Am I sad?

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

bxbodger
Posts: 1455
Joined: 23 May 2003, 03:34
Location: Lovejoy country (Essex!!)
My Cars:
x 1

Post by bxbodger »

The point I was trying to make, but not very well, is not to be swayed by other peoples opinions of a C2- the best thing to do would be for ItDontGo to book a test drive, have a poke and a prod, and see if he likes it!!
this is what happened with the Kia-it has the Hyundai 2 litre DI common rail turbodiesel and does drive, like HJ says, surprisingly well and stacked up very well against a Picasso. Much is down to the dealer of course, if his local Cit dealer is rubbish, as ours is, then he may end up with something none Cit, as I did.
dillosk8ter
Posts: 217
Joined: 28 Nov 2004, 23:17
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by dillosk8ter »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by TomH</i>

The concern I see with the AX is that you wouldn't really want to have an accident in one!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
True, got to be the tinnyest Citroen since 2cv!!!!! Even small knock would be potentially very serious for occupants......would probably rate far worse in crash test that the ncap disaster for Rover 100.
But looks quite cool, esp GT/I, Forte and last of the line models with the body coloured, painted bumpers. Tidy handler too and has aged alot better than Uno, Nova, Metro rivals.
ACTIVE8
Posts: 2317
Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 16:49
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 6

Post by ACTIVE8 »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Kowalski</i>

I like buying second hand cars because the first owner has the fun of sorting out the quality control issues and by the time I get the car it's nicely run in too.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I agree they do all the hard work then we pick up a bargain, when we buy it. The "mug" is the original purchaser, who spends a lot of money on it, only for those of us who know how to fix them, and DO NOT need a brand new plate on the car to impress people, to be able to come along, and be able to run the same car for a lot less ! [:D]
weety
Posts: 532
Joined: 24 Oct 2004, 13:49
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by weety »

what would we do without people prepared to buy a new car...lovingly maintain it....and then sell it after five years for 10% (or less) than what they paid for it...... my xantia estate new in 1998 cost £16000 i bought it in 2004 for £1200..... new car buyers.... encourage them! dont try to put them of
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Ditto my HDi
£15K new, I bought it at 4 years old for £3.5K [;)]
tomsheppard
Posts: 1801
Joined: 19 Dec 2002, 14:46
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by tomsheppard »

I'd ditch the AX and buy a Ford Ka. Women like them, they retain their value, they are much bigger inside than the AX and they are better built. Buy a three year old, and ensure that it has aircon. The last good small Citroen was the 2CV. FIFTY SEVEN YEARS AGO!
Stinkwheel
Posts: 562
Joined: 28 May 2004, 01:02
Location:
My Cars:
x 1

Post by Stinkwheel »

have to 'almost' agree there Tom.
The last Good small citroen was definitly the Dyane, 23 years ago.
Hatchback, so you can actually get things in, quicker engine (slightly) more interior room and ever so slightly less agricultural (flappy doors etc)
So yes almost 2CV shaped :-)
User avatar
fastandfurryous
Posts: 1388
Joined: 07 Jul 2004, 17:57
Location: On the road, travelling at high speed. Meep Meep.
My Cars:
x 4

Post by fastandfurryous »

But a Ford Ka? They fall apart faster than you can put them back together!!! My Ex had one, which was only 4 years old. Electric windows failed. Central locking failed (and meant you couldn't lock the car) plastic trim fell off almost every journey. Air-con: a)rubbish. b) sapped so much power from the engine it woudn't go up hills. It was dreadfully uneconomic too: with the old "kent" pushrod 1.3 engine in what is actually quite a heavy car meant pedestrian performance and only high 30's Mpg (even driven gently). It's also a pain in the arse to work on as there is no space in the engine bay at all.
Oh, and they have a major design fault. The Spark plug service interval is 30k, and within that time they rust into the head solid. I sheared off all 4 plugs when trying to do a major service, and on subsequent investigation was told that it's a common problem, and about half of all Ka's have at least one plug shear off every time they come up for servicing. The only fix of course is cylinder head off, drill out and re-tap. (thankfully it was only £40 at my local engine machinists to do this, but I still had to take the head off!). After that I fitted new plugs with copperslip on the threads, and took them out every 5k miles. They would still be beginning to rust in!
All in all a generally crappy car.
weety
Posts: 532
Joined: 24 Oct 2004, 13:49
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by weety »

Omega has the same problem....i was down my local car spares and a bloke came in after shearing a spark plug looking for advice...... looked a bit sick when we explained he would have to take the head off.....as more cars have long life spark plugs i think this will start to become a regular problem
wilkobob
Posts: 330
Joined: 26 Sep 2004, 00:29
Location: Retford, United Kingdom
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by wilkobob »

dont know about you but am I sad? Sat in supermarket carpark the other day, mate of mine in the car says "oooh look at that", I say, "ooh theres a bx for sale"... "get it to my house"... mate says "no im talking about the lass in the skirt"....
Now am I sad?
bxbodger
Posts: 1455
Joined: 23 May 2003, 03:34
Location: Lovejoy country (Essex!!)
My Cars:
x 1

Post by bxbodger »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">with the old "kent" pushrod 1.3 engine<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I think you can get em with a zetec now, which is a very good motor indeed!!
I like the old kent,it made my old 1100 Mk1 Fiesta fly but it does need short service intervals-its a 45 year old design, after all!!
The plug problem is the fault of those tapered plugs that Ford were so fond of.
User avatar
fastandfurryous
Posts: 1388
Joined: 07 Jul 2004, 17:57
Location: On the road, travelling at high speed. Meep Meep.
My Cars:
x 4

Post by fastandfurryous »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I think you can get em with a zetec now, which is a very good motor indeed!!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Indeed. very noticeable that the zetec engine is 50cc smaller (1.25 I believe) but has about 10 more HP and gets 10 more MPG.
shame the rest of the car is such a heap. Having seen/driven/worked on one for a year on and off, I woudn't have one for free.
yangreen
Posts: 381
Joined: 25 Jan 2005, 14:11
Location:
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by yangreen »

My girlfriend's AX has now clocked over 110,000 miles and it's a 1 litre driven at speeds of up to 90mph on a regular basis. She always lets the engine warm up before hitting warp speed and never checks the oil level. It gets serviced once a year regardless of actual mileage covered (she decides it needs a service when the drivers door starts creaking) and once drove over a mile with a shredded rear tyre as she didn't want to stop on the motorway - which I can understand. So they can take a bit of abuse is my point!
I really wouldn't go new. Only did it once (Daewoo Matiz) which seemed great. Free insurance, servicing, AA membership, warranty etc but you pay come selling time! Still think they are great cars though - if you keep your standards low.
Oh, she does want to replace the AX with a Mini. I think the AX is too safe. The worst two cars in a crash are the Mini and the 2cv so we really will be living dangerously!
dillosk8ter
Posts: 217
Joined: 28 Nov 2004, 23:17
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by dillosk8ter »

I've never heard an AX described as 'safe', think its about on a par with 2cv, mini, metro and the first micra's.
FrenchLeave
Posts: 359
Joined: 18 Jan 2005, 21:47
Location: 5 miles N. of Boston, Lincs
My Cars:

Post by FrenchLeave »

Ref plugs rusting in, back in the days of piston engined aircraft it was de rigeur to coat the threads with graphite grease when doing a plug change. You had to keep the stuff well away from the points.
Post Reply