*Reg Vardy – Citroen Dealership*
*Background*
My Old-Faithful Seat Ibiza recently failed its MOT and the garage in question wanted a very large sum of money to carry out any further repairs. Considering my bank balance is not exactly worth of a lottery winner, I thought I’d venture out ... Read review
Advantages: Excellent Service, Good Stock of Cars Disadvantages: None at present
*Reg Vardy – Citroen Dealership*
*Background*
My Old-Faithful Seat Ibiza recently failed its MOT and the garage in question wanted a very large sum of money to carry out any further repairs. Considering my bank balance is not exactly worth of a lottery winner, I thought I’d venture out and buy a replacement vehicle. Scary thought. Being female, and wanting to enter a male dominated environment does not exactly instil ... ...particularly interested in, mainly the Citroen Saxo's, and filled in an info box asking Reg Vardy to contact me. This again was impressive; I was able to choose whether they contacted me via e-mail or phone, and even the time of day. The guarantee was also there that they wouldn’t disclose my details to anyone.
The next point of call, was finding a dealership close by. Reg Vardy has sites located over the majority of England, and I ... more
*Reg Vardy – Citroen Dealership*
*Background*
My Old-Faithful Seat Ibiza recently failed its MOT and the garage in question wanted a very large sum of money to carry out any further repairs. Considering my bank balance is not exactly worth of a lottery winner, I thought I’d venture out and buy a replacement vehicle. Scary thought. Being female, and wanting to enter a male dominated environment does not exactly instil me with feelings of joy!
To begin this journey, I bought the local newspapers to search for a roadworthy car of reasonable value. The choice was overwhelming. Everywhere I looked was another dealership; offering yet more deals, for what were reported to be excellent cars. Not to prove a point, but I know nothing about cars, so didn’t really know what was a good bargain and what wasn’t. So where better place for a girl to turn, than to her Dad.
My dad instantly suggested going to a Reg Vardy garage, he had recently taken my older sister there for her new car, and he had been very impressed with the service, so being a good daughter I followed my dads advice.
*Website*
Logging on to the Reg Vardy website, www.regvardy.co.uk, I was able to easily navigate there website to the used cars section. Here I was offered a range of options to held me find the car I was looking for. I could choose from the “lifestyle” of the car, e.g. Small, medium etc, Whether the car was a manual or automatic, what type of fuel it used, the car make etc. I was also able to choose from a range of offers designed to aid the purchase of buying a new car – these for example included GBP99 deposit, or GBP1000.00 part exchange for your old car.
Clicking go, instantly brought up a range of cars suited to my selection – excellent.
Using the choice of cars, I selected a few I was particularly interested in, mainly the Citroen Saxo's, and filled in an info box asking Reg Vardy to contact me. This again was impressive; I was able to choose whether they contacted me via e-mail or phone, and even the time of day. The guarantee was also there that they wouldn’t disclose my details to anyone.
The next point of call, was finding a dealership close by. Reg Vardy has sites located over the majority of England, and I had 4 to choose from within a 20-mile radius.
*Phone Calls*
I received my first phone call the same day as I made my Internet selection. The Internet Sales contact was friendly, polite and professional, and his knowledge of the website and its details was up to speed. He answered all the questions I had, and even expanded on several with additional details he was able to provide, about the specific stock of the four dealerships I was particularly interested in. He provided me with details of special offers, regarding the cars I had selected, and talked me through several Finance options.
The Sales contact advised he would also contact the dealerships in question to provide them with a time and date of when I would be free to browse, in order that someone would be there to answer my questions.
The next day I received calls from two of the dealerships, providing me with contact details of their Sales Executives and details of any cars that were now out of stock since I had initiated my enquiries. Again the calls were made by polite, friendly, professional and knowledgeable staff.
*Visiting the dealers*
I made the effort to visit the Citroen dealer the next day, in accordance with the times and dates I had provided them. I was offered refreshments upon my arrival, and the option to browse whilst the Sales Executive finished with another client. Although I declined the service was available, and appeared to be enjoyed by other customers.
Within 5 minutes of being seated, the Sales Executive who had called me the day before approached me. He showed me outside, and proceeded to ask questions of what cars was interested in and when shown, proceeded to provide detailed knowledge of the cars, showing me around inside and out. At all times he was very genuine, asking sincere questions and providing honest answers.
