Citroen Saxo VTR

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.

nedeed a car urgently as my Xsara diesel blew up just before I went on holiday. was looking for another diesel as I do a lot of miles and had sights on a peugeot 106 1.4 but a short drive in a car with no PAS ruled that out. the guy selling the peugeot had a number of cars and I stumbled across a 1.6 vtr with 68000 miles with new tyres and a cambelt replacement at 60500. Got in it and I was 20 again. This is not a luxury car but has sunroof, electric windows and a decent stereo. It is such a hoot to drive as the 1.6 engine in such a little box make for a whole lot of fun. The only down side is It has lurched me into a mid life crisis!

I GOT MY SAXO VTR LAST WEEK I DID HAVE ONE FOR MY FIRST CAR BUT HAD TO SELL BECAUSE OF INSURANCE NOW AM BACK IN THE HOT SEAT THO HAHAHA

MU SAXO HAS THE USUAL COMMON FAULTS LIKE INSIDE LIGHT DOESNT WORK THE HEATERS ARE LOUD WHEN THER ON PROPPA PAIN AND THE BLOW ON THE FRONT END OF THE EXAUST THE BACK AXLE HASNT GONE THO SO THATS ALL GOOD OI AND MY SPEEDO STOPPED WORKING NOT GOOD BUT THER FAST AT THE LIGHTS SHOCKS THAT PERSON WHO IS ON THE WRONG LANE AND TRIES TO SMOKE YOU I HAVE KEPT MINE STANDARD AND JUS PUT A PIPERCROSS AIRFILTER TO GIVE IT A BIT OF GRUNT ....

bought my 2001 phase2 vtr about six months ago,totally loves it very reliable and nippy good looking car too!just changed the wheel bearings,complete arm and ball joints, i got a question for those out there who knows more about the vtr than my self, mainly turning right i hear a loud bubbling type noise(like a bubbling of fluid noise)also a horrible clunking knocking noise,could this be a driveshaft or cv joint problem???? thanks

my vtr is sitting at 169bph and can keep up with the corsa vxr no problem.. and it will out handle any corsa..

great car - yes!

fun - yes!

however it doesn't like rain! went round a corner I've known for years in the wet last night and the VTR decided to go over a puddle at 45 mph (aquaplaning) and kick the rear end out mid way over, when coming out, I slammed it into 2nd with enough opposite lock to cancel out the slide, to no ovail which I'm still confused about? and before you say I'm a qualified driving instructor (racing) and have an ARDS Licence as well as my standard full licence! don't plan out going out in it for a drove at

night, luckily for me it managed to miss a roundabout directions sign by a couple of inches, and go into a hedge, you may not be so lucky, and plus its only a 2 star NCAP so your not even as safe as you thought you were. still only minor damage, but hedges are forgiving :)

I have had 3 Saxo VTR's now, so it's fair to say I know a fair bit about them. Every Saxo I've had is great to drive, handles very well, has good acceleration and can achieve around 36-40mpg when driven normally. The interior is fairly cheap, and the boot is small but it's what you expect from an older Citroen really. The engine when standard makes a lovely roar without the need for silly induction kits or big exhausts, the car really puts a smile on your face when in the country. It is also good on the motorway, although you do tend to get blown around a bit. Also the MK2 Saxo is much better than the mk1, it is faster, has better fuel consumption and has various other improvements across the board.

The bad points of this car are the reliability, MAKE SURE when you buy one that it's had few owners, full service history and has not been lowered because the rear suspension bushes wear out very quickly resulting in needing a new axle, oop's! You will find with VTR's and VTS's you will constantly be carrying out some kind of repair to it, the parts are not to bad to find or buy but, don't go in to buying one with your eyes closed, if It's a bargain there is a reason!

Hope this has helped!

i have owned my 1996 vtr mk1, has had a few problems since taking ownership, but thats purely due to the previous owner. because of the last owner i have had 2 gearbox swaps, and my most recent downfall was the lower end bearing going, which any mechanically minded peron would know, is the end of the engine. so i bought another engine as a rebuild project for cheap, practically pennies. stuck the top half of my engine onto the bottom half of that one, worked first time. and now my compression is slightly higher which is even better.

the car handles amazingly, jumps off the line if i put my foot down and pins my girlfriend to her seat. the mpg are good too, i am soon to fit a power boost valve/fuel pressure regulator to it.

anyone who is looking for an attractive, small, sleek, stylish, head turning little pocket rocket then this is the car for you. (you can even do a straight swap for a vts 16v engine, or if you really wanna go mad, a peugeot 205 1.9gti engine will fit in with a bit of common know-how)

one downside i have come across is the fact that it attracts TOO MUCH attention, i have been pulled plenty of times, each and every time not going over the limit. purely because the vtr is a "boy racers" car, even though i dont class myself as one, my car is still lowered, with a full pipercross cold air intake and a huge 4" exhaust.

basically, the vtr is a great car and anyone who disagrees obviously hasn't owned one. and i will stand by that!

Bought my 2003 black saxo vtr with 64,000miles a month ago and already i love it,very fast,sexy looks,cheap to run,cheap insurance and to buy.Only thing tax is very expensive comes in the highest group. Im 22 and have wanted 1 ever since i got into my citroen ax as my first car,the 1.6 engine gives some power and when you drop a gear to over take WHAT A FEELING!!!!!! Also when hammering into the corners at speed just feels like a go-kart as my vtr is lowered aswell. Anyone who wants a cheap sporty fast car look no further then the SAXO VTR.Some say the pedals are to close together and brakes arent great,pedals you can used to and brakes just upgrade them.All in all the VTR is sex on wheels and i recommend any 1 under 25 to get 1.

ive only had my MK1 VTR for around 2 weeks its my first car and im 18 so its not cheap, theres not alot of difference between the MK1 VTR and the 1.4 Westcoast apart from the top end, but i prefer the seats in the VTR to the westcoasts if anyone has a Mk1 VTR DONT WORRY ABOUT HIGH ENGINE TEMPS IF IT's A FEW MM's UNDER THE TOP BAR THATS NORMAL, EVERYONE I KNOW WHO HAS HAD ONE SAYS THEY RUN WARM.. definatly better when compared to a corsaor clio etc. yes they have been deemed "chavvy" but the way they handle and drive compared to the other equivelant cars is unbeleivable they grip so well! even on the standard wheels, downpoints are the tax for 6 months (20/1/2010) is £104.50 so for a years road tax its £210 which is rather high in my opinion. then theres fuel economy they drink if your going for it(obviously) but if your pottering around villages or cities i dont think there bad at all. id highly reccomend one just be careful of ex boy racer cars which will have been redlined in every gear and temperature.