And time on crankandpiston.com Journals comes to a close as, with a heavy heart, Dan says goodbye to the Renault Clio RS.
[Not a valid template]| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | March 2014 |
| Total kilometres: | 37,027 |
| Kilometres this month: | 1293 |
| Costs this month: | $0 |
| L/100km this month: | 6.9 |
What can I say about the Clio RS, that I haven’t said yet? Well on a more negative approach, which hasn’t been my stance up until now, but after trying to sell the Renault I have what is a bitter taste in my mouth – from the lunacy of the banks through to the general disdain for manuals across the UAE.
I can’t deny what a great car the Clio was, what great value and albeit beauty is in the eye of the beholder but a stunning little belter with a soundtrack that just made me smile, I definitely will look to pick another up in the UK, but on the cup chassis, I’m pitching it as a definite future classic. Like the BMW M3 E46, my little Clio was the last of the real man’s version of these road warriors the legend that is a Clio sports iteration, B road champions (b road = twisty, beautiful English countryside one lane, two way, free to use hot hatch nirvana). As such both of these cars are destined for residual greatness, in Europe though not in the UAE, destined for Sunday jaunts combined with a Ploughmans.
In the UAE my fear is these cars will dwindle, as they are respected for the engineering quality. In fact on selling the Clio I was told by a knowledgeable chap that all Renault sport marques are from conception destined for the badge when the production line produces a flawless chassis, this alone makes these cars a thing of wonder and something I can bore other guests at dinner parties.
But all these things combined, flawless chassis, great sound, recaros, handling deft and lite that massages your ego, which all is chaps getting to and over 40 need, still doesn’t equate to a good buy outside of Europe. When selling back to Renault they told me, people just don’t buy manuals, so normal depreciation just doesn’t count on these cars, ouch! A depreciation definite product, if you check the residuals of these cars in Europe, it’s a completely different story.
So what have I learnt? Well I will definitely buy another, if I could pick up the same trim option back in blighty I’d be over the moon. If I was moving back to the UAE then definitely not. I’ve never been one for toeing the line, but dropping 50% of the value in the less than a year and a half, just doesn’t make for financial sense. I’d be opting for a lazy soft round the middle American automatic, with 5.0 litres that got me to and from the office in comfort but in a vanilla haze, because as one dealership told me these sell.
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