After buying an old VW Polo on EBAY that I had to scrap my wife and eye decided that we would look for a car for her to drive that would be reliable and easy to repair should the need arise.After much debate we found her a little T reg Clio with 52,000 miles on the clock.
One of the prerequisites of buying a replacement was that I could fit in it and be able to drive it comfortably. I am 6ft 3" and need to be able to drive it once or twice a week.COLOUR
The first thing that struck us about the car was the general quality of it bearing in mind it was made back in 98. Once you get over the fact that it is gold the car grows on you. Whilst these cars come in a multitude of colours we though a gold one would be different and uncommon. Alas, now that we have it there are at least three in the same area. Why does that always happen…..EXTERIOR
The MK2 Clio changed quite a bit from the MK1. The general looks of the car have been brought up to date to make it stand out on the road whilst still fitting in with the other manufacturers. Our Clio is the RN edition. I am not really sure what that means. 90% of the body panels are painted with standard black trim covering the door strips, front and rear bumper strips and finally the mirrors. Its nice to see a cheap car that isn't absolutely covered in standard black plastic. The one thing that is annoying is when you come to polish the car. Polish on black trim is a nightmare to get off so you end up spending an extra 20 minutes cleaning all those. It would have been nice if they had painted them to.
The body panels have some good lines to them that help break up the appearance o the car. As standard amongst quite a few Renaults these days the front wings are made of plastic. Now I know this is done for safety reasons but as an owner it is a pain. Plastic panels shrink over time whilst flexing can cause flecks in the paint work. Our Clio is not to bad on this front so far but you can see a few marks where someone has pushed a little to hard whilst cleaning.We also had the misfortune to have an accident within 24 hours of owning the car. Not good. The most annoying thing was that it was parked ¾ on to the pavement and we were not even in it. The neighbour across the road (drunk) decided to reverse his car out and in to the Clio causing £2000 worth of damage. But there was only one dent about 9" across just above the rear wheel. Anyway, what I am trying to say is even though your buying a cheap car make sure you insure it fully comp. £2000 for that dent was a lot of money and if I'd had to pay it I probably would have though twice about keeping it, so beware.
Remembering that this is a T plate there is little to no rust on the car. There was a little around the fuel cap area and the door seals but nothing to worry about and nothing that a little bit of touch up paint could not sort.Our Clio also has a nice set of 14" alloys. Not to big and not to small. They provide that bit of extra on the looks front.
INTERIORThe interior of our Clio comes with a grey patterned effect which almost feels like velvet. Its quite a neutral colour and pattern whilst being quite dark which is a major bonus on the stain front. All of the interior equipment etc is also in grey. I prefer black for looks but grey is better for practicality as it hides dust etc quite well.
When your driving the seats provide a comfortable ride. You have to remember that this is a 1.2 and not a sport machine so with normal driving the seats are up to the job. Driving long distances can be a little uncomfortable through lack of back support in the seats, they are quite soft to sit in. Having said that, I drive the car once or twice a week on a 40 mile trip and it is a calm and comfortable drive.Our Clio came fitted with CD player and steering wheel controls and to my surprise with 4 speakers. Radio / CD quality is always very good with a reasonable sound quality. The must to have is the steering wheel controls, very useful and something that I wish I had on my VW.
The standard speedo etc are mounted in front of the driver and are well laid out for easy viewing. One thing I come across being so tall in small cars is that sometimes the view of the dials can be hindered by the position of the steering wheel. No such problem here. The steering wheel can also be adjusted in height should you need it.We don't have AC in ours and to be honest you don't need it. The standard blower unit and rear clear are up to the task.
The sunroof in the Clio is a little basic and reminds me of those cheap after market ones you used to get in the 80's. It tends to rattle quite a bit and needs a little tlc every now and again. It has to open positions along with the prospect of being take out and put in the boot, not the most practical thing but…In the back of the Clio there is a fair bit of leg room for a small car. Getting in to the back is a little difficult as it is only a 3 door but possible without to much trouble. There are 3 belts in the back but I can never imagine taking 5 people in this car as it just isn't powerful enough or big enough to take the weight.
Windows in the car are all winder only, not a bad thing. The winder handle did break but a quick trip to the scrap yard sorted that one out for 50p.DRIVING
I have to say that for a cheap and aged car the Clio drives very well. Road handling may be improved by the bigger alloys. Driving the car through corners can be good fun, plenty of grip. Steering whilst cornering is sharp and responsive but on the odd occasion can be influenced by the soft suspension.Pedals in the car are well spaced so you should have no troubles with catching your feet on the wrong pedal. Having big feet makes this a problem for me sometimes but not in the Clio.
