Renault Clio 1.2, 5 door - any good?

patman99

Strangely, my dad's 'P' plate Clio has never suffered a leaking sunroof. Maybe it's because it is the electric one.

The one thing later Clios do suffer from and that is bonnet catch failure. You need to grease the bonnet catch every month to stop it seizing-up and having the risk of the bonnet flying open & smashing the windscreen.

Hoof_Hearted

patman99 wrote: »

The one thing later Clios do suffer from and that is bonnet catch failure. You need to grease the bonnet catch every month to stop it seizing-up and having the risk of the bonnet flying open & smashing the windscreen.

French cars -- full of character....

dld2s

I've had 2 clios and 3 meganes, only problem I had was the well known window problem on my last megane, not had any Renault over 5 years old though.

Horizon81

OP, this car will be a dog. You should save your money and run a mile! Even with a fresh MOT, a clio of this age will be a box of problems. The sunroof is sealed up with bodge already! Brace yourself for a word full of pain due to electrical gremlins.

What Strider is saying is most people only get rid of their cars when there's a problem. This Clio probably has more wrong with it than your old Starlet.

pulliptears

Re Sunroof.....

I have a 99 T Plate RT with an electric sunroof. As the water tracks down the sunroof it goes via the passenger door frame and down into the passenger footwell where the 'Multi Timer' is.

The Multi Timer is a little electronic box which controls the electrics on the car, when this fails due to water ingress it will take most, if not all of the electrics with it. Cost to replace? Somewhere around the £400 mark because everything needs dealer reprogramming.

Aside from the above, mine has been pretty reliable but its been well looked after and serviced regularly. Its still only got 34k on the clock and is in brilliant condition but I'm well aware thats going to be a rarity.

patman99

New sunroof fitted in my old Citreon BX cost me £100. Stopped the leaks.

colino

Clios are rugged, strong and enjoyable cars to drive, with a "big car" feel not found in many small cars. They do have few foibles and if the owner isn't going to MOT themselves, it will probably need wheel bearings as a minimum and should be priced as scrap. Too many cars around at cheap money to be saddling yourself with a project.

Homeagain

Thank you every one for the advice. The lady advised me that the MOT failed on the hazard light switch and the near side steering rack gaiter which will cost about 150.00 to fix. I spoke to my mechanic who will do the entire job plus MOT etc and will take my starlet as sort of exchange for all work. He told me to offer the lady 800 and I offered 700.00 and she has come back to me wanting 725.00. That's where we stand now. Decisions, decisions?

[Deleted User]

Keep the Starlet and get the clutch fixed. If it was me.

Homeagain

Well, despite my reading all your comments and 'taking it on board' I bought the car. I clearly thought (despite relying heavily on ALL the advice I have receive on this forum regarding all sorts of things) I am bitterly ashamed and embarrassed to tell you but - this is what happened.
Immobilizer stopped working hence car immobilized; my mechanic could not fix it (he really tried his best) - week later I found a garage (who are Renault dealers) who said they would look at the car and advise the best option (I was ready to scrap and walk away);
A week later they towed the car. Two weeks later (due to 'being too busy') they looked at the car and advised me that that the ECU (I think that's what it is called) was faulty. Nearly two weeks later they advised that they would send the ECU unit away for repairs. Another week later I am told that they have sent this unit away and it 'may' be possible to fix it.
All in all I have been without a car for around 5 weeks - the bill for the work done is around 1,000 already and no exact date of repair or firm confirmation that it even can be repaired. I am despondent, depressed and feeling just plain stupid. I am stuck now, I owe the garage 1,000,00 plus repairs to the unit thing of about 300.00 plus plus plus. I now am also stuck with this car - I just wanted something 'better' - big mistake. I have had to take out a credit card to pay for this mess - and believe me I am not one to get into debt.
Next time I will listen.