Faults:

When I first purchased the car I noticed the front seat backrests had noticeable play in them. Not a major problem, but as the car was still under warranty I sent it into my local dealer. No fault present, a feature on the saxo apparently.

The gear linkage had come away whilst travelling on the motorway at a high speed, probably due to vibration. The local dealership explained that sometimes the linkage pin isnt knocked in properly at the factory.

A rattle coming from the inlet manifold on idle. Sometimes its noticeable from inside the car. I sent it into the dealership and they tried telling me it was because my oil level was high. They didnt actually fix the fault or change my oil level. As Im a technician my self I sorted the oil level and the rattle was still present. Im thinking its coming from the idle valve.

Drivers side aperture seal was coming adrift. Sent the car into the dealership and seal was replaced.

A knocking from the steering when turned about a quarter of a turn, but only when the cars not moving. Sent the car in, no fault present. Sent the car in after another week had passed. Front suspension removed and struts greased. The fault is no longer present.

The rear window seal is coming adrift on the near side bottom corner.

When changing from 3rd to 4th gear, a squeak can be heard.

Front bonnet isnt level.

Off side front wing trim is slowly coming adrift from body.

Drivers door isnt level and creaks when operating.

Rocker cover has noticeable rust on it.

The car is coming up to its 3rd birthday and has only done 21000 miles.

General Comments:

When I first purchased the car I found the seating position a bit poor and the pedals close together, but after a few weeks I got used to them and find it pretty comfy and I'm 6ft 4'.

The build quality isn’t the best, but the car makes up for it self with its superb handling, very little under steer and an occasion of over steer to keep you on your toes. The car handles even better with a bit of weight in the rear, but watch out for the average brakes. The rear discs barely work compared to the front.

The 8v engine is very nippy, pulls all the way to maximum speed and has a great tone after 3000 rpm. Motorway driving can be very fun, city driving even better.

Fuel economy is great even when you push it.

Faults:

Extremely quick wearing brake pads - leading to disk replacement.

Transmission problems & failure.

Exhaust falling off.

General Comments:

The car is generally quite economic with fuel providing it is driven below 3000rpm.

It is very light on the road and corners need to be taken very slowly, especially in the wet. The grip is very poor and the car has wheelspin in 2nd gear when starting from still in the wet.

The suspension makes sure you feel every bump, in spite of the comfy seats. The CD player will feel every bump you do and cut out too.

Acceleration is pretty good for a 1.1 and top speed is not brilliant and will take quite a while to get to 100mph.

Faults:

I bought the car brand new in October 2002 and it is still under warranty, fortunately.

The 1st problem I had was with the CD player - it kept overheating and so the dealer repaired it. A month later the fault was occurring again and so it was replaced with a new one!

The 2nd problem was the ignition coil (twice). This was replaced by the dealer after I took the car in for recurrent stalling. Six months later - same fault, and so it was replaced for a 2nd time!!

The 3rd problem - Fuel Pump - the car juddered above 40mph. I took it to the dealer, and the part was replaced.

4th Problem. I was beginning to get rather annoyed at this point having bought the car from new, thus not expecting so many faults - if any! The inlet manifold pressure sensor needed replacing, which the dealer did. The dealership now knows me as soon as I walk in - we are on 1st name terms due to so much contact!!

Last, but not least, to top it off - the head gasket went and needed repairing, and the radiator required replacing.

General Comments:

I have had this car now for 2 and a half years and have so far had 6 parts replaced and a major problem with the head gasket - I can easily say that I have not been at all impressed with the reliability!

Luckily the faults have happened under warranty - God help me when that runs out in October!