Most right thinking folk with no axe to grind or advertising contract to support will surely agree that Renault has, of late, wandered down the wrong boulevard with its Renaultsport Clio.
Funny, this is the standard cornering pose too
Over the years, the sporting edge of this once razor-sharp hatch has been buffed away by the dead hands of safety and user-friendliness. What we are left with now is the automotive equivalent of an electric shaver. You shove the thing hard up against your face in hopes of achieving a degree of shaving satisfaction, but you always know it's a futile exercise. You know you'll only get that elusive baby's bum texture by using a proper blade.
The good news for shavers young and old is that more and more original 172s are depreciating their way into Shed territory. True, most cars below our £1,000 limit are fairly scabby, but this one here looks like an exception. It's obviously been well loved by its current keeper Floyd, and by the looks of it by previous owners as well. The maintenance record reads well. Even the famous Jelly Tot steering wheel looks almost decent.
So, what's the catch? Well of course it's the dreaded cambelt/dephaser issue. In his excellent and informative ad, owner Floyd tells us that the belt on his car was changed by a Renault main dealer in 2007 at 27k miles. Unfortunately that means it's more than due for its next one.
A 172 without a melted wheel? Amazing
Cambelt replacement on these engines is an exacting job requiring the use of special tools to lock the crank and cams. Dealers will quote you anything from five to seven hours for it, a prospect that inevitably presents owners of otherwise clean cars like this one with a hard decision to make: bite the bullet and stump up the cash, or carry on and hope for the best.
Given the notional value of the car, you can understand anguished owners taking the second option, but this is pure folly. For a start, knowing that your belt could snap like a rotten piece of string at any moment would put a huge dampener on the 172 driving experience and undermine the whole point of the car. Secondly, what does notional value actually mean? What price can you put on the sheer joy of piling around a bend in a nicely sorted 172? Shed doesn't know the answer, but he does know that it's a good bit higher than £999 plus the cost of the belt fix.
What is that cost, anyway? As mentioned earlier, if the next owner of this car is determined to establish some sort of manufacturer's service history, they could easily pay the same again on top of its asking price. But there's no need to take such a desperate step. A quick search reveals that K-Tec Racing will do the job for £450. Alternatively, there's a PHer by the name of DaveL485 who (back in 2012 at least) reckoned he could turn the job round for £400 no bother. 172s are more worthy of saving than most. Suddenly, redemption is affordable.
Still huge fun for the cash with the belts changed
Once this task has been carried out, the fun factor five world of Renaultsport will lay itself invitingly at your twitching feet. Tough both mechanically and cosmetically, 172s repay owners who invest little more than a weekly wash and polish in them by running up high mileages and still looking great. There's surely no better looking Clio model than this, and few better handling road cars at any price.
For a bit more insight on the pros and cons of 172 ownership check out PH's own forums or those of our good friends on cliosport.net. Shed's view is that the pros of doing everything possible to keep these special little cars on the road far outweigh the single con of temporary financial pain. Never forget the motto carved on Shed's door: don't waste money on food and shoes for the kids when you can spend it on the car.
Lovely low-mileage car with the all-important cambelt replaced at 28k miles by Renault dealer in 2007. The car drives perfectly with no knocks, bumps, wobbles at all. The engine pulls strongly and smoothly and has loads of power when you need it but I'm a chilled out driver so this car is wasted on me :) Only selling as I needed something slightly bigger.
MOT till 30/12/2014
TAX till 30/06/2014
I've known this car for about 5 years as I bought it from my friend after another car scraped down the side and he simply bought another car and left this in the garage for 12 months! I had the scrape repaired and used this as a runabout but the paint isnt perfect - its perfectly presentable but could do with a few areas touching up or simply a quick flash down the side again.
On the positive side:
The engine is great, always given the best oil - last replaced 6 months ago along with new oil and air filters, and cambelt was done at 28k miles.
Gear box oil replaced with top quality oil and new clutch about 18 months ago
New brake discs and pads all around about 3 months ago, also did the bearings at the same time even though none of them were showing signs of being worn! just thought it easier to do it all at once.
New rear shocks - one had a slight weep after sitting unused for about 12 months so i got both replaced.
Rear tyres have done about 5k miles - not the best brand to be honest but they do the job.
Front tyres are <2k miles old - excellent Uniroyal RainSport which suit the car really well and tames the front end when putting the power down in the wet.
The Interior is in excellent condition, NOT suffering from the usual signs of wear that you see on 172/182's (thumb grips, seat bolsters, etc). The steering wheel has some wear but nothing unusual.
Climate control lovely and cold in summer, basically everything works 100% as it should - even the annoying seat-belt alarm!!
Wheels have some scuffs but IMO not worthy of a refurb.
Car located in Kent (ME19). Please call for more info or to arrange a viewing, etc.
I will be swapping the insurance over to my new car at the end of next week so if you want to see the car running then please come and see me before the insurance expires.