Does anyone have any experience of owning/driving AX's or anything similar? I want a 2nd hand run around/banger. I live in London and trying to fit the big beast into car parks is getting harder and harder (is it my imagination or are the spaces getting smaller?).

My first ever car was a 2CV which was a beaut but I want something that is a tad less porous and whose windows don't fly open when you go more than 50mph. I just like the look of AX's but I'm not particularly fussed.

Jamieb

Hi, I had an S1 AX with the 1.124cc 60hp engine. Wonderful little car. Very practical, very lively, very economical, you can "race" it if you like and it will happily follow no matter the terrain, and comfort levels super-adequate for city driving -the S2 with restyled dash even better-. It was, in my view, very ahead of its time with its focus on a wheight-reduction effort. They wheighted a bit more than 600kgs! Sadly it was born in the era when the German industry started setting the trend of making heavier and heavier cars, so you now have a Polo that needs about 150hp to move fast, Golfs that need triple turbos -at least- to break the 10" on the 0-60 , and a Peugeot 2007 that weights 1 tonne with 3m73cms of length...

The Twingo is another clever little car, similarly simple and economical, and very spacious for its size, but, while being absolutely safe, its driving abilities are lower than the AX or the 106 -not responding really well to extreme driving-. But excellent for the city.

regards
George

Thanks George. That's pretty much what I hoped hear. Years ago I had a lift in a souped up AX that went like a bomb and felt very sound. But that was when I was young. These days speed is not so much of the essence but it would be nice to have something that's nippy. I quite agree about the weightiness of small cars. And they all seem to get bigger with every upgrade.

Jamie

I had a 1.5D Ax Memphis - wonderful little car for town & country driving. Very lightweight and the bodyroll is a bit of a handful if pushed around roundabouts, but also remarkably competant on the motorway where it sat happy at 80 mph and 52mpg

/ran it on half & half diesel / veg oil. No probs in 35k miles until sold.

Get a nice 19d BX. It'll run for ever and it's too cool to steal. It's also surprising how people tend to park well away from you in car parks.

We have a ZX 1.9 td that my wife drives, while bigger than the AX it seems very small after an XM. We have had it for nearly three years now and apart from oil changes and wiper blades I havn't put a spanner on it yet! Do get the TD though.

Peter.N.

One of our cars is a 1996 ZX 1.4, that we've had for about 8 years. It is a wonderful little car that drives well and returns good fuel economy. Has good safety - airbag, pretensioners etc. The 1.4 engine doesn't set the world on fire but it makes a great city car that is fine for the highway as well, with good ride and handling. It has a useful load area, and the rear seat slides forward in addition to folding which can be handy. I'd certainly buy another. My only gripe with our one is that it doesn't have air.

Regards,
Kiwi

I agree that the AX is a fine little car, a friend of mine had a 1.4 XS which was a bit sporty.

BUT these cars were bought by and for youngsters and you may find it reflects badly in insurance quotes, you may even find that a bigger, more powerful BX or ZX could be cheaper to insure due to the age profile of the typical driver. I have noticed this with XM's, I get cheaper insurance for a 2.0 Turbo XM than a slow and boring smaller car.

Bizarre

John

Hi John

I had a ZX TD Aura for 6 years and it never had any problems. You can still pick them up cheap if you look around. Mechanical TD are seriously reliable plus they are good cars in town or on the motorway (we drove from Surrey to Inverness in a day in ours no problem). Plus since they are fairly light - they are quick too.

Cheers

Tony

Hi John.

For a town car that's well usable on a trip, I think the AX is a cracking little package. The last 1500 diesel I had was good for 60mpg, plus cruising at 70 or 80 without too much fuss. The later ones seem more nicely finished than the early ones. One thing you will notice though are the markedly offset pedals compared to the XM. Bigjohn is spot on regarding insurance though; my last one survived two of my sprogs learning to drive in it, but come for a quote for one of them as her own car and it was £1400 ! (By comparison, she decided on joining the Land Rover side of the family and got first year insurance on a 2.5 Landy for £800 !!!! )
One issue I did have with my AX were the rear swing arm bearings, but then again, it had worked very hard ! (Dirt cheap service items as well).

Good huntinng.

Mike.

My indy often lends me an old AX when I take the XM in. That is always a bit of a shock when I get out of the XM and straight into the AX

It has seen better days, but is very economical.

The one thing I would say against it is that the peddles are in the wrong place. Every time I get in it I put my feet where I expect the clutch and accelerator to be and find that I have one foot on the brake and the other in thin air. It means your back is a bit twisted when you are driving.

Not a problem for short journeys, but worth bearing in mind if you expect to do longer journeys and have any kind of back problems/niggles.

Cheers,
Rowan.