Citroën C2 VTS (2004 - 2009) 1.6i 16V 3d Owner Review

It’s been reliable so far. The ride is quite bumpy and the suspension is very stiff, but as a plus this means the handling is very precise and it feels like a go kart on country lanes. The ESP kicks in Sometimes though, which slows the car down over bumpy-ish surfaces on some occasions, which means this happens quite a bit as most roads in the UK are far from smooth. The MPG is acceptable in town and at 60mph on the motorway (30mpg - 38mpg). However at 70 the revs are at 4,000rpm which is also on the power band meaning overtaking is easy but fuel economy drops to less than 30mpg at this point, less than 20mpg at 80+ (5k revs) due to short gearing. The Brakes are good but not as sharp as people make it out to be, standard exhaust note isn’t too loud, it blends in very well meaning your less likely to stand out and be pulled over like in some other sporty vehicles. Most people are quite shocked to see how pokey the 1.6 is and despite its low HP by today’s standards it’s very quick, but judging by how thin the materials are I wouldn’t want it to be much quicker. The Cons of the vehicle are: light steering, very sensitive manual gearbox/clutch, headlight beam doesn’t travel far, no AUX, seats are not that adjustable, any driver over 5’ 9 will result in a 3 seater car, wafer thin interior plastics and minor electrical faults like lights staying on (interior foglight switch stays illuminated as do the window switches, although this isn’t enough to drain the battery). I would recommend the car, it was my only fast-ish sporty option (Mini cooper S was £1500 more and is only 0.6secs slower) as insurance is a killer for under 25s and I didn’t want a granny wagon with 3 cylinders with unsafe glacial acceration times, the car only cost me £800 and I’m very satisfied with the experience so far. It’s insurance group 15 which is very low for a vehicle that can be absolutely feral when it wants to on B roads and country lanes, the short wheelbase means you need to be careful though as videos have shown the rear steps out sometimes when pushed to much. The seatbelt reel doesn’t work well (tensioner does) meaning it can get jammed in the door and the glovebox can only fit about 8 CDs, it’s French and so my expectations for reliability were quite low but it’s been all good so far *touch wood* - I expected the wheel to fall off by now. I wouldn’t pay more than 2K for one though, anything more is just a bit optimistic unless it’s in showroom condition or a Loeb edition.