I used to have a Citroen AX some years ago now and really loved it, so when my middle child passed her test and we started to look at cars, I looked favourably at the N reg Citroen AX we saw advertised on the Auto Trader website. My daughter preferred the P reg Ford Fiesta which was close in price range, but I managed to dissuade her after she realised that it wouldn't last long with 100,000 miles on the clock whereas the Citroen we looked at had only done 65,000 miles.


The car I used to have was a five door Memphis edition (in the nineties) and the car my daughter now drives is a three door Elation edition, so I've had some experience of both. The Memphis is a 1.1l engine and the Elation is a 1.0l engine so both models are very fuel efficient and cheap to insure. It makes them ideal for teens as insurance is often a lot more expensive for younger drivers. I bet it's also handy for people who've made claims on their insurance and can't afford the premiums.


I've found the AX to be a very reliable car that gets a driver from A to B in a cost effective way. Fuel consumption is excellent which is important these days with ever rising petrol prices. I worked out for my daughter that she is paying about 11p per mile in her Elation so she knows whether or not it's worth her taking the car out. She's been very careful and only uses it for college and the odd night out so she's making a tank of petrol last about a fortnight at the moment which is better than my car manages!


The only problem I had with my old Memphis edition Citroen AX was that the electrics had problems sometimes. Like the bulbs would go internally or the speedometer light would stop working. That's a real pain because of course you have to remove the whole of the interior dashboard to fix it which only someone qualified can really do. The actual car drove beautifully though and in the six years I owned it, I never had to pay out for any considerable work. I think the only thing I ever paid for on that car was new brake pads after a few years and new wiper covers. Things like the accelerator and clutch lasted without fault. So far my daughter's not had any trouble with her Elation either though she's only had it for a few months now.


I think these cars are really good. They're fuel efficient and cheap to buy second hand nowadays. If you want something cheap, you can get an Elation for well under a grand with three doors. Or, for an extra hundred or two you can get a Memphis with five doors and electric windows which is nice. They also do a 14GT edition in this style though I've never owned or driven one of those.