One for the Clio Renaultsport 200 owners...

One for the Clio Renaultsport 200 owners...

Author
Discussion

herbie147

Original Poster:

51 posts

182 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
quotequote all
Been thinking about buying one of these for a while.

The only thing stopping me is Renault reliablity.

I have owned one Renault in the past and it was absolute money pit and put me clean off the marque.

Are they better built nowadays?

Any owners have gripes or tales of woe??

Thanks.

japgt

349 posts

170 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
quotequote all
Owned a 2003 clio 172 and it was faultless apart from a minor mishap with a snowdrift and putting a hole in the radiator but that was my fault other than that it was awesome and nothing went wrong. The only thing that broke on mine was the grips on thecsteering wheel.

UberMeister

302 posts

158 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
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I've been pretty happy with the reliability of my Clio V6. Had a 197 beforehand and that was faultless in my ownership - I was actually quite impressed with the build quality, particularly the interior.

RenaultSport are built in a different factory in Dieppe and do tend to be slightly better put together.

Clio197.net/Clio200.net would be able to give you an accurate idea of reliability. Luck does seem to come in to it though! wink

DaveL485

2,758 posts

203 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
quotequote all
RenaultSport are built in a different factory. Huge difference in reliability.

roystinho

3,767 posts

181 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
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The gearboxes are a bit ropey, but replaced under warranty with a new syncro mesh iirc

As above, Clio197.net will have more answers. I had no problems with mine but I changed it in March, don't know of other things that may have cropped up

japgt

349 posts

170 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
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i believe the renault sport engines are triple layer steel head gasket as well??

deadmau5

3,197 posts

186 months

Monday 10th December 2012
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japgt said:
i believe the renault sport engines are triple layer steel head gasket as well??
I've only heard of one head gasket going on a 197. I'm not sure whether it had anything to do with the fact it was running ITBs and Nitrous Oxide...

framerateuk

2,771 posts

190 months

Monday 10th December 2012
quotequote all
I've got a Megane 250, so not a Clio, but I think the reliability issues are overstated.

Mine's done about 7 trackdays and 24k since Sept 2010. The car has been pretty much flawless. The screen on my speedo did die after 6 months, but I'm the only person I'm aware of who's had the issue, and I guess Renault don't even make the screens so it could have happened on any marque.

Reliability seems pretty solid on Meganesport.net too, and the only cars that seem to have problems are the older ones. The original 225's are starting to get a bit tired and need some money spend on them to keep them road worthy (mostly the suspension arms). Typically the standard RenaultSport services aren't too expensive, but the cambelt service is quite expensive. I believe it's every 5 years on the Clio (correct me if I'm wrong), and is every 6 years on the new Meganes.

I've got enough faith in the Megane that I'm quite keen on keeping it beyond my 3 year PCP deal. I know people who've bought new cars and have been back and fore to the garage constantly for the first few years. My Fiesta ST was back and fore a lot for various problems when I first bought it, while aside from the speedo issue in mine, it's only been back for it's services.

AGK

1,602 posts

161 months

Monday 10th December 2012
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My Clio 200 was back in for warranty work at only 1 week old / 700 miles on the clock.

It went downhill from there. Rapidly.

I ended up keeping it for just over a month and it spent more time at the dealers than on my drive, as did quite a few of my mates Clio 200's.

herbie147

Original Poster:

51 posts

182 months

Monday 10th December 2012
quotequote all
Cheers for the feedback guys,having a look on the owners club now.
Still feels like they put out some nails though which is a shame as they are nice looking cars.

Clio200pat

148 posts

194 months

Monday 10th December 2012
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I went from a 182 Trophy to a 200 and I'd say the build quality of the 200 is miles better.

Had the 200 2.5 years from new and have done 20,000 miles. Only problem problem I've had was a really weird noise coming from the engine at idle that turned out to be a noisy water pump. This was changed under warranty, but took 2 attempts and I was without a car for over a week in total as there were no loan cars.

As said earlier there is a known problem with gearboxes synchro's being very weak, though Renault won't address this. I've not had a problem but am thinking about extending the warranty when the time comes in case.

Recaros also seem to wear really quickly if you don't take care getting in and out.


E500 TAT

317 posts

205 months

Sunday 23rd December 2012
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Just had my recaro relaced under (extended) warrenty as worn in 33k miles and a rear damper (leaking) but ok apart from that.