Renault Clio Advice - 2007 (20,000 Miles)

YKay

2007 / 20,371 miles / Hatchback / Manual / 1.4L / Petrol

• One owner from new
• Comes with free service
• Free 12 months MOT
• 3 months AA Parts & Labour Warrenty
• Last services at 15,743 miles
• service history

The car is generally in good condition, I can't really fault the bodywork and interior, however under the bonnet looks very ruff. I don't know much about cars, so maybe this is normal and it just needs a good clean up? What do you think, as the engine is the obviously the most important.

Price: £2,600

Click the engine photo to make bigger.




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forgotmyname

Free service - does the oil look cleanish? If top top it up to look fairly clean?

Missing the vital data, last service 5k miles ago but when was that? Has it been serviced EVERY year? How many cambelts?

I would expect a 20k mile car to be spotless inside and out.

Bought a 4 year old car last year and it was like new inside and out.

That engine looks like its done at least 80k miles. Why does it have wet oily patches all over it?

A few little telltale signs there, im guessing that engines been out...

facade

Engine looks how you would expect for a car that has been standing unused for the best part of 10 years, and probably only had the bonnet up 3 times. Surprised the seller didn't just clean it up before sale.

How long ago, in years was the last service?

Very low mileage cars can be a lot of trouble as they may have done a lot of trips to the shops and never warmed up properly which really wears the engine, or they can have stood in damp conditions (parked on grass) for a long time.
Have a look underneath for rusty suspension and exhaust pipes.

I've no idea what a 10 year old clio is worth, although I did turn a 14 year old one down at £75 that needed a wheelbearing a couple of years ago.

YKay

More information that may help from the MOT GOV checker

15 APRIL 2010 - 4,901 MILES - PASS

27 APRIL 2011 - 6,830 MILES - PASS

26 APRIL 2012 - 8,633 MILES - PASS

29 APRIL 2013 - 10,237 MILES - PASS

28 APRIL 2014 - 11,934 MILES - PASS

17 JUNE 2015 - 14,187 MILES - PASS

17 JUNE 2016 - 15,743 MILES - PASS

20 JUNE 2017 - 18,514 MILES - FAIL
- OFFSIDE FRONT COIL SPRING BROKEN (2.4.C.1a)
- NEARSIDE REAR TYRE HAS A TEAR CAUSED BY SEPARATION OR PARTIAL FAILURE OF ITS STRUCTURE (4.1.D.1b)

20 JUNE 2017 - 18.514 MILES - PASS

flashg67

Does seem a lot for a 10yr old car, regardless of the mileage

YKay

The price does seem very good compared to other cars with the milage and age. The car is selling for around £3,500+, this is the best deal I have found.

Just worried about under that bonnet. Shall I get them to give it a clean up and re-inspect it?

Herzlos

YKay wrote: »

The price does seem very good compared to other cars with the milage and age. The car is selling for around £3,500+, this is the best deal I have found.

Are you sure? We looked at selling a 2008 with normal miles and had a private sale value of about £2k.

A quick look on Autotrader shows lots of 2006/2007 cars for under £1500, like this one: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201712021755111?sort=sponsored&radius=1501&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=ml84ey&make=RENAULT&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&model=CLIO&price-to=5000&page=1

Just worried about under that bonnet. Shall I get them to give it a clean up and re-inspect it?

No, it won't make any difference to the condition and may mean they'll cover up any issues (I'm assuming this is a dealership).

If you think the price is comparable with locally, I'd invest in an AA/RAC inspection of it.

It's done puny miles, so it's spend most of it's life sitting about rusting, so you should treat it like any other 10 year / 100,000 mile car. The big risk is that it's not been serviced properly since a lot of people think it doesn't need it.

Has it had new oil? How old do the tyres look? Has it had the belts done?

On the plus side, it's been doing consistent mileage going by the MOT's, so hasn't spent 8 years in a field. On the down side, at 2000 miles a year it's very likely to have gone to Tesco and back once a week by an older person without much mechanical sympathy.

System

RUN AWAY. It'll give you nothing but grief when you start using it. You'll find all kinds of things failing which you'd not expect on a car with three or four times the mileage.

ALL THE TYRES NEED CHANGING except the one that already has. Chances are they're the original ones fitted when the vehicle was new and are over a decade old so the rest are likely to fail like the replaced one has.

Cambelt will need doing, auxiliary belt(s) will need doing. Expect issues with things like the handbrake seizing.

wgl2014

If you forget the low mileage (which as discussed is not the advantage many believe it to be) the car is about a grand overpriced.

If you specifically want a Clio I would be more inclined to buy a similar age and spec car that has higher miles and will have been used more frequently for longer trips. Probably look to pay £1400 ish.

Bear in mind any car this age will need parts replacing sooner or later which can be expensive if you are having a garage do the work.

Dandytf

That Clio will run for years if serviced once a year.
I have 3 Clio’s past fey years,
01-38 months appr
02-2008until2014 +80 k miles
63/14 -30 k-current car

AdrianC

20k over 10 years is not a positive. It's a negative.