The Clio provides good all round visibility whilst driving and blind spots are minimal. Reversing is also very good in the Clio. There is one thing I hate about this car. The back window at the top has a very large curve in it which always distorts the rear view so you can never really tell how close the guy behind is or the wall is when you reverse. Saying that, its not a problem if you are shorter than me as your below the curve.
PARTS AND PROBLEMSReliability wise the Clio has been good to us. Nothing has broken that would not be standard. The exhaust went on the car but it was the original which had seen 50000 miles. A full replacement cost me (not the wife) £105. I thought that was very good. I also decided to buy 4 new tyres costing around the £95 for all 4. The only other thing is the handbrake cable has stretched but nothing serious there.
Unlike a lot of modern cars the Clio is easy to service. I would never think of doing my VW, just to much trouble, but the Clio engine bay is clutter free and easy to work on. Plugs are easily accessible as is the air and oil filters. You would be able to service it with parts for about £40.ANYTHING ELSE
Most of the work I have had to do on this car is mileage related and because I forgot to check the obvious things when we bought it, exhaust etc. Be careful of a car that has around 50,000 miles on it. Standard parts wear out at this point depending on how its been looked after.Otherwise a very sound small car / runabout. There are airbags for passenger and driver giving you that little bit of extra safety.
Boot space is good for a small car. We recently drove 110 miles to Newcastle on holiday with 2 weeks worth of luggage and managed to fit it all in the boot with space to spare. The car still drove very well with the additions but was a little slow on the hills.This model is fitted with a 1.2, 8 valve engine. Nothing fantastic, I think it produces about 65 bhp. That's enough for light loads but not for heavy. If you get the later model this increased to around 75bhp which is better. .Still the 1. is a reliable engine and without any of the new fangled electronics in the new megane and new clio.
I am not sure what the fuel economy is on the car but I would guess its not far off 40MPG. £15 in the tank the other day put it up well over half a tank.All in, I would get another Clio if I needed one. I may tend to go for the 1.4 engine but 1.2 in fine for what we need.
Sadly we sold this car on as we needed a bigger car. Still, I will say that for an older car the paint work still came up with a good shine.
One of the prerequisites of buying a replacement was that I could fit in it and be able to drive it comfortably. I am 6ft 3" and need to be able to drive it once or twice a week.COLOUR
The first thing that struck us about the car was the general quality of it bearing in mind it was made back in 98. Once you get over the fact that it is gold the car grows on you. Whilst these cars come in a multitude of colours we though a gold one would be different and uncommon. Alas, now that we have it there are at least three in the same area. Why does that always happen…..EXTERIOR
The MK2 Clio changed quite a bit from the MK1. The general looks of the car have been brought up to date to make it stand out on the road whilst still fitting in with the other manufacturers. Our Clio is the RN edition. I am not really sure what that means. 90% of the body panels are painted with standard black trim covering the door strips, front and rear bumper strips and finally the mirrors. Its nice to see a cheap car that isn't absolutely covered in standard black plastic. The one thing that is annoying is when you come to polish the car. Polish on black trim is a nightmare to get off so you end up spending an extra 20 minutes cleaning all those. It would have been nice if they had painted them to.
The body panels have some good lines to them that help break up the appearance o the car. As standard amongst quite a few Renaults these days the front wings are made of plastic. Now I know this is done for safety reasons but as an owner it is a pain. Plastic panels shrink over time whilst flexing can cause flecks in the paint work. Our Clio is not to bad on this front so far but you can see a few marks where someone has pushed a little to hard whilst cleaning.We also had the misfortune to have an accident within 24 hours of owning the car. Not good. The most annoying thing was that it was parked ¾ on to the pavement and we were not even in it. The neighbour across the road (drunk) decided to reverse his car out and in to the Clio causing £2000 worth of damage. But there was only one dent about 9" across just above the rear wheel. Anyway, what I am trying to say is even though your buying a cheap car make sure you insure it fully comp. £2000 for that dent was a lot of money and if I'd had to pay it I probably would have though twice about keeping it, so beware.
Remembering that this is a T plate there is little to no rust on the car. There was a little around the fuel cap area and the door seals but nothing to worry about and nothing that a little bit of touch up paint could not sort.Our Clio also has a nice set of 14" alloys. Not to big and not to small. They provide that bit of extra on the looks front.