During my visit there I was suitably impressed and was lucky enough to see the car I wanted. The Sales executive instantly asked if I wanted to take the car for a test drive, and was obtaining my driving license details prepared the car. Understandably I was very nervous. My Old Faithful was a very basic car; with none of the modern accessories or standard equipment you generally get with new models. However I was very reassured when the Sales Executive offered to drive me to a quieter location before I started the test drive. This I was particularly grateful for, especially as I live in a very busy town.
*Sales*
After choosing my car, the Sales Executive proceeded to walk through all the details he required in order to process my application. He was detailed throughout, and consistently stopped to ensure I understood the process and procedures. His understanding of the process was impeccable and not once did I feel in incapable hands.
The whole process of choosing my car, taking it for a test drive, going through the necessary paperwork took just under two hours. A Reasonable amount of time, I think for the detail that he provided.
*Handover*
I went back to the dealership 3 days later to collect my car, and hand over mine as a part exchange. Again the service was impeccable. I was assisted by the same Sales Executive who had sold me the car, who again showed me around the car in question, ensuring I was familiar with the controls before leaving the Dealership. The final signature and the last handshake came, leaving me with the knowledge that my car and the finance procedure had gone successfully.
*Result*
Reg Vardy Citroen in my opinion, are to be rated very highly. The Sales executives are all polite and friendly, and exceedingly knowledgeable about the cars they hold in stock. The service I received was overall, fantastic, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone.
UPDATE Aug 04 - I've been the proud owner of my Citroen Saxo now for almost 5 months, and I am incrediably proud of my purchase. This is one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned, and fuel consumption is a dream! At the moment she is providing me with almost 400 miles to a full tank, costing me about £30 per time. This little stroke of luck is a dream come true, as its lasting me for weeks!!Thanks for reading,
Advantages: Economic and reliable Disadvantages: Poor acceleration
THE CITREON BX19 DIESEL.
Although the Citreon BX19 Diesel cannot be bought new I must stress that I haven't owned a car in its class that is more economic and reliable.
Even being 10 year old and 187,000 miles on the clock it is considered only just 'run in'. I have kept to the routine maintenance schedule such as oil and filter changes and took it to the garage whenever there seem to be problem.
The only rust I can find is a 10mm hole in the ... ...or Montego rust would have been a problem.
The suspension is second to none, but can be costly when needing repair.
To date in the last 4 years I have had the following repairs:
1. One return pipe came adrift. Cost £0.00 DIY
2. The height adjuster needed replacing. Cost £70
3. Radius arm bearings changed. Cost £130
4. Three spheres changed. £32 each.
Economy.
The fuel consumption is rated at 58mpg at 56mph, I manage to get 50mpg over all ...
Beany 25.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citroen
Advantages: Wide choice of cars Disadvantages: Poor service, lack of customer care, poor quality cars
I bought my first nearly new car from Dixon Nissan and was impressed by the service provided when the car broke down within a week of purchase. A couple of years later my sister, acting on my recommendation, decided to buy a car from them. Having gone with her to the show room I found a car I wanted and decided to trade my Peugeot 306 in. I purchased a 1997 Vauxhall Vectra and my sister bought a smaller car. The day after buying her car my sister ... ...belt was faulty, at one point the imoboliser kicked in and she had to call out the AA. The service staff at Dixons where extremely unhelpfull. They didn't want to listen to her description of the problems and were unable to offer a courtesy car unless she booked two weeks ahead.
My Vectra did not perform any better. The engine cut out everytime I approached traffic lights and, on one occasion, in the middle of the round-about. In the year since ...
Ceadour 05.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Citroen
Advantages: Great Value Cars and Fantastic deals Disadvantages: High priced servicing
I can not describe enough my delight in my new Citreon Xsara purchased in March 2003 from CD Brammall.
My previous car (bought secong hand) had been nothing but trouble from the beginning and I longed to be able to afford a brand new car.
CD Brammall had appeared to always have top deals such as cashback, no vat, so I thought that they may be worth a visit.
The service I received at the showroom was absolutely top quality and I was talked through ... ...a test drive and generally made to feel that my custom was important.
