R19 vs Fuego

REN TIN TIN

REN TIN TIN

Well-known member
VIP Paid Subscriber
1000+ Posts
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Jul 30, 2002
Messages
2,393
Location
Brisbane
I need to get a larger Renault and I’ve been looking at either a Fuego or an R19 hatch.

They’re both around the same size, and both are relatively common (for Renaults) in the ‘For Sale’ columns.

Plusses for the R19;
• 4 doors and proper hatch/boot.
• fuel injected.
• younger than a Fuego (less general wear?)
• fuel economy good

Minuses for the R19;
• price,
• power:weight ration very ordinary,

Plusses for the Fuego;
• Reasonable power:weight
• Easier to work on than a R19 (for me at least)
• $2K - $3K should buy a mint example (if you can find one).
• Spares relatively easy to find.

Minuses for Fuego;
• Funny size wheel/tyers (if original)
• Around 10 years older the an R19,
• Are there any that haven’t been thrashed.
• Small/ shallow boot
• Image as Hairdresser’s car?


I’m leaning towards the Fuego but could be swayed when I start looking in earnest.
If a R25, R20, R18 wagon, etc turn up I might consider them as well.

Ren
:cheers:
 
there was a manual R25 for sale up north a little while ago - anyone know if its sold?
 
WRT image, IMO ... with a R19 you are buying anonymity, no one will look at you twice. With a Fuego, you are saying "I luv Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran" ie. you are making a style statement which could possibly lead to some derision, depending on the company that you keep!

Whats the price difference where you are? ie. What are decent phase 2 R19's being sold for?
 
Tis easy :D

The Renault 19 is a mind numming boring thing to drive. It's got awful 300turns lock 2 lock steering, feels flat as a tack unless you have your foot rammed through the floorboards (even my '63 ID19 feels eager compared to it --unless you have your foot rammed through the floorboards of the R19). I had to drive my sisters Renault 19 for a couple of weeks last years (what torture :eek: ).

The Fuego is lively, fun to drive. Fitted with decent wheels & rubber will downright bloody stun most poeple with it's handling prowess. It rides quite well.

Only downside is the fuego has no luggage space, and I really mean it has STUFF ALL space in it except for a very shallow hatch that can't take items of any real height :( I guess I better say something positive about the R19.... Hmm .... Let me think .... It has 4 doors and a much more usable hatch than the Fuego ...

If your seriously contemplating a R19, can I suggest driving a late model Citroen BX19tri 122 or BX19Tzi. They are vastly supperior to the R19 in every way except interior plastic quality.

seeya,
Shane L.
 
Fuegos are great, but its worth paying top dollar to get a good one (4 grand should get a spot on one, if you can find it). Luggage space I always though was good, especially if you fold the rear seat forward. Its big enough to sleep in - good for camping trips ;)
They go hard, are cheap and easy to fix and look pretty good with some nice wheels on.
R19 are worth a lot more, and are pretty boring. But are more modern, reliable, economical quite etc.
 
Has anyone driven the Phase III R19 manual that had the 81kW 1.8? I'd imagine that would go a lot better than the old 68.5kW 1.7 :)
 
Pug307 said:
Has anyone driven the Phase III R19 manual that had the 81kW 1.8? I'd imagine that would go a lot better than the old 68.5kW 1.7 :)
Click to expand...

Justin,

it's not the outright power that's the problem with the R19's I've driven (this comes from someone that drives 2cvs and old long stroke DS's). They do go ok. If and ONLY if you have your foot rammed through the floor boards. At any other time it's flat as a tack ... Not a bloody thing there. THIS is what sh!ts me to tears when driving any car. The BX is the exact opposite, extreme eagerness at all throttle settings at anything from an idle --And it's certainly not what I'd call a 'fast' car. To put in into perspective, my 2litre automatic Xantia feels faster to drive 'normally' than the 5spd Renault 19's do (and a 2litre automatic Xantia certainly is sedate unless you have your foot pinned to the boards :clown: ).

seeya,
Shane L.
 
Ill put my :2cents: in again as I have a soft spot for the R19. I still think they are a great car.
Mine went to QLD and bacl twice with no worries. ACT 4 times. Sat on 120km/h all the way nearly.
And you are right they are 10 years younger then the fuego. I still love the R19 its a very nice looking little car.
Id seriously say Drive a couple. The series 2 is better than the series 1 that is for sure. More sturdy/solid.
Drive some cars your keen on. I like the fuego and in their day they were very good but getting too old now and many very rough examples about. It might be hard to find a good one...
 
Oh well :rolleyes: . That is basically an injected 4 door Fuego with more mod cons.
 
There was a Fuego advertised in the RCCQ mag recently that belongs to (I think) the guy who owned the Brisbane car dealership that sold them new. I guess it might be in very good condition. He didn't have a price on it and I was too scared to ring and ask, in case it was too good to refuse. Anyway I don't know if it sold but if you are interested I can pass on his phone number.
 
Also there was a very nice looking, body kitted, blue 19 advertised I think on carsales.com.au located at Beaudesert(?).
 
