Who here owns a Renaultsport?

I wouldn't be put off by a few previous owners. I'm now the 5th owner of my 05 plate 182.

Providing it's not had something like 12/13 in the space of a few years in which case there would obviously be something wrong with it they aren't telling you!

I think a lot of people buy these cars for a little bit of fun and then sell on looking to try out other hot hatches.

As long as it's in fully working mechanical order and had all the relevant work done I wouldn't be too worried. But that's just me personally, I may be missing something.

Check the jacking points and floor pan to see if they've been abused.

Having been my first car to actually purchase there was a lot of stuff I didn't actually check but was lucky the seller was genuine. I remember I didn't speficially check the MOT certificates for a current one, just saw that there were some there. Didn't check the locking key was the right one. Luckily for me it was all alright.

Did check other stuff like the boot floor, for both cans of foam, all electrics are working etc. Have a look to makesure the underside engine cover is there. I almost missed a cracked fog light glass. Make sure it has the engine cover and any other relevant sills for the engine bay and have a good play with everything inside, seats, belts, sunvisors, windows etc. This might be pritty obvious to you in which case hopefully someone reading it might not forget something.

Not sure why I was such a blind clueless retard, probaly excitement.
 
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Cheers. Will have a good look at a buyers guide before I go to look at it.

I've ask and shes willing to meet me in Dumfries , which would take my travel time down from 4 hours 30 mins to 3 hours. I requested that she bought along her driving licence and a utility bill to prove her address on the V5. That will be adequate won't it? I can afford to get someone to spend 6 hours of their own time to get my car but not 9-10 hours!
 
Just wrote you some epic reply for 'database error' to then pop up! :(

Yeah a utility bill, drivers license and or passport would do fine. I'd be more inclined for a passport as these are harder to forge but either will do I guess. Long as the name matched on the bill.

Only thing about meeting her somewhere with it is that you won't be able to do a 'cold start'. However if you aren't planning on buying it there and then you can always check this when you pick it up and before you've paid.

It'll probaly also be dirty after a 3.5 hour drive so seeing it clean, if you pick it up at a later date, will help you make a more accurate offer as the paintwork might not be upto standard in certain areas, alloys may need some TLC or stone chips might be concealed by dirt/flyes/small children.
 
Ah.... Never thought about a cold start. :o

Not sure what to do. I'll be travelling 3 hours and she will doing 1-1.5 hours.

Are cold start problems common on a Clio?

Ideally I wanted to take the car with me on the same visit :(
 
Not that I'm aware of, I'm a n00b home mechanic haven't changed anything in my engine, just upgraded brakes and exhaust. However you might be able to hear if the start motor is on it's way out/plugs/something else. I suppose this would still be obvious on a warm start.

The other advantage of a cold start is you could check the oil level. If it's basically empty then theirs either a good chance they've been neglecting it or there's a recent leak somewhere. (No idea if this is common in Clio's just stating what could be a generic problem)

If you did buy the car on the first viewing would you have to drop the owner home? in which case it's probaly just better off to drive the extra distance. I suppose you wouldn't know this though. So could get them to meet you closer to you for collection. This way you get to experience a cold start and can see it clean.

Edit: Also if you can, take it over some speed bumps and get a feel for the suspension and listen for any strange noises/knocking.
 
mr tommo said:
Ah.... Never thought about a cold start. :o

Not sure what to do. I'll be travelling 3 hours and she will doing 1-1.5 hours.

Are cold start problems common on a Clio?

Ideally I wanted to take the car with me on the same visit :(
Click to expand...

It's not always possible to check everything. Check what you can and cover yourself as much as possible. It's always a bit of a lottery when buying cars, you just need to do your research of common problems etc to minimise the risk.

I'm also looking at 182's and had taken a fancy to the one with recaro seats as well although I would be looking to pay under £5k as well.

Why the desperation to buy? This is how poor decisions are made which can result in buying a dud.
 
No she said she could arrange for someone to follow her and get a lift back.

Yeah will definately listen out for the suspension.

Why do I always pick the ones furthest away from home :(
Fancy going up tonight but everyone seems to be busy! Looks like its going to have to wait until Friday.

Going to look up the buyers guide on cliosport.net now.

Im not really desperate I have a car for work, but as she was picking up her new car at 3pm this afternoon, she wants a decision sooner rather than later. We've sent around 20 or so emails back and forth today and shes delayed part exing until the start of next week.

Edit : I had emailed the one with recaros numerous times last night and left it with him going to send me photos of the dents and scratches. He never replied after that.
 
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Deffinatly hit up CS. I'm on there but other members might have listed something I've forgotten. The guides section is well worth the £10.

Long as you've seen plenty of detailed pictures and arranged a purchase providing it's mechanically sound then I don't see why it won't be as I'm sure she wont waste her time traveling and hour and a half if somethings seriously wrong with it.

Got a link to the example in question?

Steve @ R Sport is on CS, think he did a HPI for me and usually has a good idea what you should expect to pay.
 
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1817079.htm


They were taken a while ago. As someone pointed out, the Renaultsport logo is not on the back and wasn't when she bought it. Also it had black 16v side badges rather than the contrasting 2.0 silver ones. She has changed them back to silver but those photos are from when she had the car.

Also there was a problem with the traction control light coming on when it shouldn't during cornering and staying on. She says the car has had a fault computer plugged in, laser alligned the car and the faults were deleted and theres not been a problem since.
 
Yeah she sent me them when I requested. Think I've pretty much asked everything that I can other than actually going to see the car. Heading up there on Friday :)
 
Number of owners/mileage wouldn't bother me as long as condition was good and history checked out ok.

I sold my phase 1 a few months ago with 5 owners and 105k on the clock for a decent price. Apart from a few cosmetic bits it was in cracking condition, had just had £800 spent on belts, brakes (yellowstuff pads and brembo max discs) and tyres (PE2s all round)!

Again a CS member's car is always quite easy to checkup on using the forums.
 
Bit of a pointless post, but I finally managed to find a cup spoiler for a decent price, brilliant condition and already in Arctic Blue so I don't need to pay to get it resprayed. Yay!

I'll post some pics when it's on.
 
Hasn't yours already got the cup packs?

Finally got a Clio 182 :D

The 7 hour round trip was a good decision. Got a Black Gold FF 182. Its a 2005/05 plate with 50,000 miles. Full Renault service history with belt change at Renault (with Receipt) earlier this year.

There was a slight vibration of the steering wheel at high speeds, as a temporary measure I switched the tryes from the back to the front and that has sorted it. Does that sho that they need balancing then?

It still has the original exhaust so I dont expect that to last forever. Got it for £4300 in the end :)

Such a fun car to drive it really is.
 
People are looking to trade them in and are being offered low money £2500 - £3000 so £4300 for a private sale suddenly doesn't seem so bad.
 
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