Ex/future frog owner

[rhysnorton]

Hey guys. I'm Rhys from the Kapiti Coast. I had the pleasure of owning a 2001 Renaultsport Clio 172 (phase 1) for the past year. Great little car but unfortunately had to sell to get something bigger. Instant regret! The legacy GT i got feels like an absolute whale im comparison. So now I'm on the hunt again. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with importing from Japan or UK? Thanks in advance. Will upload a pic of the clio later on

[RS]

Hi. Welcome.

What are you looking for.

I can tell you wholesale pricing for Renaults in NZ is cheaper than Japan in most cases.. plus they are Kiwi spec cars.

[rhysnorton]

Hey
I'm looking for either a tidy clio 182 or a clio 197 or 200 of the same era. There's a 200 on autotrader for 17k but just wondering if there's a cheaper alternative. Thanks

[MYRUSH]

Importing from UK - avoid because of corrosion
Importing from Japan - a waiting game for the right one at the right price
Have to import something of high value in order to be worth it.

[RS]

Hey
I'm looking for either a tidy clio 182 or a clio 197 or 200 of the same era. There's a 200 on autotrader for 17k but just wondering if there's a cheaper alternative. Thanks

There is, its called a 172. haha

Honestly. I would pay 2-4k more for a NZ new Renault with a service history over a mystery service Japanese import that's most likely spent an average of 1080 hours sitting in traffic.

IMHO, a European car is not something you want to cheap out on with purchase price as you can guaranty it will cost you a lot more in the long run.

Welcome anyway, good luck.

[Golfboy666GTI]

Hey
I'm looking for either a tidy clio 182 or a clio 197 or 200 of the same era. There's a 200 on autotrader for 17k but just wondering if there's a cheaper alternative. Thanks

In years of looking I've never seen a Clio 182 up for sale in Japan, and I've never seen a RHD Clio 197 - only LHD. Plenty of RHD 200's though.
TBH the days of saving money on importing a car from Japan are long gone. Especially if the car needs a set of brakes and the cambelt replaced.
There were 2 grey Clio 200's on TM, plus the red one, all of them took ages to sell and got down into the 14-15K mark.
In saying that there are only 11 or 12 NZ new Clio 182's in NZ, and between 6-10 NZ new Clio 197's (plus a couple of UK imports). We never got NZ new Clio 200's.