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Welcome to the forum! And welcome back to Renault ownership - a sucker for punishment I see :smile:

Enjoy the new car!
 
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sevenfourate said:
With the previously-owned list - thats a given. Or perhaps a poor memory :french:


Welcome to the fold and good luck with the track car.......
Click to expand...

I try to forget the amount of driveshafts I went through on the lowered 5 Turbos.
And the Clutch changes!!

With the 197 you get a lot of car for 3K

What problems should i expect??
 
Wolf197 said:
I try to forget the amount of driveshafts I went through on the lowered 5 Turbos.
And the Clutch changes!!

With the 197 you get a lot of car for 3K

What problems should i expect??
Click to expand...

My boss (Ex R5 GT owner) recalls to me stories of 12+ wheel bearings. Think he wore the press out at work......

Common / costly 197 and 200 issues can include:

Leaking flexis / cracked manifold: (Renault item expensive, others may require Remap. Labour to swap 'expensive).
Lower ball joints: Pretty common. Bit of a pig to change.
Sticking brakes: the front and rears really require some periodic love and lubing. Say no more.....
General hesitation / kangarooing / poor cold running: Securing MAP sensor can help. Remap will do wonders for this and general fuelling.
Crunchy g/box: Synchro's are known to fail somewhat randomly (Age no factor perhaps......). Rebuild the only solution.
Cambelt: Along with de-phaser, aux belt, water pump etc is a 6 year / 72k affair. Approx £600 all-in if needs doing.

Good news is....if you can find an enthusiast owned 197 - being a few years older - many of these issues may have been 'sorted'.

Good luck.
 
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sevenfourate said:
My boss (Ex R5 GT owner) recalls to me stories of 12+ wheel bearings. Think he wore the press out at work......

Common / costly 197 and 200 issues can include:

Leaking flexis / cracked manifold: (Renault item expensive, others may require Remap. Labour to swap 'expensive).
Lower ball joints: Pretty common. Bit of a pig to change.
Sticking brakes: the front and rears really require some periodic love and lubing. Say no more.....
General hesitation / kangarooing / poor cold running: Securing MAP sensor can help. Remap will do wonders for this and general fuelling.
Crunchy g/box: Synchro's are known to fail somewhat randomly (Age no factor perhaps......). Rebuild the only solution.
Cambelt: Along with de-phaser, aux belt, water pump etc is a 6 year / 72k affair. Approx £600 all-in if needs doing.

Good news is....if you can find an enthusiast owned 197 - being a few years older - many of these issues may have been 'sorted'.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
A gutting Christmas message
 
Wolf197 said:
A gutting Christmas message
Click to expand...

It's honestly not as bad as you first think. Many, many cars have never had either manifold/gearbox problems, this is purely pot luck and really nothing to put you off owning the car. Just bear it in mind and take steps to ensure it's covered off (a sum of money set aside towards it).

The other things, well they can be put down to expected maintenance and preventative care. Ball joints can be done cheaper at specialists and if you buy the right car, the cambelt may have already been done recently.

These cars aren't really the nightmares that the wider web will have you believe :smile: plenty of people on here who love their motors can attest to that!
 
Any
Jimmy said:
It's honestly not as bad as you first think. Many, many cars have never had either manifold/gearbox problems, this is purely pot luck and really nothing to put you off owning the car. Just bear it in mind and take steps to ensure it's covered off (a sum of money set aside towards it).

The other things, well they can be put down to expected maintenance and preventative care. Ball joints can be done cheaper at specialists and if you buy the right car, the cambelt may have already been done recently.

These cars aren't really the nightmares that the wider web will have you believe :smile: plenty of people on here who love their motors can attest to that!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Jimmy, much appreciated.
The car I am collecting in Jan has a good warranty so I will hopefully get everything checked out particularly the gearbox.
The box does feel fine on test drive changing down from 5th to 3rd ETC.

Any advice for a decent independent Renault specialist in Derbyshire/ Notts/ South Yorkshire?
 
Wolf197 said:
Any


Thanks for the advice Jimmy, much appreciated.
The car I am collecting in Jan has a good warranty so I will hopefully get everything checked out particularly the gearbox.
The box does feel fine on test drive changing down from 5th to 3rd ETC.

Any advice for a decent independent Renault specialist in Derbyshire/ Notts/ South Yorkshire?
Click to expand...

Happy to help.

A warranty is a great thing to get, and absolutely worth getting those things on the list checked out before you take the plunge. The box will always be a bit reluctant from cold, but should change very smoothly once it's warmed up.

You're in a sweet spot for RS specialists! There is either Bolsover Car Care (who I have used a couple of times), or Midlands Renault Specialists (Mark Black runs this and used to work at BCC when I went there). Both are very good garages to use. I believe both are on Facebook, but I don't use it so don't quote me on that :smile:
 
Wolf197 said:
A gutting Christmas message
Click to expand...

Sorry. I can pad it out and tell you what you want to hear if you like ? :tonguewink:

But as an owner of nearly 2 years and a frequent follower of various forums, social media and owners blog etc - the facts are out there of how finicky and costly these cars are to own for many. Some of that might be due to the fact most of us are enthusiasts who go above and beyond in terms of renewing parts, servicing etc of course. But read people's progress threads in here too. They will tell the story.

Below are typical of points to watch out for as explained and found in almost all decent 197 / 200 Buyers guides where they don't just tell you about the eager engine, fantastic handling etc;

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-ne...-a-second-hand-renault-clio-197200-2009-2012/

http://www.clio197.net/threads/clio-197-buyers-guide.19788/

http://www.evo.co.uk/renault/clio/14050/renaultsport-clio-197200-checkpoints

etc etc etc

And with all respect; hitting the track with an 11 year old fairly highly strung car is never likely to be a cheap exercise.


GOOD LUCK if you take the plunge:sunglasses:
 
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