I remember my brother had a dark blue Citation, I was impressed by how smooth and quiet it rode. It felt like a large car, but handled very well. The only thing that sucked was the tie rods let go unexpectedly at highway speed and it ended up on its roof at the bottom of a river. He kicked out the back window and luckily survived. That part was left out of the sales presentation...
Haha. Why? It looks great. I always loved the shápe of this mid-sizecar, in my country available 4 doors and automatic only. Greetings from 🇨🇱 Santiago Chile.
The Citation was actually a pretty big deal: it was GM's first small front-wheel-drive car, and became the best-selling car of 1980, with over 800,000 sold that year. It got rave reviews when first launched, but it turned out that Chevrolet had sent out specially modified versions of it as press cars, with improved handling compared to the ones that consumers would end up buying. Steering and braking problems and GM's typically poor reliability of the time gave it an unfavorable reputation that it never recovered from.
It's a shame too, the 84 Skylark I still own didn't have any of the first year problems in it. GM overlooked the small stuff, again, on the way to market. Should have made 10,000 the first year in fleets to iron out the kinks in their first transverse FWD platform.
Citation wasn't the best selling car of 1980, the Cutlass was. No car has sold 800,000 in one year unless maybe if you go back to the 60's the Impala might have.
@@1967davethewave Wikipedia can be wrong sometimes and it is definitely wrong about 800K Citations in 1980. I've seen that before with Wikipedia. Cutlass was #1 from 1978 -1981. Citation was never #1. Especially for a first year model , they would never have been able to ramp up that fast.
@@stepheng3667 I know Wiki can be wrong. It did mention that there was prolonged sales season but didn't mention what that was. Ford did sell about 650k 65 Mustangs on the roll out with a prolonged sales season. They started selling them in April instead of September. May people still refer to them as 64 1/2's or just 64's even though they are titled as 65's. But I guess it doesn't really matter in the end. I have seen at least 20 late 70's/early 80's Cutlass's just this year alone but I haven't seen a Citation in at least 4 years and that was only because my best friend had inherited one from his grandma when she passed. lol. I guess the Cutlass was just a better car!
My grandfather had the worst luck with cars. Towards the end of his life he could afford anything but after buying a few nice cars only for them to grenade on him, he gave up. It was to the point where he had the dealer lease him whatever base-model shitbox they had. If he was driving it, it was as good as an indication as anything that you probably didn't want to buy the same car. He'd treat it like a rolling ash tray, never change the oil or open the hood once and when it was turned in, it might as well go to the junkyard. Goes without saying he had one of these.
I recognize Wes Sarginson. Sarginson was a TV news anchorman who worked in Atlanta (at WSB-TV and WXIA-TV), Washington DC (at WJLA-TV), and Tampa Bay (at WFLA-TV). Had no idea he did this piece for the Chevrolet Citation. Sarginson is enjoying retirement.
"Son, I clocked you doing 44mph in a 30mph zone....I'm writing you a citation"......."but officer, I'm driving a Citation, isn't that punishment enough?"
My dad bought one before they even went on sale, in April 1979. When it came in, I was impressed: black hatchback with black interior, really comfortable, decent acceleration. It spent the first 3 weeks in the shop because it would spit the transmission dipstick out under acceleration. The paint started bubbling up on the roof and had to be repainted 3 times! The heater hose popped off in the summer. Then it was recalled because the floorboards were weak. One day a hunk of seam sealer fell out of the drip rail and it had to have its 4th paint job. When he paid it off he traded it for a Ford. In retrospect, they were complete hunks of garbage.
When a company asks their sales force to sell garbage it's a wonder that car salesman have the reputation that they do. This car was a disaster. The X platform... A very bad joke
👍👍❤️that, those cars were shit boxes. There’s a reason they don’t make them anymore, they couldn’t sell hardly any of them. I remember my cousin bought one new, the first time I rode in it I told her it was junk.
