Before I carry on with the review, I must confess to being a French car enthusiast, previously owning 205 and 309 models. I drive a Mini One and a classic Escort amongst other cars. However, I will try not to let this colour my writing on this particular car - which is owned by my girlfriend.
The Saxo is the last in a line of lightwieght compact and fun french hatchbacks, which in many ways started with the 205 design and include the 106, and AX and 309. They all had a similar shell construction and mechanical layout. The 106 shares its shell with the saxo along with torsion bar rear suspension which gives the car a nice supple ride for its size.
The Saxo has a reputation
for not being particularly strong in an accident. If this is at all a problem for you then dont consider this car. It isnt the most reliable, having a number of niggly problems (none serious or expensive to fix). Again, if this is a problem for you, buy a Honda or Japanese/German make.
For others who decide to purchase, you will be rewarded with one of the most well rounded small car packages ever in terms of valuve vs smiles per mile. I much prefer Saxo to driving my Mini One.
Living with Saxo Our car has been great from a practical sense. Getting big stuff into any small car is a problem although the load sapce is good and those every day catches, controls etc work fine.
The Forte comes with an in head CD player, wind up windows, sunroof, rev counter, hazzard warning lights, wheels, seats etc. Thats it. No extra weight to contend with. If there was anything I would consider doing is to add an aftermarket immobiliser. The CD player, if you get one, is great.
In terms of performance, the 1.1 is a little slow. If you know how to get the best out of an engine this isnt a problem and you will soon find yourself moving briskly, keeping things on the boil with a few more frequent gear changes than usual. My advice here, get one with a rev counter or if you are impatent dont be tight and get one with a bigger engine! I would reccommend the 1.4 Furio or 1.6 VTR (8v) if you want anything that has all-round performance.
Fuel Even driven hard on motorways or back lanes it will always give around 45mpg. On a long careful drives we achieve 50mpg easilly.
handling is its best quality - lots of FUN. Dont forget the VTR/VTS performance models are considered amongst the best handling cars around. It is beautifully balanced. My only critisism of the car here is that the ride can get 'bouncy' at times on rough roads but the ride is never harsh at all. Steering on the non-power assisted cars is slow around dead centre. This can be cured by correctly inflating the tyres then letting 1-2 PSI out of them. Most other reviewers would probably advise finding one with power steering which is more user friendly. By the way the steering non-power steered cars is light with plenty of feedback so dont let that worry you too much. On the subject of tyres the Michelien Energys fitted as new are poor - replace them with Pirelli 3000s as soon as you get chance - far safer in the wet.
Servicing has never been a problem and even the main dealers will still service them with care.
What Goes Wrong? Our car is a "51" plate and despite low mileage has not been without its problems. Most of the problems are due to lack of use, it was a 3rd car at one point when we had more vehicles available. First, the gear shift became stiff, and whilst under warranty the gear mechanism was rebuilt. One or two other small problems we had with the car were the unfastening of the CV boot retaining clips on the driveshafts meaning a return to the dealer for refastening. Brake discs have been replaced a couple of times - i think this is mainly due to the car standing then being used by me (more heavy footed than average on stop and go pedals). Most repairs like the brakes are very inexpensive, items like brake discs cost buttons to repair/replace.
Overall Basic value for money package which is more fun to drive than most modern cars.
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Jun 4th, 2006
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