Saxos not that bad are they?

leonard1 · Post by **leonard1** » 31 Mar 2005, 19:11

Having seen a feature in todays Sun about favourite cars, the Saxo is the bottom car "with the worst ratings in the poll's 4 year history. Drivers slated its build quality, ease of driving, comfort and braking".
Truely shocking as I love my Saxo and would suggest the critics of it should compare it with the masses of unreliable Renault Clios and awful Vauxhall Corsas.

dan.2cv · Post by **dan.2cv** » 31 Mar 2005, 19:18

Ah yes, the Sun, a leading authority on 21st century motoring.

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 31 Mar 2005, 20:12

Its all a matter of opinion - fo instance I truly hate my AX - However there is a strong following of these cars, and obviously Im not going to say all AX's are carp, because they probably are'nt.
Mine on the other hand is a bit of a lemmon.

Rostami · Post by **Rostami** » 31 Mar 2005, 20:13

Reliability is just one of the aspects to qualify qhen you look at a car. How about saftey? comfort? robustness?
For sure the saxo doesnt score well in most of these characteristics.
Furthermore, the car is pretty old now...clios and corsas have both been re-designed at least once each while as the saxo has remained the same.

Post by **Thunderbird** » 31 Mar 2005, 20:22

I had a Saxo and it was great! (1.6 16V 120Hp)
Fast as an arrow! (7.7secs from 0 to 62mph or 100km/h)
Superb handling! (much better than my current Xantia HDi)
Unique braking! (also much better than the Xantia HDi)
Amazing reliability! (also much better than the Xantia)
What I didn't like:
- Very thursty (hard to make better than 12L/100Kms, with the Xantia I do only 6L/100Kms)
- Comfort (hard as a mule, due to the sports suspension)

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 31 Mar 2005, 20:30

Nobody replies to a survey and says "my cars wonderful!!" I have never yet seen anyone on watchdog saying "my C2 is great, no faults at all!!"
They are usually taken as oportunities to grouse about a problem car, and, remember, Citroens are built down to a pile em high, sell em cheap price.

mbunting · Post by **mbunting** » 31 Mar 2005, 21:39

Ages ago, my then car ( a 306 TD ) was in for repairs, and I was loaned a Saxo 1.1i for the duration. I was due to go with my mum, and meet my dad in the caravan in north wales, a trip I was looking forward to in the 306 - nice and easy.
The saxo was gutless, cramped, bumpy, and noisy.
Now I have an AX 1.5 Diesel which has more punch than the saxo did ( except the clutch is gone, and in the next hour or so, I'll be at GSF in Sheffield ! )

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 31 Mar 2005, 22:29

Hang on a mo, Saxo worst car? Am I right or is the Saxo Citroens best selling small car, sorry best selling model ever? apart from the 2CV I mean. Also lets not forget the Sun newspaper that stallwart of upstanding and public decency. Nice B**bs by the way.

Rostami · Post by **Rostami** » 31 Mar 2005, 22:49

Special Saxos apart (like powerful 1.6 and so on) the saxo is the cheapest car from Citroen, so I guess there is no need to say much more... It does what we expect it to do. Who can ask for miracles.
I say a Clio is much better (much more of a car), but its also more expensive (in Portugal). You get what you pay for.

dillosk8ter · Post by **dillosk8ter** » 01 Apr 2005, 00:52

I personally rate the Clio less than the Saxo.......much less!! Especially in its first form when it was poorly constructed, cramped, dodgy driving position, rust prone with dodgy, failure prone gearboxes and when compared to a Saxo......inferior crash protection.

arry_b · Post by **arry_b** » 01 Apr 2005, 00:59

How many Saxos were sold on the back of the free insurance offer?
And how many of those sales were to spotty yoofs who thrashed the car to within an inch of it's death without any maintenance? Or spent the money on spoilers instead of oil and filters?
The poor rating is probably more of a reflection on who the cars sold to, than a representation of the cars themselves.

mbunting · Post by **mbunting** » 01 Apr 2005, 02:30

Good question Arry_b, and also how many were written off by yoofs who didn't care because the insurance was free anyway...

Stinkwheel · Post by **Stinkwheel** » 01 Apr 2005, 02:54

Stuart,
Actually to this day the next best selling citroen (after 2CV's and family) is the G series, remember they made GS + GSA's for 14 years. Amazing that you dont see more. but they sold more than saxo's.

dillosk8ter · Post by **dillosk8ter** » 01 Apr 2005, 03:08

According to 2 Citroen books I have 245,002 Saxo's were sold here between 1996 and 2002 (6 years) and 106,645 GS/A's here (16 years).
Also 148,991 Xantia's between 1993 and 2001.
22,475 XM,
217,257 AX,
46,412 CX,
219,529 BX.

dillosk8ter · Post by **dillosk8ter** » 01 Apr 2005, 03:30

Oh and 108,415 2cv and variants. Im very, very sad!!