Which Clio, 172 or 182?

[H18 ENF]

Hi All,

Newly found Girlfriend wishes to change her Yaris for something more interesting and we have come to the conclusion that a fun little Clio would do the job. Ideally the budget would be around about the £1500 mark but could stretch to £2k for the right car... personally I'd say £2500 would be better for what she needs but apparently there is a credit card that needs paying off... (By the way, any second now I'm going to be hit for writing this as she's reading it over my shoulder)

Now, my knowledge of Clios is minimal, so could someone (Just been hit) give me recommendations as to what we should be looking out for when purchasing this little hot hatch?

Her annual mileage will not be particularly high as she only works 15 miles away from home and that's the main use for the car.

I have read some of the other posts and very glad that I won't be entering the 197/182 debate... something about gearboxes? ;-)

Any advice appreciated!

Cheers!

[GrumpyTwig]

It'll likely be a 172 at that price range, shop on condition and look for one that's had the cambelt changed as per the service book and is obviously serviced as per the book. A lot with have some form of modification, mostly exhausts will have been changed but that's not always a bad thing as long as it's a good quality system.
Mileage is going to fairly high on them generally but I wouldn't let that put you off in itself (as mentioned shop on condition really) as they're quite capable of fairly big miles if looked after well.

[roystinho]

As above, condition and service history, ignore mileage to an extent. Sign up to cliosport for the best info

[RCBRG]

at that budget, the cambelt is the real deal breaker. cost me about £550 for cambelt, dephaser pulley and aux belt, plus tensioners etc, and its not a job you can do yourself on the driveway

[320touring]

Had a similar scenario with my missus.

Bought a phase 1 172 for peanuts, stuck some new tyres and timing/aux belts on it. Did coilpack and plugs too(stupidly jetwashed engine and got a missfire..)

So far it stands us at less than 2k inc 6 months tax(£143!) And about 2000 miles of fuel. Very nimble on backroads, comfortable on motorways and we had 4 in it the other day, including 2x 12 stone *cough* men.

Either the 172 or 182 are good-as far as I can see the only differences are ecu settings and backbox,so no real changes.

As others have said,timing belt is critical,and they like to eat rear shocks and rear calipers too. Injectors,coilpacks and plugs are common failures too,but reasonable DIY fixes.best of luck!

[H18 ENF]

Thanks guys, big help! Now comes the fun task of finding one!

[MagicalTrevor]

As said above, that budget should get a good 172 over a ropey 182. Cliosport is definitely where you start

[exgtt]

Make sure you do a fast change at high revs from 2nd to 3rd on the test drive - 3rd gear syncro is usually the first to go. My box has 100k plus and is fine mind. I swear by 40k box oil changes, its as easy as the engine oil to do.

Edited by exgtt on Sunday 25th August 09:57

[320touring]

exgtt said:

Make sure you do a fast change at high revs from 2nd to 3rd on the test drive - 3rd gear syncro is usually the first to go. My box has 100k plus and is fine mind. I swear by 40k box oil changes, its as easy as the engine oil to do.

Edited by exgtt on Sunday 25th August 09:57

I'll add gearbox oil to the service plan then

[grenpayne]

I'd agree that the budget will get you a nice 172 rather than a ropey 182. I bought my 172 for £2k in great condition, with full history (and every bit of paperwork) and with 44k miles on. At the time of sale it was 15 months to the belts being done. Decent ones are about and as said ClioSport is a great place to start (although mine was advertised here on PH!). Good luck hunting, they are superb little cars.