Renault Clio 1.5 DCI
Discussion
crankedup said:
I would appreciate any words of advise on the 2002 version of this car please. One of my Daughters is considering purchase and unfortunately its not a car I am familiar with. Any obvious issues to look for? any known weak points? Comment and advise please.
This would be the suicide bonnet model of clio, well documented issues of bonnet popping and smashing the windscreen, as happened to my dear wife whilst doing 70mph up the A1, smashing the windscreen into her face and hair, crumpling the roof, and her having a police escort back home to safety.SeanyD said:
crankedup said:
I would appreciate any words of advise on the 2002 version of this car please. One of my Daughters is considering purchase and unfortunately its not a car I am familiar with. Any obvious issues to look for? any known weak points? Comment and advise please.
This would be the suicide bonnet model of clio, well documented issues of bonnet popping and smashing the windscreen, as happened to my dear wife whilst doing 70mph up the A1, smashing the windscreen into her face and hair, crumpling the roof, and her having a police escort back home to safety.
thank goodness your wife was OK, other than shock of course. Was there a recall for the fault? or is there a DIY fix?There was a big hoo-har in the press at the time. From what I remember renault denied it was a design fault and claimed it was a result of poor maintenance. I think they may have amended the servicing to include servicing the bonnet catch. My wifes car had just been serviced that afternoon and she was driving it home when it popped. Thankfully she was composed enough to bring the car to a stop, and was quickly helped by a friendly patrol car who witnessed it.
A very well known and documented issue which made the press and watchdog on more than one occassion.
Please please take this on board if your daughter is condering one.
A quick google search:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article633.html
A very well known and documented issue which made the press and watchdog on more than one occassion.
Please please take this on board if your daughter is condering one.
A quick google search:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article633.html
Edited by SeanyD on Thursday 15th September 13:58
Don't let that one fault put you off though.
There are plenty of other faults to choose from.
Seriously though, they're great little cars. Probably go wrong slightly more than the Polo or Fabia counterparts, but are cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain and cheaper to fix. I had a 1.5 DCi as a hire car when they were new and it was a hoot throwing it around mountain roads, even if it ran out of revs a little early (me being used to a petrol car with a 7200rpm rev limit.)
There are plenty of other faults to choose from.
Seriously though, they're great little cars. Probably go wrong slightly more than the Polo or Fabia counterparts, but are cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain and cheaper to fix. I had a 1.5 DCi as a hire car when they were new and it was a hoot throwing it around mountain roads, even if it ran out of revs a little early (me being used to a petrol car with a 7200rpm rev limit.)The bonnet catch should have been done on a recall, I think you can check it out by contacting a dealer. The problem with it came about if the bonnet wasn't closed firmly, it happened to mine after I had been working on it once but the safety catch did it's job. They needed checking for freeness at service time and the recall sorted it.
Other issues, 70K miles the alternator pulley falls apart which is a common problem, a new alternator is £400ish but you can get a new pulley for £30 but it's the devils own job to change, I had to take the alternator to a specialist auto electrical shop to do it after we broke just about every torx bit we had, I think the burnt the old one off in the end. The problem is that if you don't catch the problem early it can do a lot of damage if it breaks completely, I was lucky.
Ours seems to go through track rod ends quite regularly but only £6 to replace also the ARB drop links break but again only £6 each including bushes although these could be due to harsh wear and tear. I've changed a bush on the bottom of the gear leaver @ £5 as it got sloppy.
It's now on 100K miles, 53 plate and I've just done it's second cambelt and fitted a new water pump as a matter of course, cambelt kit and pump came to £80 but these are trade prices. It's had a couple of wheel bearings but the car hasn't had an easy life making a couple of trips to my wife's stables each day in all weathers. Almost forgot, £107+VAT yesterday for a new turbo-inlet manifold hose (modified version) and it had a new assembly that holds all the indicator/wiper switches (again modified) as the horn packed up and this assembly contains all the electrical ribbons for the airbag and horn (horn one was broken).
