The search has begun!

[ratbot]

Hey people!

I cant believe the time has come that I can finally look at getting my RS.

I pretty much have settled on a RB8, 265 Trophy+ or a 275 Trophy, depending on whats available (its slim pickings atm unfortunately).

Just a quick question, how much of a flag is the timing belt being overdue? Say a 2013 with 40,000km and no timing done, would that be a concern?

 

Thanks

[walkie86]

Welcome mate! And how exciting to be officially on the hunt.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's a "concern" until it goes bang, but I'd definitely be using it as a bargaining chip, factoring it into your budget and having it done ASAP after taking delivery of the car!

Good luck with the search.

[chuckovski]

Hey people!
I cant believe the time has come that I can finally look at getting my RS.
I pretty much have settled on a RB8, 265 Trophy+ or a 275 Trophy, depending on whats available (its slim pickings atm unfortunately).
Just a quick question, how much of a flag is the timing belt being overdue? Say a 2013 with 40,000km and no timing done, would that be a concern?
 
Thanks

Great choices.
The belt issue... In my opinion, if something is missed in the service schedule that isn't a good sign.
But ... Paul V in Carlton (Renault specialist) talked me out of doing mine in 2017. I had a 2013 that I bought as a demo in 2014. I had about 30000km on it at the time. I got it done the next year with 40000km on it.

[ratbot]

Cheers, for the info. I guess I took it as - if this person skips the timing belt change, what else hasn't been done/overlooked.

I cant believe it, I'm so excited. Stay Tuned!

[ratbot]

3 minutes ago, chuckovski said:

Great choices.
The belt issue... In my opinion, if something is missed in the service schedule that isn't a good sign.
But ... Paul V in Carlton (Renault specialist) talked me out of doing mine in 2017. I had a 2013 that I bought as a demo in 2014. I had about 30000km on it at the time. I got it done the next year with 40000km on it.

Ok, so you did yours at ~5yrs where this one is at 7atm and still hasn't been done, 2nd owner too.
It was enough to sort of put me off a little.

[chuckovski]

Ok, so you did yours at ~5yrs where this one is at 7atm and still hasn't been done, 2nd owner too.
It was enough to sort of put me off a little.

Yes it is off putting a little. Still low km. They are immensely good and reliable engines though, so a good pre purchase inspection should set your mind at ease, or confirm it's the wrong car to buy.

[ratbot]

4 minutes ago, chuckovski said:

11 minutes ago, ratbot said:

Ok, so you did yours at ~5yrs where this one is at 7atm and still hasn't been done, 2nd owner too.
It was enough to sort of put me off a little.

Yes it is off putting a little. Still low km. They are immensely good and reliable engines though, so a good pre purchase inspection should set your mind at ease, or confirm it's the wrong car to buy.

I was planning to get it inspected once I found one that ticked all the boxes.
I might have a look at it on the weekend and go from there. Its been listed for months.

[Viv]

You know how to make a whole forum cringe?

My belts weren't done for 9 years and ~70,000kms and she drove fine

I even had it tuned for about 10,000kms and a track day before I bit the bullet and had them done. (It was also because I had some coolings issues with it that I couldn't figure out myself)

I know everyone will think I dont' take care of it but every other service in terms of filters, fluids and ignition related is done on time.

[No152]

The issue with the belts on these vehicles are two fold, and it is a risk thing:

1.  It is a separate item in the service book so the car can have a great service history otherwise apart from the belt change, so it may still be a great thing to buy.

2. Preventative belt change is a risk mitigation thing.  From the risk perspective, there are many stories of cars that have been operated well beyond the recommended interval for the belt replacement (both in terms of time and or kms) with no adverse impact.  The risk is, however, if the belt fails, you have lunched your engine.  Catastrophe.  Try and avoid this one, I'd suggest.

Without being overly dramatic about it, I'd use the absence of evidence of a change as a bargaining chip on price, but for peace of mind, suggest get it done quickly thereafter (if you buy the car).  Just because previous owners have lived on borrowed time with the belt, do you want to try? Check the rest of the history and see if the services were done on time/distance and the record is clear aside from the belt.  If so, you might have a ripper deal in a low km RB8 which is a cracker of a car.

As these vehicles become lower in resale value, the desire for many owners to drop a couple of grand on new belt and ancillaries could be very low (water pump should be done at the same time) which usually also coincides with a service, often major.  So it is possible for a car in the low $20ks or thereabouts to suddenly have a service bill of circa $3k and not have a single thing outwardly wrong with it, and becomes the trigger for the owner to sell.  Might still be a great car, well looked after and loved, but not viable for some to drop the cash to keep it.

My two bob's worth, but good luck with the search.  Arguably the best spec in a Meg 3 the RB8 as it has the Xenon lights plus the Satnav, R Link 2 etc... and the leather Recaros. Nice one!!

