I need help from all of you please!

[Jimmy]

Apologies for the late response Sean.


1. I was in the market for a 197 and this was the site that I did a lot of my research on, and also bought my car from!
2. I'd been a member on a different forum in the past and really enjoyed the whole ethos of it. I liked being a part of something related to a passion/hobby of mine - sharing the experiences with like-minded folk.
3. I still own one, so naturally I'm still here.
4. Yes, I think I would. I've made some good friends and I like the forum as a whole. Also, being Admin, I kinda need to stick around
5. What, these weirdos?!! Yes of course, I have met several of them - some more than once!! - and have made some (hopefully) life-long friends. As above, it's great to be involved with people who have a shared interest, and everyone I've met has been sound.
6. Yes, absolutely. There is a very inclusive atmosphere on this forum - people help each other, complement each other, welcome others and take the piss out of others! It's a perfect example of what can be done, if things are managed correctly and steered in the right direction. I actually can't remember the last time when there was animosity or bad blood on the forum.
7. This forum has thrived because of the people that come on here - sounds obvious, but I'm sure there are many forums/communities that are full of back biting and petty rivalries, however there is none of that on here. Everything is in the spirit of bringing people together and creating a friendly place to be.

 

[///M]

1. What brought you to the site?
   Research before I bought Mrs M's R27.
   
   
2. What made you become an active member (i.e. posting in threads)?
   I had a great welcome even though I wasn't an owner at the time. And from the replies I got and the looking around for info I did, it was clear there was a really solid community of decent people and it was well moderated. Seemed silly not to jump in. Glad I did.
   
   
3. If you no longer own a Clio, what made you stay an active member on the site?
   NA
   
   
4. If you no longer owned a Clio in the future, would you stay an active member on the site? If so, why?
   Definitely. IF she ever decides to sell the car, I'd still be here. I love the Clio too much and would miss a lot of the banter.
   
   
5. Would you consider meeting members from the site in person i.e. track days, Xmas meal etc.? If you have already done so, what made you?
   Already had a few meet ups with quite a few people off this forum. The reasons for doing so are varied. Sometimes to sell parts. Sometimes to buy parts. Sometimes by chance while the car is being serviced. Sometimes for a drive. Sometimes purely for the banter. Same as the forum but in real life really. Just with the added bonus of some driving being thrown in.
   
   
6. Do you find there is a community 'feel' or 'spirit' on the site? If so, please explain or give an example (a meeting, a time someone helped you etc.)
   Yes. Absolutely. And honestly, I don't need to give any examples. Pretty much every thread on here demonstrates why this community is such a good one. It's all to easy to become complacent with what we have here but if you spend a little while on other forums it's soon very clear that this one is of a very high quality. The help, encouragement, advice, support and friendly banter you get in here, to me, is really quite amazing at times and I think it's something we should all be proud of and appreciative of. It's a feel good place.
   
   
7. Any additional comments you may feel are relevant, relating to the site as a community - positive or negative!
   Nothing negative to say what so ever. I do feel I need to make a positive statement about the guys behind the admin panel though. A lot of what makes this place great is how well moderated it is. It's not just the organisational side of it and how the inevitable idiots are dealt with. Incidentally, that's a measure of what we have here. There are pretty much NO... what shall we call them... low quality community members. Everyone behaves respectfully. But yeah, above this the admin team make such an effort to keep this place as good as it is. Look at Foxspeed for example. Ridiculously high post count, I bet 80% of that just being helpful to people who have questions, and he doesn't even drive a Clio.
   
   Another positive, for me personally is our car. Thanks to 197.net we found exactly the car we wanted and knew very well what to look at while we were finding it. Since then the little issues we've had have all been helped considerably by this forum. And the modifications we decided to do have all been absolutely perfect all thanks the incredible wealth of knowledge I was able to search through in here. Our car is 90% where I'd want it to be, the other 10% isn't possible. It's very much a product of this forum.
   
   Cheers guys.
   
   

 

[peter]

1. always been a fan of the 197/200, even before i owned one. so in gathering as much info on the car as i could, i must have stumbled upon this site. can't remember the exact reason, since it really was quite a few years ago. didn't always like the tone in here back then, but still looked the site up again when i finally bought my 200 back in 2014.

2. looked for a place to catalog 'life with the clio'. got a warm and friendly welcome. also found out there was still a lot of info and actual users experience with the car in here, so thought it worthwhile to stay around.

