The RS Clio Conundrum
Discussion
Hi All,
I'm new to PH forum and thought I'd introduce myself and seek the advise from the masses as I have often read on PH in the past!
I'm James and have been a petrolhead since the age of 17 when I had my first car a fiesta zetec 1.25! After many mods the car went from standard to a 4 page feature in fast car. Yes you can take the boy out of Essex and so on.... Since then I have owned many cars including BMW Z3, two celica T-Sports, BMW Z4, an ancient Mercedes E-Class, fiesta's of various ages, a toyota curren an MX5 and a ford puma which brings us to the current collection the pride and joy my BMW Z4M Roadster and my family Mondeo ST TDCI.
This brings us to the conundrum. I saved some money for a 'run around' car for me to go to work in following the birth of my daughter in September (the wife needed the mondeo for child transportation). I had 6k to spend and thought what can I get to save the miles on the Z4M in the winter and also have a bit of fun with.
I fell in love with the styling of the RS Clio which hailed back to my 'kev' days in my late teens and thought I'd take the plunge. I bought a 2008 RS Clio with 60,000 miles on the clock. Now RS Clio owners out there may already have a feeling of what is coming and two days after buying it I had a problem with 4th gear.
Forum research suggested it was the sychromesh and basically suggested that I was completely shafted. A garage close to me confirmed this with a 2 minute test drive and I found out this is a very common and very expensive fault.
Rather than suffer any nonsense I took the car straight back to the dealer and demanded my money back. The dealer was very good and ended up offering me my money back but also tempted my with a 2012 RS Clio 200 with only 5700 miles on the clock. Well against my better judgement I went for it and got a loan but now I am left feeling frustrated and not sure what to do.
The new RS has a fantastic chassis and handling, a great (if a little lumpy on start up) engine but the gearbox is literally the worst I have ever experienced (and I have driven a 4 speed building site dumper back in the day). Occasionally I can see the very initial stages of forth gear giving a slight grind if you block change from sixth or second.
I'm not sure if the other clio has left a bitter taste in my mouth and whether the car will be fine moving forward but the gearbox plays on my mind as the end of the manufacturers warranty marches ever closer...
Shall I cut my losses and buy a heap to drive too and from work or trust the Clio to go the distance long term...
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Jamer
I'm new to PH forum and thought I'd introduce myself and seek the advise from the masses as I have often read on PH in the past!
I'm James and have been a petrolhead since the age of 17 when I had my first car a fiesta zetec 1.25! After many mods the car went from standard to a 4 page feature in fast car. Yes you can take the boy out of Essex and so on.... Since then I have owned many cars including BMW Z3, two celica T-Sports, BMW Z4, an ancient Mercedes E-Class, fiesta's of various ages, a toyota curren an MX5 and a ford puma which brings us to the current collection the pride and joy my BMW Z4M Roadster and my family Mondeo ST TDCI.
This brings us to the conundrum. I saved some money for a 'run around' car for me to go to work in following the birth of my daughter in September (the wife needed the mondeo for child transportation). I had 6k to spend and thought what can I get to save the miles on the Z4M in the winter and also have a bit of fun with.
I fell in love with the styling of the RS Clio which hailed back to my 'kev' days in my late teens and thought I'd take the plunge. I bought a 2008 RS Clio with 60,000 miles on the clock. Now RS Clio owners out there may already have a feeling of what is coming and two days after buying it I had a problem with 4th gear.
Forum research suggested it was the sychromesh and basically suggested that I was completely shafted. A garage close to me confirmed this with a 2 minute test drive and I found out this is a very common and very expensive fault.
Rather than suffer any nonsense I took the car straight back to the dealer and demanded my money back. The dealer was very good and ended up offering me my money back but also tempted my with a 2012 RS Clio 200 with only 5700 miles on the clock. Well against my better judgement I went for it and got a loan but now I am left feeling frustrated and not sure what to do.
The new RS has a fantastic chassis and handling, a great (if a little lumpy on start up) engine but the gearbox is literally the worst I have ever experienced (and I have driven a 4 speed building site dumper back in the day). Occasionally I can see the very initial stages of forth gear giving a slight grind if you block change from sixth or second.
I'm not sure if the other clio has left a bitter taste in my mouth and whether the car will be fine moving forward but the gearbox plays on my mind as the end of the manufacturers warranty marches ever closer...
Shall I cut my losses and buy a heap to drive too and from work or trust the Clio to go the distance long term...
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Jamer
clio197.net is a forum for great advice on Clio RS's (not sure if i can post that...).
I used to own a clio 200 (now a 265 Trophy) and to be honest it was perfect, not a single fault and many others will say the same. However, there is the other side to the coin and some owners will experience a fair few problems. It really does seem hit and miss.
If you are unsure, perhaps get the garage who sold it to take a look, aswell as a couple of Renault dealers for peace of mind (they will do a free health check under warranty).
Or chop it in for a mk3 megane
note: my brother also has a clio 200 Silverstone which is also fault free. Like I say, from experience on the forums, they seem hit and miss for gearbox issues.
I used to own a clio 200 (now a 265 Trophy) and to be honest it was perfect, not a single fault and many others will say the same. However, there is the other side to the coin and some owners will experience a fair few problems. It really does seem hit and miss.
If you are unsure, perhaps get the garage who sold it to take a look, aswell as a couple of Renault dealers for peace of mind (they will do a free health check under warranty).
Or chop it in for a mk3 megane
note: my brother also has a clio 200 Silverstone which is also fault free. Like I say, from experience on the forums, they seem hit and miss for gearbox issues.
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