Renault Clio NCT failure - is it worth fixing and re-testing?

Andy From Sligo

wife's renault clio mk2 2003 1.2 16v failed the NCT test the other day (to what she says "spectacularly failed!")

I have scanned the NCT sheet, wondered if anyone has any ideas would it even be worth throwing money at it considered age/mileage .. or would we be better off calling it a day? - not really in a position of buying a new car even by getting a CU loan and definately not eligible for a bank loan so it would have to be another old banger again if this clio is not wort repairing

Andy From Sligo

thanks - I forgot to add the scan eejit that i am

Interslice

Doesn't look too bad. New wishbones will sort the ball joint. Tie rods ends need replaced so wheel alignment will be needed anyway. Brakes might just need to be bled.

All the work at the front end so that not a big job. Labour shouldnt be massive.

Should be able to get it sorted for 250 euro. Car will be 100% nicer to drive afterwards.

Andy From Sligo

Interslice wrote: »

Doesn't look too bad. New wishbones will sort the ball joint. Tie rods ends need replaced so wheel alignment will be needed anyway. Brakes might just need to be bled.

All the work at the front end so that not a big job. Labour shouldnt be massive.

Should be able to get it sorted for 250 euro. Car will be 100% nicer to drive afterwards.

oh right , thanks for your input thats interesting then - forgot to add the car needs 3 tyres @70eur a piece as well - €210 so we are up to nearly 500quid and she has seen a 2002 Clio for 700eur or near offer .. NCT up to feb 2019 on that one and they said 4 good tyres and good running car .. hard to know what to do

Interslice

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

oh right , thanks for your input thats interesting then - forgot to add the car needs 3 tyres @70eur a piece as well - €210 so we are up to nearly 500quid and she has seen a 2002 Clio for 700eur or near offer .. NCT up to feb 2019 on that one and they said 4 good tyres and good running car .. hard to know what to do

Wouldnt buy another clio if money is tight. Extra tax and insurance on the 1.2 compared to a 1 litre plus theyre not the most reliable.

jhud

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

oh right , thanks for your input thats interesting then - forgot to add the car needs 3 tyres @70eur a piece as well - €210 so we are up to nearly 500quid and she has seen a 2002 Clio for 700eur or near offer .. NCT up to feb 2019 on that one and they said 4 good tyres and good running car .. hard to know what to do

I wouldn't buy another clio as the insurance will be loaded as its old car and you would need to have owned it for a year or more for the loading not to apply plus having to tax it and anything else that needs doing for next nct could be in worse state then your current one.

Tyres price you have seems a lot what size tyres are on the car? For €70 what brand where they giving you as i would expect a premium tyre for this mid range tyres should be better price.

Toyotafanboi

Am I looking at the same list as the rest of you? Front suspension imbalance, front and rear brake imbalance, numerous suspension issues.

You'll want 2x front shocks, at least 1x front brake caliper (possibly front pads and discs), rear brake shoes and cylinders, 2x complete front wishbones, a set of track rod ends, 3 tyres and a 4 wheel alignment.

The car is a write off IMO. You've easily got the guts of €500 In parts there before any labour even if you buy bargain basement stuff. Buy another bangernomics yoke with a years test and move on.

Andy From Sligo

jhud wrote: »

I wouldn't buy another clio as the insurance will be loaded as its old car and you would need to have owned it for a year or more for the loading not to apply plus having to tax it and anything else that needs doing for next nct could be in worse state then your current one.

Tyres price you have seems a lot what size tyres are on the car? For €70 what brand where they giving you as i would expect a premium tyre for this mid range tyres should be better price.

