speed control valve (respectively a specialist job and a straight swap).
- 16v/Willy run hot, so check coolant system - hoses, rad, expansion tank, water pump, anti-percolation (if you can). Radweld works wonders with minor radiator leaks.
- Engine mounts often go - embarassing and expensive to have your engine fall out, so see if engine rocks back and forth by opening bonnet and pulling accelerator cable.
- If car has induction kit check security of air hoses - can explain erratic idle or apparent air leak.
- Steering racks and columns are common failures. The handling reaction will be a second or two behind steering input in such a case; car will also tramline and follow road too much.
- Check for snapped front springs.
- CV gaiters should be checked - manifested by clicking noise on full lock.
- Handbrake is normally not good.
- If lowered, will need new front strut top mounts sooner or later. If majorly lowered, check to see that brake pressure-regulating control valve has been adjusted at the rear - otherwise the back wheels will lock too easily. Lowering also places extra strain on front anti-roll bar mountings and bushes and the track rod ends.
Interior:
- Sunroofs leak - tough luck!
- Electric window and mirror switches are very expensive - so check them too.
- Front seat belt reels often become ineffective - especially the drivers one.
- Door handle rods in door mechanism can come loose, so that the handle wont work. A time-consuming but easy job.