3. -

4. yup. i would. just a genuine interest in what the guys in here do with their cars.

5. living in belgium doesn't make it easy to meet forum members. luckily some a brave/stupid enough to tackle one of the best tracks in the world, which happens to be lying in my backyard (sort of). already met one member there and looking forward to meet a couple more next wednesday.

6. if members are helping each other out over not-car/clio related items, i'd definitely say there's a community feel in here.

7. i can't stress enough the importance of a good moderators team. not only in keeping the wackos out (or at least tell them they're out of order), but also in welcoming new members, keeping threads alive, organising stuff ... and that's exactly what we have in here, an excellent mod team.

 

[link]

What brought you to the site? I'd just bought my 197, pulled up a petrol station to fill up and the fuel filer cap wouldn't open... Google search brought me here and Clio ownership means I can never leave, lol.

What made you become an active member (i.e. posting in threads)? Sharing knowledge, offering advice (like don't buy a Clio) then offering more advice after its too late...

If you no longer own a Clio, what made you stay an active member on the site? Still got it so can't say... but I do sometimes pop into cs.net to see what's going on, usually same old 172 vs 182 bullcrap lol.

If you no longer owned a Clio in the future, would you stay an active member on the site? If so, why? I've been a member on other forums but once ownership is over I've lost interest.

Would you consider meeting members from the site in person i.e. track days, Xmas meal etc.? If you have already done so, what made you? No, your all weirdos Ha Ha. I have met people but usually buying/selling stuff, my days of going to "car meets" are a bit behind me...

Do you find there is a community 'feel' or 'spirit' on the site? If so, please explain or give an example (a meeting, a time someone helped you etc.) Yeah, it's a pretty active forum with a bit if banter and general chit chat. I've seen forums with the occasional d*ck and luckily this place is pretty much full of good folk

Any additional comments you may feel are relevant, relating to the site as a community - positive or negative! Clio ownership is itself a community, once you've had one you know the pain and suffering, and the stupidity after owning mk1, mk2, mk3's etc.

It's a bit like owning an Alfa, you wouldn't recommend it but it never stops you from buying one like a true petrolhead.

 

[Micah]

What brought you to the site?
I had been wanting a Mk3 for about 7 years and was finally getting into a position to be able to afford one. This was the place that had the most resource on tap for Mk3's by a country mile. I had previously been on cliosport.net and the Fiat Coupe forum, so I had a good feeling about this one.

What made you become an active member (i.e. posting in threads)?
I had been an active member on the Fiat Coupe forum, and I'm a fairly sociable guy, so I had to register and jump straight in. There was an immediate 'feel' to the forum where I felt very comfortable in asking anything, or giving my two-pennies worth. There is advice in sheer abundance, too.

If you no longer own a Clio, what made you stay an active member on the site?
N/A

If you no longer owned a Clio in the future, would you stay an active member on the site? If so, why?
For sure, such a great sense of community, lots of interesting things going on, and I feel that I've picked up a lot of knowledge that I could pass to those who ask for advice.

Would you consider meeting members from the site in person i.e. track days, Xmas meal etc.? If you have already done so, what made you?
Definitely (and I am tomorrow). There's a sense of family going on in this forum, and the concept of meeting is almost akin to a family gathering, except you have more in common with the people there! I even drove all the way up to Blyton which was pretty far for me, just to meet a few people. Going down a large inflatable slide with @Chris and @Jimmy was something I thought I'd never be doing either...
I think it's important to meet, in the name of the forum, else we become virtual entities. Even more so the fact our common interest is something tangible and you have to go outside to enjoy - so why not do it with people who share the same interest?

Do you find there is a community 'feel' or 'spirit' on the site? If so, please explain or give an example (a meeting, a time someone helped you etc.)[
Always, or at least that's how I wish to portray myself, as and when I can. Everything is light hearted, innocent, non-malicious. There's also a sense of compassion at times, and it can and should be a positive place to be.

Any additional comments you may feel are relevant, relating to the site as a community - positive or negative!
It's great to see lots of posts and threads coming up again, although it was unsurprisingly slow over the festive period, the more the weather improves, the more activity people will post. Also noticed a lot of new 197 owners cropping up, so I would assume this is still an excellent resource for new owners and we can only keep building up this forum as the great place it deserves to be.

