1.2 16v dynamique
Hi there,
Ill try and keep it as short as possible, basically after what seems a lifetime of saving, I'm now in a position to buy a car after i'm 18 (next month) out of all the 1.2's on the market the Clio is far and away my favourite, shortly followed by the Corsa!!
I'm looking at around £2000 to spend on a 2001-2003 Clio, preferably a Dynamique. The reason for this post is I need some advice on what to look for and whether its a good first car!
I've hear A LOT of reports about poor reliability and build quality; naturally with any car as popular as the Clio you are bound to have some examples of bad cars.. I just wanted to know, is the car generally really as bad as they say? Is the 1.2 16v engine and car as a whole fairly reliable and strong??
Secondly the cars I've been looking at have done around 60000 to 90000 miles, ive seen Clio's that have 130000 on the clock, again, when do the engines end up completely knackered, I understand around 60000 timing belt ect is due for a change.. but how long can you take your standard Clio up to before its to costly to keep running?
Last of all, and very important for me; what should I be looking for when viewing the cars, are there any problems that are costly to repair and often go wrong, any dodgey signs I should be looking out for??
My father is very good mechanically, I myself am fairly good and am defiantly willing to get my hands dirty and do any repair work we can do to fix it. I'm just worried that buying privately I end up with a lemon and thus wasting over a years worth of hard work!!
(I know to look for the usual i.e. knockings, wear, ect. but basically I'm wondering what areas that I may not know about that I should keep my eye open. AND also leaking sunroofs!? How can I test the sunroof isnt leaking, is there anything I can look out for if it hasn't been raining recently?!?)
Thank you very much!!
Samuel.
Ill try and keep it as short as possible, basically after what seems a lifetime of saving, I'm now in a position to buy a car after i'm 18 (next month) out of all the 1.2's on the market the Clio is far and away my favourite, shortly followed by the Corsa!!
I'm looking at around £2000 to spend on a 2001-2003 Clio, preferably a Dynamique. The reason for this post is I need some advice on what to look for and whether its a good first car!
I've hear A LOT of reports about poor reliability and build quality; naturally with any car as popular as the Clio you are bound to have some examples of bad cars.. I just wanted to know, is the car generally really as bad as they say? Is the 1.2 16v engine and car as a whole fairly reliable and strong??
Secondly the cars I've been looking at have done around 60000 to 90000 miles, ive seen Clio's that have 130000 on the clock, again, when do the engines end up completely knackered, I understand around 60000 timing belt ect is due for a change.. but how long can you take your standard Clio up to before its to costly to keep running?
Last of all, and very important for me; what should I be looking for when viewing the cars, are there any problems that are costly to repair and often go wrong, any dodgey signs I should be looking out for??
My father is very good mechanically, I myself am fairly good and am defiantly willing to get my hands dirty and do any repair work we can do to fix it. I'm just worried that buying privately I end up with a lemon and thus wasting over a years worth of hard work!!
(I know to look for the usual i.e. knockings, wear, ect. but basically I'm wondering what areas that I may not know about that I should keep my eye open. AND also leaking sunroofs!? How can I test the sunroof isnt leaking, is there anything I can look out for if it hasn't been raining recently?!?)
Thank you very much!!
Samuel.
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