My Clio 197 F1 Team.

[Ichigo27]

These expenses all add up, I'm praying I don't need a new heater matrix / fan after paying for all round discs and pads.

 

[Connor O'Brien]

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I've had it for about 5 weeks now. Its a 2007 197 F1 Team. Sitting on 88k.

So, not long before I bought it, the previous owner had pumped around £1500 in parts into the car. Mostly suspension and brakes sort of stuff. So thought it was good to go. I did take it for a test drive and stuff, and everything seemed to be fine. No warning lights, everything seemed to work.

When I bought it, I thought it was at least mechanically ok. But not quite the case. Had it in at a RS specialist, and it needs another ~£1200 worth of work to get it mechanically sorted, almost.

To be fair though, the first £500 was known, as was the timing belt and dephaser. But then had an ABS warning come on, on the way to the specialist. The bracket or whatever they sit on (stub axle?) was corroded, so needed replaced. The sensor can then went on do damage the wheel bearing or something, which is a part of the rear disc. So another ~£300.

I also had a leaky camshaft seal (or something about there), so that was an oil leak needing fixing. Luckily all the belts and stuff were already off, so was only really the cost of the seal to fix. Although my sump is apparently "sweating" too. Not enough to warrant doing anything about right now, but something that may need dealt with in the future.

Blooming syncros. 2nd to 3rd change. Mine was fine on the test drive, where I didn't want to hoof it too much. But once it was mine, and let rip, I could hear a very slight crunch with that change. Syncro's, so another several hundred to fix. Mines will have to wait until the wallet recovers a bit from buying the car, then fixing these issues.

Aerial is pants. FM reception is almost non existent. I fitted an aftermarket radio with DAB to mine, so I get BT and USB too, but that was an extra expense I accounted for, and usually do to all my cars. I might have a go at replacing the base later but that can wait.

Cruise control and interior lights stopped working on the way down there too. They were only fuses though, so not bad. Rear wiper aint working, but not sure yet what that is.

In all fairness. I knew about all these potential issues with these before buying the car. Thought I had done enough prior to buying mine to hopefully not have to deal with them all. But I was wrong. I had budgeted for some repairs also, but not quite so much, immediately.

I could have, perhaps, bought a lower mileage one after taking into account the purchase price, then repair cost. But then again, these issues may have all appeared shortly after purchase on one of them too. I suspect it's almost as much age related as mileage.

So overall, not a great start to Clio ownership. By the time I've bought it, and fixed it, I could have got my old Edition 30 back, which I did REALLY like, and had a much better spec. And was faster. Maybe not in the corners so much mind you. Oh well.

Next year on the track better be spectacular, ha ha.

God, thankfully, thank god, someone who I can relate to, I bought mine in April at 69,000 miles, i bought mine about £1500 overs of what I should have paid, I made a whole load of mistakes when buying the car and have I ever paid the price including purchase price of the car I'm not far shy of £9000 in on the car within less than 8 months of ownership, and I haven't even touched suspension yet all I've done in the vicinity of suspension is swivel hubs and cv boots that failed, so I'm hoping for a get out of jail free card. It's a constant struggle and I'm really struggling to love the car as its in for full service and Pads all round this Friday coming. Though even after all of this it does seem to bring me back it such a loveable car it has to be said, just hope the values of them pick up as mine is going to be a minter when I'm finished with it, but yeah post brexit I can't see many brits wanting a 22mpg dirty french hot-hatch, so not going to recoup much of my investment whatsoever, its all fun and games it seems.

 

[Connor O'Brien]

Welcome to the fold, I think you’ve been a little unlucky with the expenditure in your first few weeks of ownership but as already mentioned; these cars are now at the point where they need t.l.c to bring them up to scratch. My 197 Cup was initially a money pit but after spending a few ££ and sorting it out, it was a totally different car to own and drive from when I first got it.

Looking at the photos you’ve bought a very well looked after car. Enjoy it. Hoping to get into an R27 in the new year, I just think finding a very well kept one that’s not done silly miles will be tough.

regarding the boot, it would be difficult to get a good colour match by just spraying a small section of the boot. Red can be difficult to match up anyway so it’s probably best to have the boot re sprayed.

Would you possibly be interested in mine? Email connor968696@gmail.com if you want details of the car.

 

[xs2man]

So, still got this. Had a few changes recently.

First up, wheels. I didn't like the way the original wheels sat. WAY too deep in the arches for my liking. And so I started looking for wheels with a lower offset. But alas, no joy for anything local to me, or without having to spend real money on new wheels. Also didn't want to jump to 18" wheels, like the way it drives on 17's. And I absolutely HATE spacers with a passion, so that rules that out.

However, I do have a 2015 Ford Focus Titanium X sitting here. And I don't dislike the wheels on that. Coupled with the fact it had MUCH better rubber on it (Goodyear Eagle F1 Asy5's), and I found it much easier to find new wheels for that car (went for Focus ST wheels, don't mind 18" wheels for it). So a plan was hatched.

So, with that in mind...

Not everyone's cup of tea, granted. But I like them, and they fill the arches WAY better than the standard wheels. And that's all that matters really. But they could go a darker shade to be honest. So with that in mind, a refurb is necessary. But before doing that, yesterday I spotted a set of wheels for a price I thought too good to pass up, so 4 hours of driving later, I have these:

Laguna Silverstones (mk2 apparently). So tomorrow I will test fit them. If they look good, they will get taken to the powdercoaters and probably go BMW's Ferric Grey, which is an excellent colour. This is what Ferric Grey wheels looked like on my old motor:

And just in case anyone was curious about what Focus ST wheels (in anthracite) looked like on a Clio 197, it would be rude not to trial fit them, since they were there, and I couldn't find a picture of them on one anywhere...

.

So that's the wheels journey covered.

Also, got rid of the leprosy on the steering wheel and gear knob...

And that's about where I am now...

 

[xs2man]

So, quick trial fitment before getting them refurbished. Look ok...

 

[skny]

Looks good with the Focus St wheels on, true first time I see them on a 197, the standard wheels ET68 is a fail looks wise, was it really because of the handling or just paintwork protecting step I have no idea, but it looks bad...