Advice PLEASE on purchase of a 2007 clio

samantham06

Hi everyone :-)
I really would appreciate some advice, I went to look at it yesterday. Its a 2007 1.4 renault clio dynamique in grey, 64k on the clock and its £4000.
The body work and everything inside is immaculate, has only had 2 owners. trade sale.
the tyres were very worn, so the dealer is putting 2 new front ones on and putting a fresh MOT on the car before I buy it. He wouldnt knock anything off the car though as he is trading in my car.. for a very low price!!
It has had 3 services to date, but no cambelt that is known.
I am really worried that I am going to end up buying the car and having to change the clutch/cambelt soon as they havnt been done, obviously its only 4 years old but has fairly high milege.
I really dont know as im not a mechanic, but i am using up alot of savings to buy this car, and would like some advice on what may need doing?? eg.. what milege is usual for these 'big' jobs, how much they might cost?? Or am i worrying for nothing!!
THANKS :j

Tucker

It won't be far off needing a cambelt change if not passed needing it, so see if the dealer will include that as part of the sale. Best to check the manufacturers recommendation for it.

Cost to have it done is probably in the region of £150 to £200.

There's no reason to suspect the clutch will need replacing. Mine's done 80k and is still on the original clutch.

bigjl

If it has had 3 services but no cambelt then it would seem to have been run on a shoestring, this opinion is backed up by the fact the car had worn out tyres.

A high mileage petrol Clio for £4000, seems pricey, not sure when the cambelt is due, I beleive the DCi is 60k but not sure sbout the petrol engine, more than likely a very similar mileage, so may be overdue.


I will get slagged off by the usual suspects but look at this link http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Renault/Clio/details-499495-Renault-Clio.asp?viewtype=0

Not much more, but half the mileage and mint condition.

Or the nearly new route at Motorpoint http://www.motorpoint.co.uk/(S(y2r1n4aribnilu45wtve2kq2))/Search/VehicleDetails.aspx?vehicle=307423


The wife bought a Clio Dci at CarGiant in 2009, under 30k, fsh, 5 door and minty clean condition, 56 plate for well under £6k.


Your dealer sounds a bit dodgy, he says it is a trade sale but then agrees to put on tyres?

Seems the only bit of "trade sale" about it is the lack of back up if things go wrong, plus the risk of needing to do a cambelt ASAP, which will cost at least £200 or £300.

Also a 4 yr old car with high miles and not much history makes me think that somebody bought it at 3 yrs old then just drove it for a year whilst spending nothing on it. Again an 07 plate car that has been sold on with almost bald tyres would point towards careless ownership. It may even be reclaimed from the second owner.


By posting on here means you aren't too sure about it, £4000 cash is a lot to pay out for a car that may be a moneypit.

If that is all you have then put down £3000 on that car at CarGiant or one of the 10 plates at Motorpoint.


Renault part prices are such that you don't want to buy somebodies cast off, a nice one fine, but one that has been abused and then off loaded. No, thanks.

The wifes Clio has done almost 25k miles since we bought it, no problems so far, I just change the oil and oil/air filters every 7500, miles and change the diesel filter every 15000 miles. Has needed a set of front pads, but that is all.

It is still worth about £4/4.5k, so all in all a good buy, not to everyones taste but we are happy with it.

Inactive

Oh no, not more Car Giant spamming.

Before buying from Car Giant try Googling them for customer reviews.

Barge pole and don't touch springs to mind.

jase1

I don't see any spam here.

I have seen what happens to petrol Clios when they are abused and neglected -- it isn't pretty. A three year old with 60K belonging to a work colleague (which had been serviced) was peeing oil all over the place and had a weeping head gasket, as well as problems with the brakes and suspension, and the boot wouldn't shut properly.

They're not bad cars but they don't take abuse too well.

bigjl

As, already mentioned in my previous post, there will be a CG basher along shortly.

