Buying a 197 with high miles

M

MATT93

Hello, first post to the forum
(already had a read through the buyers guide but thought id ask for some info anyway)

Bit of info:

I recently sold my 370bhp Impreza STI to fund buying a house. I downgraded to a 2005 1.2 Clio (Heart Breaking!)
With the house bought I now live out in the country and have some lovely roads on my daily commute, 16miles roughly each way, thought I would like something a bit more exciting than the 1.2 clio and at the same time still semi economical - baring in mind the Subaru was around 20/25mpg.

The little Clio is a 2006 Nimbus grey 197, standard sports seats, almost 90k miles. Does however have a good service history, only 1 key.

Car is priced at £3,750 now I done a 'car valuation' and it says the car is worth around £3280 excellent condition. Would you trust a online car valuation?
Also, when I come to selling the car, say if it has almost 100k / 100k+ miles, will it be difficult to sell or are the Clios generally easy to sell on?

Sorry for the long story & thanks in advance for any replies

Matt.
 
Has the 197 had the cambelt ? I wouldn't worry too much about a key as you can get a replacement relatively cheap (around £80 for a megane keycard programmed to the Clio , same keycard as used in the Clio though )

Any links to the 197 you are looking at ?

One think I will mention is MPG won't 've drastically better than the Scooby (i have had 2 scoobys). You will see on average 25 ish it seems, 30+ at a push. Have you considered the 182 as an alternative ? They are better on fuel than the 197, not drastic but my old one always seemeed to read 34 regardless of driving style. However that was from on board computer rather than calculated.
 
montana said:
Has the 197 had the cambelt ? I wouldn't worry too much about a key as you can get a replacement relatively cheap (around £80 for a megane keycard programmed to the Clio , same keycard as used in the Clio though )

Any links to the 197 you are looking at ?

One think I will mention is MPG won't 've drastically better than the Scooby (i have had 2 scoobys). You will see on average 25 ish it seems, 30+ at a push. Have you considered the 182 as an alternative ? They are better on fuel than the 197, not drastic but my old one always seemeed to read 34 regardless of driving style. However that was from on board computer rather than calculated.
Click to expand...

Ok around £80 for a key.
The one I am looking at is: https://www.gumtree.com/p/renault/renault-clio-197-rs-/1132662835
My wee 1.2 clio I have at the moment claims I'm almost 46MPG, thats over around 2k miles, I would say I have reached Granny level 100! lol.

I like the 197 because of the interior and aesthetics, not fussed on the 182's.

Are they easy to shift on again with 'higher' miles? Don't want to buy it to find out I'll have a real hard time trying to sell it on again.

Matt.
 
Its hard to say whether it will be difficult to shift on , however I think subconsciously, the 100k Mark is a bit of a negative milestone. I would go and view the car if you can, first thing that strikes me is rear bumper appears to be a different colour , also yellow calipers , which means they have possibly been refurbed (good). Try and drive more than 1 before you decide.
 
welcome mate..
well if you wanna sell any car with 100k+ miles on the clock it will be difficult..why dont you try to get one with less miles on the clock??there are plenty..check autotrader..sure you will be able to find one with 60k miles for about 4 grand..
good luck
 
If you're only going to put 10K miles on it i wouldn't worry much about resale ... if you pay 3500 and sell it for 3000 or 2750 you don't loose a lot.
I would go for it as it's the best fun car you can buy for that money.
 
montana said:
Its hard to say whether it will be difficult to shift on , however I think subconsciously, the 100k Mark is a bit of a negative milestone. I would go and view the car if you can, first thing that strikes me is rear bumper appears to be a different colour , also yellow calipers , which means they have possibly been refurbed (good). Try and drive more than 1 before you decide.
Click to expand...

Yeah I suppose it would be hard to tell.
I noticed that myself, I know its not uncommon for bumpers to be a slightly different shade, was hoping it was possibly a very bad picture.
Not a big fan of the yellow callipers myself, but its not my car yet away lol.

I drove a 2007 197, 73k miles. Was nice, Bar the fact there was no service history, it had been hit at the drivers door, drivers door didn't close properly, chassis crease, it pulled to one side, and generally looked as rough as a badgers ass lol!
 
