Does anyone know a good place/where to buy either a renault 25 or safrane?
Thanks
{moved from IHAQ, as motoring related, and subject header renamed- DD}
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checkout the autotrader link to to the left
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Some one on Autotrader is selling one for.......sit down old timer..........
Three, yes THREE grand
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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is he a joker a smoker or someone on the make though?
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Ebay id say, or try Renault owners club for the 25 as they will regard it as a classic most likely.
If its more than 500 quid, would have to be pretty damn near mint cond tho.
3 grand would have to be for a special like the limo in as new cond and that would only be for a select market for nutcases.
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I have a old type haynes manual for a 25.
And I thought that was an odd thing to still have !
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190024443424
Oh dear me.
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190024443424 Oh dear me.
what? its outstanding................
in the garden...........
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That's it - that's an entire two week you've been coming out with bad jokes. I can't take it anymore!! ;-)
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You'd have a job to find a good one in France even...you almost never see them.
I always used to warn people to steer clear of the guy with the Safrane, so maybe they're all at the scrapper's now, crumpled up.
Dealer in Amesbury (one of the nice guys) tried to sell me a 2.0 25 years ago. It was the second most gutless motor I've ever driven.
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Why on earth would you want a R25 or a Safrane?!?!?!?!
Saw a Safrane 2.5TD the other day - actually heard it before I saw it, the engine was knackered, sounded like the big-end bearings had been removed!! Please please buy something better than a Safrane!! An old Honda Accord would be a MUCH better bet! (might not break down before you get where you're heading).
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They were competitive cars in their day but time moves on. Very few around now. Quite comlex electronics and low resale values lead to them getting scrapped quite easily.
If you want an old comfy Renault, then I would look around for an early Laguna MK1. Quite a tough workhorse but ignore automatics and the expensive to service V6.
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They were competitive cars in their day but time moves on. Very few around now. Quite comlex electronics and low resale values lead to them getting scrapped quite easily. If you want an old comfy Renault, then I would look around for an early Laguna MK1. Quite a tough workhorse but ignore automatics and the expensive to service V6.
The electronics would be better described as "French" rather than "complicated"!! Hopeless cars, completely unreliable - the only car I would consider equally cr*p is the Citroen XM. Urgh! French cars don't age as well as their wine! Wouldn't even recommend a Laguna - poor build quality, and nowhere near as durable as other, more competent cars.
I'm not anti French cars, I like some Peugeots.... but pleeeeease don't buy an old Renault! A volvo 940 would be a good big workhorse, with the added benefit over a Renault of actually being reliable!!
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Just for the record . a Safrane 2.2 was one of 7 Renaults I had as company cars - I did 120,000 miles in it with only minor problems - never let me down. It was followed by a Laguna V6 - not even minor problems with this one ober 100,000 miles.
The Laguna itself was responsible for the lack of popularity of the Safrane: it had almost as much room in the back and a huge boot. I suspect Renault made the Safrane mainly for French government minsters and civil servants.
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I should have added that this was a new Safrane - Greg is right to advise against buying an old one. Part of the reason for Renault's poor reputation for relaibiltiy is that they are more susceptible to neglect and / or bad dealer servicing.
If you want a big old car, Schoolboy, a Volvo or a Nissan QX (if you can find one) would be a better bet.
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Yup, the Laguna and Safrane were far too similar in looks and size. The Safrane was a bit softer and more compliant ride, and was a really comfy mile muncher. Utterly unrewarding to drive tho.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I actually liked....still do in a funny kind of way....the facelifted Safrane but it was weird. At some angles, it looked great but others really old. (Like the side profile - in particular the doors) but the interior looked a bit too much like old Clios - especially when compared to the Laguna.
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First, I owned a Renault 21 TXE 2-litre which had the electronic dashboard, all of which worked, as did all the electrics and I bought the car for 250 quid and stuck 25k on the 109k already on it with not reliability issues whatsoever. I found it to be a tough car mechanically, just the rust that was a constant threat and it was a damn comfy car. Id have another if I could find one. Reading HJs write up on the R25, he doesnt give it a bad write up at all, certainly no more issues than your average Ford of similar age.
I do agree about the Laguna though as ive known some real horrors with them ( thankfully I didnt own them! ).
Secondly, I never understand this problem people have with Citroen XM's. My dad had two from new - a 2-litre auto hatch followed by a 2-litre petrol turbo auto estate. He put collectively 250k on them and he never had a single issue with either of them. The only thing worth noting was that it was pertinent to change the gearbox oil EVERY service on the autos or the change got noticably jerkier, but aside from that, seriously, he had no reliability issues at all. One was a 93K reg, the other was a 95 M reg.
He would have had another if he hadnt sampled an Impreza Turbo in '96 and fell in love with it.
Old Renaults are fine IF you buy one that has been looked after properly, as with many european cars, they dont like neglect or abuse which japanese cars seem exceptionally good at withstanding compared to other cars. It comes down to whether you could find one with a genuine service history at this age, which would be needle in haystack territory.
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Does anyone know a good place/where to buy either a renault 25 or safrane? Thanks {moved from IHAQ, as motoring related, and subject header renamed- DD}
Any scrapyard!
