Will I regret buying french?

[A500leroy]

Guess most of you on here are french car lovers, my first time, so am I going to regret buying my Clio from a reliability prospective?

[Salamura]

I've had three Clios myself, and in my family we've had a few Citroens and a few other Renaults (but somehow never any Peugeots). They've mostly been very solid cars, and there have never been any big issues with any of them. I can't say that in my experience buying French is any different to buying German.

Speaking more specifically about Clios, I've owned every one of my three for 3-4 years, so I have had a chance to use them well. The first one was an R-plate Mk2 with the 1.6 8v engine, which had a coil pack fail, but that was all it wanted for in the time I had it, apart from consumables. Then I had a 07 plate Mk3, which is to this day probably the most reliable car I've ever owned, literally nothing went wrong on it (but it was so basic, there wasn't much to go wrong). Then I had a 53 plate 172, which needed a crank position sensor and some wheel bearings. Not bad going for almost 12 years of ownership.

There are models that are known to have issues (mk2 Megane, mk2 Laguna, PSA cars with the Prince engine), but if you avoid the known duds you should be fine. Clios in particular tend to be more solidly built and I wouldn't worry about them.

[A500leroy]

Fantastic!

Im coming from a car which hasnt put a foot wrong in 8 years up to now and was concerned id swapped for no reason, but the Clio is a much nicer place to sit than the Fiat.

[The Rotrex Kid]

The only thing that really fails catastrophically on the Clio you've bought is the timing chain. The TCE 90 is sensitive to oil changes and as long as these have been done, you should be pretty safe.

[A500leroy]

The Rotrex Kid said:

The only thing that really fails catastrophically on the Clio you've bought is the timing chain. The TCE 90 is sensitive to oil changes and as long as these have been done, you should be pretty safe.

Great, it been due as Renault schedule up to now, but itll be having two a year with me, id sooner put £50 of oil in than have a wreaked engine.

[LuS1fer]

Try it first. I have had one or two recent Clios as hire cars (not the most recent, the one before that) and the dash is a mess and the touchscreen is awful.
Shame, as the styling is good.

I have had Citroen C3s as hire cars and found them much nicer cars. All subjective though.

[valiant]

Have had numerous french stuff over the years and currently tool about in a DS7 and nothing of note had happened in any of them.

They usually ride better than their German equivalents and prove no less reliable.

Had a Clio as a hire car a while back and it was a fine little thing. Dash a bit messy but that's subjective - if you like it that's all that counts.

Keep up to date with servicing and it should prove reliable.

[PisstNBroke]

To be honest majority of stuff is proven technology in this day / age.
I did notice a difference in features when leaving VW and Ford behind as things like windscreen washer fluid low sensor aren't fitted and a less plush infotainment system. But then if I were to spec my Citroen against others it could be a 5 or 10k saving (new and like for like).

We will see what the First Service brings in March, currently sitting on 12k but I'm no stranger to French cars.

[wal 45]

Assuming you've bought a 0.9Tce the only thing I'd add to previous posts is to carefully watch your coolant level, if it starts dropping you'll need to change the (pretty cheap and nasty) plastic Thermostat housing. It distorts with heat cycles which stops the rubber gasket sealing, hard to spot as it's quite well hidden.

If I was buying another one of circa 3 years or more old I'd probably change this out as a matter of course.

Also had 3 of the 4 alloys go porous on it (65 plate) but apart from that it's been fine to date. I do service it annually to try and preserve the timing chain life but that's about it.

We've got a 500 too and agree how well the Clio drives in comparison, absolute pleasure down a country lane.

Oh and body parts are an utter nightmare to source at the moment (as my Daughter found out after being hit by a lorry), loads of basic stuff like doors are back order with no delivery forecast. We ended up waiting for over 6 months and had to get agreement to use a used door in the end as Renault gave no indication when they'd start production again. Put it this way it's put me off wanting an Alpine a bit as if you can't get parts for an 8 year old Clio what chance one of those?

[A500leroy]

wal 45 said:

Assuming you've bought a 0.9Tce the only thing I'd add to previous posts is to carefully watch your coolant level, if it starts dropping you'll need to change the (pretty cheap and nasty) plastic Thermostat housing. It distorts with heat cycles which stops the rubber gasket sealing, hard to spot as it's quite well hidden.

If I was buying another one of circa 3 years or more old I'd probably change this out as a matter of course.

Also had 3 of the 4 alloys go porous on it (65 plate) but apart from that it's been fine to date. I do service it annually to try and preserve the timing chain life but that's about it.

We've got a 500 too and agree how well the Clio drives in comparison, absolute pleasure down a country lane.

Oh and body parts are an utter nightmare to source at the moment (as my Daughter found out after being hit by a lorry), loads of basic stuff like doors are back order with no delivery forecast. We ended up waiting for over 6 months and had to get agreement to use a used door in the end as Renault gave no indication when they'd start production again. Put it this way it's put me off wanting an Alpine a bit as if you can't get parts for an 8 year old Clio what chance one of those?

Thanks for the info.

[A500leroy]

Anyone know when its best to get the timing chain replaced on the 0.9 tce, what else needs doing with it, how much it costs and how many have snapped?

[The Rotrex Kid]

You don’t/shouldn’t have to change the timing chain. They’re a ‘for life’ item.

I’ve known of a few go on older 2013/14 Clio/Sandero with high mileages but I’d hazard a guess that the servicing hasn’t been done properly on these vehicles….

You can buy full timing chain kits on eBay for £200, factor in maybe 6/7 hours labour and consumables and it’s maybe a £1000 job?

If it snaps, it’s an engine rebuild/replacement

[A500leroy]

The Rotrex Kid said:

You don’t/shouldn’t have to change the timing chain. They’re a ‘for life’ item.

I’ve known of a few go on older 2013/14 Clio/Sandero with high mileages but I’d hazard a guess that the servicing hasn’t been done properly on these vehicles….

You can buy full timing chain kits on eBay for £200, factor in maybe 6/7 hours labour and consumables and it’s maybe a £1000 job?

If it snaps, it’s an engine rebuild/replacement

You shouldnt have to change a chain on a MINI or BMW but ive burnt by that one before too!

[Cambs_Stuart]

I've had a Clio 172 for 41/2 years, and despite it leaking oil like a sieve the only time it's let me down is when the battery went flat, and then the key and immobiliser got out of sync. It rattles at lot, and needs a decent amount of TLC, but it's 20 years old. My Subaru is currently out of action so it's going to be doing family duties for a couple of weeks.

[A500leroy]

The only thing im concerned about is the timing chain slipping/snapping/guides breaking.