Seeking advice, purchasing my first 197

[AB197]

Hello all, hope you've had a great Xmas!

After owning a RB 182 Cup for 6 months or so as a stop gap between cars I've grown to like it, I'm in the need of a more everyday car capable of giving a bit more comfort and have decided to purchase a 2008 197.

I've reserved what looks to be a very tidy 08 reg 197 in Albi Blue showing 28k, the car appears to have only a 6 disc in dash stereo and anthracite wheel upgrade and parrot hands free kit, 1 previous female owner and FRSH.

I've secured the car as an outright purchase for £8250 with a refundable deposit if it isn't as described including 6 months tax.

Could anybody tell me if this is a fair deal in the current climate?

Also any pointers when viewing and hints at common faults to look out for would be great.

Thanks in advance for any advice given

 

[Willis]

I paid £8500 in May for an '07 on 30K with Climate, Auto Lights, Auto Wipers & Smoked Glass so that seems like a fair price to me. I can't think of any common faults to be honest, obviously check for the usual crash damage and signs of paintwork etc. but as a whole I'd say they're pretty well built!!! Oh, but do check the B Pillar door seals as they're prone to splitting, only a cheap fix but it'll be a warranty job for you anyway.

Hope it works out, they're cracking little cars!!!

 

[pritchardR27]

that is a very good deal in my opinion, i also used to have a racing blue 182 and your defiantly making the right decision

 

[Arran]

Well first thing is welcome to the site!

Secondly, if the car you are buying is an unmoddified car (in any way) and has anthrecite wheels, the most likely bet is that it has the cup pack. You can check this by seeing if it also has red brake calipers as apposed to the standard silver ones. All 197 brakes are Brembo though, and work the same, just the colour is different. If it is the case that it has the cup pack, then it might not be the car for you if you are looking for a more comfortable ride. A non cup pack would be better.

Thirdly, the spec on the 197 as standard didn't include things like Recaro seats, Climate, xenons, cd changer, so if you can list all the good tech things it has got we may be able to offer you a little more guidence as to whether it is a well specced car. All non cup 197s come with key less entry as standard, a/c, colour coded plastics, soft touch dash, electric mirrors and windows, quite a few 'bags and single cd.

Hope this helps.

 

[Willis]

Oh and welcome to the club by the way!!!

 

[AB197]

Cheers!

The only additional extras that I can see are:

6 Disk in dash changer

Anthracite wheels

Parrot hands free kit

Apart from that it seems a pretty standard car, Recaros and the Xenons, to find a car with these on I've either gotta sacrifice a year in age and drop the remaining warranty or pay another £2k or so for the car.

Can anyone comment on what improvements to fuel economy you get from a custom remap?

 

[Willis]

Generally (as on most cars) you'll see a slight improvement in MPG.

It's not the most frugal of cars, but really don't let that put you off. So much is made of MPG these days but there's SO many variables. If you're planning on doing a lot of motorway miles then from my experience 34-35MPG is quite normal. But if you're often stuck in traffic then expect that to drop to around 24-25MPG. Mine's averaged 22MPG this month over about 250 Miles, this is a mixture of being sat in traffic and having the car running on the driveway for 5-10 mins every morning whilst I clear the ice/snow off her!!!

 

[AB197]

Generally (as on most cars) you'll see a slight improvement in MPG.

It's not the most frugal of cars, but really don't let that put you off. So much is made of MPG these days but there's SO many variables. If you're planning on doing a lot of motorway miles then from my experience 34-35MPG is quite normal. But if you're often stuck in traffic then expect that to drop to around 24-25MPG. Mine's averaged 22MPG this month over about 250 Miles, this is a mixture of being sat in traffic and having the car running on the driveway for 5-10 mins every morning whilst I clear the ice/snow off her!!!

I think I'll see how it drives, especially from cold as the 182 was a bit lumpy and hesitant when on the cold start cycle/map, if that's the case with the 197 then I'll be looking to take it in for a remap once the warranty has expired

I'm not expecting much fuel economy wise, a little worse than the 182 I believe, certainly no stranger to a guzzler either after owning a 410bhp Evo 5 and a 350bhp Pulsar a good few years back! :blink:

 

[Willis]

Evo 5 & Pulsar...