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Once when I need cheap temporary wheels I bought a Renault 20TL (a former 'car of the year') from a farmer for 150 quid.
It was brilliant - went well, was very comfy, reliable and economical. But it had faded metallic chestnut paint that turned white every time it rained and when the weather was warm it stank like a dungheap.
I sold it at a profit though!
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"The Laguna itself was responsible for the lack of popularity of the Safrane: it had almost as much room in the back and a huge boot. I suspect Renault made the Safrane mainly for French government minsters and civil servants."
Quite true - and many R25s / Safranes were sold to the French company car market. They ran two (this was 1997) on fleet for the managers at the company where I did my sandwich year in France during college. FWIW, the fleet manager liked them (and he wasn't generally a fan of French cars!)
They were also used - along with Saab 93 convertibles - as chauffeured cars at the Cannes Film Festival for several years.
That said, you'd be getting an old car now. Yes, the French keep their cars running forever, but they tend to buy basic spec, diesel, and manual boxes. An R25 wouldn't fit the bill on either of these counts.
If you particularly want one of these, maybe a late-plate Safrane is the one to look for?
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The 2.0/2.2 R25 was ok with a manual box. Id just avoid the V6 and autos.
They arent that rare really. I was at a steam rally just now and I counted 5 R25s in the car park on the way back to my car. A base model 2.0 litre manual wouldnt be a bad find as that engine is one of the tougher units.
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Schoolboy,
What made you think of one (or either) of these ?
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Maybe it was a "school boy" error! *boom boom*
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I've just spent a tedious three weeks in france and noticed how many of them there were around and they looked comfortable. I thought they would be cheap even for a good one concidering their depritiation and ok to insure because some of the varients are quite slow. So I thought they would be an ok banger to run for a while.
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Sorry to be discouraging but one of these will certainly be cheap to buy but not cheap to run. The problem was that Renault included a lot of electric gadgets as standard that other maufactuers (especially BMW) charge extra for as options.
I was fond of the trouble-free Safrane that i ran for over 100,000 miles but it was new. An old one will be suffering from all sorts of dodgy electrics, which will cost more to repair than the car is worth.
If you like the comfort of a French car maybe try a Clio - or if you can find a late Peugeot 205 that might set you apart from the usual run of Novas, Corsas and Saxos.
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I wouldnt be too discouraged about reliability, they are not bad in the same vein of say a K-series Rover - try and find a R25 that was owned by an old couple, of which many are, its that sort of car and simply check that everything works. If you go for a base model, you can avoid most of the toys going wrong because there arent many on them.
Just dont buy a dog, which is easy enough to do and read HJs car-by-car on them and make your own mind up.
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I've just spent a tedious three weeks in france and noticed how many of them there were around ...
You probably also noticed how many rapid fit depots there are in France advertising "entretien sans rendez-vous" as well. I'm firmly convinced this is why French drivers seem to get better service from French cars than we do - they still have the habit of servicing them regularly.
And they tend to prefer lower-powered diesels, which ought to suffer less wear and tear.
If you like the idea of a comfortable French motor, how about a Citroen Xantia? The hydropneumatic suspsension isn't as complex as previous Cits, smaller engines for lower insurance, and still quick enough for cross-country runs.
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I think 'entretien sans rendezvous' is a desperate bid by French firms to get people to have their cars serviced at all.
Would any firm in the UK think of offering an oil change without a filter change? Very common here.
If you ask to see the service record when you look at a secondhand car often all you get is a shrug.
I don't think French drivers get better service from their cars - they are just don't make such a fuss about it when something goes wrong because their standards are lower.
Sorry your three weeks here was 'tedious', School Boy. Don't often hear that.
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It was more to do with the company I had and it was a bit of a dump we stayed at in the Loire, I think thats how you spell it?
So thats the reason for it being tedious. On the good side we went to Le Mans and drove on some of the straight.
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If the engine and transmission are in good order an older French car can be a good buy. My last car was a R19 TD - bought for £300 with 150K on the clock, and ran for 7 problem free months including my daily 70 mile commute, until Friday. Some of the electrics - electric mirrors, sunroof, and CL were a bit unpredictable, but everything else was fine, and it was a very comfortableand economical car. Just replaced it with another R19 TD for £350.
The car one before this was a 205 GRD with similar mileage, which cost $400 - very comfortable again, and reliable. I ran it for a few months until the MOT was nearly due, and sold it on - lost £100 as I recall.
Best place to buy I've found is the local ads paper. With this sort of car though, the golden rule is buyer beware - take your time, look very carefully, and be very prepared to walk away (in fact I've seen a few that made me run away). And remember - regular servicing really is essential to keep cars like this going.
Incidentally, the demise of the old R19 was caused by blowing an injector from the head. The guy who looked at it tells me told me it was due to the injector being replaced cross-threaded, which weakened the thread? The injector blew a hole in the bonnet lining, and dented the bonnet as it hit it, even though it was constrained by the piping - the thought of it going with the bonnet open while working on the engine is rather sobering, a good reminder of the care needed with the pressure in diesel systems.
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