197 test drive

J

Jono69

Well, following up on my introduction on the New Members section, I popped along to Evans Halshaw Renault in Wakefield on Saturday for a test drive. They had two 197 Cups in, both blue.
Have to say the condition they were presented in was terrible. The one I test drove had a shattered driver's side wing mirror, badly curbed front left side alloy and needed a good valeting. Don't they realise it puts potential customers off? I know I'd want to present a car in the best possible condition.
Anyhows...was left feeling a little underwhelmed by the whole experience, I think because I knew I wasn't going to buy either car. Too high mileage for the price compared with others I've seen on Autotrader.
I still want to pursue the idea of getting a 197 though.
Saw a 197 F1 R27 this morning and really liked the look of it, which brings me to my first question. Of the three choices...197, 197 Cup and F1...is one more highly regarded/sought after than the other?
I'd been erring towards the Cup over the regular 197 because I liked the idea of the lower chassis and brembo calipers (is that the only difference? I know about the dash...) and very few regular 197's I've seen advertised seem to have the cup chassis. I also want the recaros.
But after seeing the F1 today it got me thinking. And didn't they come with lowered chassis, brembos and recaro's as standard?
Any advice in helping me make my mind up is much appreciated:thumbup:
Cheers
Jono
 
they come with all u said yeah the calipers are red on cup chassis and R27 models too
 
Do you mean Harratts in Wakefield? On the way to the M1? If so I think I know which 197 you took out its not what you would call 'a good example.'

You seem to be quite set on an F1, they were made in a run of 500 with a plaque by the handbrake to say which one it is. As Woody said they come with the cup chassis and also recaros too! :thumbup:

As for being sought after, they dont seem to have much of a premium over the others available and Im sure you can take some off the price when buying it.
 
lol, i too test drove that clio, the fist time i went to look at it it had no external damage, when i went to test drive it it had a dent on the drivers door, when i called in on sunday to show the gf what they look like it had the shattered wing mirror and a dent on the rear, they seem to be damaging it more and more each time i go!
i too had no intention of buying it, for the price they are asking you can get so much more.
 
For what you want you would be best off with the F1 if you want the Recaros, red calipers and the Cup chassis. I wouldn't go for the normal Cup due to lack of kit!
 
TBH its down to you which colour you prefer really, 24,000 isn't a lot on a 3yr old car by anyones standard. Mine was bought with 13,500 on in Jan 09 and is up to 29,000 now. The average is supposedly 12,000p.a. so any less than that and you don't really have to worry.

Are you from Wakefield if you went to the dealers there?
 
Look on Pistonheads. That's where you will find cars owned by genuine enthusiasts. Couple of R27s on there now!
 
If it was me I would not get a Cup, I like having all the extras you get with the FF and R27.

Keep looking around there are some good examples out there just depends how far you are willing to travel and price etc
 
f1team07 said:
TBH its down to you which colour you prefer really, 24,000 isn't a lot on a 3yr old car by anyones standard. Mine was bought with 13,500 on in Jan 09 and is up to 29,000 now. The average is supposedly 12,000p.a. so any less than that and you don't really have to worry.

Are you from Wakefield if you went to the dealers there?
Click to expand...

Agree. Colour will play a big part in which car I choose, and as you say, 24,000 isn't a lot.
Not far from Wakefield...live in Brighouse, work in Leeds.

Time to look on Pistonheads!
 
Matt197 said:
If it was me I would not get a Cup, I like having all the extras you get with the FF and R27.

Keep looking around there are some good examples out there just depends how far you are willing to travel and price etc
Click to expand...

Does FF mean the standard 197?
 
Jono69 said:
Does FF mean the standard 197?
Click to expand...

Ye pretty much, but some people who own 1*2 dont like us calling our cars FF :book:

Cup (no keyless entry and starting, lesser quality dash)
FF (comes with all the toys),
R27 (was a limited run in the UK with Cup pack as standard including the Recaro seats),
Lux (comes with alot of the optional extras already fitted, and has leather seats as standard)

Hope that helps :smile:
 
Based upon my experience, don't let the mileage worry you too much, mine has done 80k, and it wears the miles really well, much better than I would have expected. Only major downsides are worn steering wheels and outer seat bolsters.
 
Jono69 said:
Agree. Colour will play a big part in which car I choose, and as you say, 24,000 isn't a lot.
Not far from Wakefield...live in Brighouse, work in Leeds.

Time to look on Pistonheads!
Click to expand...

Ah right, wel if you want to have a look around an r27 just pm me. Might help the decision process :smile:
 
That's a shame mate I went into them four months back or so and they were really friendly in there and other than being massively overpriced the cars were ok, I test drove a.cup and FF model back to back and it made my mind up, in the end i got an FF with the cup chassis and recoro's and xenon's climate etc from from somewhere else. Shop around and I'm sure you'll find something that suits :smile:
 
That first car from DS cars isn't far from me and they are always having different Renault Sport cars in. The only problem is that they tend to leave the ad up even if the car is sold. I got mine at a good price and it had above average mileage. It wasn't quite 12 months old when I bought it and it had 13750 miles on it. It's got 17250 on it now and it's 18 months old, so the mileage has evened out. That's why I had no worries about buying it. It depends how many miles you are going to do in it.

I don't think many Lux models were sold as they were introduced late in the model production weren't they? I bet they were bloody expensive too! Lol!
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Just need to sell my MX5 now! Anyone know somebody who wants a great looking soft-top?:biggrin:
 
Lol quite funny that, I have been telling the GF to get one of these, partly cos I want a drop top but I also think they look brilliant.

So what are the tech specs of yours? Engine, colour, mileage, service history etc...
 
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