My Trusty Old Banger (Citroën AX)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Citroën AX
Date:	01/02/09 (340 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Extremely economical to run, reliable

Disadvantages: Feels tinny, lack of room in the back

This is a girly review of my car, if you want to know the technical specs then look them up online! I shall concentrate on sharing my experience of owning and driving this car.

I have owned two Citroen AX cars, my first one was the diesel model with the 1.4l engine which was written off when a trailer came free of the van it was being towed by and smashed into little pieces. I then owned a punto for a while which was written off in a crash. I was then in the position of having to replace my car very quickly for very little money before the insurance was sorted out and ended up buying a 1litre AX last Febuary for just £400 and ended up keeping it until yesterday when I finally upgraded. I don't seem to have much luck with cars with three being written off in ten years, the other one was a drunk driver who demolished half of my street with her 4 by 4!

The AX is an extremely economical car to own, I have no idea how many MPG it gets but know that it used significantly less fuel then my punto. It is also cheap to insure and reliable. In my three years total of AX ownership the only problems I have encountered were having to replace a radiator on the diesel model and a fairly minor problem with the fuses on the petrol model. Even the AA man who was called after the problem with the fuses said the AX were great little cars and he hardly ever got called out to them. Even after doing 100 000+ miles the engine on the petrol model was in great condition. Parts were readily available when needed and routine maintenance like tyres and brakes were all available at reasonable prices from any garage.

In terms of driving, the AX is a surprisingly nippy wee car, I would regularly drive faster than strictly legally allowed on the motorway and the car handled it well unlike the punto which would start to sputter and struggle approaching 70mph. Road handling was generally good, the only problem was cornering at high speeds so I made sure to drive slowly then. Most of my driving is on country roads and in town and the car performed well in those conditions. Although handling is good, I often felt a bit scared in heavy traffic with loads of big vehicles around as the car feels really tinny and I don't imagine it would stand up well in a crash.

The AX I owned had 3 doors, it was a good little run around for just me and my daughter but if I carried adults in the back seats then you could really feel the difference going uphill. There is not much legroom in the back and now the kids I transport are reaching the teen years then they were pretty cramped in the back so it's not an ideal car if you need to carry lots of people on a regular basis.

Driver and front passenger comfort is generally good with lots of legroom but not much space between the seats meaning I would often touch my passengers knee changing gears or brush up against them putting the handbrake on. The controls were all well designed and easy to reach. Music was supplied by the factory fitted radio cassette and the speakers were sited around the car giving a good surround sound feel. The boot is small but no smaller than other cars in its class and the back seats folded down easily.

There were a number of niggly little things that annoyed me about the car such as the mechanism putting the seats forward was sticky, loads of little faults were starting to develop like the heating acting up or the door catches and bonnet hatch becoming sticky or the seatbelts not retracting properly and getting shut in the doors all the time.

The reason I got rid of the car was it was simply not worth putting it through an MOT. Although the engine was sound the bodywork was really starting to age and rust spots were appearing and there was not much life left in the clutch. I probably could have got another year out of the car but as it was meant as a temporary measure and I wanted a 5 door car to stop the kids moaning then it was time to say goodbye to it.

Citroen produced the AX from 1986 to 1998 so there are not many left on the road these days. Although I have enjoyed both my stints of AX ownership I wouldn't particularly recommend this car as there are better options available in the supermini class for similar prices and all the remaining cars left will be over 10 years old now.

Summary: I'm going to miss my little car!

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