Apart from that it's a terrific little car and does up to 70mpg around town, drops down to just below 60mpg on the motorway. Compared with some of the cars we see of similar age they aren't too bad and if you find a good lowish mileage one you'll have a result.
Edited by jagracer on Thursday 15th September 16:20
I used to work for them and dealt with a few people that had the bonnet thing.
What happens is that the catch can corrode if not lubricated which leaves it in the "open" position leaving just the secondary catch holding the bonnet. The easiest way to ensure the catch is ok is when closing the bonnet is to pull it upwards to ensure the catch has caught.
Any of their dealers will check the catch and replace it for free if necessary.
I even had one guy who's bonnet flew up on his way home from an MOT, I asked him if the car had passed it's MOT, it had which meant the catch must has been in a safe condition or it wouldn't have passed.
What happens is that the catch can corrode if not lubricated which leaves it in the "open" position leaving just the secondary catch holding the bonnet. The easiest way to ensure the catch is ok is when closing the bonnet is to pull it upwards to ensure the catch has caught.
Any of their dealers will check the catch and replace it for free if necessary.
I even had one guy who's bonnet flew up on his way home from an MOT, I asked him if the car had passed it's MOT, it had which meant the catch must has been in a safe condition or it wouldn't have passed.
eybic said:
I even had one guy who's bonnet flew up on his way home from an MOT, I asked him if the car had passed it's MOT, it had which meant the catch must has been in a safe condition or it wouldn't have passed.
I seem to recall there is a VSI notice to check the catches at MOT time. Like you said, it was a corrosion issue and a bit of white grease was all it needed.
HereBeMonsters said:
but are cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain and cheaper to fix. I had a 1.5 DCi as a hire car when they were new and it was a hoot throwing it around mountain roads, even if it ran out of revs a little early (me being used to a petrol car with a 7200rpm rev limit.)
Not in my experience - bits were expensive for my 1.4 petrol and it needed more parts of any car I have ever owned (coil packs, every possible rubber mounting bush, airbag problems, engine going into limp home, broken interior bits, gearbox, cam belt was double the labour hours of any other normal car) but it had only done 60k miles vs Hondas of up to 180k miles I have owned that needed much less work.I had 2 as lease cars from new and they were reliable so I thought a used one with just 50k on the clock would be fine. I was very very wrong.
Good fun when it worked, nice handling but crap seating, crap interior space and finishes. I would not buy one for someone I cared about though - to drive on 3 wheels to the tip yes, but to rely on no.
Dino D said:
HereBeMonsters said:
but are cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain and cheaper to fix. I had a 1.5 DCi as a hire car when they were new and it was a hoot throwing it around mountain roads, even if it ran out of revs a little early (me being used to a petrol car with a 7200rpm rev limit.)
Not in my experience - bits were expensive for my 1.4 petrol and it needed more parts of any car I have ever owned (coil packs, every possible rubber mounting bush, airbag problems, engine going into limp home, broken interior bits, gearbox, cam belt was double the labour hours of any other normal car) but it had only done 60k miles vs Hondas of up to 180k miles I have owned that needed much less work.I had 2 as lease cars from new and they were reliable so I thought a used one with just 50k on the clock would be fine. I was very very wrong.
Good fun when it worked, nice handling but crap seating, crap interior space and finishes. I would not buy one for someone I cared about though - to drive on 3 wheels to the tip yes, but to rely on no.
HereBeMonsters said:
But how much is the equivalent Honda to buy, insure and fix if it breaks? Cheap and cheerful is the French way - works for some people, not for others.
You can find a Honda for the same price as any Clio.Fixing is fine if you can get it cheap - what about inconvenience, time off work, being stranded on the roadside etc?
Hondas break too - on our Jazz the coil packs went - the car was 4 years old and Honda offered without my asking to replace them FOC and gave me a courtesy car. On the other had Renault charged on the Clio and the failed again after a year. Went to a specialist who installed Japanese coil packs instead and it was fine after that but I sold it at a massive loss as too many expensive problems needed doing (going into limp mode all the time, cambelt change was very expensive, all the rubber bushes shot, gearbox failure, airbag problems). This was a 2002 car that did 60k miles.
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