Hi mate as@Montana said would check why the bumper looks a different shade. Apart from that I think it looks quite tidy. Check the service history and see if the cambelt had been done. I would personally buy a car with 70000 miles on it with a full service history than one with 20000 with no service history! I think a car lying about not getting used is no good for the car!! My clio is 15 miles away from 80000 miles and never misses a beat and drives excellent. I know it has been well looked after by me and the previous owners. I got mine on the rolling road about 6000 miles ago and ran 189bhp was well chuffed. Just don't expect to much as mog goes I average about 26 mph to 30 mpg. Good luck with the purchase.
 
bimbeano said:
If you're only going to put 10K miles on it i wouldn't worry much about resale ... if you pay 3500 and sell it for 3000 or 2750 you don't loose a lot.
I would go for it as it's the best fun car you can buy for that money.
Click to expand...
See, Im normally use to buying cars and making money when it comes to selling. Im guessing thats not going to happen with this. Though if its a really good example it should surely be easy to sell on? Do many normally come up on the forum for sale with high miles?
 
chris1888-197 said:
Hi mate as@Montana said would check why the bumper looks a different shade. Apart from that I think it looks quite tidy. Check the service history and see if the cambelt had been done. I would personally buy a car with 70000 miles on it with a full service history than one with 20000 with no service history! I think a car lying about not getting used is no good for the car!! My clio is 15 miles away from 80000 miles and never misses a beat and drives excellent. I know it has been well looked after by me and the previous owners. I got mine on the rolling road about 6000 miles ago and ran 189bhp was well chuffed. Just don't expect to much as mog goes I average about 26 mph to 30 mpg. Good luck with the purchase.
Click to expand...

I have enquired about the Cambelt and was told it had been done when the previous owner had it, he said it was marked down in the service book. I would be like that too. Very weary of buying something with No service history at all.

There isn't a whole lot I can check in regards to the rear bumper, I can look in the boot for any damage / under the car or maybe even sanding marks to suggest its been re-painted again. Thats about it though.

They seem like a fun little car, Baby B Road Warrior!
 
InIn my short experience, the 197 mpg is poor until a decent temp is reached. I only do a 6 mile commute each way, and I don't hang about and I get about 23 to the gallon. I have seen various mpgs through the forum though so it would seem every car is different. Mine has no mods. As for the value, nothings set in stone. But last month I paid 5900 for my nimbus 197 58 plate - one owner with 45k that needs cambelt doing. I didn't think that was too bad.
 
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Martin S said:
In my short experience, the 197 mpg is poor until a decent temp is reached. I only do a 6 mile commute each way, and I don't hang about and I get about 23 to the gallon. I have seen various mpgs through the forum though so it would seem every car is different. Mine has no mods. As for the value, nothings set in stone. But last month I paid 5900 for my nimbus 197 - one owner with 45k that needs cambelt doing. I didn't think that was too bad.
Click to expand...

I think thats sort of a given with any sporty car. I do more miles so imagine I would average higher MPG.
I tried search the normal places Gumtree / Pistonheads / auto trader etc for cars with the same miles to see what price they were up for. Only thing I found was a red 07 197 with 104k miles advertised for just over 4k by a dealer. Im thinking they're perhaps crazy.
 
If it was me, a) I wouldn't be buying a car I wasn't totally sure about and you don't seem sure so... And b) unless you're absolutely desperate, save a bit more and get a better one. A grand and a half more opens up a very different selection of cars.

Jealous of you buying a car for fun on your commute. My drive to work used to be on the Cat & Fiddle road in Macclesfield. Now I live in London and it's the tube to work.

I miss the days of arriving in work with my eyes on stalks after properly waking myself up on the drive there...

Anyway, hold out for one you fall for is my advice.
 
Just a point to add economy wise - don't expect more than 30 on these cars, if your ragging its tits off on country roads your not going to be seeing 25 either. As long as properly serviced these cars will be fine high miled. Good luck finding a car.
 
I've just sold my 06 plate 197 with just under 114k on the clock with no issues, i did px it though at a garage.
 
Well I've listened to what everyone has had to say and I think I might invest a little more money into one.

Going to look at this one: https://www.gumtree.com/p/renault/2007-197-clio-sport/1131215773

1 Year younger than the previous, 30k miles less, Cup spoiler, lowered, spacers and possibly a nicer colour 'imo' lol

I have been speaking to the owner and he said he would be willing to let it go for just under 5k, so really 1k more would get me all that.

I like the fact its had all the 'big' items done, Timing belt, Water Pump & even a Clutch.

I guess it would be more of a safe best opposed to the other one?

Matt.
 
A few points to add with that car:

No way in a million years a "small remap" will bring it to 220 hp.
timing belt done but not aux belt or dephaser, might want to check these
 
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