Fantastically reliable, cheap and easy to use
Radio cassette not working consistently.
Compact dimensions are excellent in town for parking and manoeuvrability.
Even though its small in size outside, the inside is fairly roomy.
Responsive engine on motorways.
However engine noise above 70 is harsh and loud.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 28th November, 2005
Good and Bad
Faulty Fuel Injectors.
Corroded Discs.
Front wheel bearings.
Electric wing-mirrors stopped working.
Faulty dashboard electrics.
Erratic idle.
I owned this car for about a year and got to see both the good and bad points.
Possibly the best feature of my XSi was its road holding capability. Excellent chassis setup resulted in the best handling car I’ve ever driven. The suspension setup was good, with a relatively supple ride at low speeds. The 1.4 engine produced lots of torque right through the rev range and the car looked exceptional (gunmetal grey). Fuel Economy was also quite good.
A lot of people look on the XSi with fond affection, but the bad points far outweigh the good. The engine is thrashy, which is probably why so many get abused, you really have to hammer the thing to get the best out of it. The close ratio gear box makes motorway driving unbearable. The engine screams at motorway speeds, sound insulation is awful and the whole car gets buffeted around by cross winds. Generally felt very unstable and unsafe at high speeds. Feels a lot quicker than it actually is due to the ‘tin can’ nature of the car and being very low to the ground. Performance is okay, not a patch on modern day hot hatches. Build quality is awful, rattles all over the place and generally felt shoddily put together with patchy reliability. Insurance -
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 13th June, 2005
It's a reliable, cheap, economical car
The head gasket has just gone and proving to expensive to repair for the age of the car.
The heat shield fell off whilst driving.
The brakes wore down fairly quickly, a known problem for this type of car.
This car has no rust at all, which for a 12 year old car is great.
It's a small engine with 4 gears so motorway driving is a strain on the car. However I drove from Leeds to Swansea a couple of times with no problems.
It's incredibly cheap to run.
The interior is like new and hasn't worn at all. I wouldn't recommend to a large person though as room is limited.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 15th April, 2005
Major problems with oil leaks
3 major oil leaks, rear main seal, sump and front crank oil seal leak.
Leaking from water pump and heater core.
New CV boot.
After having all these problems with this car I decided to have a reconditioned engine dropped into the car.
I also had the heater core replaced costing me about £200.
Other than that the car starts first time every time.
I also get a great mpg.
It does struggle a bit on the motorway.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 23rd February, 2005
Major oil leak problems
Oil leak from rear main seal. Clutch has gone due to this.
Coolant leak somewhere, cannot locate.
O/s cv gaiter replaced.
Oil is also leaking from the oil sump gasket.
Very economical, seems to do about 60mpg.
The car is very basic and there are lots of rattles in the interior.
Slow, its OK for town driving, but struggles on the motorway.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 30th January, 2005
12th Mar 2006, 19:38
For an update...
My car flew through its annual health check with replacement front brake pads, however 4000 miles later they are wearing thin again. Other quips is the timing keeps moving out of time, thus leading to unreliable cold starts and increased fuel consumption. Other problems arising are a leaking interior light (The seal on the radio antennae have eroded to air) and loosening handbrake cable, now have plenty of travel in the handbrake, regardless of new brake shoes, cable's and adjustment of the cable. I found both headlights went at around 114,000 miles. One got replaced so the other decided to die, and I resolved the stereo issue. I purchased a JVC CD Player. Thus erasing the intermittent radio. The car is still reliable and travels at good speeds comfortably.