REN TIN TIN said:
I need to get a larger Renault and I’ve been looking at either a Fuego or an R19 hatch.

Minuses for Fuego;
• Are there any that haven’t been thrashed.
• Small/ shallow boot
• Image as Hairdresser’s car?
Click to expand...

I'd say that there would be a lot of Fuego's around that haven't been thrashed as they were not really a performance car when new. As for being a bit of a hairdressers car, I'd say that is a bit of a non issue, more just an old car now that they range from 18 to 22 years old in AUS.

My thought would be to buy a non-metallic paint version though, that way it looks tidier for longer. A lot of metallic Fuego's now are starting to look a bit dandruffy now. Also from looking at some of the Fuego's on Aussiefrogs there seem to be a lot of electrical/trim/gearshift problems, so to maintain reliability it may be best to stay away from Aussiefrogs once a Fuego purchase has been made :)

As for a 19, a late model 19 Bacarra would be the go, earlier 1.7 litre cars were low performers even when new. At least with a Bacarra (luxury pack) you could explain the lack of urge with the amount of kit fitted to the car.

One thing with 19's though, some of the latest 1994-96 cars were fitted with airbags. What is the expected life of the pyrotechnic device? With a Mercedes they recommend that the airbag module is replaced every 10 years, is Renault the same? Or is it another one of those things that lasts the "life of the car"?

It could end up like driving around with an unexploded WW2 shell in the car.
 
air bags are 10 years
peugeot have stretched theirs out to 15 years
mind you they are around the $2500/bag to replace last i heard
i have brought the sublect up a few times about air bags and what they are going to do to the 2nd hand car market as the cars get older
who is going to buy say a 10 year old renault that has air bags in it knowing that they have to turn around and spend $$$'s to replace it/them
i am glad that pug bags are 15 year units and not the 5 and 10 year ones that are running around
i have heard that sopme of the holden and ford ones when they first started with them were only good for 5 years
how true this is i don't know but it's a worry
take a 94 R19
how much are they worth ?
add a 4 figure amount to replace the airbag/s
are they still worth the money you just paid to buy the car ?
all this needs to be figured in and more so as time goes on as these cars with airbags are getting older
my old man has a 95 SRDT so in 2010 he is up for $$$'s to replace the airbag/s
by law they have to be done as that is part of the safety equipment that was fitted to the car
it's the same as seat belts (they cannot be removed)
 
pugrambo said:
what they are going to do to the 2nd hand car market as the cars get older
who is going to buy say a 10 year old renault that has air bags in it knowing that they have to turn around and spend $$$'s to replace it/them
Click to expand...

My point exactly. Could be a useful bargaining point on an airbagged 19. As airbags were not standard ADR fittings at that stage, and were allegedly an option on 19's, you could replace it with a non airbagged wheel.
 
Simon said:
As airbags were not standard ADR fittings at that stage, and were allegedly an option on 19's, you could replace it with a non airbagged wheel.
Click to expand...

Providing there isnt a risk of the thing going off on its own, better to just leave it - chances are it will work if needed, but if doesnt than youve lost nothing by not putting a non airbag wheel on.
 
Haakon said:
Providing there isnt a risk of the thing going off on its own, better to just leave it - chances are it will work if needed, but if doesnt than youve lost nothing by not putting a non airbag wheel on.
Click to expand...

Thing is, I'm not sure if the explosive part gets unstable as it gets older. Given the extremes of climate in AUS, and the nature of Renault plastic and electrical contacts, retaining an out of date airbag could be decidedly dodgy.
 
I wonder if you could fail a roadworthy if your airbag is > 10 years old? Do they test for this? If they are as important as seatbelts, then you'd think they would.

Might be some cheap 1995 Laguna V6's coming down the pipe :eek:
 
Europa got to take issue with your statement

Quote

["I luv Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran" ie. you are making a style statement which could possibly lead to some derision, depending on the company that you keep!] end quote

Dunno about the spandau ballet, the last time I handled a spandau it was a machine gun and isn't a Duran Duran some form of foul tropical fruit you have to get used to! And as for Hairdressers driving Fuegos, the only clip I have given in my life is a clip in the ear and that probably did some good in its day!!!!!!!!!!

In fact Fuego owners I know come from all sections of society, the age groups spanning from under 20's to those who conceal their age in the old adage "as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth young man"!!!!!!!!!!!

But I do have to agree that Froggy forum sure does cause some common faults on our cars, but then again, we make it so easy to fix those things its not really a problem worth worrying about. Its really an easy car to get running well, parts are reasonably cheap and secondhand bits are plentiful!

Where else can you buy an inexpensive car that still looks good because of its ageless styling, drives like a dream, responds to minor mods, and has a bunch of dedicated owners that will help each other in a crisis through this forum.

Hairdressers indeed!!! Perhaps this came about because original Fuego owners just could not see the beauty in the boxy older (under) styled renaults of the day (only a mother or rally driver could love them!) and so got the reputation as snooty upstarts!! (at least in RCC circles) :D

Ken!!!!!! :cheers:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top