Clio 197 Ultra Red 2007 from Finland. April, time to start driving.

[Antti O]

Hello!

As you can see from my small video, Clio is running fine after winter storage.
Engine runs as sweet like new

Yesterday we had nice day +5celsius, today it is snowing again. And i have summer tyres in my E46..
I think after 3-4 weeks all snow is gone and i can take Clio197 for drive.
Car is now fitted with stud tyres, i have to swap summer tyres first.

I will drive both clio and 330ci in summertime.
My plan is to drive first month of summertime with Clio 197, and later part with 330CI.

330CI waiting for summer
3-step polished, next step will be ceramic coating.

 

[peter]

both cars look fab, antti.
is that an evo behind those tyres?

 

[Antti O]

both cars look fab, antti.
is that an evo behind those tyres?

Yep , evo9

 

[Antti O]

Winter strikes back
This morning from our local highway.
No hurry to put Clio for insurance..

Images copyright Länsi-Savo
https://lansi-savo.fi/uutiset/lahel...FhqJmEdNvsAgGyDTc0Xi4xjuqgWQwuIxLJIAwCk60y6OU

 

[Antti O]

Yesterday i enabled tax / insurance for Clio 197.

Fingers crossed there will be no more snow.
As you can see from picture, there is still lot of sand/gravel they use in wintertime. I am waiting city people to clean those.
I drove approx 30kilometers yesterday, no any problems which is good.
Today i will drop car price, waiting for potential buyers.

 

[Antti O]

Another picture from saturday.

 

[Antti O]

Saturday i took car for goverment inspection check (mot in uk).
Nothing to say, it was perfect. Clean paper.

I reduced asking price approx 2000£. I hope i can sell this soon.
Weather is difficult now. Last week was warm and in this week we will have again snow and freezing temps. I have to avoid highways if there is lot of salt again.

 

[Antti O]

Clio has been in storage since 15.5 and road insurance disabled.
I took -2000euros off from asking price again, still no calls.
When June turns July, it has been 12 months for sale now.

Finland politics are turning game for really tax heavy for owning high polluting cars.
For example my 330ci is 238g /co2, and road tax+petrol tax will be more and more in next years. Road tax in this year is almost 500euros (400£). Petrol is approx 1,6£ / litre.

Maybe it is time for electric car or hybrid..

 

[Big Ben]

Clio has been in storage since 15.5 and road insurance disabled.
I took -2000euros off from asking price again, still no calls.
When June turns July, it has been 12 months for sale now.

Finland politics are turning game for really tax heavy for owning high polluting cars.
For example my 330ci is 238g /co2, and road tax+petrol tax will be more and more in next years. Road tax in this year is almost 500euros (400£). Petrol is approx 1,6£ / litre.

Maybe it is time for electric car or hybrid..

Such a nice car would sell very quickly in the UK Antti.

Hope someone buys it soon.

 

[Antti O]

Such a nice car would sell very quickly in the UK Antti.

Hope someone buys it soon.

It is difficult because we have now 3 similar red for sale. Both cars are cheaper than my car.
I dont think condition is same, but people always look price.
Renaults also have bad reputation in my country, people are avoiding Renault as brand..
They think that these cars will rot and are full of electric faults.

 

[Antti O]

Some little updates.
Clio has been now in road insurance 2 weeks and it has been my daily driver.
Both E46 are in garage (330ci + 316i).
No technical issues or anything.
I have to buy cambelt parts soon, in Finland timebelt time interval is only 4 years.
Cambelt have to replaced January 2020.
Maybe that is one reason why there is no interest for car.
Renault quoted approx 900euros for cambelt, i am not going to take car there for sure.

1 week ago there was first viewer for car, but no deal.
Price is now 9000euros (7706£).
14 months for sale in this point.

Pictures not working again, dont know why. But here you have links.
From yesterday.

https://aor.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Clio+3+197+RS+ULTRA+RED/20190825_161330.jpg\big

https://aor.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Clio+3+197+RS+ULTRA+RED/20190825_161337.jpg\big

https://aor.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Clio+3+197+RS+ULTRA+RED/20190825_161419.jpg\big

 

[Antti O]

Tomorrow is time for new timing belt kit.

Timing belt kit was replaced January 2016, we only have 4 years belt interval in Finland.
So i have to replace it.
I dont want to drive car in wintertime, so i will change it now.
Current timing belt is 9300miles driven (15.000km)..

I bought parts from Germany and UK.
INA is my favourite brand for tensioners/belts, good quality and made in Germany.

Parts list:

- INA timing belt kit including all bolts and necessary items.
- Camshaft seal kit
- Auxiliary belt + tensioner (Renault original)
- Valvoline multi-vehicle coolant, (Glaceol AL type C / RX Type D) spec. Colour yellow.
- Castrol Magnatec 5W40 oil
- Oil filter + sump plug gasket (Renault original)
- Cabin air filter

I am now using Imgur for pic sharing, lets hope it will work.

 

[Antti O]

Btw.
Renault dealer quoted 110€ x 8 hours labour only.
That is 880euros (731£).
Then you have to pay for parts too. Mad price..

 

[Antti O]

Good news

Yesterday clio timing belt was replaced. Everything went smooth.
There is now new components and waterpump.
Mechanic also did oil change including fresh Castrol 5w-40 oil, genuine oil filter + sump washer.

 

[Antti O]

Season 2019 is over. Time for winter storage.

We already are having freezing tempeatures in the morning.
That means there will be salt in roads. I saw first winter tyres today. (Studded).
Yesterday i put my clio in winter storage after careful wash.

My winter storage is normal house garage, which is insulated but not heated.
I will buy 1 demoisturizer ball for clio, those are quite effective.

 

[Antti O]

Hello again from Finland!

We just had our first snow in last weekend.
They are now salting roads.

Luckily my Clio stays in garage for whole winter season and i have another cars for winter weather.
This year i decided i keep summer tyres and dont swap stud tyres for garage.
I dont know how well PS4 michelins can take long stay in one position, we will find out next year..

We had problems in our 1.6-16V Mk3 clio recently, sunroof drain pipes was blocked. After i attempted open those with small mist of compressed air, drain pipe connection under dash pop open. So we had to take carpets + front seats off, and dry carpets.
There is now secure connections in drain pipe connections.
Lets hope everything will work now as designed.
My 197 dont have sunroof.. or drain pipe problems.

ps. Ugly brown garage inside.
I will paint it next summer white.
I am tempted to buy new remote controlled door..

 

[Antti O]

Car has been for sale now 15 months. 2 calls and 1 man who view the car. No calls after that.
Current price range here is 8900-9300€ / 2 cars for sale.
I have to try selling again in April/May when summer car season begins

 

[Antti O]

Hello from Finland
Today is April 18 and +5 celsius, no snow.
I enabled insurance and took clio from garage.
First thing was Finnish inspection (MOT).
No fault or advisories to fix. Car was perfect.

Car is still for sale, for 10.000€ (euros). There has been some second thoughts if i sell this.
Maybe i dont sell this, as i have plenty of garage space. There is fresh timing kit installed, good tyres etc.
No expensive things in future..