Citroen Saxo VTS Review

Overall Rating

Looks nice, drives great, lots of options on the tuning side of things.

Can be costly if you have problems, interior dowdy, depreciate quickly because there is so many of them (buy the vts for this reason)

I have owned my Saxo VTS for three years and would recommend it to anyone who is considering buying one. I bought mine from a specialist garage and have to admit I was a bit of a sceptic because of the French connection to begin with! (I owned a Renault 19 16v which spent more time in the garage than Clarkson's GT40!) I can honestly say though, I have never looked back and couldn't part with it now!

I drove a VTR before my purchase and have to say that I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. The main reason I stuck with the idea of a Saxo was because of the handling that was evident. The VTS sticks to the road like glue and acceleration through the gears is impressive. My only add-ons have been a full magnex straight through and a K&N filter. I have lowered it, but not too much as I still want to be able to have people in the back. Citroen are very helpful if you want advice on faults or fault finding although I wouldn't advise taking it to them for any sort of work as they are costly! The insurance for me at 25 with 5 years no claims and 6 points is £250 fully comp, although hearing from younger friends with VTR's this can be quite a lot more if you're a younger age. If you buy one and leave it any length of time and find when you use it again the abs light stays on then this is a problem with one of the 4 sensors (I have got through 3 of them at £75 a pop!) also the Saxo is known for its poor fuelling from time to time due to the lazy lambda sensors. Otherwise I can't fault them, servicing is cheap and the engine, although small... is easy to work on.

I have recently bought an R32 golf but couldn't bring myself to part with the French rocket...so my girlfriend now drives it and she loves it to.

In closing, buy one with fsh, low mileage and make sure the electrics are all good. Mainly though... get the VTS AND NOT THE VTR! Happy trails

Members' Comments onshotley100's Review

• bmw e30 on 11th Mar 2008

  I found this review helpful because... i agree with everything he said, its good advice. I too owned a reno 19 16v phase 1 and although in my opinion it was the best car i ever had it is long in the tooth now, and after sampling fords-focus's and pumas etc i think my heart lies with french cars, and my saxo vts gets a thumbs up! Its impressive performance and cheap bills, and will give you more fun per mile than almost any other car.