Clio 1.2's Any Advice?

joelk2

joelk2

joelk2

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Hello Folks,

Anyone have any experience with Clios around the 2002 age range, 1.2 engine.

basically im in need of a cheap run around and clios seem to come up in my price range 1.5k (to include car tax)

i know its only cosmetic but im quite picky on looks and clios i dont think look too bad for my budget.

is there anything i should be looking out for specifically?
 
The driving position is very odd - I dont get on with it, feels like you're sitting in the pedals

They aren't too bad overall though, seem to have a bit of an issue with headgaskets but this is easy enough to check, far better car than a corsa at least
 
rodenal said:
They aren't too bad overall though, seem to have a bit of an issue with headgaskets but this is easy enough to check, far better car than a corsa at least
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to go against the grain, don my flamesuit and say that I honestly think the Corsa is a better car. It's far less flimsy and unreliable and far less weird-feeling to drive, like you said. Fiesta would be better still, though.
 
Agree the fiesta is a better car or the likes of a yaris etc but I really really hate the corsa, horrid little things with terrible steering and a tendency to break all the time. Have honestly never really found this with the clio but tbh get a friday car from any manufacturer and you're in trouble
 
id like a fiesta but cant seem to find one without a million miles on the clock for my budget.

Looking at mk6's. (used to have one which was faultless)

in all honesty what sort of miles would you look for with my budget?
 
A friend of mine (who has ironically since changed to a Corsa, we found a 2005 1.4 with AC, alloys etc etc for £1800) had a 150,000 mile mk5 Fiesta and other than a fair old amount of rust which ultimately led to its demise, it ran really rather well. The 1.25 engine seems bulletproof. Look at overall condition and history over mileage, really.
 
I had one and took it to 109,000k till it finally needed more work doing to it than it was worth.

Mine was 2002 and was not a bad car. Seating position is strange as your feet go one way and your arms the other. Watch out for the random electrical gremlins i.e my airbag light would come on when moving the passenger seat. This was caused by a cable under the seat.

Other than that mine was very reliable till the steering column sensor broke which cost more than the car to fix. I owned it from 70,000 to 109,000k.
 
my girlfriend has one.

it is awful. the clutch is disgusting and it is a genuinely tiresome and vile contraption to drive.

the driving position is awful [i am 6ft tall] and the rear of the seats dont even feel like they come up to the bottom of my shoulder blades.

i would not like to have an accident in it.

the only upside to it is servicing and consumables being cheap [she didnt think so but then i put it into perspective by telling her how much the same sort of work would cost to do on my civic]

her recent cambelt & pump etc, 4 new tyres, 50k service, new brakes and exhaust clamps was around £500 to put right and that was stuff that was long overdue and all in one go.

split those costs up and it is much more affordable.

as much as she hates it, that work should in theory give her a year of trouble free motoring

for that kind of money though, i would consider something like a fiesta or as howard says, a corsa.
 
i had one about a brazilian years ago, a 16v dynamique

so slow it couldnt catch a cold but my word it was a fun car to drive. there are certain roads i know where no car, bar none, not even a mclaren, would match a 1.2 clio

fond memories of my one
 
I had one, great at the time but looking back it was a POS. Common faults are mainly crankshaft sensor can leak in water meaning it won't start, fixed this on mine by just drying it with a cloth and wrapping it in tape, never did it after that. Speedo cables are prone to letting go aswell.

As said above though they are a lot of fun to drive, I'd recommend one as a first car but only if I couldn't get a Fiesta as they are much better all round cars.
 
Wife had one for a few years, for a car in that class/size range I'd say it was a nice little car.

Was a Dynamique so had a little bit of kit although hers didn't have aircon.

Drove nicely, engine pretty gutless but then it's never going to be anything more really.
 
To add I have to say my little Clio was a hoot to drive. My first car which cost hardly anything to run and just kept on going.

Also watch for creaky sun roofs. This can be fixed with wd40 on the hinges. I also had my crankshaft sensor go, there is a recall for this.
 
I've had 2 fiestas in the past. A mk4 1.8 dizzel for my first car and then more recently a 1.4tdci mk6 which was lovely and cheap to run.

I would love another mk6 1.25, 1.4 or diesel 1.4 but ideally I wanna buy locally and there doesn't seem any around. I'm in Gloucester btw.

My budget is set to 1.5k which needs to include tax if it doesn't come with any.
 
My gf has a 1.2 16v extreme 02 plate.

Just coming up to 105k and generally pretty reliable. Unlike my sisters that one day didn't start, it never did again and after numerous investigations including by me we could never get to he bottom of it so it to scrapped.

It's slow but relatively good to drive and she gets a real 45 mpg from it(50 indicated)
 
I shared a 1.2 Billabong on a 51 plate. Not too bad a first car, great ride and easy enough to drive, but plagued by electrical issues (had to change all sorts inc. ECU), leaky sunroof and a fundamental lack of power. I always struggled to join motorways, overtake etc. More like playing chess than driving as you had to make your moves calculated minutes before execution.

Would recommend looking elsewhere tbh, maybe a Focus/Fiesta with a bit more poke. I should have done that instead.
 
Like most people have stated above, if you look after it, it will work, the parts are very cheap and its easy to fix most faults yourself with a little bit of googling (air bag light etc).

The driving position is bad, but so are most other small cars. I get a real 50+mpg, average about 40Mph.

Yes a fiesta is better, but buy on condition.
 
a little update, ive managed to source a VW Lupo 1.4 for sale locally. a 99' 1.4 with 79k on the clock and for £300 under budget (without haggling)

Im going to have a look at it friday afternoon.
 
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