[Ubermeister]

Reminds me of when I purchased my Clio V6 in 2013. It had been owned by the same elderly person since new (2002) and whilst he'd had it serviced regularly the cambelt had never been changed. It had only done 18,000 miles from new but needless to say the drive back to my mechanic on collection day was somewhat nerve wracking!

[Matt205]

7 minutes ago, No152 said:

The issue with the belts on these vehicles are two fold, and it is a risk thing:

1.  It is a separate item in the service book so the car can have a great service history otherwise apart from the belt change, so it may still be a great thing to buy.

2. Preventative belt change is a risk mitigation thing.  From the risk perspective, there are many stories of cars that have been operated well beyond the recommended interval for the belt replacement (both in terms of time and or kms) with no adverse impact.  The risk is, however, if the belt fails, you have lunched your engine.  Catastrophe.  Try and avoid this one, I'd suggest.

Without being overly dramatic about it, I'd use the absence of evidence of a change as a bargaining chip on price, but for peace of mind, suggest get it done quickly thereafter (if you buy the car).  Just because previous owners have lived on borrowed time with the belt, do you want to try? Check the rest of the history and see if the services were done on time/distance and the record is clear aside from the belt.  If so, you might have a ripper deal in a low km RB8 which is a cracker of a car.

As these vehicles become lower in resale value, the desire for many owners to drop a couple of grand on new belt and ancillaries could be very low (water pump should be done at the same time) which usually also coincides with a service, often major.  So it is possible for a car in the low $20ks or thereabouts to suddenly have a service bill of circa $3k and not have a single thing outwardly wrong with it, and becomes the trigger for the owner to sell.  Might still be a great car, well looked after and loved, but not viable for some to drop the cash to keep it.

My two bob's worth, but good luck with the search.  Arguably the best spec in a Meg 3 the RB8 as it has the Xenon lights plus the Satnav, R Link 2 etc... and the leather Recaros. Nice one!!

Just to be technically correct it's R-Link and RS Monitor 2, R-Link 2 is Meg 4.

I was saying to someone earlier that "negative belt disease" is starting to infiltrate the Meg 3 threads now. Just get over it, in the overall scheme of things it's not that big of a deal plenty of cheaper, supposedly, super reliable cars that need belt changes at shorter intervals. Also it's never the belt that fails, it's always a pulley or a tensioner.

[No152]

1 minute ago, Matt205 said:

Just to be technically correct it's R-Link and RS Monitor 2, R-Link 2 is Meg 4.

I was saying to someone earlier that "negative belt disease" is starting to infiltrate the Meg 3 threads now. Just get over it, in the overall scheme of things it's not that big of a deal plenty of cheaper, supposedly, super reliable cars that need belt changes at shorter intervals. Also it's never the belt that fails, it's always a pulley or a tensioner.

Thanks Matt I stand corrected on the R Link. 

Agreed about the negative belt disease.  If the car is a keeper, it's not a huge financial impost to change the belt which means it's good again for years to come, and they are amazing performance cars for the price.  Few if any alternatives in the price range.

That's what I was trying to say (apologies if it didn't come across that way).  It could still be an awesome car to buy.

[ratbot]

Thanks for the input everyone.  Awesome help. 

I'm going to see if i can see it this weekend and I will report back with the results. 

 

[Matt205]

1 hour ago, No152 said:

Thanks Matt I stand corrected on the R Link. 

Agreed about the negative belt disease.  If the car is a keeper, it's not a huge financial impost to change the belt which means it's good again for years to come, and they are amazing performance cars for the price.  Few if any alternatives in the price range.

That's what I was trying to say (apologies if it didn't come across that way).  It could still be an awesome car to buy.

All good mate, I only know this as I used to make the same mistake all the time. One learns quite a bit retro-fitting to an older car though!

The real cost of a belt change is what, $1200 in isolation. So a set of tyres or thereabouts......

[No152]

1 hour ago, Matt205 said:

All good mate, I only know this as I used to make the same mistake all the time. One learns quite a bit retro-fitting to an older car though!

The real cost of a belt change is what, $1200 in isolation. So a set of tyres or thereabouts......

Prices in Brisbane are not quite as reasonable as Sydney I think but order of cost is true plus relative to a set of tyres the belt will last considerably longer than the tyres before needing replacement too... 👍

[ratbot]

So, I got surprised with a move towards a breakup, so I'm going to have to put the car on the back burner till I figure out what's going on. Just as I thought 2020 couldn't get any worse.

[chuckovski]

So, I got surprised with a move towards a breakup, so I'm going to have to put the car on the back burner till I figure out what's going on. Just as I thought 2020 couldn't get any worse.

Sorry to hear. Hope the rest of the year starts looking better sooner rather than later.