Hi
I'm looking at a Citroen AX GTi, J reg and am wondering what it's worth. Been owned by girls all its life, cosseted and immaculately kept, 54 thousand miles, black. Bodyshop rebuild after recent front end shunt. The owner keeps geting offers of £2000 from boy racers which never materialise (perhaps they get an insurance quote on it - apparently the GTi has 100bhp which seems a lot for such a light, tiny thing).
I'd appreciate advice on a fair price to offer, which I could come down from depending on how much work I would need to do on it (if any).
Also, I'm tempted to cover the GTi badge with a GB sticker and put a diesel badge on the back. Is this as smart as I think it is?
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£2000 seems very steep. I've seen newer in reasonable condition for under £500 (maybe it had no engine?)
I thought the 1.4 has about 85bhp but does do a good nought to sixty as it is made of foil. ("Empty crisp packet" l've also heard.) Fun but rattles at speeds above 60, trim squeak symphony etc...
Dan
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You're a bit on the low side Dan but in the right direction. These are quite popular in the same way as a sporty Nova.
As we've said before the low mileage doesn't mean good condition due to possible short runs. If you add any value to the car for the 54,000 it must be supported by a spot on stamped service book. The mileometer reading, the sellers claims and four or five repair receipts aren't enough.
How ever well the accident repair has been done this must lower the price. Rust will likely appear at the joins in the years to come. Is the seller the owner who had the accident/repair and was honest enough to declare it? Or is it being sold by someone who bought it damaged and did the repair. Wonder what this might have cost as a damaged repairable...£300 or less?? Quick repair with cheap/secondhand panels, minimal rustproofing and a tidy profit of £1500 if the £2000 is achieved.
I would want to see this at much nearer £1000, and with a very close look at the repair quality.
Sorry to be a bit negative but todays J-reg is tomorrows scrapper (for many).
David
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As an ex owner of an AX GT I'd like to advise on a couple of points:
1. 2K is FAR too high a price to pay, even for a very nice example I'd still be looking for something more around the £1000 mark. These cars used to be reasonably rare amongst younger drivers, and so used to sell for slightly more than they were worth amongst the boy racer fraternity (much as the 1400 Nova SR did / does), but now they are as common and as cheap as chips. Furthermore, even a low speed front end shunt can be enough to write one of these things off - a friend of mine who had an identical model to mine ran into the back of someone at around 10 mph - the cost of proper repairs was far more than the retail value of the car so it was scrapped. If they have had a front end shunt, check the quality of the repairs *very* carefully as they may well have had a cheapo botch job done.
2. Don't bother with the GTi - it's slower 0-60 than the GT. Cast iron lump in the GTi, all alloy in the GT, plus the GT is dead easy&cheap to mod. get a high-flow air filter, decent exhaust and get the carb rejetted - that should take you into the mid 8's 0-60. If you want to spend a bit more cash, get the head flowed and stick a decent cam in - you'll be able to see off a 205 1.9 gti to 80mph or thereabouts and you'll have a rev-happy pocket rocket for not a lot of money.
Don't buy one if you want a solid car for motorway cruising - in my old GT everything shook violently once you hit 80, and it didn't much like going above 90 (at all). If you want a good fun town car and a fair bit of bang for your buck then get the GT.
Jake
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I'd agree with the point about accident damaged AXs. They had a terrible reputation for occupant safety even when new. A friend of mine had a minor rear-end ding (about 10mph) in his and it twisted the floorpan so badly you could see that opposite corner wheel arches were raised. Don't go there if you have any doubts. Otherwise, great fun.
Chris
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I would offer £600 - £700 at most. Seen a 1.4i forte model (took over from the GT for the last couple of years) L reg, 32k miles with FSH for £1500 at a dealer, could probably haggle a couple of hundred off this. Post 92 'mark 2' AX's also have much better trim and instrumentation and would offer slightly better crash protection (I am not sure if yours is a mark 1/2 as both appeared with J regs). Do you really think the owner is getting offers of £2000?, I am not suprised they do not materialise as they probably don't exist!
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naw buy a swift gti
much much much better
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Jake wrote:
"Don't buy one if you want a solid car for motorway cruising - in my old GT everything shook violently once you hit 80, and it didn't much like going above 90 (at all)."
Our AX GT (a fair few cars ago now) went like the clappers on the motorways all the way down to Cahors two years running without any vibration, hesitation, deviation etc. etc. at all - but then it was packed to the gunnels so perhaps that helped glue it to the road! Which makes the fact I think it did go over 90 once or twice even more surprising. All in all it was a brilliant little car and never gave any trouble in any way. (I don't think they'd invented airbags then!)
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Not quite on subject, but we have a '94 AX diesel 5-door that can be coaxed up to an indicated 90 (so my wife tells me). It's absolutely stable (unless there's a crosswind) and doesn't rattle. Maybe the build quality improved at the Mk2 stage.
Mind you, I wouldn't like to have an accident in it. Crash protection is not a strong point.
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I had an AX GT and must agree with most of the above comments on the flimsy build. I had mine from new and after 3 years and 40K it felt like a banger.
In the £2k bracket you can get a Mk2 Golf GTi or a 92/93 Sunny 2.0eGTi with 143bhp The latter was a really enjoyable car, What Car Hot Hatch for those 2 years, and really well built.
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