What to look for when buying an older Renault Clio?
Discussion
On Tuesday I’m picking up a 2004 Renault Clio Dynamique 1.6. Its done 65k, apparently runs perfect are has no major faults. Price is £395 due to the fact that it has no M.O.T. Mot history for the last few years is perfect. I’m buying from a garage who have said they know no reason why it would fail an mot and they have great review and testimonials on their website. This has given me a fair amount of confidence in buying the car and risking getting it motd straight after.
All I would like to know is what I should be looking out for when I go to view and test drive the car. I virtually no nothing apart from the basics so a rough guide of how to spot any major potential problem with the car that would mean I shouldn’t buy it would be great. I am happy to pay a little bit should it fail the mot as I think it’s undervalued but probably no more than £200-£300.
Thanks a lot!
All I would like to know is what I should be looking out for when I go to view and test drive the car. I virtually no nothing apart from the basics so a rough guide of how to spot any major potential problem with the car that would mean I shouldn’t buy it would be great. I am happy to pay a little bit should it fail the mot as I think it’s undervalued but probably no more than £200-£300.
Thanks a lot!
I had a 1998 Clio that I paid £850 for in 2013 - and it was fantastic. On the flip-side, people have told me that I was lucky to grab a good one...
Honestly, I'd say that there are far too many of them on the roads today for them to be unreliable - if that makes sense! They must be decent, because there are loads of the mark-2, phase-2 ones left. As others have said, though, be very wary of a garage not putting an MOT on it - as it's usually in their interests to do this because it means they can charge a few more hundos for it (because it's got a full ticket on it). I'd say to leave that particular one - and find one that's got an MOT on it - because there are loads out there.
Good luck with finding one - and if you're in the Staffordshire area and need a hand checking some over - just holla!
Honestly, I'd say that there are far too many of them on the roads today for them to be unreliable - if that makes sense! They must be decent, because there are loads of the mark-2, phase-2 ones left. As others have said, though, be very wary of a garage not putting an MOT on it - as it's usually in their interests to do this because it means they can charge a few more hundos for it (because it's got a full ticket on it). I'd say to leave that particular one - and find one that's got an MOT on it - because there are loads out there.
Good luck with finding one - and if you're in the Staffordshire area and need a hand checking some over - just holla!
These often have problems with the airbag light staying on, usually a broken wire under the seat.
Hazard warning switch can break,these are cheap to buy and easy to fit.
Worst problem is the central locking/immobiliser playing up at random.
Then you have the faults with any older car, tyres, suspension, lights, rusty discs etc.
Could be a nice little car or a nightmare, I would not touch it without an mot, if it passed I would gladly pay anothe £100, without its just worth scrap value.
Hazard warning switch can break,these are cheap to buy and easy to fit.
Worst problem is the central locking/immobiliser playing up at random.
Then you have the faults with any older car, tyres, suspension, lights, rusty discs etc.
Could be a nice little car or a nightmare, I would not touch it without an mot, if it passed I would gladly pay anothe £100, without its just worth scrap value.
I'd echo everyone else regarding the MOT, don't touch it if the garage won't put one on, all sounds very suspect.
Make sure it has had a cambelt at some point and there is at least a couple of years left before it needs another one, a Clio at that age needs one every 5 years or 72000 miles (whichever is first), and don't get fobbed off if they say "oh it's not done 72000 miles yet" , doesn't matter it needs one if it hasn't had one or the last one was coming up to 5 years ago regardless if it has covered less than 72000 miles.
A car at that age though should have had at least 2 cambelt changes.
Make sure it has had a cambelt at some point and there is at least a couple of years left before it needs another one, a Clio at that age needs one every 5 years or 72000 miles (whichever is first), and don't get fobbed off if they say "oh it's not done 72000 miles yet" , doesn't matter it needs one if it hasn't had one or the last one was coming up to 5 years ago regardless if it has covered less than 72000 miles.
A car at that age though should have had at least 2 cambelt changes.
Check the foot wells / headlining for signs of damp / water if it has a sunroof as the drainage channels get blocked dumping water inside the car. Believe it's a fairly common issue which I'd had with mine.
Got rid of mine after 12 years (bought at 2years old) as had intermittent cutting out when driving which couldn't get to the bottom of and wasn't worth spending lots more trying to trace it due to its value (this was a 1.2 by the way).
Only other issues were cheap fixes, heater motor went (eBay cheap used replacement) done myself and a crank position sensor fouled up (was about £30 to replace fitted by local garage) so wouldn't turn over.
Apart from that more or less cheap motoring assuming it's a good one, but the MOT situation would put me off as wondering why it's not been done.