Inactive thinks they are crap due to charging an small, widely advertised fee on purchase, which all dealers do, just that not all tell you about it.


I have heard few bad things about CarGiant, in fact I have only heard negative things on this forum, from you actually, but I am happy to advise somebody to use CarGiant, have bought many cars there, as have friends and colleages.


I have asked you before if you have bought a car there and I still think I am awaiting an answer.


I take it you now advise the OP to buy the car she has asked for advise about.



And obviously the reason CG sells thousands of cars a month is because they rip everybody off, isn't it? They most certainly can't have been trading for over 20 yrs, oh, whats that, they have!!!!!


However whenever you buy a car, you need to check it out as you would any car, CG are no different, I am sure somebody mentioned on here or linked to somebodies comments somewhere on the net that they where unhappy that something like a loadcover was missing and that it wasn't cricket, blah, blah, I think you will find that it was missing before sale and they where too stupid to ask for a replacement, or simply buy another car if they were unhappy with that one.

Though a main dealer will happily make sure the loadcover is in there, but they will charge you a couple of grand more for the privilege.

Very MSE, telling people to pay more.

bigjl

Obviously the fact that I looked for weeks for a car for the wife, especially a Clio or Megane, went to main dealers, auctions and independant dealers. And the best car for the best price was at CarGiant is obviously not relevant, no much better to listen to Inactive and his drivel that uses internet chatter as it's only foundation.

Inactive

I would advise the OP not to buy the one in her post, I would also advise her and anybody else not to buy from Car Giant.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews109326.html

Buy a lower mileage, well serviced, well cared for car from a reputable supplier is my advice.

bigjl

Inactive wrote: »

I would advise the OP not to buy the one in her post, I would also advise her and anybody else not to buy from Car Giant.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews109326.html

Buy a lower mileage, well serviced, well cared for car from a reputable supplier is my advice.

Did you actually read the comments rather than just look at the score at the top, the comments that I read seemed to be written by the kind of halfwit that you see at an auction reading intently a copy of Parkers price guide.

Jesus, one of them hadn't even driven her car yet.


Though why they where buying a car from a dealer then when it has an issue they take it to a different garage I am unsure, CG are required to fix it.

When I first bought a car from them,, Renault 25 TX in 1991, the heater matrix went after a week, I had it recovered to them and they fixed it at a cost of nearly £800, I paid nothing, and the car only cost £3000.


You can't blame a dealer if it sells a car to an idiot.


And feel free to find me a car at a main dealer that is cheaper, and the high mileage bit, are you confused, they aren't all high mileage.

The wifes Clio was acually a low mileage car, under 30k at 37 months old, which is well below average, especially for a diesel, the nearest I could find was over £7grand at an independant dealer or one for just under £8grand at Renault.

You really don't research what you post, just continue with your uninformed drivel.

You always assume that these anonymous posters on these "review centre" are correct, just read their comments, most of them are halfwits, that could find fault with an ice-cream cone. Oh, it was too cold, too soft, too hard, too icey, too creamy, blah, blah.

Another of those comments was along the lines of they felt they where not given the Lexus/Mercedes/Infiniti customer service they expected. Why would you exoect that from a car that by it's own admission stacks them high and sells them cheap, isn't that a bit like moaning about Lidl not being as nice as Marks & Spencers food section, different markets, different prices, but another uninformed person posting up useless information in the internet.


Have you actuallybeen to CarGiant?

Have you ever bought a car from them?

Gordon_Hose

bigjl wrote: »

Did you actually read the comments rather than just look at the score at the top, the comments that I read seemed to be written by the kind of halfwit that you see at an auction reading intently a copy of Parkers price guide.

:rotfl:

I thought exactly the same thing when reading through them.

BugsyBrowne

CARGIANT are nothing but a sub-prime car supermarket which attract muppets who can not get decent car finance anywhere else FACT.
They are exactly the same as CARSHAFT.