Two of my teenage dreams damn you!!!

I'd still love a 5 but it's hard to justify paying so much for a 10+ year old car. And then there's the insuance.

I average 300 miles per month off one full tank (~£70 V-Power) in the 197. That's a mixture of a 20 mile round trip to work three times a week (not so much traffic at 0345 though to slow me down) and toddling to Tesco with the missus once a week with at least one Sunday blast out with a couple of the lads once a month too.

 

[AB197]

I had mine when I was 22 too!

They're a bit too old now, I'd kill for a 9, the Mivec engine is really cheap to tune and get good results from, the 10 is too fat IMO.

 

[Willis]

I'm just coming up to 25 now, there's still time for a 5 before they become a classic hahaha!!!

 

[AB197]

Just found a pic of my old one! Great car to have at the time but the running costs get a bit out of hand when you're modding, driving and maintaining one as a daily runner.

I remember filling up with Optimax once over and going to fill up at the same pump an hour later, the woman serving me was even shocked ha ha

 

[Arran]

Your Evo was very nice, but I wouldn't have wanted the running costs either.

 

[Graeme GTR]

Evo would be awesome but like everyone says the running costs would cripple me more than the insurance. Looked up an Evo 9 MR 340 last year and it was o my £400 more than the Clio to insure.

I had a 08 197 in Albi. Loved the colour, when your viewing the car check the 3rd to 4th gear change, synchro mesh went on mine ended up getting a new gearbox from Renault. The new box had a slightly longer 5th + 6th gear. Used to do 70mph in 6th at 4000rpm, on the new box it came diwn to about 3600 rpm. On another note the cup pack is fine for daily use. It's not as bone jarring as it sounds.

Your getting a good deal, I got rid of mine in ... May I think it was, only done 18k and got £10k for it from dealers. So your is a bargain.

 

[AB197]

Evo would be awesome but like everyone says the running costs would cripple me more than the insurance. Looked up an Evo 9 MR 340 last year and it was o my £400 more than the Clio to insure.

I had a 08 197 in Albi. Loved the colour, when your viewing the car check the 3rd to 4th gear change, synchro mesh went on mine ended up getting a new gearbox from Renault. The new box had a slightly longer 5th + 6th gear. Used to do 70mph in 6th at 4000rpm, on the new box it came diwn to about 3600 rpm. On another note the cup pack is fine for daily use. It's not as bone jarring as it sounds.

Your getting a good deal, I got rid of mine in ... May I think it was, only done 18k and got £10k for it from dealers. So your is a bargain.

Thanks Graeme!

When I bought my 182 6 months ago they where selling 06 197's on the forecourt for more than I'm paying for the 08 one now, I think the depreciation of the 200 is finally starting to have a knock on effect, hopefully I'm buying at the best time possible

I take it the gear change was simply a bit more notchy than the rest? Which would probably result in a crunch over time...

Hopefully I don't get the blinkers on when I go to view, going to take someone with my that will see the car from a neutral point of view incase I miss anything...

 

[Graeme GTR]

Mine crunched like mad, anything surrounding 3rd gear no matter if the clutch was on the floor it crunched. But it got sorted without too much fuss.

 

[AB197]

Well I did go to view the car, not at all what I was expecting though...

It had 22k on the clock as opposed to 28k on the add.

I managed to find out it's been in the dealership for over 7 months, the brakes where even siezed on test driving.

The drivers seat had a collapsed boulster.

Rear bumper had been painted badly.

Misaligned front bumper.

A hatch was missing around the gearbox on the undertray.

Various seals where split.

The parrot was missing from the dash and had a mark where it had been.

Probably many other things however I was quite disheartened by this point!

This is the second 2008 197 I've viewed at franchised dealers in a week that has been shabby and not as described, my 182 Cup is in better condition with 60K on the clock!

Looks like I'll be keeping it a little while longer!