5th Apr 2003, 15:42
(I am the original reviewer) To the first commenter; Did you have froth coming out of your mouth when you wrote that! Calm down, you may have had a bad experience, but in the 5 month I have owned it, I has been super. With reguard to your comment about how all the Ford Focus reviews prove what a good car they are, I say this. "People complain a lot louder than they do praise"
To the second reviewer; Good points, I bet you could look at any car review and find a mix of good and bad experiences.
The bottom line is; I got a great deal. I have the car on a 5 year loan, so I don't care about the depreciation. In five years time when I MAY change it, most cars would be worth next to nothing anyway.
Thanks for adding your comments, I have enjoyed reading them.
17th Apr 2003, 09:46
OK, I admit it, I wrote the first comment and I was bitter about the experience I had with my Xsara. I'm glad the other person who commented has had no problems with their VTS Xsara, which is a lovely car, my Dad and Brother in law owns them (Citroen nuts!). What I will say is my Dads VTS has ended up on the back of a tow truck twice and my Brother in laws has had a few niggles too, though not as bad. If Citroen could sort out the faults it would be a very good car, as for me, I'm off to have some (hopefull) trouble free motoring in my new Saxo.
26th Apr 2003, 16:44
(original reviewer here again) Ha ha, I agree, why slag off Citroen, then go buy another. They must hate you...NOT.
12th May 2003, 08:15
Hi!
To answer your questions about my Dad's VTS:
1st trip to dealer on lorry - Heater hoses came loose, steam pouring from under the wheel arches. This was caused by wrong hoses being fitted at the factory.
2nd - trip to dealer - car would not start, no fault found, but as the car was now (seemingly) working OK told to collect car.
Window motor regulator has now blown. Waiting for parts.
Latest trip - last Bank Holiday Monday - car again would not start. This time a faulty battery was diagnosed and fitted. Seems OK for now...
Why do we keep buying Citroens? Up until buying Xsaras the Saxos have always performed faultlessly, and when it came to trading in my Xsara VTR I could only get a good enough trading from where I bought it from. For example, my local Renault dealer only offered £5000 for a 10 month old car with low mileage, which considering it cost £10K says it all about Xsaras really. NO ONE WANTS THEM.
15th May 2003, 14:04
VTS owner again.
Thanks for listing the problems with your Dad's car.
So the Xsara isn't perfect, but then name me a car that is. A quick glance through the reviews of other car manufacturers on this website proves there are faults with all cars.
Depreciation doesn't worry me because I never buy brand new and tend to keep my cars. Lets be honest about this, when you take a car to trade in, no dealer is interested in giving you a decent part exchange. They want it both ways ie maximum profit on your car and the one you are buying.
You had a bad experience and were unlucky.
Lets hope you get more enjoyment from your Saxo.
Regards.
16th May 2003, 08:48
Hi!
Thanks for your comments, the Saxo is going fine and I hope it stays that way!
Hope you enjoy your VTS Xsara too, undoubtedly they are one of the fastest point to point cars, as an owner of a Honda Civic Type R found it when it couldn't manage to overtake my Dad's one.
Happy motoring.
24th Jul 2003, 05:09
Well, thank you to the first review. I am picking up a used Citroen Xsara 1.4LX this afternoon. Let's hope that I don't encounter as many problems as the 2nd reviewer. I was wondering why I was getting such a good deal a 2 year old car for under £5000. Wish me luck.
11th Aug 2003, 16:16
I am the original reviewer. I have now owned the vehicle since Nov '02 and done 14K Had first service, nothing unusual to report. Still very happy with car (nothing has gone wrong). Have found air con to be a god-sent during the fantastic summer we are having in UK. Still recommend this car to anyone who is after a small-mid family car. Think it looks like a Merc from front and BMW from behind all for under £9k.
3rd Apr 2003, 08:54
Not all Xsara's fall apart.
I own a 1999 Citroen Xsara VTS. I've had it for nearly 14 months, covered 10,000 miles and it's been 100% reliable, no problems with build quality or electrics. I've also owned a ZX Volcane TD for 4 years, a ZX 1.4 before that. These were also great cars and never let me down.
I don't tend to listen what the motoring press say (except once, but I put that down to a a moment of weakness!!!). Before The VTS I bought a two year old Peugeot 306 TD after being influenced by a magazine review. It was the biggest mistake I made. I had it 3 months and spent most of my time at the dealership with endless faults.
I gave up on the 306 (losing £2,500 on that) so I can understand why you did the same with your Xsara, but you can get problems with any car.
I've also driven the Focus which is a good car. I wouldn't say it has a huge edge over the Xsara in build quality, but that's just my opinion.
To the original reviewer, I'm not going to tell you what you should do. Its obvious your very pleased with your car and if its running ok thats all that matters!