Got rid of mine after 12 years (bought at 2years old) as had intermittent cutting out when driving which couldn't get to the bottom of and wasn't worth spending lots more trying to trace it due to its value (this was a 1.2 by the way).
Only other issues were cheap fixes, heater motor went (eBay cheap used replacement) done myself and a crank position sensor fouled up (was about £30 to replace fitted by local garage) so wouldn't turn over.
Apart from that more or less cheap motoring assuming it's a good one, but the MOT situation would put me off as wondering why it's not been done.
- edited to add - had the hazard warning switch go as well as mentioned by another poster, but again cheap fix, but blinking annoying.....
Edited by lastofthev8s on Sunday 17th September 12:11
Edited by lastofthev8s on Sunday 17th September 12:13
I had one as a cheap hack between cars, and it was actually quite good. I killed it (piston rings was my diagnosis), but it was quite fun to chuck around, especially when I put someone's (very) used trackday tyres on it rather than the Hedgemasters it came with.
Airbag light has been mentioned, I found it'd come on every time I moved the passenger seat. Taping the connectors firmly together stopped it.
Not so much a thing to check, but these are the ones with the rubbish secondary bonnet catch, so if it's not latched properly you can get a bonnet in your face at speed. They did a recall to replace them, but the basic design of the catch is just s
t. Check it, clean it, and lubricate it as a general maintenance task and it'll probably be fine.
I'd say to them I'll buy it for the asking price if it passes an MOT, which I'd pay for, or as others say, I'll pay another £100 if they get it MOT'd.
It is a little odd for them to be selling it without an MOT, but I can see if they've taken it in part exchange and it's massively outside of what they normally sell, they just want it moved on without putting any work into it. But normally I'd expect them to send it to auction in that scenario.
Airbag light has been mentioned, I found it'd come on every time I moved the passenger seat. Taping the connectors firmly together stopped it.
Not so much a thing to check, but these are the ones with the rubbish secondary bonnet catch, so if it's not latched properly you can get a bonnet in your face at speed. They did a recall to replace them, but the basic design of the catch is just s
t. Check it, clean it, and lubricate it as a general maintenance task and it'll probably be fine.I'd say to them I'll buy it for the asking price if it passes an MOT, which I'd pay for, or as others say, I'll pay another £100 if they get it MOT'd.
It is a little odd for them to be selling it without an MOT, but I can see if they've taken it in part exchange and it's massively outside of what they normally sell, they just want it moved on without putting any work into it. But normally I'd expect them to send it to auction in that scenario.
Thanks for all the replies. I've already booked an mot which I was planning to get done after I'd picked up the car. The garage doesn't do mots and the car was part exchange and one they wanted to get rid of quick.
I won't pay for the car now until the mot has been done and I know how much I'll need to pay if it fails. If it's too much then I won't buy the car. If he disagrees then I'll also walk away.
I won't pay for the car now until the mot has been done and I know how much I'll need to pay if it fails. If it's too much then I won't buy the car. If he disagrees then I'll also walk away.
My brother had a Clio from around that era. As others have mentioned it pretty much constantly seemed to have warning lights on, however nothing really seemed to be wrong with it.
One day he was driving at 60 along an A road and the bonnet flew open - luckily he was able to bring it to a stop safely. The force of the bonnet caved the roof in around the A pillar and ended up being a write off. When he looked into it further it turned out there was a known fault with the bonnet catch but Renault had tried to ignore it - think it ended up on Watchdog or something.
Not sure if it applies to the model you're looking at but worth investigating.
One day he was driving at 60 along an A road and the bonnet flew open - luckily he was able to bring it to a stop safely. The force of the bonnet caved the roof in around the A pillar and ended up being a write off. When he looked into it further it turned out there was a known fault with the bonnet catch but Renault had tried to ignore it - think it ended up on Watchdog or something.
Not sure if it applies to the model you're looking at but worth investigating.
ilikejam said:
One day he was driving at 60 along an A road and the bonnet flew open - luckily he was able to bring it to a stop safely. The force of the bonnet caved the roof in around the A pillar and ended up being a write off. When he looked into it further it turned out there was a known fault with the bonnet catch but Renault had tried to ignore it - think it ended up on Watchdog or something.
Not sure if it applies to the model you're looking at but worth investigating.
Yep, that's the one I mentioned earlier. The secondary catch is just a sNot sure if it applies to the model you're looking at but worth investigating.
t design, it involves sliding components that very easily stick and so the latch doesn't close properly.If you keep on top of it and make sure it's lubricated and does its job, it'll be ok, but it's definitely a "look at as soon as you get the car" job.
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