Value and performance of a 1994 Clio?

Goat

I'm thinking of buying an L reg 1994 Clio 1.9D (Diesel), 70k miles, 11 months MOT, 6 months tax.

What would be a good price for this car?

it has:

all the old mots
serviced in April 2005.
2 new front bearings
new full exhaust system (with 2 years warranty)
glow plugs and breaks were changed less than 3000 miles ago.
cambelt changed last year
tyres will probably need replacing before the next mot


also, will there be much of a performance increase over a 1.0L Micra?


Thanks for your help!

Lendusapund

Hi
I used to have a 1.9 diesel few years ago on a K and thought it was brill. Plenty of power for overtaking up hills and quite quick off the mark if your clutch work is good. I think I got around 55 mpg also.
I liked it cos there was lots of room in the front - plus it was up for sale local. Some cars these days have squashed peddles but the Clio was well spaced with a foot rest by the side also.

For an L - Id say poss £500? itll be around 92/93 so its not a young car and basically you want to get it as cheap as poss. A man in my village sold a K escort diesel recently for around £350. You could log onto Autotrader.co.uk & search for used Clio's.
Ive never had a Micra although Id say it may be quite nippy. The Clio is almost double the engine CC & think you;ll see big diff. all round. When I changed from Clio to Peug 106 (1500 cc) the biggest downfall was power and secondly room. Id have another Clio (on of those new DCI engines - super efficient) any time.

Hope this helps.
RichT

alixxon

I currently own a 1994 L reg Prima RT 1.9D clio and it is truely a great little car. I payed 800 for my car last year (well i say I but my parents payed half) . The only problem i have had with the car was when part of the exhause went but this only cost me under thirty pounds to repair and the car's been going well since then.

A full tank normally costs me just under thirty pounds and i can usually do 400 miles to a full tank. Before my clio i shared my mother's new seat arosa 1 litre engine and while this was a lovely little car to drive it pales in comparison to the clio. Many of my friends have had clio's and they are reliable little car's and cheap to insure too

Hope my rambling helps

Ali x

vansboy

At the budget end of the market, it's TOTALLY dependent, on condition - this sounds reasonable, considering the obvios expenditure it's had.

Under £500 would be fair, perhaps.

BUT....Do you REALLY need a diesel?? Small petrols are good on MPG anyway.
Your tax would be cheaper too, on a petrol.

& insurance, lower.

& many garages charge a premium to service diesel.More costly components, in many areas, too.

Theres no such thing as a 'cheap' diesel!!

It also seems rather low mileage for diesel - most people - first owners anyway, buy for covering a higher mileage.Wonder if someones lost a few '0000's in years prior to it being MOT'd!!??

VB

Goat

vansboy wrote:

At the budget end of the market, it's TOTALLY dependent, on condition - this sounds reasonable, considering the obvios expenditure it's had.

Under £500 would be fair, perhaps.

BUT....Do you REALLY need a diesel?? Small petrols are good on MPG anyway.
Your tax would be cheaper too, on a petrol.

& insurance, lower.

& many garages charge a premium to service diesel.More costly components, in many areas, too.

Theres no such thing as a 'cheap' diesel!!

It also seems rather low mileage for diesel - most people - first owners anyway, buy for covering a higher mileage.Wonder if someones lost a few '0000's in years prior to it being MOT'd!!??

VB

I want a car with a bigger engine because I will be doing quite a lot of long distance driving next year. My Micra is great for short journeys but it's not ideal for motorway driving.

Is clocking a common problem nowadays? Is there any signs to check if its been clocked?

Dave_G_5

Yes clocking is still common. Easy checks are look at the wear on the pedal rubbers, also look for wear on the steering wheel and gear knob, does this tie in with the mileage? Look at the screws around the instrument binacle to see if they are scratched indicating they have been removed. Also check to see if the seatbelt retracts properly, if it doesn't there's a chance it has done a lot of miles.

I don't agree that you can't have a cheap diesel. Servicing should be cheaper if anything, no ignition parts to replace other than glow plugs which should last longer than standard spark plugs anyway. Another one you might want to consider is the Citroen ZX in either 1.9D or TurboD form. They are basically the same as a 306 but much cheaper and the body is galvanised so rust shouldn't be as much of a problem as it might be on the clio.

Good luck

Goat

I bought the car yesterday for £350. The condition of the car seemed consistent with the mileage.

When I break heavily there is quite a loud squeak though - does that mean the break pads need replacing?