Love it and almost loathe it (Renault Clio (1991-98))

Member Name: chembleton

Product:	Renault Clio (1991-98)
Date:	24/06/02 (3708 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks, Specification, Respectable speed

Disadvantages: Reliablity, Rust prone rear arches on older models

Ever since I drove my mams H reg 1.2 RL back in 94 I have been interested in the Renault Clio. I drove hers throughout college and univeristy until 99 when I got a job and bought my own. For so long I had my heart set on the sportier 16v model or even the Williams, a car which a commonly regarded as one of the best hot hatches available if not the best.
Due to high insurance premiums I ended up with a 92 K reg red 1.4 RT which cost me £3600 which for a 7 year old car was quite a lot to be honest. I sought one for ages before finding this one. The car came unmodified and with a full service history. What attracted me to the RT was that I could see the potential in it. A 1.4 engine had a bit more poke than the 1.2 and it had electric windows, power steering, colour coded bumpers, front fog lights, sunroof, remote central locking and sporty seats. With a bit of imagination, and the addition of 15 inch 5 spoke alloys and all round lowering of 50mm, it looks like a little 'warm' hatch. I put a 95 style grille on and painted the mirrors to give a moderner look. I must admit, when I got the alloys and had it lowered the car turned and still does turn quite a few heads. You do get a lot of boy racers coming up behind you though and as it's only a 1.4 you have to be careful who you, ahem, race if you don't want embarassing.
Acceleration is respectable, 0-60 is around 10 secs, though it feels quite rough accelerating that hard. If you keep the car in the right gear and the revs up to around 3500, the car has a surprising amount of pull. It has good overtaking speed on the motorway. It handles ok in standard form, but a bit better now I've got wide low profile tyres on (195/45/15s on Yokohama tyres). It does have a bit of body roll round bends at slower speeds. Passengers tend to get thrown around a bit.

In the 34 months I've had this car I've done around 44000 mile, which is a lot I realise and maybe the source of my extensive trou
bles...
The amount of work I've done on this car is unreal.
Since putting alloys on, I've broken both left and right front original wheel bearings, had them replaced and them replaced again, so I'm on my third set. I've been told alloys cause this due to high grip causing excess stress. It was like every 6 months I would get the tell tale humming noise. Fair enough but not cheap at 4x £80
I've had a coolant pipe burst. £60
Waterpump replacing £180
Head Gasket £260
Break Caliper (2nd Hand) £30
Distributor £20
Brake hoses £20
Wheel cylinder £20
Reverse light switch £30
Alternator £140
Others I can't find receipts for..

Approx total £1100
As well as all the wear and tear items such as tyres, exhaust, breaks, and all the neccessary servicing over 44000 miles.
Speaking of which, interim services are often at every 6000 miles (approx £40) and major at 36000 (cost me £160). Doing the amount of miles I do, I seemed to be servicing it every 4 or 5 months.

It's going in the garage this week for a new starter motor £120 ish and replacement of a bent driveshaft £100 (probably caused by all the damn speedhumps).

I think I've spent over £2800 over three years keeping this car on the road when you add up all repairs, maintenance and insurance/tax etc. That doesn't even include paying for it! Or petrol! Fuel consumption isn't brilliant but ok. I get around 240miles in town for £20 based on 70p/litre and about 320 miles on motorway.

But at the end of the day for all I love the way it looks and drives (when working), it's getting time to replace it. It's gonna break my heart but it's getting to the point where I have no confidence in it. I still think it has another owner in it yet, they'll probably think it's a little cracker as it looks good and will probably give them no trouble seeing I've fixed everything, but then again it
may have more surprises up it's sleeve, and that's a gamble I don't want to take.

I still would love a Williams but the newest you can buy now is already a 96 version and they still go for £5000-7000 and that's a lot of money to pay for a car that will probably end up like mine, for all the benefits of a 2 litre engine.

One thing I will say in my cars defence though, is that it's always ran. Things I've had fixed, have always been done before destruction and therefore it's never broken down as such, but that would depend on the owner; are they the type who looks after their car or waits until it breaks.
Maybe I'm being hard on it as most car of that age have faults. It just seems to be every month or every other month I'm spending money on it now.

It's being traded in next year but I ain't got much idea what to replace it with, as to me no other hatchback looks as good as mine but like anything, nothing lasts forever.

In short (short? this has been going on forever?!) if you like the look if them, and gots wads of cash, then buy one, but expect trouble. When they work they are great.

Aslo as a last point my insurance based on 26year old with 3 years no claims and 3 points, car lowered with alloys: £400 fully comp, which is also high but like I said, that's with 3 point and a modifeid car, without these a reckon it's around £280.

I hope I've helped you.

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