Goodbye Squee (197) hello...

[chongwong]

Today was my last day of Clio 197 ownership. I loved the car but the little bugger kept trying to bankrupt me. Last week I gave her a send-off up past the lecht which was ridiculously fun, but £2200 worth if maintenence in 4 and a half months was getting silly. It still needed front discs, it has never had a new clutch, and the synchro issues were starting to rear their ugly heads in 3rd and 4th.


Today I picked this up:


It's completely standard. And apparently it makes way more power than Renault let on, as I've also found this.

I miss the way the clio buzzes and darts about, but u think I may just learn to love this car:-D

 

[Pav]

enjoy mate..hope it serves you well :thumbup:

 

[matt9566]

Looks good! My plan is to get a meg when the right one comes along, Enjoy!

 

[nutnutwelshman]

I had my meg for just over two years lots of track days and miles it never missed a beat enjoy yourself

 

[montana]

Nice choice. 2.2k in 4 months is eye watering though, was it a lemon?

 

[nutnutwelshman]

[MENTION=52200]montana[/MENTION] my 200 was that bad in a 3 month period/Gear box/Steering rack /plus a list as long as your arm lol but its down to luck bud

 

[chongwong]

I was probably just unlucky, it's service history was patchy at best, but everytime I got it up on jack stands I would find something else that was broken. Just gave up on it eventually. The megane has a good warranty, so that sealed the deal

 

[MRizzle]

Sorry to hear about your issues with the Clio but that's a lovely replacement. I've always loved this current generation of RS Meganes and that's also the colour that I'd have plumped for. I did actually look at these before getting my Clio but couldn't find one quickly enough.

 

[Kazumz]

Nice choice. 2.2k in 4 months is eye watering though, was it a lemon?

I've spent 1.5k in 8 months on my car, it's not a lemon. It just hits you at once unfortunately.

Once you fix something, you notice something else etc... It's just one of those things.

I'd only class something as a lemon if it was rotten with rust, run like a dog, **** everything.

 

[Nejjam]

Wish I'd have gone for megane 250 instead of Clio 200 tbh

 

[Jimmy]

Nice choice for a replacement. Enjoy!

I can sympathise with you getting the big bills, especially when things just keep cropping up... I just accept it as part of RS ownership and move on the bank balance doesn't always agree, and it gets the paranoia working on overdrive, but the fun moments are what make it all worthwhile.

 

[CallorFold]

Wish I'd have gone for megane 250 instead of Clio 200 tbh

I always wonder if I should have gone that route too, well Meg 250 instead of 197, but they were a good £4-5K more expensive at the time

Can't imagine it would've been any cheaper to maintain though, although the cost maybe more justifiable for the additional power etc.

 

[chongwong]

I think I'll get another clio (either a 182 or 197) at some point, as I absolutely loved it, I just couldnt justify the outlay. With this I'll only need to pay consumables for the first year. Specialist cars Aberdeen have been great and are throwing in a timing belt change, and 2 services as part of the deal, so it should (finger crossed) not maul my bank balance as badly I'm also a child and missed the feeling of BOOST

 

[MRizzle]

I too miss the feeling of boost a little bit if in honest. I think that I actually looked over the one that you ended up buying on Autotrader but you've done very well to get those things thrown in as part of your deal. I'd be really interested to know how you find the Megane because I do think that I will be looking again before overlong but am kinda waiting for the Megs to drop a little further in price first.

 

[chongwong]

So far it's great, the turn in isn't as lively as the clio's, but mid corner grip is insane, and on exit the Lsd just flings you out of corners. I'm falling for it rather badly.

There are a few things that annoy me though, the road-noise is quite loud because of the 235 section tyres, and being unable to adjust seatbelt heights is silly. Oh and I'm to thick to work the Bluetooth. Current average Mpg is 32 over 150 miles, I've not been particularly gentle either, still not great though.

I'd definitely recommend one, feels a more complete, if slightly more serious car than the clio. I miss the noise of the last 1200rpm from the f4r though.