2017 Renault Clio 1.5L Diesel · MX67 WKB

The 2017 Renault Clio presents a stable but closely fought maintenance trend, with the most recent MOT on 12 August 2025 at 84,122 miles passing cleanly with zero defects. That clean bill of health followed a failure just the day before on 11 August 2025 for an excessively worn offside front suspension arm ball joint, which was evidently rectified immediately. The trajectory is broadly improving. A year earlier, on 8 August 2024 at 76,998 miles, the car failed on a burst nearside front tyre, multiple worn tyres, a blown dipped beam headlamp, and slight play in that same offside front ball joint. The subsequent pass on the same date confirms those items were addressed, yet the ball joint fault has recurred within twelve months, suggesting either a quality-of-repair issue or an underlying suspension geometry concern that merits close inspection. The mileage accumulation is consistent and unremarkable for a nine-year-old supermini. Between the July 2023 test at 65,233 miles and the August 2024 test at 76,998 miles, the car covered 11,765 miles in roughly thirteen months, then added a further 7,124 miles by August 2025. That works out at approximately 9,300 miles per year, squarely within the UK average. There are no suspicious gaps or sudden spikes in the odometer record, and the mileage progression aligns sensibly with the test dates, giving confidence that the service history is not being concealed. The recurring theme across the MOT record is front-end suspension wear. The offside front suspension arm ball joint was flagged with slight play in August 2024 and then failed as excessively worn in August 2025, a clear worsening pattern that points to a component operating at the margin. A prospective buyer should have the front suspension physically checked for play, with particular attention to the offside lower arm ball joint, track rod ends, and wishbone bushes. The nearside front tyre bulge recorded in August 2024 indicates the car has suffered at least one impact event, so wheel alignment and inner tyre condition should be verified. The repeated advisory on rear tyre edge wear across multiple tests hints at rear suspension geometry drift or habitual under-inflation, so inspect the rear beam axle, trailing arms, and shock absorbers for wear or corrosion. The clean August 2025 pass is encouraging, but the ball joint recurrence means this car needs a thorough mechanical inspection before purchase rather than reliance on the most recent certificate alone.