What should I do

breanoh

Hello all, I am looking for opinions on my latest purchase? Yesterday I made an impulse purchase (€100 didn't exactly break the bank!), and splashed out on a 1986 Renault 9, it is a Broadway 1.4L automatic, and needs nothing done with it. The reason I bought this particular Renault was the mileage, it has 34,000 from new (genuine, service history) I origionally bought it to drive, but my father is now telling me to put it in the Garage under a cover and it will be worth a few € in a couple of years. I think that doing this with any car is a sin, as they are there to be driven and enjoyed, and to be honest, I really like the 9, I learned to drive at the age of 10 in my grandads field in Clare in a 1984 R9, and my family has had three of them, not including the Louisiane that I was given two years ago which was beyond salvage, I am 21 and a student, and I hate the thaught of driving a modern car, and that is why I bought this, It is not an investment, but something that I have been looking for for a while, and was more of a sentimental purchase than anything else. I know that the R9 may not be considered a Classic, but it will be someday, and what do I do with this one? Any advice?

commited

What condition is it in?
get it waxoiled and use it daily!

Dades

Sounds like you got a great deal for a motor that goes, and something a bit different from the norm.

I agree there's no point in garaging it - it's not really the type of car whose price will go through the roof any time soon - and now is the time you could be enjoying it.

Pity your only 21* so you probably can't get classic insurance for a few years yet. Still the insurance mightn't be too bad given the engine size and the cost.

Enjoy!



* though I wish I was too

mustang68

The problem is that most car insurance companies won't start insuring a car over X years, where X is 10, 12 or 15

green-blood

its never gonna be worth a fortune, enjoy it.

commited

Hibernian do older cars

green-blood

tell ya what lad I mightknwo someone who'd double, maybe treble your money, find outif you can insure it first for yourself and let me know

Alfasudcrazy

As said use it but mind it carefully and don't fit anything unoriginal to it and it will be a nice car.

BrianD3

The R9 is never going to be worth a lot in monetary terms. Look at older Renaults like the R12, R14 etc., they are not worth much even though they're old and very rare. Old Renaults don't seem to have much of a following. Personally I think it's cool that you've found an original low mileage R9 and plan to hang onto it and enjoy it. I'd say drive it as long as you're not racking up big mileage. It would be a major help if you have a garage for it and can afford to give it a thorough Waxoyling. It'd also be good if you don't have to drive it in all weathers. Also keep you eyes open for parts (eg on ebay.co.uk) and grab stuff you think you might need in the future. Renault dealers may still be able to supply some parts too.

Any pics of it?

breanoh

As it happens I am with Hibernian (through a broker) They have no problem insuring it as long as I produce an NCT Cert [Being tested in the morn(sat)] It will only be about €110 to change from my current Charade TD, so I'm gonna go for it! I do roughly 12k a year, and I'll prob only use it for a year or two, My dad and I have three others for the pleasure cruise: '77 xj6 3.4, '79 R6 GTL with 48k from new, and '86 Corolla, all these are undergoing Restoration, and will hopefully be on the road sometime this side of the next millenium! I have serious reservations about Parking up cars and looking at themon a sunny day! I have all my cars for driving, and I will give this one a thorough waxoiling and a good coat of color restorer, and wax before putting it on the road properly, First impressions of driving it are unbelievable, I have never driven anything like it, The gearbox even works properly, and there are no oil leaks from the engine, Some of the wiring needs to be sorted, as some of the lights are coming on when they shouldn't, but it is definatly due to bad connections. I will do my best to get pics up when I get on the broadband in work on mon. Will get as many as possible.

green-blood

great news, 80s renault electrics were done by Fiat mechanics on the weekends as far as I can tell.... superb on the insurance, get it on the road and lets see those pics

BrianD3

green-blood wrote:

great news, 80s renault electrics were done by Fiat mechanics on the weekends

That reminds of a quote from bangernomics about the Renault 25

Lovely old comfy sofa of a motor car, with big squashy seats and lots of buttons to press. Not all of them will do anything - resist the temptation to open electric sunroof or windows, unless you are sure you can get the car back under cover before it rains

breanoh

Well, that really inspires confidence in my new purchase, I am glad that I didn't drive the Louisiane (all elec with central locking etc) There are three elec problems, Fuel guage not working, fan not cutting in, and the handbrake light comes on while going over rough roads. I have been at it all morning disconnecting wires, cleaning connections and reconnecting them with a smear of vasaline. The fuel guage is now working, and I will test the fan in a while, I havve given the interior a thorough valeting, and I will have the parts to service it in the morning after it goes to my uncle for new tyres and tracking (the origional firestone factory tyres are still on it and the spare has never been used!). It had it's first NCT since Y2K on Sat and flew through, the tester couldn't believe his eyes, especially as it has yet to be washed (green moss on the paint etc..) I have some nice pics taken as it is, and will take some later of the valeted, waxed car, I also found the origional british plates under the carpet in the boot. It should be on the rd on Tuesday!

green-blood

brilliant

you've really grabbed some people's attention with this one.

