Friday 30th January 2015

Shed Of The Week: Citroen Saxo VTS

A standard (well, very nearly) Saxo VTS for £1K? Must be worth a look!

---

Consider yourself very fortunate that you understand English and don't have to learn it. Otherwise you'd be scratching your head at some of the odd phrases we use.

Not the Shed...

Here's one: 'barrel of laughs'. Clearly, you can't contain laughs in a barrel, but we all know what it means. It means you're having a riot. No, not that sort of riot, the other kind.

Anyway, if there's a barrel of laughs, it must surely be possible to have a sack of frowns. Forty years of matrimonial misery mean that Shed's happy barrel is slightly smaller than the one you'd find dangling from the chin of a St Bernard rescue dog in the Alps. His sack of sadness, however, is the size of Santa's.

What's all this got to do with the Citroen Saxo VTS? Well, few cars offer such high potential for barrel and sack extremes of pleasure and pain. Along with the Peugeot 106 GTI, this was one of the last great French hot superminis. With a springy 120hp motor in a light footed 935kg chassis, the range-topping twin-cam VTS topped 125mph and nailed 60mph in a low eight, maybe even a high seven. Compared to its softer brother, the VTR, it had a bigger master brake cylinder, ABS as standard and a thicker rear anti-roll bar.

If Citroen was making something like the VTS now, in 2015, you suspect it would be a raging success. Sadly, the Saxo was replaced by the distinctly average C2. The modern-day requirement of being able to smash into something at speed and step out with nary a scratch has more or less killed off what was a highly enjoyable genre. Shame we don't have the choice of signing a safety opt-out disclaimer in exchange for some good old-fashioned flimsiness. The odds are in your favour, too: honestly, how often have you been hit in the side by a massive steel block powered by hydraulic rams?

... also not the Shed. Facelift at least

106 GTIs tend to be favoured over Saxos as they have a somewhat nicer interior, what with the half-Alcantara seating and everything, and they also tend to be better looked after. But they're as thin on the ground as untrammelled Saxos.

Fortunately there are still some good Cits about. This looks like it might be one. It's from 2003, the last year of Saxo production. It's low mileage, it's only had three owners and it looks pukka from what we can see in the solitary pic the owner has deigned to take. We've put some generic ones in to remind you what the rest of it should or could look like, and of course to fill space.

With the mileage and ownership history, you'd like to think it's going to be OK, but let's have a quick rummage through the sack of doom and talk about some of the reasons why you might not want to take a chance on something that was brilliant when new but that is now 12 years old, and French.

The overall story with these cars is that yes, things break - it's in the nature of a beast that was designed to be driven hard - but your costs will never be wallet-meltingly high. Everything is fixable.

Hopefully it's got one of these

Let's start under the bonnet, and from the top. Head gaskets are known to fail. The seller of our Shed doesn't mention anything about the service history, or about the belts and pulleys. The official change schedule is 70-80K; call it 75K. It's a cheap job, so no big worries there even if it hasn't been done yet.

Idling is typically a bit rough, but they all do that sir. Not starting can be an issue, as can electrical niggles like the alarm kicking off of its own volition, the ABS light coming on etc, but these are often sensor-related and cheaply mended. Radiators get crumbly, but that happens to any old car.

Moving down, transmissions are predictably a victim of hard usage. Crunchy gearchanges might just be the clutch, which will become even more marginal if you're coaxing more power out of the engine - a tempting thing to do given that a decent induction kit, stainless manifold and decat exhaust will instantly put you on 140hp plus. But grinding gears might also be a problem with the gearbox itself, if it's been ragged to oblivion by fast and/or furious wannabes. Again, this needn't be a dealbreaker. Replacements are cheap, available, and easily fitted.

