Looking at a used 06 clio

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

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Hey guys its 06 playe has 62000 miles, looks in good condition and had a drive seems fine. Full history etc

I asked about timing belt service and the seller wasnt to sure so is looking into it for me tomorrow, when should this be done? I assumed around 60k or 10 years which would be now so if so i hope its done

Other than that what else should i look out for? Just after a cheapish 5 door for my partner and it suits us well
 
I'd think you'd generally be better served by a Fiesta or a Focus as the clios do tend to have more niggly issues with stuff like electrics. We had an 06 clio albeit the 197 Clio Sport and it had more than it's fair share of annoying problems compared to all the other non french cars we've owned.
 
I owned this exact spec and as others have said stick with a ford. I knew a number of people who had no end of random electrical issues.
 
Its 5 years or 72k miles, we had a 1.4 dynamique clio, and was reliable. It did like to eat coil packs, and the sunroof let water in, a lot of water. If it has a sunroof, i would avoid it.
Personally wouldn't get another one, the fiesta or polo is a better car. But it never let us down.
 
The French should stick to making wine and cheese.
My wife has a 56 Megane and as an example, yesterday she got in and partially opened her passenger window, I got in and started the car and the blower didn't come on. She got cold, her window wouldn't close. We then found the CD wouldn't play and the display just showed the time. Turned off and on, locked unlocked to no avail. Carried on. We kept trying the window and about 30 minutes later it worked. We went to a shop came out and no change, then a bit later, the CD suddenly start playing but no blower. 1 hour later of visiting various shops, suddenly the blower works.
If you can put up with this kind of mystery (we can for now) then a Renault is the car for you.
 
The sunroof isn't a problem, if it does leak it's about a 2hr job to remove, seal and replace. I've owned the same number of Forda as French and I'd pick fence each time. The worst I've had with a Clio (had a 172 Cup, '04 dci and '15 dci - had a Saxo VTS and R5 GTT Raider also) is a wire breaking on the high pressure fuel line and an immobiliser fault. Both cost around £150-200 to fix. The fords I've had (Fiesta Si, RST, RS 1800 and XR2i) are the worst reliable cars I've ever owned, lots of major faults where they spent weeks in the shop getting fixed, the worst was the Si, that was brand new and in the year I owns it I think I drove it for about 20 weeks!

You'll get bad cars from every manufacturer, and it's usually the bad ones you hear about rather than all the daily free motoring that goes on unreported.
 
As people have said: electrics. I had a 2001 1.4L and had ignition coils fail, crankshaft position sensor (wouldn't start) and immobiliser fault which I had to bypass. All fairly simple jobs to fix and low cost.

Make sure the water pump has been changed, and timing checked. I finally scrapped mine at 120k miles, it could've gone further but I just wanted a newer car.
 
MissChief said:
French cars have a reputation for dodgy electrics. In my experience it's a reputation that's entirely justified.
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This.

IMHO (and in my experience) The French make shoddy cars and there's usually no real reason (unless the price is seriously compelling) to buy one over something else.
 
I too have just bought a car for the Wife, I went with a Suzuki Swift, not once did I even consider a French car when looking. many years ago I owned a Renault 19 16v - lots of annoying electrical faults, then I had a 1.2 Clio - same story, then I had a Saxo VTR - same story. Thats when I moved on to Japanese cars and not one electrical fault since.
 
Only buy a 10 year old Clio if it's a 182 and that's what you're specifically after. Otherwise there's probably a lot better alternatives.

The electrics issue can vary - mine has started to put the rear fogs on when I brake :)
 
Maccy said:
Only buy a 10 year old Clio if it's a 182 and that's what you're specifically after. Otherwise there's probably a lot better alternatives.

The electrics issue can vary - mine has started to put the rear fogs on when I brake :)
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Unplug the cable at the back of the cluster, spray with WD40 and see if that fixes it, it did with ours.

kefkef said:
The sunroof isn't a problem, if it does leak it's about a 2hr job to remove, seal and replace. I've owned the same number of Forda as French and I'd pick fence each time. The worst I've had with a Clio (had a 172 Cup, '04 dci and '15 dci - had a Saxo VTS and R5 GTT Raider also) is a wire breaking on the high pressure fuel line and an immobiliser fault. Both cost around £150-200 to fix. The fords I've had (Fiesta Si, RST, RS 1800 and XR2i) are the worst reliable cars I've ever owned, lots of major faults where they spent weeks in the shop getting fixed, the worst was the Si, that was brand new and in the year I owns it I think I drove it for about 20 weeks!

You'll get bad cars from every manufacturer, and it's usually the bad ones you hear about rather than all the daily free motoring that goes on unreported.
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Whilst that is true, water and electronics don't mix, can you imagine what French electronics and water would do? ;)
 
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