2002 Citroen Xsara VTR 1.6 litre 16v from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

An enjoyable small car which is safe and easy to live with

Faults:

The car has proved very reliable, but little things like the back seat clip and radio aerial have been replaced by the dealer under warranty.

General Comments:

The reason I bought the car was that I found it was so exciting to drive. Now that it has been run in it is a delight. The handling is much better than most cars we test drove before buying it.

The gearing suits the open road, but as I live in the centre of a city and still find it a joy to drive it must be flexible.

I find the styling more pleasing now than when I bought it because I know how practical it is. The interior is very roomy.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th June, 2003

2002 Citroen Xsara LX 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Love it Love it Love it

Faults:

Front drivers speaker distorted. Deal replaced.

General Comments:

Great deal from local dealer. OTR price £11995 I paid just £8900.

Drives great.

Looks great.

Spec. great for price.

Can't understand why motoring press (What Car) slag it off so much. I can't believe the Focus is THAT much better!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th March, 2003

30th Mar 2003, 09:36

It's great that you got such a good deal. They are lovely looking cars and well specified. I think where the Focus has a huge edge is in the build quality. Everyone, including myself who have bought a Xsara will say what great value (I paid £9500 for a VTR Coupe with air-con, metallic and alloys) but will also say that they fall apart like mine did. After numerous attempts to fix faults such as erroneous fault lights, radio not working - (electrics are their achilles hill - wait for the wet months in the winter!) I and others have simply given up and bought something else. You'll enjoy driving it without a doubt, just hope you don't mind visiting your dealer on an EXTREMELY regular basis. Basically if you can get rid of it now I would, whilst a) it still goes so you can sell it and b) whilst it is still actually worth something - depreciation for the Xsara is amazing - after 10 months mine was only worth £5000 - trust me about this - I've been there! and if you don't, just read the other scathing reviews! The magazine are right to pan this car.

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2002 Citroen Xsara VTR 1.6 16v from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Great if you need the room, otherwise buy a Saxo!

Faults:

Electrical fault with indicator stalk broke leaving me without any indicators. It took the dealer 4 weeks to get the part in stock, in which time they scratched the paint on the drivers side of the car quite badly.

The engine makes 'pinking noises' Despite numerous attempts to quieten this down the only solution is to use Shell Optimax Petrol. This has also cured problems with the engine hesitating and lacking power at times.

The radio does not store any of the pre-sets. Apparently this is a fault with all Citroen's. It has had three new radios, and on the last attempt to fix the problem the dealer didn't re-set the fule guage peoperly after re-attaching the battery which meant the car ran out of petrol, hence another trip on the back of a brake down truck.

Problems with the air-conditioning blowing out cold air for no reason - now fixed.

Under heavy braking the car would pull badly to the left - now fixed.

Passenger seat does not clip in place properly after being pushed forward - numerous attempts to fix this have proved fruitless.

General Comments:

The car looks fantastic in Arctic Steel which really sets of the coupe shape.

It's quite a good handling car, although the Saxo VTR/S is in a completely different league. The engine lacks low down power and sounds harsh at high revs. It is relatively poor on petrol and under heavy loads the engine still makes some pinking noises so it sounds like it's got a crate of milk bottles under the bonnet.

The interior is quite spacious if a little on the cheap side.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th January, 2003