Driveshafts are vulnerable on lowered cars, but this one isn't lowered. You will need to lower yourself though for a close look under the back end. The rear axle/beam assembly is famously fragile on Saxos, putting one or more of your wheels at a jaunty angle, but once again the aftermarket is your friend: you can pick up a recon unit for £200 delivered. While you're down there in the muck have a look for corrosion in the boot area and inner arches.

Ah yes, the Saxo's glory days

Even when everything's running according to the factory's wishes a Saxo will generally have more rattles and creaks than a 1930s rollercoaster, both inside (often from the seats) and out (often the exhaust). Replacing the spring clamps might sort out your pipe squeaks. A ten foot extension bar might help you remove sticky alloys and a tube of bathroom sealant might help a leaky sunroof, but Shed accepts no responsibility if any of these suggestions fail or go terribly wrong.

There's a comment in the ad where the vendor seems to be apologizing for what most of us would consider a desirable feature, i.e. the stainless exhaust. It sounds a bit like selling your Elise and apologizing for the supercharger. Of course, what we think he's telling you in his own way is that a standard exhaust is all you'll need to restore the car to factory spec - which bodes well for the generally unbarried state of the whole car. Get it while it lasts.

Here is the ad.

79198 miles
Currently taxed, however as soon as the log book is received by the DVLA the tax will be refunded.
2 keys
MOT until 16th July 2015
I am the 3rd owner of the car.
i have owned the car for the past year and have had the following items replaced: 2 new tyres, new battery & a service.
The car is completely standard apart from a stainless steel exhaust which was on the car when i purchased it. I have looked around and you can get a standard one to replace the stainless steel one for around £40.00. you could probably sell the stainless steel one for £100+ its a very good quality one.
I am not looking to give the car away. it has never let me down the whole time i have owned it so if you re looking for a cheap reliable run around or a first car this could be exactly what you're looking for.

 

[Krikkit]

Cracking shed, these are a ridiculously fun car to throw about. Don't be put off by minor mechanical niggles either, they are an absolute doddle to work on (for the most part). A cambelt change is an easy 2h job with plenty of cups of tea.

[anonymous-user]

Ah Max Power.

[GTEYE]

Almost the last link back to the 106 & 205 GTi, which shared lots of parts, I wonder if these will similarly start to gain value in 10 years or so.

[Liquid Tuna]

Yes, can't be many standard ones left now.

[mrtwisty]

What a corking start to the year Shed! I can't remeber such an uninterrupted run of tempting sheds.






(It's going to be a mkII Laguna next week isn't it?)

[mrpenks]

Ah memories of the early noughties. I'm sure the Saxo came with unlimited free parking in McDonald's along with a VIP Halfords loyalty card.

[thiscocks]

Does he imply that the tax will be refunded to the new owner!? result

[thatguy11]

Always had a little bit of a soft spot for these and I'm sure they're heaps of fun for the money....but they're just too chav-tastic in my mind. Not sure I could live with one :P

[graham22]

How things have gone full circle, Saxo's popular again & Jordan's baps are now the same size as the pic!

Sounding like a snob but didn't the Saxos have a plastic steering wheel whereas the 106 GTI had leather - always something that niggles me, the cost saving on the bit you touch/hold the most.

[Dion20vt]

Owning a VTS has always been on my checklist as being a teen when these were mainstream, I could only afford the poverty spec VTR

A lot older and wiser (Cough) now, I'm glad I didn't own a VTS at the time, as I would have probably killed myself....

Good examples of these will fetch big money in 10-15 years time as the whole nostalgia thing kicks off. Like with 205 gti's, whats the average asking price for a 1.9 gti these days? Admittedly there wont be many still about by then, which will make the ones that did survive even more valuable!

We will look back and wonder how we ever survived driving cars like these with only one airbag, no abs (apart from the vts), no TC, no ESP, no parking aids and made from what felt like 20 year old coke cans "Back in my day...." and all that!

I miss hooning in my VTR... To be young once again!

[dbdb]

Not my kind of car at all, but then I'm not a teenager.