185 55 x15 i think - they alloy wheels on this clio, as they are on most if not all of the clio's mk2 i think. most probably buy them cheaper online

Andy From Sligo

just got word back from her, she just asked a mechanic and has said same - needs 2 front shockers at 80eur each , bushes arent a bad price, he dont know about brakes until he had wheels off but said about calipers/pads .. so yeah best part of 500 quid to fix and he said the car isnt worth it (thank god for his honesty others would just be thinking about how much they could make rather than being honest)

jhud

Just get insurance quote if getting an older car as they may load it and it may cost more then you think. Good luck with your decision its a hard one

Under His Eye

I would say fix the car and keep it.

ei9go

If you spend 500 and get another year or two out of it, it's cheap motoring

Andy From Sligo

trying to be optimistic but its hard - its 2003 , and even after getting all that done it could cost over 500 quid .... and then something major could still go and need fixing and then still need scrapping we caught between a rock and hard place cant afford to get a loan on a new car so it might have to be old car yet again but could be buying worse than what we got - its tough, just another one of those things when you need a reliable car but havent got thousands of expendable cash in the bank. - i suppose we will have to do what thousands of other people do in our circumstance ... keep the car and keep our fingers crossed or second option buy another banger with a few months NCT on it .. and keep our fingers crossed!
third option sell a kidney

Andy From Sligo

re front shock absorbers that have failed , the wife has pulled up in the car and i done my own (not very scientific) test on the front shockers - on each side, one hand on top of the wing, one hand under the wheel arch and shook like mad! - absolutely rock solid and didnt carry on bouncing, I cant argue with an NCT machine that costs thousands I suppose but still.

also when i used to fit tyres and exhausts years ago (over 30 years now mind you) when shocks had gone there where spots of bald areas on the tyres.. but the wifes tire is just worn on one side the rest full of tread , which more likely due to the track rod/tie rod end bushes being worn - but shocks, naw they feel absolutely rock solid on her car

Andy From Sligo

when cars are put in through the NCT test does all this shaking what the test equipment do to the cars and the shaking the NCT inspectors do to it and pulling the steering wheel fiercely what damage could it cause thats what i am wondering they are pretty fierce with them even on the old motor's

my wife is convinced that there is a knock now when she turns the steering that wasnt there before the NCT test

samih

The machines in NCT are less taxing than Irish roads, for example from Rathangan to Edenderry. I was following a newish Audi on motorbike and though it was odd observing an Audi driver under the speed limit. Just after overtaking him I hit the boreen bit and the bike was literally in the air at times driving at 80 km/h. NCT could well use that road for spotting bad suspension.

rex-x

The nct is very gentle compared to the roads. Anything damaged during it was already dead and unfortunately your shock test and bald tyre hypothesis doesn't work in reality

Andy From Sligo

samih wrote: »

The machines in NCT are less taxing than Irish roads, for example from Rathangan to Edenderry. I was following a newish Audi on motorbike and though it was odd observing an Audi driver under the speed limit. Just after overtaking him I hit the boreen bit and the bike was literally in the air at times driving at 80 km/h. NCT could well use that road for spotting bad suspension.

i've never thought about that before actually, do motorbikes have to have tests like the nct? - i'm just thinking like they would still need to be checked for road worthiness surely? re brakes and tyres etc?

Under His Eye

Nope. They are exempt. The only tests that happen is if an insurance company wanted an inspection prior to providing insurance cover.

Stallingrad

I'd get it fixed OP. You could drop a couple of grand on another car that might have the same or worse issues. Nothing there is major (engine/gearbox) just wear and tear so once fixed should be good for a year or two at least. The Clio has always been a good car.

endacl

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

when cars are put in through the NCT test does all this shaking what the test equipment do to the cars and the shaking the NCT inspectors do to it and pulling the steering wheel fiercely what damage could it cause thats what i am wondering they are pretty fierce with them even on the old motor's

my wife is convinced that there is a knock now when she turns the steering that wasnt there before the NCT test

If your car can’t handle the NCT, west of Ireland roads probably isn’t the place for it.

Put a bullet in the Clio. It’d be a kindness.

Interslice

Stallingrad wrote: »

I'd get it fixed OP. You could drop a couple of grand on another car that might have the same or worse issues. Nothing there is major (engine/gearbox) just wear and tear so once fixed should be good for a year or two at least. The Clio has always been a good car.

Agree. Emissions look good.
Once the engine box and chassis are sound, Id spend the 500 on the devil I know rather than 1500 on the devil i dont.

Toyotafanboi

I think the devil you know arguement is true of a car worth a couple of grand, say €2-5k or so. I think when the value of a comparable car with a new NCT is less than or equal to repairs, you may as well jump ship and treat them as disposable cars. Buy it for €6-700, drive until the years test is up, scrap it, rinse and repeat.

