New car few questions (172)

AmDaMan

AmDaMan

AmDaMan

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Wellington, NZ
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Picked it up today and very pleased with it. Like the interior and all the toys (xenons and trip comp are awesome) Done 75k miles but drives well. The handling is very impressive. Dealer just did the cambelt at a cost of £600 :o Has 12 Months warranty (inc wear and tear) Got it for 4750 - 1500 part ex so i'm financing about 3250 over 1 year at 6% APR.

Few little niggles that I hope you can help me with though.

1) How do the auto wipers work? The auto xenons are fine but wipers are manual? Didn't get the handbook btw as dealer said it got lost :/

2) The airbag light is on, what's that mean?

3) The 'serv' light is lit also, what's that about?

4) Seems to be idling at 500rpm.. surely that's not normal?

The car it's self is in very good condition, will get better pics up in the day. Totally standard apart from a twin exit Janspeed exhaust, which i'm not particularly keen on.

The interior is in very good condition too with just the steering wheel showing wear, but all in all i'm happy!
 
Air bag light being on isn't an mot fail. It does mean they wont work in a crash so you may want to get it fixed anyway.
 
Wiper stalk down one setting is meant to switch on the auto wipers i think. If its like my 182 there should be a bit on the stalk that you turn to set the speed of the wipers when on auto. When you move the stalk into that position, the wipers should go once then stop until it rains supposidly. I've actually not found them that useful, they tend not to activate in a lightish shower.

I'd say 500 rpm idle is too low, suprised it isn't stalling. Mine seems to be around 900 rpm but it can be a little inconsistant which i believe is quite normal, they are a little rough at idle.

The serv light is a warning to say that your car is due a service. It should have been reset when the dealer did the service, cam belt etc. It should switch on just before each 12,000 mile service interval.
 
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I very much doubt the airbag light should be on, and the service one should definitely be off. As said the service light comes on after 12K miles which is obviously the Renaults servicing interval, but the airbag staying on would indicate a fault within the system - same as an ABS light would. Usually the Airbag, ABS, should extinguish after a couple of sceonds of starting the car. I'd get some more info if I were you and see about taking the car back. :)
 
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AmDaMan said:
Picked it up today and very pleased with it. Like the interior and all the toys (xenons and trip comp are awesome) Done 75k miles but drives well. The handling is very impressive. Dealer just did the cambelt at a cost of £600 :o Has 12 Months warranty (inc wear and tear) Got it for 4750 - 1500 part ex so i'm financing about 3250 over 1 year at 6% APR.
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Wow seems like you paid a fair bit for that imo but glad your happy

Few little niggles that I hope you can help me with though.
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Unfortunately being a French car, they wont go away, my 172 had them all the way through its life.

1) How do the auto wipers work? The auto xenons are fine but wipers are manual? Didn't get the handbook btw as dealer said it got lost :/
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Could be broken, could have had the windscreen replaced.

2) The airbag light is on, what's that mean?
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Could have had a front end smash and not been repaired properly, could be a cable disconnected, could be faulty. Either way take it back to the dealer.

3) The 'serv' light is lit also, what's that about?
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Something isn’t working right and as per point 4 below you may have bought a dog.

4) Seems to be idling at 500rpm.. surely that's not normal?
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This isn’t right.

The car it's self is in very good condition, will get better pics up in the day. Totally standard apart from a twin exit Janspeed exhaust, which i'm not particularly keen on.

The interior is in very good condition too with just the steering wheel showing wear, but all in all i'm happy!
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Maybe good on the outside, is it too good? Respray repair??

If the engine has gone, can’t remember what it is called on these but something dies and the engine has basically had it then you will have a very unjoyous relationship.

Would be looking at getting it all sorted from the dealer or rejecting the car imo.
 
Barry Smalley said:
Rubbish. They must work if they are fitted. :)
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I don't like to jump on people for getting stuff wrong but that information is totally incorrect.

Airbags are NOT part of the MOT.

As for the idle maybe the tacho is reading wrong? Girl at work has a Focus that says its idling at 250 RPM, you can feel that it clearly isn't.
 
