Faults:

Auxiliary serpentine belt snapped at 87,000 miles.

Front offside caliper seized at 80,000 miles.

Have uprated standard brake pads because under hard braking, the standard pads burn and give off a lot of smoke and smell unpleasant.

Many problems with the standard Citroen radio code resulting in the code being reset and finally replacing the radio.

Interior bulbs in heating controls and clock have blown. The lock bulb is easy to replace but the heating controls required me to take the dash apart.

Speedometer no longer returns to zero, but stays at about 3 Mph when the car is at rest.

General Comments:

The ZX Avantage Diesel is a great car with reasonable top speed (I have seen 112 Mph on the clock) and excellent fuel economy. 45 mpg is easily achievable when driving sensibly.

The colour scheme for the interior has a nice slate gray and red theme and seems to be holding up well after 89,000 hard miles.

The auxiliary belt failure was a surprise as I suddenly just lost all power steering and was lucky not to be traveling at high speed. Make sure when you buy that all belts are in good working order and not cracked or perished. They can be expected to last about 30,000 miles before you encounter problems.

Make sure you have good tires on this car! It is quite heavy and the soft French suspension doesn't help whilst cornering at speed. I recommend either Michelin Classic's or Yokohama A539's in size: 175/60 R13. Whichever tires you decide upon make sure they are at least 'T' rated, 112 Mph/180 Kph.

Faults:

New handbrake cables, but due to wear and tear.

Drive shaft boot needed changing.

General Comments:

Not very quick, but very sparing with the diesel.

Very comfortable ride, but a slightly dating interior, but can't comlain for its age.

Will start in any condition, any time without fail.

Faults:

My significant other and I went for a test drive on a Sunday. We signed the receipt after the ride.

On Monday, we TRIED to take the car home, but the battery had ceased all sorts of functioning.

Dealer wanted to check every possible cause on Tuesday, and the car was ready for pickup at noon.

We were lent a somewhat derelict Toyota Corolla for the time (although not as derelict as our Kadett).

General Comments:

The inside looks dark and somewhat gloomy, but FEELS roomy instead.

The power assisted steering was somewhat of a concern for me, as the Kadett had nothing of the sort. But to my surprise, it just made handling easier. Somehow, I don't miss the road-response I got from the straight steering.

The top speed seems a mite low for a 1.8i engine (about 170 km/h) compared to the Kadett with its 1.3N (normal) engine, delivering just up to 170 on a good day.

Acceleration is another matter. Everything goes smooth in this car (except for the gear change).

I've read something about 3000 rpm. before any significant liveliness is felt, and I must agree. Good push, though.

Also good, because we have a removable trailer hitch fitted. We might need the dragging power.

The gear change is QUITE hard, when the box is cold. It doesn't take long, however, for it to warm up.

I'd say a mile or two, and the shift is smooth as melted butter.

And now for the handling...

This feels like a bl**** Race Car to a newbie like me (3rd year of motoring).

I've taken her through turns at speeds that would make the Kadett squeal or even slide a bit, but not a sound from this one.

I'm actually looking forward to the cold season, for some really slippery roads, so I can try her out for real!