Thursday 12th October 2017

Citroen Saxo VTS: Spotted

Would you pay £4K for a Saxo VTS? The way things are going, it could be a bargain

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We should have seen this coming really. Perhaps a few of you did. But when values of the Clio Williams, the 205 GTI (look at this one) and the Citroen AX shot up as rapidly as they did, a fact became patently clear: small, fun, French hot hatches had become hot property in the used car market, and all would have their time in the spotlight at some point.

Why? For many these cars represent a more dangerous and rebellious youth, the need to try one again as a proper adult much too desperate to care about value for money. For others it may have taken until later in life before a proper hot hatch could be afforded. And another section may just want to see what the fuss was all about in the 'good old days'; combine all those prospective buyers with the reality of such raw hot hatches never happening again and you have a perfect storm for a big climb in prices.

Point being that the Citroen Saxo VTS was pretty much guaranteed to become more valuable. Not only was it properly quick, but it looked good and was renowned for a, er, 'traditionally French' pocket rocket handling balance. The VTS is flighty and frenzied in a way that 21st century hot hatches cannot be, and that makes it desirable.

As a cheap car to start with, the Saxo was only going to get cheaper as a secondhand purchase. If they weren't modified from new then they were just a few years later, and if they weren't crashed when new then... well, you know what happened. With the recent scrappage schemes taking more fast Saxos off the road as well, the situation is now pretty desperate - just in case values needed any further assistance...

No, it really is desperate. HowManyLeft says there are currently just 387 Saxo VTSs registered on UK roads, down from a peak of 6,797 at the end of 2004. If an automotive endangered species list existed, the VTS would top it and the protesters would be out in force: "Down with Saxo slaughter!", "Save our Citroens!", "Oversteer is OK!" and so on. Once a fixture of every leisure centre car park, the VTS is now a seriously rare car.

Hence this 2002 car is for sale at £4,695, a price it probably hasn't attracted for more than a decade. It looks a lovely example too, even if the facelifted car is a tad less desirable than the original. Completely standard with just 52,971 miles, this Wicked Red Metallic car has 18 Citroen main dealer stamps, a recent cambelt and every single MoT certificate since its first in 2005. You really won't find a better Saxo VTS, and it promises to be an absolute riot. Just keep it out of hedges...

What else might you have? Well a SportKa will be a bit slow by comparison, a Renaultsport Twingo is in budget but will feel very grown up and a similar 106 GTI is still another three thousand pounds more expensive. So even after all this time, the Saxo VTS looks a bit of bargain, but take our word for it: they're not going to stay this way!

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CITROEN SAXO VTS
Engine: 1,587cc, 4-cyl
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 119@6,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 107@5,200rpm
MPG: 33
CO2: 201g/km
First registered: 2002
Recorded mileage: 52,971
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £4,695

See the original advert here.

[GrandAndrew]

I'm a bit (completely) biased but I think the 106 just looks better.

Great cars though.

[sidesauce]

£43,000 for a Peugeot 205GTI!? £43. Thousand. Pounds!?!?! Even with all the work on offer to be done to the next buyer?

No. Just..... How?

No.

[KerwinRobertson]

Get an Ignis Sport, they are sitting about £1500 with decent mileage. Similar fun for much less :-)

[s m]

Why yes, yes I would.

In fact I paid about 2.5 times that for one

[LewisR]

Engine: 1,587cc, flat--4

Interesting. I could have sworn it was an I-4 !!

[Murphy16]

I seem to remember these understeering a fair bit and not filling me with confidence on the road when pressing on.

[mnx42]

I had an identical one to this, bought when it was 6 months old. I remember it fondly as it seemed much quicker than the 8v Astra GTE I part ex'd it for. It handled very well but I did get caught out once with oversteer when barrelling down a very narrow country road. Great car but £4000? Still i too reckon that will seem like a bargain in the coming years. Best grab a RS172 while I still can afford one!

