172 Cup On A Budget Few Reliability Questions?

[RS172Nick]

Been a while since I've frequented the forums on here

Cut a long story short, I am finding myself wanting to get my ass back in a 172 and a Cup if possible

Not sure if this is possible but due to a fairly low budget I'm looking at trying to find a half decent 172 cup for circa £1,500 if that is possible?

I see the prices for 172's and cups are really all over the place at the minute with some what appear to be real bargains out there.

Does the CS faithful believe that it's possible to bag a 172 Cup within my budget and be a half decent purchase?

I know I will more than likely be looking at mid to fairly high mileage models and maybe some with a bit of neglect here and there which I'm prepared for but this leads me on to a few reliability questions assuming a half decent cup comes up and suppose it has highish mileage 100K+ is there likely to be any issues with a 172 covering that mileage?

I know service history and obviously if the main consumable items have been replaced recently should avoid costly bills looming eg timing belt, water pump, dephaser, clutch, bushes etc but what is a highish mileage 172 like with a fair few miles onboard? do they tend to get tired quickly or start to use more oil etc or if looked after are they still a good strong unit?

My thought theory is that because of the nature of the engine designed to be highly worked and probably highly stressed that even with a good service record when they rack up miles they can become more fragile is this the norm? or are they better then I think at coping with munching the miles?

Tia

Nick

 

[Pops52]

I paid less than 1k for a 94k mile cup. Very straight, few mods, but required belts. Factor in £300 for belts, £170 for a Dephaser/oil/filter and £50ish for ball joints/tre's and your around your £1500 budget for a reliable, fairly economical hot hatch (averaged 42mpg for the last 600 miles).

 

[realnumber 1]

You could have mine and get the belts and other little things done within budget.

In over 5 years it's only once let me down when a drive shaft died.

 

[MaintenanceMan]

I got my cup for £1650, with 68k and recent belt change.I have had it 6 month and the only problems have been a speedo sensor and reverse gear sensor.
I bought a std 172 with about 115k from someone on here last year and had no bother with that either, but it had obviously been well looked after.
As long as you are prepared to spend some time looking at cars you should find a good one.
I wouldn't limit it to a cup either, just get the best 172 you can find.

 

[RS172Nick]

I paid less than 1k for a 94k mile cup. Very straight, few mods, but required belts. Factor in £300 for belts, £170 for a Dephaser/oil/filter and £50ish for ball joints/tre's and your around your £1500 budget for a reliable, fairly economical hot hatch (averaged 42mpg for the last 600 miles).

Thanks for the reply, wow really are some good bargains out there seen a few I'm interested in trouble is they are typically miles away.

You could have mine and get the belts and other little things done within budget.

In over 5 years it's only once let me down when a drive shaft died.

Cheers for the reply, Is yours a cup bud? I had a 172 before but fancy the cup this time.

I got my cup for £1650, with 68k and recent belt change.I have had it 6 month and the only problems have been a speedo sensor and reverse gear sensor.
I bought a std 172 with about 115k from someone on here last year and had no bother with that either, but it had obviously been well looked after.
As long as you are prepared to spend some time looking at cars you should find a good one.
I wouldn't limit it to a cup either, just get the best 172 you can find.

Thanks or the reply, my old 172 was fairly reliable only had to do the speedo sensor aswell seems a fairly common item. Have considered the normal 172 but really fancy a cup this time just an itch I have to scratch

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Dont be put off by distance mate, i went to leeds from glasgow for my Cup!

 

[RS172Nick]

Dont be put off by distance mate, i went to leeds from glasgow for my Cup!

Dont get me wrong bud, love a good road trip and have done a fair few in the past, just the arranging a lift and timings etc thats the PITA to sort out.

So much easier when there more local but there is a tad more fun on a long road trip

 

[Jay.S]

I had mine up for £1850, 77k on the clocks with a Cambelt, Aux, Dephaser, Waterpump & Full service etc just carried out and decent service history.

I didnt get one person interested in it, i ended up swapping it.

They are good cars if they are looked after just like any other car, oil change every 6k and keep with the service intervals you will be fine.

There is a few 1*2's on here with 170k plus mileage.

 

[MarkCup]

I'd far sooner have a 120k mile 172 that's been enthusiast owned and serviced by a specialist, than a 60k mile one, that's been owned by 50 yr old Doris and serviced lovingly within the Renault dealership network.

Mileage is nothing to be concerned about...the life it's had, and the owners that have had it are far more important in my opinion.

This is why I got £2k for my stripped, beaten and cosmetically blemished 8 year old 125k mile Cup last year. One owner from new and religiously maintained by Rentech, the buyer saw that so was happy to pay.

 

[Cup_Phil]

^^ Entirely this

I got talked into viewing my Cup by Sir_Dave as it was one of his old cars and although he'd chucked 60k on it in 2 years it had 2-3 oil changes a year, regular proper services and a book of invoices 2" thick

I bought it 2 years ago with about 90k on the clock and it's been fantastic, never needed anything except a service and never let me down

Don't be putt of by milage or all this nonsense talk of the gearboxes being made of cheese - if it's got a big service history and it's well looked after that's far better than a low milage one that's sat around rusting most of its life

 

[RS172Nick]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

My only real concerns were if high mileage examples are still likely to be a strong reliable unit or a ticking time bomb.

I know some cars start to get really fragile when the miles rack up and once internal parts start to wear they then lose a fair bit of power and can become tired and in really bad cars start to use more oil than fuel....

Sounds like the 172 is fairly good at munching the miles which is good to know and like anything the enthusiast owned or well cared for with excellent service history are the ones to find.

 

[MarkCup]

If anything they gain more power with age.

I had mine on the same RR annually, and year on year (with each 20k miles added), it never once failed to improve it's power curve.

 

[Cup_Phil]

Mines on 117k, original drive shafts, gearbox, head gasket etc.. - it's had one cambelt and dephaser change but just coming up to needing another one now

Made over 170bhp standard and now makes 195bhp with jenvey ITB's etc... get's ragged to death around track and it never skips a beat
Well looked after high mileage engines are awesome

 

[Harpham]

Mines on 117k,

Really?? Certainly doesn't look in bad nick for that amount. I thought yours was well below the 100k mark, purely by looking at it's condition.

 

[Cup_Phil]

thanks mate

It's been very well looked after - I certainly haven't scrimped on anything it has needed.

Sir_Dave put a ton of motorway miles on it while he had it, and it's been to the 'ring and back twice which put about 7k alone on it
It's getting back to average mileage now though cos I only do 3 or 4k a year these days lol