Is there some kind of 'new look' to the opening page of SOTW? - There was when I clicked on the article - a sort of sub-Facebook generic font clone-look thing. It wasn't pretty.

It reverted to the normal type when I made a comment though.

[rtz62]

I'm not sure which I like most; the review of the Halfords Special, or the comments alluding to the marital status of Shed, which are either filled with humour or pathos.
For some reason I have a mental image of Shed carting away his worldly belongings in an FSO Polonez in the next exciting instalment of 'Shed Of The Week'.....

[devnull]

I'd love a VTS as a toy. However, I've always been put off driving a Saxo when you see how utterly shocking they are in crashes (and I've seen a few...). They seem to just fold up into cube ready for the scrapheap, regardless of whether you're still in it or not. A work colleague of mine had one, understeered on a roundabout, mounted the kerb and came to a rest with the complete dashboard in his lap.

[Faust66]

Good shed!

Not normally my kind of car, but I've always had a sneaking admiration for the sporty Saxo and 106. As others have said, both are candidates for future classic status IMO.

Grab 'em while you can.

[StarmistBlue400]

Great shed. My mum had an AX GT that I used to be able to drive and had a go in a VTS when they came out, I thought it was bonkers at the time and great fun.

What a crap way to sell a car though. One st picture and no more.

[e21Mark]

Chap I know bought one the other day, with 9 months MOT and remaining tax, for princely sum of £270! It's destined to become a rally car.

[robertrobertson]

Oh that is proper cool I allways wanted a vts when a was a youngster .

[paulmaurice99]

Fantastic cars! At least they were then they were new - I've since gone off old French cars, and I imagine if I tried this I'd probably not like it. But how much of that is down to age and the onmarch of sensibleness?

Mine (a relatively humble VTR - though the difference between the VTR and the VTS was very similar to the difference between 8v and 16v Golf, ie. not very much unless you had the space to push past 5k rpm in every gear) was purchased brand new in Jan 98 (2 weeks into my first ever proper job and I buy a brand new car - aah young and single) oddly enough to replace a tired 205 GTI 1.6. Whilst I was really disappointed with the Pug - though I'm sure that had a lot to do with the very average example I'd stupidly bought - I thought the Saxo was outstanding. It was SO agile, so 'up on its toes' I couldn't get enough of it. They were pretty lively at the back end and I had many 'moments' but the car always took care of me, with one exception*. The OE Michelins were without question the ones to have though, you could generally get away with anything. But I remember the car feeling pretty different after I'd changed for a different brand. They'd only been on the market for 6 months or so, and were THE hot hatch to have at the time. Had great times in that car, including 4 up to Cannes at a steady 95-110 all the way. Poor car.

Anyway, I'm rambling. The thing that interested me in the comments is the whole 'teenage/chav' image comments: whilst not applicable when they first came out, sadly many of the later owners ARE to blame for that rep, BUT mention a 205 GTI on PH and it's nothing but praise - and there were plenty of tw*ts driving those if I recall. And in my experience (limited to only 1 example of each) the Saxo was far and away the better, more fun, car. There, that'll get a response!

PS I remember being very chuffed about having an airbag in a car, how expectations have changed! *The exception was when chasing an Audi S2 coupe along a road I knew well, in the wet, and on an off camber 90 degree bend I decided I could throw the car in, lift off and fire the car out, thereby gaining precious seconds on a well driven 230bhp quattro... (yes, I know) and amazingly the car did a nice pirouette, even more amazingly hitting nothing and coming to a gentle stop an inch from the hedge.

ETA: EVO ran a VTS long termer around the same time - they LOVED it. Ask Dickie Meaden what he thinks of them.

[sjabrown]

Flimsy but fixable. Fun.

[Dempsey1971]

I had a pre-facelift one of these in 1998. Mettalic green. Fabulous car. Nearly killed me 3 times (lift off oversteer was a big issue). Sold it for an S1 Elise, so out of the frying pan into the fire.