[s m]

Mine was quite confidence inspiring and the back was quite adjustable with a lift into a corner

Was on the OEM SX GTs
Felt different on the P700-z

[dufunk]

119bhp wasn't a lot even for the time sure the 4AGE was making that in 1983!

[hondansx]

I've always been a Clio guy, but I do remember the stories of the VTS being able to punch above it's weight despite the BHP deficit.

These sort of cars were the poster cars of my youth - I used to obsessively lust over Novas, Saxos, Escorts and Clios as a 16 year old, and then during the period I could only afford to run the lowly 1.2 litre versions of these cars. You could quite easily pull on my nostalgic heart strings to make me part with £4k!

[WCZ]

hondansx said:

I've always been a Clio guy, but I do remember the stories of the VTS being able to punch above it's weight despite the BHP deficit.

These sort of cars were the poster cars of my youth - I used to obsessively lust over Novas, Saxos, Escorts and Clios as a 16 year old, and then during the period I could only afford to run the lowly 1.2 litre versions of these cars. You could quite easily pull on my nostalgic heart strings to make me part with £4k!

+1
not keen on this colour though

[culpz]

KerwinRobertson said:

Get an Ignis Sport, they are sitting about £1500 with decent mileage. Similar fun for much less :-)

True in terms of the fun-factor but the performance is definitely a fair bit off. A Clio 172/182 can be had for a similar price to the Ignis and is much more like it in terms of power but still a great drive.

That's what i'd have and will probably end up buying early next year. I do like the little Ignis though but VTS would not even be on my radar, despite it being a cracking little hatch.

[Gad-Westy]

Murphy16 said:

I seem to remember these understeering a fair bit and not filling me with confidence on the road when pressing on.

I think you drove a wrongun. They are really front-endy. Very good turn in bordering on twitchy. Really good fun these, though choose your footwear carefully or you'll be pressing all three pedals at once a lot. Spoilt at the time by the barry boys but now would happily have an original phase 1 on standard 14" wheels.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Thursday 12th October 11:59

[Matt Bird]

LewisR said:

Engine: 1,587cc, flat--4

Interesting. I could have sworn it was an I-4 !!

Sorry, of course it was. I didn't add the spec but my name is on the story so my apologies. Will sort it now!


Matt

[Johnny5hoods]

I always liked them. Never actually had one, or even driven one. Had a Clio 182 FF, though, and always felt it was too heavy and slightly too stiffly sprung and tyred to be truly chuckable. Having previously owned a Citroen ZX (just a 1.4i) and found that to have brilliant handling, I've sometimes wondered whether a VTR/VTS might make the ultimate chuckable/flickable small hatch at speeds you can tell a policeman about. My Clio was, in theory, a very well sorted car. But I always felt the Cup suspension pack was a bridge too far at road speeds. I'm a big believer in soft suspension settings and high profile tyres. I would like to think this makes a car come alive in your hands and start talking to you at lower speeds.

[Johnny5hoods]

I remember Autocar magazine saying, back in the day when Steve Sutcliffe and a few others who really knew their stuff were there, that handling/ride balance is more important than 'handling' alone when it comes to stringing together a series of bends with some balance and poise. Got a feeling it was a 90's Citroen they were referring to at the time. Or maybe a 306 (similar underneath to a ZX).

[LewisR]

It fails the No. cyls > No. seats test... and it's FWD and it's a hatchback.

You can get a straight-6 Z4 or 325i for the same price.

Edited by LewisR on Thursday 12th October 12:23

[graham22]

Pre-face lift in silver/black maybe but not this colour/grill, had lost it's originality by then.



Agree with who said the 106 was nicer but it was the Saxo which made the impact at the time. Never had one, was too grown up when they came out but I imagine, like many before, previous owners of these may now have disposable income for a toy/investment/memories.

[Dave Hedgehog]

sidesauce said:

£43,000 for a Peugeot 205GTI!? £43. Thousand. Pounds!?!?! Even with all the work on offer to be done to the next buyer?

No. Just..... How?

No.

bargain

how about 66k for a nova

[GregMac]

I'd take a GTI-6 over one of these any day of the week.