Hello all, ive just bought 084/500

[tractor]

Well ive been daydreaming of owning a trophy since 2005 when they came out
and ive finally got round to it!

Hopefully its as good as i recon:
1 actual owner
24,000 miles
Full service history
very straight and clean
good exaltos all round
couple of honest stonechips but to be expected really
modifications- only a naff looking induction kit, standard airbox is supplied tho.

I own an 03 plate CTR at the mo and im anxious as to whether the clio is going to feel as solidly built as the honda, also the two 182s ive test driven didnt seem to have as urgent acceleration as the civic. I know it'll run rings round the twisties but i think i might miss some of the horsepower?? Id love to hear your thoughts especially if anyone has some CTR experience....

One major issue though - From what i can work out on the member list here, no 084 was owned by 'backrowledgend' who was/is based in newcastle and was/is an 'airfreight logistics coordinator'. Now ive just looked at 084 and all of the paperwork, history and the salemans knowledge points to the car being bought from new in sussex/surrey area and owned by a guy who worked for the renault dealership, a clio enthusiast, having owned every hot clio from a williams, and now ordered a new 197, hence the trade-in of the trophy.
These stories dont add up which worries me, however ive seen all the paperwork, log book, mot reciepts for local garage etc. I can only imagine 'backrowledgend' got the wrong number?? surely not??
Can anyone help. :?

anyway sorry for going on, look forward to hearing from you guys!!!! 8)

 

[Cue]

welcome to the forum, 1.5 years from registering to making your first post must be some sort of record....

not sure what's accurate here - either the salesman was wrong, the number of the car is wrong or backrowlegend is wrong about where he's from and what he does - which out of those three things i'd suggest the first two are the most likely explanation..

 

[Renaultsport]

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3965 - Just found this.

Welcome to the forum too! Someone will come along soon and issue you with a 3rd Star!

I'm sure you'll love the Trophy. Feels more responsive then other 182's I've driven, and about the same throttle response as my old 172 Cup.

 

[tractor]

Yeah i suppose you could say it's 1.5 years of research and dreaming! Seriously though almost everything you could possibly want to know about trophies has already been talked about on here, you just need to look - hence why i have never posted before now!

Well as to the salesman and company (Gatwick Used Car company) seem legit enough, and theres a wedge of paperwork refering the car to have been sold in that area including original purchase receipt mot certificate and invoice at local garage etc. Cue headscratch 1...

As to the number of the car, this is the first trophy i have ever seen close so not an expert but the number plaque is intact on the base of the drivers recaro, it looks intouched - it even has the original (slightly unpeeled) clear plastic celophaney stuff stuck to it. Cue headscratch no 2...

As to backrowlegend, pass....


Im picking the car up on saturday. I did stipulate that i would only hand over the readies after i had viewed the car in daylight and triple checked the history again, they agreed they would refund my deposit if i found a problem - very fair and honest dealer i thought...

 

[tractor]

Forgot to mention above the price i paid was £7295. according to the dealer they had 4 enquiries within 24 hours of the advert going onto pistonheads.

How come these trophies are so cheap now? you'd think for such a special and rare car they'd command more of a premium over FF.

 

[simonwwfc]

hope you got a good buy fella i was going to phone up in the morning to poss look at it saturday

 

[Berty]

Congratualations. One up from me, I've got 083. Does it seem like the wait ? It's a fair bit of patience if you've been waiting since 2005.

 

[Stevie]

Welcome, another one coming from a CTR I see. Glad you made the switch.

I think you'll find it's the fact that the Clios have more torque than the Civic and so the 5k kick is not quite as noticeable as the Civic. The Trophy however is lighter than the FF and has better sterring to name a few things over the standard RS. Therefore I'm sure you'll love the change. I used to have a FF and actually found that to be quicker than a CTR. The Trophy is quicker still I find.

Yes there are a few rattles but the trade off is worth the niggles it comes with.

Enjoy

 

[scott]

I think u will find it better than the CTR, and quicker, iv had a play with quite a few on the straights and twisty bits, i came out top ever time. You will be suprised what you can keep up with in the Trophy .
Obviously the CTR is better built but the Trophy is just awsome, enjoy, im sure u will and welcome to the forum.

 

[hoolio]

What's the reg? Backrow's was LR55 which will give you an idea where it was registered first.

