Small,nippy and smart (Citroën AX)

Member Name: kimgraham

Product:	Citroën AX
Date:	19/10/01 (1307 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: nippy, petrol efficient

Disadvantages: price of parts, airlocks

I bought my AX Forte when it was 2 years old and had 15,000 miles on the clock.I have now had it for 4 years and it has 100,000 miles on the clock.

As you see it has been used a lot. Initially I bought it as I had a Peugeot 505GTi family estate. You know, those long 8 seater jobbies. It was great when i had all the family in the car, but it was a complete nuisance for going to work as parking was extremely limited. You cannot believe how frustrating it is to wait for 10 minutes for a space in a car that long, only to see a mini come out of it.

Eventually I had enough and decided that I should have my own small car for work. I chose a very smart silver AX 1100 Forte with fuel injection.
I fell in love with it almost immediately. I had initial difficulties getting used to the lack of powered steering. I could not believe that it was heavier to manouvre than my big old bus!!

It is a surprisingly nippy little car- I had no trouble overtaking considerably more powerful cars on the motorway. The acceleration is good- useful if you find yourself in a sticky situation, which I am sure happens to us all sometimes!!!
I was pleasantly surprised to find it relatively roomy. On one ocassion I was taking three daughters on holiday to Cornwall and the large car decided to play silly whatsits! We offloaded all the luggage- come on- 4 females, we are talking LUGGAGE here!!! It all went in with a bit of careful packing.We had to leave the parcel shelf behind, but that didn't really matter.

We thought that the long drive to Cornwall would not be much fun in such a small car, but we were wrong. It was great. The seats are soft enough to make the ride comfortable and yet give your back a lot of support.

A feature I particularly like is the bottle compartment in the front doors. You can keep your drink there whilst driving. Much safer than sticking it between your knees, like I used to do!
The glove compartment is a rea
sonable size and the car comes with a good quality stereo.

The car is easy to maintain. They are very prone to airlocks, however. Whenever you fill with water it is advisable to bleed the system. Citroen must have realised that this was a problem as they provide a little bleed valve. You will find it to the rear of the engine on the left hand side. It looks as though it has a tyre valve stuck on the top! It is easy to do and I strongly advise that you do! When the engine is running release the bleed cap and keep the engine running until water comes out of the top.

Petrol Consumption is good. I get about 42mpg if I keep a light right foot and on motorways. Around town it is nearer to 34 mpg.I must admit I am a bit keen on the old accelerator pedal, but the consumption is still not too bad even then!

Being French the parts are not very cheap, but I have found the car supremely reliable and have had no major problems with it.You will see the mileage I have done is high, and to be honest it has not been serviced much. It has done me proud.
It is a smart, reliable car which is enjoyable to drive and I recommend it to anyone looking for a smaller car. Oh, by the way, we have had an entire string quartet in ours- 4 adults, 1 cello, 2 violins, 1 viola and boxes of music, and still felt relatively comfortable. Not bad, eh?

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