jezp

Thinking of buying one as a run around to and from work looking at the facelift model 2000 with about 40k on the clock i know its french but any1 have any ideas on what i should be looking out for major problems etc?

nathanb

iTrader: (1)

Things that failed on mine

-Gearbox
-Brakes
-Head gasket
-Clutch (thrust bearing particularly weak, listen for noise when lifting clutch!!)

Sold at 55K cos it cost too much!!!!!!


To sum up.......STAY WELL CLEAR!!!!

wilb

Problems I had with my 02 VTR were: Knocking suspension, irratic idle, EVERYTHING creaking and a back window that wouldn't stay open,

Try http://www.saxosportsclub.com it might make more sense than registering on a Subaru site to ask questions about a VTS.

scrappy doo puppy power

i had both the vtr then the vts did not have any probs with either. i would say that i had as much fun in the vts than i do in the sti the sti is more fun off the line but the look on peoples face when you beat them in the vts when they are in much better cars is priceless i was that impressed with the vts i am after one for the track and they just love to rev around the clock and they go off the clock

gatecrasher3

Be on the look out for:

Lexus lights
Neon windscreen washer jets
Multiple exhaust pipes
Front fog lights that come on with the ignition
Kenwood/Alpine/Clarion sticker in rear window

sparky300

girlfirends saxo cost so much more to run. she had a saxo vts 16v it was very fast for a little car but. she ended up playing with it, hitting 140bhp on a dyno, the car was very quick, shamed my jap 2l import at the time (not a wrx lol), but she would never buy one again.

the car is not build well (engine) as standard its just 2 much power for the car it seems, spend more time getting fixed then driving.

list of things that went (the car was new went we got it, almost no miles, sold 3 years later when we would have had to start paying to fix it)

-Gearbox - went after 3 years of owning (from new)
-Brakes - lost count!
-Head gasket - would have cost £800 to fix and that was cheap, cus its a twin cam or something they stated.
-Clutch - did 3 of these - too much power for a small car!
- power streeting - £600

the car was serviced every 6mths but it just kept going wrong!

PS a firend of my had a vts too, she had so many problems also. the vtr does not seem to have as many issues, few friends had vtr and never had any issues.

sparky300

PPS - bad car, and thats from someone who owned one!

sparky300

to prove my point even more: http://www.carsurvey.org/modelyear_C...Saxo_1999.html

never seen so many unhappy faces

mattbeef

why not be more respectable and get a 106GTI?

BigAl024

Gearbox, Gearbox, Gearbox

saphcos

Got to say I haven't had too many problems with mine. Super little car. Watch out for crumbling radiators, knocking from either front wheel (usually a drive shaft, particularly if it's lowered), erratic idle.

That's about it. Remember they WILL rattle. But for the cost you get a fast, pretty reliable little car imo.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

head gaskets prone to go on the engines also warps the head various electrical problems.

bob r

iTrader: (46)

i had a new 98 vts for 4 years. i did over 30 k miles, had it lowered (as you do with these cars) and exhaust ind/kit etc. to sum it up...........superb little car! it didnt go back to the dealers apart from the serices and i drove it quite hard.
as with any models/makes there are always horror stories but i think they are great motors.

nathanb

iTrader: (1)

Not true! They're not just horror story's. Mine was looked after VERY well and it broke consistently!! They just cant take any hard driving and thats what I thought they were made for?? Obviously not.

Even if you do find a superb example, any hard driving will ruin it!

Andy McCord

As with all citroens you get good ones and bad ones, wife had 2 saxos, a 1.1 that was extremely reliable & a 52 plate VTS, had probs with ecu warning light, discs warped after 10K, downpipe used to bang against the gearbox, apart from that it was good fun to drive once we got it back from the dealership

Mr Bat

Mine had ecu managment problems and a rattly exhaust (went back 3 times over that)but boy was it fun. Razor sharp handling but could be a real handful over rough surfaces, cheap thrills indeed.

I was seriously sad to see it go, loved that car ! (it was totally standard)

mr flibble

I had '97 vts back in the day. Had several problems:

Fuel line split at the pump gushing out fuel all over the place;

ECU, Alarm would go off whenever it felt like it;

Radiator split;

Exhaust went, had to wait 6 weeks as nobody in the area had one, so Citroen had to get one from france (Saxo was still a new model at the time so parts were a pain);

Discs warped;

However, I had some fun in my VTS I drove it hard, and still miss it today, great little car.
Most of the teenagers who lived close by started to buy VTR's during my 3rd year of ownership, so I sold up 6 years ago and bought MY00 UK turbo as I didn't want a 'boy racer' car anymore, I seem to have gone full circle again

M.

Bakerman

Bizarre isn't it, had one of the first VTS in the UK back in the 90s (P plate) for 10k miles and nowt went wrong. Based on that then bought a 160bhp version (lowered as well ....... obviously) (R plate) and proceeded to do 50k hard miles in just over 3 years and I thought it was fantastic. Brother had a tuned VTR which again didn't cause him any problems. Had more issues with a second hand (from a Subaru dealer) MY99 impreza turbo than either of my Saxo's.

Have to be honest the build wasn't ideal (but then cars have come on a long long way since then) and the suspension did clonk/groan a lot but was never found to be at fault. Also had an AX GT for 50k miles before the Saxo and boy uh boy do I miss that, absolute hoot. Shame that everything is now so safe, heavy, predicatable aka boring.

The only things other than normal servicing at a Citroen dealer was that the discs needed replacing at 30k which from memory I think was expected. Gearbox and clutch were fine in both of mine.

Diablo

Here's enough reason to stay well clear

Euro Ncap crash test:-



The steering wheel moved more than allowed in the crash and the driver’s head reached a point where it was starting to move off the airbag which in some circumstance can become dangerous. The airbag also bottomed-out so allowing the driver’s head to contact the steering wheel. The body shell was defeated by the severity of the test and the occupant’s survival space was compromised. Despite load limiters being fitted to the front seat belts the chest loads were high. The front seat belts are also fitted with pretensioners which are designed to limit forward movement in the event of a crash. The door opened during the test and which was caused by the linkage being operated when the door’s inner skin separated from the outer. There were aggressively hard structures under the facia that would cause injuries to the knees and upper legs. Only a simple two point static belt was fitted in the centre rear seat, which can cause severe spinal and abdominal injuries.

Mr Bat

A good reason not to crash then. What was it with the weird pedal positioning as well? I'm sure that permanently ruined my back.

davedipster

Nasty things these vts's, steer well clear.

dipster