Been offered a 2006 Clio 197 for £4200, should i?

sovietspybob

sovietspybob

sovietspybob

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Hi all,

A guy in work has offered me his 06 plate Clio 197 for £4200

Its got 52k on the clock, FSH etc. He seems to have looked after it, replaced stuff when its been needed and has matching tyres and not linglongs etc.

He's selling as he's 21, bought it with a bonus from work and can't justify the £2500k+ insurance and needs the cash quickly. The 4200 comes from what webuyanycar is offering him, he's got them booked in for next Tuesday so if i do go for it i need to tell him over the weekend.

So.... Whats to know about them? Known issues, weak areas etc? I know they're regarded as one of the best hot hatches out there.

It will be for my wife to replace her 2006 MX5 2.0 which we both love but she wants something more practical but without losing the fun so it seems on the face of it to be a perfect opportunity.

So in summary... Clio 197's... Talk to me :D
 
Sounds alright to me and I know nothing about their value. Low mileage as well. Check on PH classifieds for prices and sign up to forum for a gander at the classifieds.
 
Mine is a 56 plate clio (early 2007)

I got it when it had 18k miles on it from BCA in nottingham and its now done 34k, its never missed a beat and is still fun to drive. I had some trouble with the alarm at one point and i just disconnected it lol, i still need to sort that out.

Added 18" gunmetal Speedline corse alloys to mine (like the clio 182 trophy but bigger), the cup spoiler, and managed to get renault to get halves on me with a new clio 200 steering wheel even though it was out of warrenty

Its a very nimble fun car, but it wants you to drive it, you will find yourself overtaking everyone lol, people will also try to race you, especially if you put the spoiler on it, and everyone will think they need to pass you on the motorway because its a clio

The 08+ ones have better gear ratios so you do less rev's at crusing speed.

Petrol consumption is between 24 - 30mpg and will probbably do your head in if you do any long journeys.

Seats are nice, very supportive.

I change my oil every 5000 miles, just changed all pads and disks. I have a small oil leak on top of the engine which has never caused any problems.

Your probbably going to get much more helpful answers on www.clio197.net

I would love a storm grey 10 plate or newer clio 200 so i could get a CL10 plate!
 
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That's just the kind of info I wanted, my next question was going to be what owners club has the best info on it! I'll check out the link now for any buyers guides.
 
Trying to think what else would help you

Insurers dont love them, there two groups above the ST, i am insured with Adrian Flux with 7 years no claims and my alloys, spoiler and new steering wheel declared and insurance is £700

I love mine, i cant help you with price as i have had mine 3 years and will probbably have it for the near future.
 
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clio197.net is a good website for info, i use it at the minute as im looking for a clio 200, but full of information, and parts ;)
 
Adam said:
The fact he will say no as webuyanycar have offered him £4200 :confused:
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Offered that over the phone or website though I bet & it will be knocked down when he actually takes it down there, Also he would rather sell to somebody who is going to love it rather than some car warehouse place.
3500 is a good starting point I reckon. :)
 
I just got rid of mine (tell you anything :p ) I owned it for 20 months and did 20k miles

Biggest thing to look out for is the 4th gear synchro. Insist on an extensive test drive and try changing up and down through all the gears at a variety of speeds and see if you can feel and hear the car crunching as it engages into gear. A significant percentage of 197s have this issue, and it's not necessarily down to how it was driven, however it will cost a substantial amount of money to fix. Mine would have been £720 at an indy gearbox specialist if it wasn't covered by my Used Car Warranty.

The boot latch is prone to rattling at more pedestrian speeds (never noticed it on dual carriageways/motorways) as far as I know it isn't a problem but can be annoying and adds to the multitude of other rattles that you'll probably face.
Glove box will likely be hanging a little bit wonky, and the 'leather' steering wheel might be a little bit melty around the perforated sections.
The seat bolsters can wear quite easily and look a bit tatty, something to pay attention to.
No need to change oil every 5k miles provided you're driving it sensibly, just follow the manufacturer service schedule and use the right oil.

They are a hoot to drive, but having just switched to a FI car I have realised quite how gutless the power delivery was if you were in the wrong gear. Torquey these things ain't, and you'll need to work the gearbox if you want to make decent progress. If it's to replace an MX-5 I'd look around and try and find something more civilised. While the MX-5 is not the height of luxury, the Clio is a slightly compromised car to make the driving experience what it is (although not as compromised as the cup!)

£4200 is cheap for the car, but I'd make sure it was definitely the car you wanted it and it was mechanically perfect - otherwise the £4.2k bargain will balloon quite quickly into just paying normal money for it and you might as well have bought something else.
 
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4T5 said:
Offer him 3500 quid cash, What ya got to lose ?
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Unfortunately that's not enough money for a 197, you'd struggle to pick up a decent 182 for that. I'd say £4200 is a pretty good deal as long as the car is reasonable.
 
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No there is no need to change the oil every 5k but i don't think its bad practice, i don't buy expensive oil and do it myself so it only costs circa £40 to do.

Not come across this gear issue, the car is a bit ropey when its cold but if you just leave it for a second its fine and much more pleasurable to drive.

Yea the wear on the steering wheel is a pain, i complained to renault and they offered me a half price clio 200 steering wheel and i just do my best to keep it out of direct sunlight. I doubt you will find one of that age without some wear if its the original wheel.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys, had a really good poke around the car today and its in really good condition. New tyres all round, brand new pads and disks on the back and hardly any wear on the fronts. Engine sounds sweet as a nut, the steering wheel was starting to peel on the perforated bits but not too bad. He took me on a decent drive and i couilnd't hear any crunching issues atall, going to see it again on sunday and have a drive myself just to make sure as i'd read the gearboxse are one of the weak areas. Saying that was the £720 including labour to take off and refit the box too? If so that's a pretty good deal tbf.

Only thing i can see that needs doing is the belts as the cambelt hasn't be done yet so that'd need to get done asap.

On the price front, its plenty cheap enough as it is.

The only other can that we were looking at was an EP3, we both really like them but as i've already owned a DC5 it might just feel like 80% of that and annoy us more than anything, at least the clio is something different.

Also she wants something she needs to thrash to get the most out of, so a high revving NA engine was high on the priority list, she can drive my 300bhp scooby if she wants the torquez y0! (or my diesel yaris...)
 
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