 

[keo]

I think you are buying the one i was looking at on pistonheads I have got a type r at the moment and i am trying to sell it to gte a trophy so i would appreiciate your feedback on a comparison of the two once you get a trophy

 

[tractor]

Well thanks for your feedback guys, from what youve said i think ill be v happy with the trophy
after the CTR!

hoolio - I forgot to look at the reg's im glad you reminded me, the car ive bought is reg LY05. Ill have to compare the LY to LR and find out where they originate... Ill also double check the engine no and chassis no against the original renault purchase recipt and V5 etc on sat before i commit.
Does anyone know if there any other places on the car that i might be able to
confirm if this is definetly 084/500?

keo - When i get it on saturday ill go for a blat and let you know what my immediate comparison is.

 

[hoolio]

I think this is def a different car to Backrow's, from what i glean from CS there was a post which suggested that it already had nearly 20k on the clock back in early 07, maybe he posted the wrong number. His name is Dave i think as well.

 

[tractor]

He he, must be a dave thing!

Thanks for that hoolio. Seems weird tho doesnt it that he could get the number wrong? i mean it stares you in the face every time you climb aboard. :?

As above if anyone can help as to any other places i can verify the number on the car, any feedback will be appreciated!!

 

[sagman]

There have been several instances where two people on this forum have apparently owned the same numbered Trophy at the same time. I'm not saying its impossible, but its highly unlikely Renault would have made this mistake so I'd put it down to some individuals not registering the correct number of their Trophy.

Whats to say this chap backrowlegend ever owned a Trophy let alone owned number 084?

It'd be nice to know if Renault kept a list of VIN and associated Trophy numbers. Otherwise I'd just checks engine/VIN numbers match the V5 and do a HPi.

On another note about how cheap Trophys are at the moment, someone off this forum sold their Trophy with approx 30k on the clock for £8100 in Feb 08. You can pick up a T for 6k at the moment but I'd rather do what you did and find a minter for a little more.

Really surprised no-one has bought streetfighters T. Recent aux/cambelt change (£500), brakes have been upgraded (£250), 36k service done too (£200??).

 

[Cue]

There have been several instances where two people on this forum have apparently owned the same numbered Trophy at the same time. I'm not saying its impossible, but its highly unlikely Renault would have made this mistake so I'd put it down to some individuals not registering the correct number of their Trophy.

Whats to say this chap backrowlegend ever owned a Trophy let alone owned number 084?

It'd be nice to know if Renault kept a list of VIN and associated Trophy numbers. Otherwise I'd just checks engine/VIN numbers match the V5 and do a HPi.

I can answer that - no they didn't.

The guys at the factory just dipped in to the plaque bin and pulled out a number by the sounds of it - not even sure that there were numbered 1-500 (UK) and 1-50 (swiss) concurrently. It's the 4th case now i've come across people who've owned the same numbered car but actually different cars - Reno can't (or won't) explain it and there's no logical explanation.

The only thing which is not factual and just a thought is that we don't have all 500 numbers accounted for - granted a lot won't have been registered, but it does make you wonder if there are duplicate numbers that have been made and missing numbers (if the numbers of production are correct).... either that or maybe more than 500 were produced and its a cover up...... Conspiracy theory anyone?

The only way of checking is to contact sachs and find out how many dampers were ordered i think as this is the only part that is unique to the trophy and not out of the V6, recaro or misc parts bin. The chance that'l they'll tell anyone though is a bit far removed from reality.

 

[tractor]

I hope i havent bought a phoney...

 

[hoolio]

This was the first thing that came in to my head when you posted earlier but i didn't mention it as i didn't want to alarm you and put you off buying what sounds like a good one, low miles, one enthusiast owner etc etc. yes there have been several unresolved instances and 307 may well have a sister running around. just check all the paperwork with a fine tooth comb and don't worry about it, this sounds like a much better one than backrow's.

 

[Cue]

I hope i havent bought a phoney...

I don't think you have, these cases are more like reno saving cost by sticking the same plaque on more than one car, using up duplicate plaques and/or over production of the trophy.

As the body shells came from the 182 cup line and resprayed red there's no way of actually telling what the reason is - the chassis numbers don't follow the numbering sequence... it's very odd and as I say not logical.

Just like the statement that 25 left hand drive ones were produced (when the trophy was launched) for the swiss market.

We know that actually 50 were produced and of the 50 at least half were shipped to Japan... when they drive right handers i'm not quite sure why... Someone at Dieppe knows the answers but the UK people either don't know who or won't say who it is...

When Mulder and Sculley come back they can look into this one.

 

[trophy176]

Hi pal, I had a 172 then Trophy then CTR and now back to a 182FF.

The ctr is a very accomplished hot hatch and the vtec roar can be very addictive. However, what a 182 lacks in a straight line is easily made up in the corners. The access to low down torque in the 182 makes it cover ground a lot quicker, and more fun and entertaining manner, than the ctr.

If you have a hpi or experian report on the vehicle I would just go by that. Thats better than hearsay.