THE Citroen Saxo is getting pretty long in the tooth these days but lower mileage cars with full service history are still around and they’re the ones to go for.
The great thing about the Saxo is real small car comfort. It rides better than many cars costing twice as much, and still holds the road well around the corners.
Most later models had the essential power steering and are hard work without it.
It was standard on earlier SX and most 1.4, 1.6 and diesel models, but was an option throughout the range.
Latterly, engines were 1.1 60bhp, 1.4 75bhp and 1.6 120bhp petrol, or 1.5 non-turbo diesel with 58bhp.
The diesel is noisy and slow but very economical, managing 53mpg on the combined cycle.
The hot hatch VTR and VTS have been top sellers because it is such brilliant value for money.
But if you ever think of buying a hot hatch secondhand, look carefully to see if it has been hard used.
Interior
The pedals are offset to the left and this can take some getting used to but they have a substantial feel and a reasonable quality, long lasting interior.
Headroom is fine unless a sunroof is fitted so if you are tall, find one without. Rear seat space is not bad and the boot is bigger than many other superminis.
FAST FACTS
Citroen Saxo
Price: Pay about £1,000 privately for an ’03 03-reg Desire 5dr, or £1,070 for an ’04 04-reg Forte 3dr
Mechanical: 60bhp, 1,124cc, 4cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5-speed manual gearbox
Max speed: 102mph
0-62mph: 12 seconds
Combined mpg: 46
Insurance group: 9
CO2 emissions: 145g/km
Marks: 8/10
Main rival: Nissan Micra