197 v 200

New here, and couldn't find anything on the 'search'.

Looking for a post-'08 197 and noticed that the prices of late 197s and early 200s are very close.

Just wondered if there is a notable difference between the 197s and 200s ?

Is a 200 worth the extra £1.5 - 2k over a similar spec'd 197 ?

thanks
 
I'd advise driving them yourself. I never gelled with the 197, so I kept to the mk2's (182's/172's). There's a number of small improvements on the 200 that add up to make it the superior car (imo).

Bar the looks. No idea what they were thinking with the 200 front end.
 
All in all the 200 is the better car (except the looks!), but its bound to be as its the newer generation whereby all they had to do was tweak an already great car.

Best bet is to drive them both yourself and weigh them both up mate. Theres plenty of threads around listing the difference between the two cars.

Just be wary that a Cup 200 and a Cup 197, and a FF 197 and FF200 are completely different. I.E 200 Cup suspension is stiffer than the 197 cup suspension and the 200 FF suspension is softer than 197 FF suspension. So driving a 'Cup' in one model doesn't tell you everything about the 'Cup' in another.
 
Can't find anything???? That must be the most debated issue of the forum.
IMO 200 better car but the front is shockingly ugly. No xenon option either cause Renault wanted to keep the makeover cheap and headlamp washers (xenons must have headlamp washers to pass MOT) so just didn't bother...

If you can live with the looks...200 all the way
 
Im gonna stick up for the looks of the 200 say that from 500yds a 197 looks the same as every other clio, the 200 is much more recognisable from a distance, stands out from the crowd and for that I love the front end.

I think a lot of people are going to disagree with me tho... lol
 
Had the same debate over on Cliosport, I'm not sure any clio generation has exactly been a looker.

I like how the 200 looks but only in certain colours, same with the 197/182/172 etc. etc. in certain colours they all look rubbish.
 
Had the same debate over on Cliosport, I'm not sure any clio generation has exactly been a looker.

I like how the 200 looks but only in certain colours, same with the 197/182/172 etc. etc. in certain colours they all look rubbish.

Couldn't agree more especially as I saw a baby pink 172 with pink furry seats in Sheffield yesterday, quite frankly it was a hideous crime
 
I think the 200 looks stunning I'n everyday including the front end :smile: the 197 are really nice but personally the 200 does it for me
 
I suppose it depends if the 200 is £1500 better then the 197 on which is, effectively just tweeked from! Lol! As others have said, the 200 is the better car overall, but then it does have it's weaknesses over the 197, such as only having 4 seats to the 197's 5. Xenon's are available and the 197 is cheaper to buy. Second hand parts are probably?? easier to come buy too.
 
ah, but a 200 should have at least some warranty left, which could be worth a bit in itself. personally, i went for the 200 from a 182 as the 200 looks really grew on me and i didn't want to own the 2nd newsest renaultsport. bit of a shallow thing to say but it helped make my mind up :smile:
 
I agree, the 197 is starting to look dated but it should, its 5 years old. The Meg 250 is a stunning looking car, the 200 should have taken the styling clues from the 250, it would equally look stunning. I don't look at the 200 and think "I must have one of those", I think its better but not 3(good 197 v old 200) grand difference or 6-7ish grand new. What I hate the most about the 200 is the way Renault have taken so many short cuts with the 200 styling. It styled like that simply about saving money...same car after the bumper backwards (excluding lights and diffuser).

The 200 is a brilliant car but its a stop gap, with the limited changes to make people buy them but in the knowledge that the new car will be completely different. In the same way as the 182. IMO, the 200 will be the forgotten model because when the new clio comes out, it too will be old, the styling will equally look dated and the 197 will represent a secondhand bargain. Brill car but not brill enough to make non Renault people be 'turncoats'. The average person keeps them 18 months which speaks volumes. Not in the same way as 172 and the 197. TBH, the 172 and 182 represent the die hard clio owners.
Just my opinion but what do I know....
 
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200 is the better car. Tweaks have been made to improve it. It depends what you can get for your money though, I'd rather have a high spec 197 than a low spec 200. There isn't really that much difference imho but the small changes do make the 200 the better car, and although I think the 197 is the better looking of the two, it does look dated now.