INTERIORThe interior of our Clio comes with a grey patterned effect which almost feels like velvet. Its quite a neutral colour and pattern whilst being quite dark which is a major bonus on the stain front. All of the interior equipment etc is also in grey. I prefer black for looks but grey is better for practicality as it hides dust etc quite well.
When your driving the seats provide a comfortable ride. You have to remember that this is a 1.2 and not a sport machine so with normal driving the seats are up to the job. Driving long distances can be a little uncomfortable through lack of back support in the seats, they are quite soft to sit in. Having said that, I drive the car once or twice a week on a 40 mile trip and it is a calm and comfortable drive.Our Clio came fitted with CD player and steering wheel controls and to my surprise with 4 speakers. Radio / CD quality is always very good with a reasonable sound quality. The must to have is the steering wheel controls, very useful and something that I wish I had on my VW.
The standard speedo etc are mounted in front of the driver and are well laid out for easy viewing. One thing I come across being so tall in small cars is that sometimes the view of the dials can be hindered by the position of the steering wheel. No such problem here. The steering wheel can also be adjusted in height should you need it.We don't have AC in ours and to be honest you don't need it. The standard blower unit and rear clear are up to the task.
The sunroof in the Clio is a little basic and reminds me of those cheap after market ones you used to get in the 80's. It tends to rattle quite a bit and needs a little tlc every now and again. It has to open positions along with the prospect of being take out and put in the boot, not the most practical thing but…In the back of the Clio there is a fair bit of leg room for a small car. Getting in to the back is a little difficult as it is only a 3 door but possible without to much trouble. There are 3 belts in the back but I can never imagine taking 5 people in this car as it just isn't powerful enough or big enough to take the weight.
Windows in the car are all winder only, not a bad thing. The winder handle did break but a quick trip to the scrap yard sorted that one out for 50p.DRIVING
I have to say that for a cheap and aged car the Clio drives very well. Road handling may be improved by the bigger alloys. Driving the car through corners can be good fun, plenty of grip. Steering whilst cornering is sharp and responsive but on the odd occasion can be influenced by the soft suspension.Pedals in the car are well spaced so you should have no troubles with catching your feet on the wrong pedal. Having big feet makes this a problem for me sometimes but not in the Clio.
The Clio provides good all round visibility whilst driving and blind spots are minimal. Reversing is also very good in the Clio. There is one thing I hate about this car. The back window at the top has a very large curve in it which always distorts the rear view so you can never really tell how close the guy behind is or the wall is when you reverse. Saying that, its not a problem if you are shorter than me as your below the curve.
PARTS AND PROBLEMSReliability wise the Clio has been good to us. Nothing has broken that would not be standard. The exhaust went on the car but it was the original which had seen 50000 miles. A full replacement cost me (not the wife) £105. I thought that was very good. I also decided to buy 4 new tyres costing around the £95 for all 4. The only other thing is the handbrake cable has stretched but nothing serious there.
Unlike a lot of modern cars the Clio is easy to service. I would never think of doing my VW, just to much trouble, but the Clio engine bay is clutter free and easy to work on. Plugs are easily accessible as is the air and oil filters. You would be able to service it with parts for about £40.ANYTHING ELSE
Most of the work I have had to do on this car is mileage related and because I forgot to check the obvious things when we bought it, exhaust etc. Be careful of a car that has around 50,000 miles on it. Standard parts wear out at this point depending on how its been looked after.Otherwise a very sound small car / runabout. There are airbags for passenger and driver giving you that little bit of extra safety.
Boot space is good for a small car. We recently drove 110 miles to Newcastle on holiday with 2 weeks worth of luggage and managed to fit it all in the boot with space to spare. The car still drove very well with the additions but was a little slow on the hills.This model is fitted with a 1.2, 8 valve engine. Nothing fantastic, I think it produces about 65 bhp. That's enough for light loads but not for heavy. If you get the later model this increased to around 75bhp which is better. .Still the 1. is a reliable engine and without any of the new fangled electronics in the new megane and new clio.
I am not sure what the fuel economy is on the car but I would guess its not far off 40MPG. £15 in the tank the other day put it up well over half a tank.All in, I would get another Clio if I needed one. I may tend to go for the 1.4 engine but 1.2 in fine for what we need.
Sadly we sold this car on as we needed a bigger car. Still, I will say that for an older car the paint work still came up with a good shine.
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