 

[Chris]

• What brought you to the site?

I was searching around for sites when I first bought my car and stumbled upon this site!

• What made you become an active member (i.e. posting in threads)?

Honestly no idea, introduced myself, starting taking an interest in progress threads and gallery threads and just evolved into posting a lot.

• If you no longer own a Clio, what made you stay an active member on the site?

N/A

• If you no longer owned a Clio in the future, would you stay an active member on the site? If so, why?

Yes - I enjoy the company of the people who also frequent the site, and have become good friends with some of them!

• Would you consider meeting members from the site in person i.e. track days, Xmas meal etc.? If you have already done so, what made you?

My first proper meet was a drive which I was interested in, and also wanted to meet with some of the guys id been talking too! From there I enjoyed it so have attended many more.

• Do you find there is a community 'feel' or 'spirit' on the site? If so, please explain or give an example (a meeting, a time someone helped you etc.)

Yes of course. People go out there way to help one another here. One of the better times I can recall this is when a member lost a family member, and the community came together to organise buying some flowers for the funeral (what turned out was actually more than this). I just felt that really proved what a great place this can be.

• Any additional comments you may feel are relevant, relating to the site as a community - positive or negative!

 

[Sean197]

Update - first of all, a massive thank you to everyone who replied - without you I wouldn't have been able to complete this dissertation, and receive a very good grade which I'm very happy with! So, a huge thanks to @Barney626 @Benno @Beany @Johnny 99 @Big Ben @tomwigan @suj @nathan-burgess @Pav @petercronin @Chris @jamesgw200 @kevlar @-Eddie- @LOCKE @Foxspeed @///M @Jimmy @peter @link @Micah
My tutor was impressed by the camaraderie shown on the site in the examples I wrote about, and also had her eyes opened that we weren't just a bunch of fibreglass-loving boy racers lol

It's been a hard 5 years, working full-time while studying for a degree, but come June I can finally say I have a degree from the University of St Andrews
Thanks again guys.

 

[Beany]

Happy to help and glad it’s all been worthwhile.

 

[suj]

Awesome news Sean! A stepping stone in your career to even better things

also had her eyes opened that we weren't just a bunch of fibreglass-loving boy racers lol

WHAT? I want to retract my reply then, this was what I was going for!!!! Dammit!

 

[///M]

Sean, that's bloody brilliant mate. Super glad to be of even a small bit of help. You do SO much for this forum, we all owe you a bit back.

Very well done mate. Getting a degree while working is no small thing by any stretch.

 

[Johnny 99]

Congratulations Sean. As said, not east studying whilst working. Well done!

 

[Barney626]

Update - first of all, a massive thank you to everyone who replied - without you I wouldn't have been able to complete this dissertation, and receive a very good grade which I'm very happy with! So, a huge thanks to @Barney626 @Benno @Beany @Johnny 99 @Big Ben @tomwigan @suj @nathan-burgess @Pav @petercronin @Chris @jamesgw200 @kevlar @-Eddie- @LOCKE @Foxspeed @///M @Jimmy @peter @link @Micah
My tutor was impressed by the camaraderie shown on the site in the examples I wrote about, and also had her eyes opened that we weren't just a bunch of fibreglass-loving boy racers lol

It's been a hard 5 years, working full-time while studying for a degree, but come June I can finally say I have a degree from the University of St Andrews
Thanks again guys.

So when we getting paid for our contribution?

 

[Sean197]

So when we getting paid for our contribution?

How about I let you stay on the site

 

[Barney626]

How about I let you stay on the site

 

[Big Ben]

Congrats mate. Glad we could all help out.

Hope you put your Desmond to good use

 

[Sean197]

Congrats mate. Glad we could all help out.

Hope you put your Desmond to good use

Lol it's Desmond's bigger brother

 

[peter]

 

[Pav]

THAT'S GOOD NEWS..GLAD WE COULD HELP MAN..
being educated,must feel awesome..well done all the teachers

 

[youngarthur]

Many congratulations Sean, hard work does pay off. Well done.

 

[Benno]

Great news Sean. Really pleased for you mate. Breath of fresh air I'm sure now it's coming to an end!!

On the flip side I find out in a matter of weeks if I'll be going back to college in September as part of this Operations Management role I was interviewed for last week! Only an NVQ3 so nothing compared to this