bye, bye twingo - I'll miss ya

[frediiii]

Hi there,

two weeks ago I was test driving a couple clio 200's... fatal mistake, as 5 minutes ago I signed some papers and in less than 48 hours, I will pick up a brand new clio 200 RB7.

It was a hard decision, but in the end, I had to let the twingo go. for various reasons:

1) it's almost 4 years old. so it's already lost most of it's value. 70000km on the clock and one year away from the inevitable belt-change... so if I was to sell it, it had to be now.

2) the twingo was one of the first of the breed. built in 2008, I spent 1.5 years taking it to the dealers and getting things sorted.
- leaky wheelarches leading to water filled trunk
- insufficient tightening of drivetrain components
- rattle from tailgate
- leaky cam-cover after 5000km
- leaky aircon filling passenger side footwell with condensed water
- squeaky clutch pedal
- worn engine mounts
- many, many more things I already forgot again

3) open issues
- a motorcycle crashed in the cars rear end, bending the exhaust tips towards the bumper which instantly melted
- the bonnet got damaged by hail last year
- the aircon-water problem could not be fixed by 3 different renault garages and still persists
- the clutch pedal problem could not be fixed by 3 different garages and still persists
- steering column starts to 'klick' now and then when you turn it
- aircon ventilation actuators squeak from time to time
- rattling everywhere. from inside the doors, tailgate, seats, dash...
- leaky scuttle panel
- torn lower suspension arm jointcovers
- belt change due next year
- ...

so in short: over the next 12 months the car would cost me quite a bit to get back in shape. time and money I don't want to spend on a car that just won't stop breaking. (especially if I already have a R5 GTT which breaks all the time)

Now: my local dealer made me an offer to buy the twingo off me for a really good price, provided I let them fix the damaged bonnet via insurance. Got no problem with that...

Then they made me an offer for the RB7, which has a list price of € 27900 (~21800 gbp) which - after some discussion - dropped to a _very_ reasonable € 22.000 (17200 gbp). So I said: ah, f*ck it. I'll have a clio now.

quite excited now and can't wait to get my hands on it... I guess you all know that feeling.

 

[carbonfanatics]

Ooh nice mate. What spec?

 

[DrDrew]

Crikey. Sounds like you got a pretty decent deal on the Clio. Hope you enjoy the transition.

Looking forward to some pics of the Clio RBR

 

[frediiii]

Ooh nice mate. What spec?

it's a limited edition. according to the information available there will be less than 1000 units made to be sold in just 5 countries... the only choice you have is weather to have satnav or r.s. monitor

it comes in full fat:

- comfort pack (keyless entry, bt radio, etc...)
- cup pack
- brembo calipers
- recaro seats
- 18" alloys (going to swap for 17" eventually)
- rs monitor

looks like this:

 

[carbonfanatics]

Wow.. I love that!

 

[DrDrew]

I presume it's coming with the nice lairy yellow diffuser?

 

[frediiii]

I presume it's coming with the nice lairy yellow diffuser?

indeed. I first wanted a LY one, but then I went to something more "stealthy"

 

[weebob]

black the way forward.

you wont regret the change

 

[frediiii]

you wont regret the change

doubt that... did I mention that the GF who was strictly against the purchase doesn't know I already signed the papers?

 

[weebob]

you wont regret the change

doubt that... did I mention that the GF who was strictly against the purchase doesn't know I already signed the papers?

just dont mention it, turn up in the car and claim you left the twingo in horse poo over night and its grown into a Clio?

 

[Dubz]

you wont regret the change

doubt that... did I mention that the GF who was strictly against the purchase doesn't know I already signed the papers?

just dont mention it, turn up in the car and claim you left the twingo in horse poo over night and its grown into a Clio?

It's plausible...

Sorry to hear about all the issue's you've got with your twingo but I'm sure you wont regret the upgrade Pics will be needed as soon as you get the Clio

 

[frediiii]

just dont mention it, turn up in the car and claim you left the twingo in horse poo over night and its grown into a Clio?

I could also rip off the "clio" badge and claim I got drunk last night and resprayed some parts of the twingo in chavvy LY

 

[Clairemae]

you will love the 200

 

[Mike_Robo]

sad to hear your changing, but I cant blame ya, the RB7 Clios look beaut

 

[Zoe]

That clio looks amazing!! What a great choice, hope you enjoy it i am quite jealous lol.

X

 

[jra3d]

Can't wait too see it, its going to look stunning!!

 

[manofhow]

sounds great.

 

[yotah1]

I drove a Clio 200 Cup (with cage, semi slicks, KTec exhaust) this weekend at the Ring, and I´ve got to say, love the car!!!
Just one thing to never do on this car : lowering springs. The one I drove had them fitted to the Cup suspensions, and it messed up the handling pretty badly, with the car rebounding quite a lot. But the brakes are awesome and the engine sound is pure joy with the open exhaust!

Gotta rent one now to cover more laps and get a laptime out of it

Are you going to track it a bit like the Twingo?

 

[frediiii]

gonna be at the ring 10th to 15th, yotah

edit: probably need to sleep in the car until then. just told my GF and she's rather p*ssed, to say the least

 

[MovingShadow]

gonna be at the ring 10th to 15th, yotah

edit: probably need to sleep in the car until then. just told my GF and she's rather p*ssed, to say the least

If you're not allowed to buy the car you want and there's no issue with affording it, the why the **** not? It's your money.

Sry to say it this way but I got the same thing with a friend of mine.. he loves VW vans and the beetle (the hippie models) but he he's gf doesn't want him to get one..