Andy From Sligo

Stallingrad wrote: »

I'd get it fixed OP. You could drop a couple of grand on another car that might have the same or worse issues. Nothing there is major (engine/gearbox) just wear and tear so once fixed should be good for a year or two at least. The Clio has always been a good car.

we in no financial position to shell out a couple of grand on another car at the moment, and cannot get a loan for a brand new car either - stuck between rock and hard place.

2 ways out I can see is throw money at this one and fix it and send it to retest which i personally wouldnt look forward to just in case they find something else wrong with it on retest .... or spend 500quid on another banger but with some nct left on it until feb/march 2019 if possible ... but i keep going though phases of changing mind but i think thats the way we might go ... i hate putting cars through the test, especially old cars, so if we can get another one for a few hundred with a test already on it, it appeals to me personally better than sending this one for the re-test... thats my frame of mind at this present moment

Patrick2010

I was in a similar position, looking at 500 plus repairs on an 01 honda. Ended up buying a one owner avensis with NCT until June 2019 and seven months tax for 500 euro. Theres bargains out there if you look for them.

Andy From Sligo

Patrick2010 wrote: »

I was in a similar position, looking at 500 plus repairs on an 01 honda. Ended up buying a one owner avensis with NCT until June 2019 and seven months tax for 500 euro. Theres bargains out there if you look for them.

and if your anywhere near to Dublin etc where the cars are cheaper/better value/ driven on better roads (by better drivers- maybe?)...

almostover

You need to assess the rest of your car before making a decision. From the NCT sheet your engine appears to be very healthy. If the gearbox and clutch are good too I would say stick with your own car and get it repaired. €500 will get you a year's NCT and a year's motoring which is cheap. A new car bought for 6-700 quid with 8 months NCT may need €500 worth of work in a year's time. This €500 on your own car could be a new lease of life and keep it on the road another few years. Plus there will be big hassle and expense involve in getting insurance on another older car. If you get the work done your car will be more or less brand new at the front and would have plenty of rubber under it too. The devil you know is often better than the devil you don't know!

Andy From Sligo

almostover wrote: »

You need to assess the rest of your car before making a decision. From the NCT sheet your engine appears to be very healthy. If the gearbox and clutch are good too I would say stick with your own car and get it repaired. €500 will get you a year's NCT and a year's motoring which is cheap. A new car bought for 6-700 quid with 8 months NCT may need €500 worth of work in a year's time. This €500 on your own car could be a new lease of life and keep it on the road another few years. Plus there will be big hassle and expense involve in getting insurance on another older car. If you get the work done your car will be more or less brand new at the front and would have plenty of rubber under it too. The devil you know is often better than the devil you don't know!

thanks i will factor that in - i must admit i was impressed it passed on the emissions, that was good and sometimes i think can smell unburnt fuel so i was surprised i must say - so its around 500eur for parts, and labour, 26eur retest fee, and then 3 tyres i would say it needs at 70 a pop locally but might be able them cheaper online

salonfire

Did you spend much money putting in through in previous years?

If not, I would be inclined to stick with it. Assuming you don't do crazy miles, you should not have the same issues next year.

So looking at it over a few years, e500 could be cheap enough on a yearly basis.

Andy From Sligo

salonfire wrote: »

Did you spend much money putting in through in previous years?

If not, I would be inclined to stick with it. Assuming you don't do crazy miles, you should not have the same issues next year.

So looking at it over a few years, e500 could be cheap enough on a yearly basis.

this is first test we have put it through, bought it for 550 last august I think it were, of course the guy (who screamed some kind of dealer to us , even though he was trying to make out it was his sons car) said "it will pass with flying colours next test no problem at all!"

kermitpwee

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

this is first test we have put it through, bought it for 550 last august I think it were, of course the guy (who screamed some kind of dealer to us , even though he was trying to make out it was his sons car) said "it will pass with flying colours next test no problem at all!"

If it was mine i wouldn't get 2 new shocks.i would get one strut out of a breakers and get your mechanic to put it in. It will in all probability pass as you are @ 58mm on the other shock.
Tyres i would get part worn or breakers @ 30 a pop. This won't suit the motor heads here but it's how you run a banger on a budget.