General 133 Costs and Reliability?

[Trophy110]

Hi all, I am currently weighing up my options for another car to use 8-9 months of the year as a daily and am interested in a Twingo 133.

I have a Clio Trophy (owned 5 years) but don't want to either a) pile the miles on it or b) expose it to Scottish winters! As such I'm looking for something frugal and reliable that'll be reasonably entertaining for general use (I do c.14k pa).

Until recently I was driving a 300bhp classic Impreza (sadly rust killed it) so am no stranger to running costs but am just wondering if a Twingo can be justified in terms of low cost fun? Would love to avoid a diesel Polo/Ibiza etc if possible...

Can it be relied upon to get 35-40mpg with a light right foot on a 15mile A/B road commute? Not in any rush but I'd be looking at the bottom of the market c.£4k and not fussed if the condition isn't great if it has been serviced etc.

How about part costs? Do shocks/springs last well enough? Any common major costly other problems?

Any input much appreciated, cheers!

 

[charlie46]

Hi and welcome. I had my Clio 172 from new for eight years. I then changed to a Twingo RS CUP and I don`t regret it, although as with you and your Trophy I don`t like to pile the miles on, so she only comes out now and again. They are cracking little cars that will make you smile from ear to ear and you will get the mpg you are looking for and the annual miles won`t be a problem. Three versions are available, Non cup, Full fat with cup and out and out cup. Most common problem is ball joints, join in scuttle can allow water to leak on to top of engine but to be fair, you`ll find niggles on any car if you look hard enough. As I say, I keep my milage extremely low so other owners on here could help you more with advice on parts costs but they are fantastic little cars and I don`t regret buying one! Have a look round on this forum and also take one for a test drive if you can. I bet you are smiling at the end of the day!

 

[mrbushrat]

I traded my octavia vrs in for my twingo cup nearly 3 years ago and never regretted it once. Cheap insurance good mpg my car has 62k on the clock and never missed a beat.
Depending on where your at in Scotland I would opt for a non cup car without the big wheels and hard springs as there more suited to Highland tarmac on a day-to-day basis. If I lived back in oban that's what I would have anyway. I don't think you would be disappointed whatever 133 you choose.

Graeme

 

[Trophy110]

Thanks for the replies, the 17" wheels and rubber band tyres are my only real concern as I'm in Aberdeenshire and the roads aren't great. That said the 17s do wonders for the car's looks. Out of interest, do many folk run smaller (say 15") wheels and how does this affect handling?

Must say I'm quite looking forward to having a light, cheap and chuckable daily that can be exploited at lowish speeds. My Impreza was a constant liability for my license!

 

[mrbushrat]

I run speedline turbines 15" and find it better over bumps but there thinner so can't corner quite as quick. Also feels like it is quicker of the line.

Graeme

 

[mrbushrat]

I run speedline turbines 15" and find it better over bumps but there thinner so can't corner quite as quick. Also feels like it is quicker of the line.

Graeme

 

[charlie46]

I had a phase 1 172 and that had 15`s and they were no problem. The phase 2 had 16`s and now my cup has 17`s. If the roads are bad where you are, the 16`s on the non cup would be better as the tyres on the cup are as quoted just like rubber bands!

 

[Twins go]

I've had the 133 for nearly 18 months now and have put nearly 20k on it doing similar driving to you, so hope this helps.

MPG-wise, it tends to return about 35mpg commuting into Glasgow, mixture of motorway and town driving. With a light foot you can easily get 40mpg doing the kind of driving you're talking about, so wouldn't worry too much about that. The best thing to do if you're worried about economy is get an induction kit - we find if you can drive it without hearing any induction roar, you're being economical!

With parts, everything tends to be pretty cheap. Aside from servicing and the usual consumables like tyres, all I've had to do is have a new oxygen sensor fitted and have the ball-joints replaced. I've had everything done by Renault and thought the parts were quite cheap (although labour certainly wasn't!). Aside from that it's been mega reliable, never misses a beat, and it's now on nearly 54k.

The suspension/tyre set-up can be quite crashy if you drive into potholes, but it isn't unbearable to any extent, and it pays off in normal driving.

As far as I know, there are no problems with the suspension. Even if your springs/dampers did wear out I'm sure it would be a much cheaper fix than the Sachs on your Trophy if that's what you're concerned about!

FYI my car is going to be for sale in a few weeks time: there'll be a thread on here soon enough but feel free to PM me about it if you fancy.

Andrew

 

[the_notorious_C_A_T]

My twingo has been pretty much faultless apart from the wishbones going once and also a sensor once, all was covered under the warranty and mpg wise I get around 40 I think but I'm not a heavy footed driver and it is not in traffic for the majority of my time.

Also I run 16's and live in Aberdeenshire so know what you mean about the roads, fine for me but I also have coil overs which seem softer than the standard setup oddly.

Happened to see 2 trophys side by side in traffic one day on the way home from work randomly like lol

 

[wab172uk]

I use my 133 as a daily runner. Keep the S3 Saloon for the weekends.

 

[abp950]

Using my 133 non cup as a daily driver for 6 months now and 7.500 miles on the clock and I still love it, only thing missing here are some small backroads