written by tommysport on 11/02/2015
So, I figure I owe this car a review.
At 18 years old (2012) I got my 2003 Citroen Saxo VTR 1.6 for £1400. It had 1 owner from new, good service history, and also good, michelin tyres all round. It was on 65,000 miles.
Performance
First off, from a boy racer perspective you can see why these things are so popular or at least were in their day. I’m a self-confessed petrolhead, but you probably won’t be disappointed with its performance if it’s your first or second car. The 1.6 100 BHP motor provides a brilliant warm hatch and is torquey throughout the rev range. It has a very useable engine, sits on the motorway fine.
Having owned the car nearly 3 years now, I still get great joy from surprising much higher spec cars at the lights. This is not an exaggeration either, driven hard these cars can hold their own as they are so lightweight. Don’t expect a rocketship; but it’s a nice ample power enough to surprise others.
The handling is also great, its like a go kart in many ways, if country lanes are your thing you will also enjoy this car.
Reliability
I got the car due to starting a longer commute; I used to do 110 miles a day in this car.
Reliability has been second to none. The brutal facts are this: I have doubled the cars mileage in 2.5 years. It now has 130,000 miles on the clock.
It has passed both MOT’s without an issue.
I have the same rear tyres on the car since I bought it – Truly unbelieveable value for money. They still look healthy and have 4mm tread on. (Michelins)
The only expenditure I have had in those 65,000 extra miles were: New front discs and pads (replaceable item on any car) costing £180. New front wipers £16. I also had 1 new Hankook tyre costing £60 fitted. And recently the alternator went, I got one from a scrapyard for £26 and fitted it myself.
So in total repairs in near 70,000 miles has cost about £280 over 2.5 years. These are replaceable items aswell on any car. Find me another car that does that for the cost involved!
It’s easy to service yourself – Oil change & filter every 12,000 miles.
Economy
The next major plus is the economy. This car is so cheap to run. You hear people recommending diesels left right and centre but the truth is this car is overlooked.
I believe this model has a 40 litre tank. (I never get more than 39 litres in a fill up)
Driving economically, I regularly get just over 450+ miles to a tank. Doing the maths this is over 52 MPG. Simply cannot complain about that.
On a run of pure commuting – up to 70/80mph and lots of sitting in traffic! The car does 380+ to a tank working out to 45 MPG.
I regularly do 200 mile journeys up and down the country on Motorways / A / B roads and It copes admirably.. no problem at all.
Safety
Quite obviously; the only downside I can think of in all honesty. Touch wood I’ve never had an issue, but I imagine it crashes similar to a tin can.
Value for money
Simply outstanding. With a full MOT on mine now at 130,000 miles I would likely be able to get £450 for it. The prices have crashed hugely over the last year – You can now pick up a half decent model for just over £500. Unreal.
So with mine it has depreciated by around £900 over 2 years and 70,000 miles being put on it. Again, find me another car that’s cheaper than that in wear and tear! Outstanding.
Overall, a brilliant car to drive, the costs to run the car are excellent, and if anything does go wrong it won’t cost you the earth. It’s about as cheap as motoring gets to be honest. Now prices are cheap they are truly great cars for the money – Some things to check are the rear axle beams are known to collapse, never had this with mine but check that out, and some leak from the sunroof. Again, mine never has.
Hope this review helps someone out there, I feel the car owes me something! I simply cannot part with it as it’s so cheap, it’s my mile muncher.
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