Renaults of that age often lost fan control, my fathers 18 and 21 required a manaully wired up fan switch, might be a worthwhile investment

roll on the pics

breanoh

Sorry for the delay lads, But I won't have the pics till tomorrow. While I'm here, does anyone know anything about the renault electrics? I got the fuel Guage working, but it has failed again? When I switch on the ignition, it rises, but falls to empty once I start the car. Dad thinks that it is a fault with the resistor on the guage itself, any Ideas? The fan still won't work, I'm going to replace the switch. Heading to the scrappers tonight to get some parts off a renault 11 that he has, and I think he has an R9 aswell, so should have her ready soon! Is it worth installing an electronic ignition instead on the points?
All of our renaults so far (4's 9's 11 21's 14 etc) lost fan control, they also loved blowing head gaskets as a result, but the renault electrics aren't as bad as people make out! You can't however beat the comfort of the Renault seats! The only major problem we ever had with the 9/11 series of Renaults (ither than headgasket) was an appetite for clutch cables, so the Automatic should be ok in that regard? I have heard that the gearbox is very tough and will last forever?

mustang68

breanoh wrote:

and the handbrake light comes on while going over rough roads.

That rings alarm bells for me

The handbrake light is also the low brakefluid/brake pressure light, check that there is enough brakefluid in the system, probably just that.

I've been there where I thought bumps were setting the handbrake light off, but it was a leaking calipers that was losing fluid.

breanoh

I actually never thaught to chect the fluid level (I know, I'm an idiot!) Allthough the brakes are working perfectly, and It did it's NCT on Sat and there were no leaks, I will certainly check the level when I get home. The only thing is that when I jiggle the handbrake the light goes out?
Actually, does anyone know if there is a Renault Owners Club in Ireland?

breanoh

The pics were too large to put up here, I have put them up on Bebo the link is: http://breanoh.bebo.com. scroll down the page and the pics are in an album called my new Renault 9.
Post back here and let me see what ya think!
Breandán

BrianD3

Good pics. I had forgotten that late phase 1 R9s had the four headlight front end. It looks like there is a bit of rust starting in the panel under the rear lights, hopefully just surface rust. The plastic bumpers are very faded but that's to be expected, I wonder can anything be done with them or will you be on the lookout for some NOS R9 bumpers!

overdriver

Nice aul car, mate. The Bebo page makes me wanna rip out my eyes. bad enough I had the cupla focail jammed down my throat at school.

mustang68

Nice car, got a bit of a shock in my nice quite office when the music started up!

You'd be easy to spot in traffic with a reg like that :cool:

breanoh

Sorry about the page, I am one of those nutty Irish speaker types, I must change the flash aswell, trying to upsoad a vid of the car to it! There is actually no rust on the back of the car, it's moss after being parked up, the only bit I have found is on the D/S of the bonnet. Waiting for a fanbelt and distributer cap, and then she's on the road! i have found simoniz back to black to be really good at restoring the colour on renault bumpers, but I'm gonna need about 2 or 3 bottles to get them back in shape, It took me hours to get the interior door handles back from white to black. I think she looks better with the 4 headlight grille, and the lights are better too. It should be around the streets of Dublin late next week as I'm heading up to visit friends, so keep an eye out!

green-blood

sin e go hailin

sorry, I try to remember the odd bit especially when away foreign, but my spelling is pure cack, I have to work in Sweden quite a bit, they all speak English, its funny on the underground if your ina group of irish lads the best way to point out the good looking ones is as gailge, cailin deas.... you can spot the ones who have been listening in as they dont recognise the Irish and suddenly come over all confused, works great in phone conferences too when they go into swedish for a private discussion, anything as gailge upsets them.....hehehehehe

looks like a super car for daily driver, really well done, hope to see it at some shows.

breanoh

I will try to travel a bit with it in what is left of the summer, Insured it @ 5 this eve, just back from a spin around west clare, went pretty well, Is missing a idle, and cut out a few times, but I reckon a new fuel filter and clean the carb and she should be perfect again, got the fuel guage working, but gave up the ghost again, topped up the brake fluid and the handbrake light has stayed off. Neither I nor any of my friends can believe how quick she is. It reallyy moves when I put my boot down! There are a couple of jobs that need to be done on it, but they will be done with time, as I am a poor student on my work experience. But my daily commute to cellege should be more bearable now. People have stared as I pass in her all eve!! All I have to do now is fit the CD player (I will keep the orig radio for show, but it has onlt LW and MW, so I can't put up with it!) I will hopefully see some of you at shows, but you will probably meet me on the streets of Dublin, lost, and confused!

breanoh

Just an update on the R9, Took it off the road again, coz the rad fan wasn't working and there was a miss in the engine, only drove it over that weekend. I finally got the fan yesterday, the old one had seized from lack of use, and it was fitted last night. I had it back on the road this morning, and drove from Ennis to Limerick without a problem. I had the best craic though. people were passing me on the bypass, and staring the whole time, (normally people in modern renaults!) Anyway, she's still missing, but dad reckons that it's going out of it and all it needs is some driving. but any ideas on what it might be would be appreciated!
Breandán

carryboy

enjoy it...and do maintainance check regularly...:cool: :cool: :cool:

vector

The Renault 11 (not 9 but similar) was in a James Bond film A View to a Kill (1985). Bond steals a Renault 11 taxi from a Paris taxi driver and uses it to chase some evil guy, the car has its roof torn off in the car chase and is then chopped in half in a collision with another car (a Renault 20)

So alot of people who were say 12-18 around 1985 will remember wanting a Renault 11

8~)

Anyone want another Ren 9?

There's one in a yard that looks complete but left standing a while. Looks alright from a few yards away (as near as I got). Probably a late one, blue and silver two tone on an SI **** plate.

Probably end up crushed if not purchased. If any interest I'll enquire (have to contact the guy about something else anyway).

ds20prefecture

Well done - looks minty. I was beside a pristine white '84 R11 the other day. It's great to see these cars being used as they should, instead of traded in for some modern amorphous blob.

breanoh wrote:

You can't however beat the comfort of the Renault seats!

Oh but you can! My DS has much more comfy seats than any Renault Still, at least it's French!