General opinion on: Citroen Saxo?

CliffyBiro

CliffyBiro

CliffyBiro

Caporegime
Joined
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What is the view of the humble Citroen Saxo?

A chavmobile?
A decent first car?


Some of you will have seen that I've been interested in one of these for quite a while and I'm getting a mechanic friend of mine to look one over for me next week.

It's £650 but it's yellow. :p
 
Pretty decent first car if its a VTR, wouldn't say the 1.1's are particularly nice cars to be in or drive, the extra bit of poke from the 1.6 engine makes it a fun drive, handles well too.

TBH in that caregory of car, i'd be looking at Fiesta's (MK4/5 1.25's), you'll be spending a little more than £650 on it though.
 
It's not this one but very similar

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Nothing really wrong with the Saxo per se, it's a perfectly decent late 90's hatch.

Some (me included) find the pedal arrangement a little cramped, and the lower spec models are a little tinny and racous on long journeys.
 
Peter Diffey said:
No dont do it!

They are not reliable, they are bad in pretty much every way and also have very cramped pedals which can cause it to be really hard to drive.
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out of interest have you ever owned one?

Ive had 3, a 1.1 eastcoast, 1.4 westcoast and 1.6 vtr, only trouble has been the ecu packed up on the 1.4.
That cost me under £200 years ago (not from a dealer)

I agree the pedals are cramped but it does not make too much of a difference if hes never driven anything else and just take some getting used to.

the interior is not great quality as its french but for a cheap fun tin can you cant go wrong.

watch out for the obvious chaved up abused ones. (unfortunatly this is a great number of them :( )
 
Over-rated, badly built, obscenely cramped, cruddy little example of why the French should have concentrated on building 2CVs and slightly eccentric larger cars (Citroen DS, SM, CX et al) and left superminis to the Italians.

If it's cheap, though.... second class car is always better than a first class bus ride.
 
Does it come with a ramp into the boot and a few plastic flashing lights on it? Yeah? It's a skip you're looking at mate. And the skip is actually a better buy. With a better 0-60. And more street cred.
 
I had a 1.0l '00 Saxo as my first car. Paid £850 and the insurance was more than double (3rd party only). :/ Totally standard car, no mods or such either.

The drive itself wasn't too bad. Did find the car a little noisy though. My new car is a dream and as silent as anything :D
 
HouR said:
out of interest have you ever owned one?
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My sister owned a 1.1 for many years, at the same time my other sister owned a mark 2 Clio (bubble shape) 1.2, I drove both of them and even drove both of them round an airfield so got to test the handling too.

The saxo just didnt feel right, it felt cheap and nasty too and more difficult to drive (also didnt have PAS). I had the choice over these two cars as both my sisters wanted to upgrade at the same time, i chose the Clio without a second thought!
 
Had my MK2 VTR for nearly 3 years now.

All it's needed in 45,000 miles is bulbs, tyres and servicing.

Good car, nippy, handles really well, fun to drive and cheap to run! I usually get 40+ mpg out of mine and I give it a hard time. Parts are cheap if you need them, scrap yards are full of these cars.

They DON'T rust. If you see any rust on these, don't buy it.

It's not well built, I agree on that.

Not the best to crash in? Don't crash it then.

Pedals.......you get used to.


What you need to watch out for?

Accident damage.
Suspension clunks, bangs and knocks - usually if the car has been lowered.

A Fiesta 1.25i Zetec would be a better choice than a Saxo 1.1 but watch out for the rust on the Fiesta's!


As for long journey's.......get a Mondeo or Vectra if you are going to be doing those!
 
skippi90 said:
Nice one guys. Some good info.

Anything else to look out for either specifically with Saxo's or in general?
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Check the panels line up and look the same colour!

A lot of these have been in accidents.

Exhausts usually rust at the manifold so check for blowing exhausts.

Electrics play up in these at times, airbag and altenator lights can sometimes appear.

There is a sensor under the seat that causes the airbag light to come on. A little fiddle with it will usually cure the problem.

Check the footwell for signs of dampness/water. Sunroofs and Windscreens can leak.
 
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