Secondary restraint systems such as airbags and seat belt pre-tensioners are NOT currently part of the MOT test.

I have to ask the OP, did you not notice any of these faults when you test drove the car?
 
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Ok folks, update:

SERV light and airbag light went away after properly connecting the wires under passenger seat, common thing apparently (good old Renault). It has just had a service and cambelt at a cost of £600 before I bought the car..

Windscreen - Looks original, has the UV patch cut out of the bottom of the windscreen and looks like it has the sensors at the top too, when I move it down once the wipers move once then that's it. Gona do a water test later.

Sorry the idle is about 700ish but still seems low to me, little lumpy too but someone said this is due to the engines state of tune?

The bodywork is very good yes but so is the interior, even the leather on the seats is great, just the steering wheel that's crap. Engine bay is nice and clean too. Only barry thing I can see is the exhaust but that must have cost a bit as its full cat back Janspeed (don't really like it though)

Anyway onto driving..

Love it, it's about the same speed as my other clio untill 60+ that's when it really shines imo.. the torque is nice too. On the motorway today the trip comp went up to 30.6 MPG that was with some heavy right foot. 80-100 came around really quickly too, was impressed.

The limiter is set way too low imo though as the kick is only really from 5k + and it limits at like 6.5k.. I wan't that to be 7k.

Interior is nice and comfy, pretty quiet, noticed one rattle which I will sort soon. Love the trip computer, few things I don't understand on there though.

Exterior is nice, don't like the orange side repeaters and the way the xenons contrast with the yellow sidelights, yuck!

Other than that i'm pleased, How do I know if I have an alarm though? Also where the interior light is theres a buzzing, any ideas?

thanks,


Dogbreath: I didn't tbh I think the light only came on yest when someone sat in the passenger seat, wasn't sure though. Didn't notice the idle either as it's still pretty smooth. Wasn't raining on the tes drive so didn't notice that either!
 
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Rev limit should be around 7.2K rather than 6.5K. I believe in many remaps the limiter is set to 7.8K.

I find the fuel economy to be pretty good for what the car is, my trip computer is currently showing 39 mpg. Im not really heavy footed thought :D
 
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Buzzing like it is loose? Hold the light surround and see if it stops.

To see if you have an alarm wind a window down and remotely lock the doors. Mine beeps at me and the alarm goes off after a minute or so.

What don't you understand about the trip comp?
 
Hmm wonder why mine is so low? Gona check again in a bit, it reaches it very quickly once it's in the 'zone' :D 7.8k would be mental though!!

I travelled 40miles to work this morning and the needle hasn't shifted, i'm very impressed so far.

Gilly, yeah when I had the ignition on just sat in the car it was buzzing and yeah if i press that surround it goes? What is it? Annoying that is.

So sat in the car put the alarm on? I'll try it later on cheers.

I only understand the Distance to Empty and MPG function on it, what are the others?

thanks,
 
AmDaMan said:
Hmm wonder why mine is so low? Gona check again in a bit, it reaches it very quickly once it's in the 'zone' :D 7.8k would be mental though!!
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They have a limiter for when the engine is cold. This should lift once the engine is fully warmed up. The rev limit is 7.2-7.5k IIRC but I haven’t had one for a while so can’t remember. If it doesn’t lift you have a problem.

I travelled 40miles to work this morning and the needle hasn't shifted, i'm very impressed so far.
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Should be warmed up by then

Gilly, yeah when I had the ignition on just sat in the car it was buzzing and yeah if i press that surround it goes? What is it? Annoying that is.
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It is the ambient air temp sensor for the climate control. Take the surround off and pack the little black tube mounts with some silicon sealant and this will help reduce the vibration. However you really need to get a replacement to get rid of the problem. I had 3 complete units replaced on my car

I only understand the Distance to Empty and MPG function on it, what are the others?

thanks,
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The MPG is pretty much average figure not real time.

If you get the exhaust back to standard, it will perform better. The aftermarket systems really do take out the torque low down on these for sake of a few BHP higher up. IMO the standard Renault system is the best for these in normal state of tune. But they are expensive. Don’t replace with a halfords own jobbie etc either
 
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