I was able to take advantage of the available deal which gave me £2300 cash back on the purchase price and was also allowed to extend my finance term by 6 months to make the monthly payments more affordable.
2 weeks later I was able to collect my brand new Xsara and drive it away with no problems or hassle what so ever. I also received a courtesy call a week later to ensure everything ...
princess5581 30.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Citroen
...refused to resolve the problem.
Citroen UK have done nothing to help us.
We approached Trading Standards in West Yorkshire, but they refused to help because we live in Derbyshire. Trading Standards in Derbyshire refused to help because we bought the car from a dealer in West Yorkshire!!!
We paid a premium and bought from a main dealer in order to get support if anything went wrong. In the end, we'd have been better buying at auction and using ...
johninderbyshire 06.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Citroen
Advantages: Quick sale, information explained clearly Disadvantages: Bombarded with figures,
...My final choice was a Citroen Saxo, and the £1000 cash back that Citroen were offering was a huge bonus.
I am usually assertive and confident, but I was slightly nervous about entering the male dominated and being unduly patronised by the sleazy salesmen. Knowing very little about cars, I was also worried they would bombard me with incomprehensible information. Fortunately I never met my stereotyped-salesman. I was welcomed professionally and everything ... ...sales office.
After deciding to go ahead and purchase the car I never saw my kind salesman again. Instead all my dealings with the garage were through a pushy sales clerk. When I went into the garage to sign documentation, she was very forceful in trying to sell me advised ‘optional extras’ such as payment protection and direct debits for my servicing. I was told that paying £15 a month for twelve months of the year on direct debit for annual servicing, ...
aliceread 21.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Citroen
Advantages: Quirky. Fun. French. Disadvantages: Creaks and shakes. Slow. Unsafe.
"AAAhhh, it's a little Citroen Saxo."
Yes, for about a year now I have been driving around in my little Saxo, and I now feel qualified to tell you something about it. This review, I'm afraid, comes four years too late, as the Saxo went out of production in the year 2000. It has since been replaced by a more 21st century, bubble-like car, the C3. There no question that the C3 is the nicer of the two, with its chic French curves, however at £9.000 it's not to everyone's liking.
And so we come to the humble Saxo. Weighing in at 805kg the Saxo is very small, so obviously would not be suitable for big families, or indeed for people with big legs which invariably get crushed if they sit in the back seats. An avid Saxo-spotter, I have found they come in a spectrum of colours, the most offensive and most striking being bright yellow. It ...
pleaseratemyreview 02.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citroen Saxo 1.1
Advantages: Fun, Handles well, Cheap to buy Disadvantages: dealer parts are expensive, few common problems
Citroen Saxo 1.4 Exclusive
Firstly a bit about what the car has, both inside and out as standard.
I'm basing this on a 2000 W plate Mk2 5door automatic model.
Inside
Electric heated mirrors
Electric windows
Tilting/sliding sunroof
Two air bags, driver and passenger
Standard CD player
Three speed fan
Rear heated windscreen
Valour upholstery
Rev counter
Digital clock
Spit folding rear seats
Outside
Colour coded side strips and bumpers
Colour coded mirrors and grill
Power steering
Servo Assisted Brakes
Alloy wheels as standard
Remote central locking
Car alarm
Boot spoiler
Statistics
According to book figures
Top speed - 103 mph
0-60 - 13.9 seconds
3 speed gear box
Mpg - 35
Torque 82 lb-ft
Petrol
Insurance group 5
1360 cc 8v
Weight - 880kg
My own opinion ...
Advantages: space and easy to drive Disadvantages: personally haven't got one
i brought a citroen xsara picasso just after my baby was born as my other car wasnt big enough to get anything else but the pushchair in the boot. i used to have a renault clio which i loved and i was worried about driving a bigger car but there was no need as a picasso is easier to drive and has loads of room in the front and back easy to put the seats down to create more room lots of drinks holders in front and back and i the doors so hopefully no sticky car food trays in the back for the kids easy to use controls and you can view loads of information about how many miles you can do to the petrol already in the tank your average speed how many miles left until a service is due a/c electric windows and mirrors definatley a family car and since purchasing this car i have realised how poular it is and a few of my friends have one too ...