HAHAHA! Great comment! I bought an '07 Silverado 1500 4x4 - first new vehicle I've ever bought in my life after driving beaters for decades. Right off the showroom floor, the brakes pulsated like the 266,000 mile '94 K1500 I was driving at the time. Then the door trim fell off the driver's side a week later. Went back several times under warranty for the noisy interior - incessant squeaks & rattles, 10x worse than that 266k mile K1500! Also went back 5 more times for pulsating brakes every 1-3,000 miles. At 38k, the lower ball joints were sloppy enough to get the inspector's attention. At 50k, the front differential began leaking out the output shaft seals, upper ball joints were sloppy, hub bearings were noisy, 1 strut was smoked, and the engine started to burn oil regularly if I worked it too hard. Then I had a couple phantom dead batteries - no rhyme or reason - flatlined 0 volts. Recharged, and didn't happen again for years. Also had a few no crank events randomly. At 97K miles, during a second rear differential fluid change, I noticed chunks of metal on the magnet. Further investigation revealed nearly every tooth of the spider gears had lost the tips of their teeth! Also, the carrier was all worn out and sloppy, and the G80 clutches were metal-to-metal. And this brings us to the last saga just 5 months ago - 103k miles, the 4L60E transmission burnt up the 3 / 4 clutch pack! I used to be a die-hard GM guy. Now I despise them!
I was a young salesman on the day the car came out. We did not have enough to sell the first day. Started out a$4,500 but within one year, some of the cars were approaching $9,000. I remember watching this film in the sales room. We were successful in switching to other Chevrolet models but after the transmission failures car was doa. Took up another line of business in 1982.
I knew I wasn't alone with the transmission failure! Failed shortly after the warranty! I got screwed big time! This car should've been taken back under warranty and fixed! To all the GM employees reading this, I feel robbed twice when the government gives are tax dollars to keep your doors open! GM needs to learn survival of the fittest!
@@tommcintosh7241 You are not alone. GM took the easy road for short term profits and putting out a car that promised so much and delivered very little
What's truely FUNNY about your story to me is I bought a used Citiation in 1985 for $2G and now some 38 years later I'M STILL DRIVING IT. Yes, I fixed and changed "things" along the way (as you do with ALL and ANY car). But a car that cost me $2,000 in 1985, I'm still driving in 2023, now THAT'S FUNNY. While people today blow $60G to $100G on cars of today, I LAUGH and me and my Citation just keep on rolling along. 99% of people talking "S" about the Citation DIDN'T SERVICE THE CAR LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE.
@GeeBee909 I guess its not a bad car for what they designed it for. But the ppl that drive the car buying (typical white ppl making over $60k) they now want suvs that tow 9k lbs. Theyre full of it! Gm, Toyota, & especially dodge knows its customers are full of crap. They just give them what they want & call it a day. With that said, gm could have named it something else other than "ticket" I guess they wanted an "authorative" sounding name for a new platform😁.
They were pieces of shit out the gate. Like cutlass cierras...lmfao Crapbacks...every thief in town had a hardon for those big hatch windows. The chevy citation: it's not a chevette. But it may as well be.
It's a shame that the Citation was such a monumental failure. It has an extremely innovative design and versatility, all of which was far overshadowed by horrendous quality issues and loads of recalls. GM's bean cutters and corporate arrogance strikes again.
@@chrisedward7575 Not really since competing Japanese cars that faced both tariffs and the same standards somehow proved reliable and acquired loyal customers. This was a typical GM cockup like virtually everything they did. Just read the autobiography "Rivethead" to see the quality standards GM had at the time.
A lot of people bought Toyota's after driving these shitboxes for a few years.Once they drove a Camry or an Accord for awhile they never went back to GM
These were absolutely awful cars from the get-go. A work collogue of mine bought one brand new, so I was able to test drive it almost "off the showroom floor". It felt more like a "go cart" than an actual car. It was underpowered and the handling was dreadful. To give you an example of the poor build quality, when she (the co-worker) first got the car I popped the hood to have a look at the engine compartment (as any car-nut would do). The first thing that I noticed was that there were no bolts through the hinges holding on the hood. The hinges were glued on! I kid you not. Small wonder this model was completely scrapped after only a 5-year run. It was total rubbish.
The glued on hinges were not uncommon for GM products of the 80s/90s. The 88-98 Chevy full size trucks had glued on door hinges....they never failed completely but would sag over time lol
I had brown 84 model. Good car but I got it in 94 so it was well used and rusted. Hatchback part was awesome and you could stuff insane amount of cargo inside.
They did themselves no favors with the way they managed the public perception of these cars, but ultimately, they turned them into the much more profitable A-body mid-size models that were a GM staple for years.
I get what you're saying.... the styling seems downright dull today, but for 1979 they looked crisp and it was clear they had front wheel drive packaging, meaning they seemed to be looking towards the future rather than with something like the Volare or Fairmont.
My parents bought a new '84 Citation with the 6cyl. and rear spoiler. It had a great deep-tone exhaust and was quite reliable, for the 7 years that we had it.
My grandmother bought a new '79 Citation 4-door. She was in a serious head-on collision and walked away while both cars were totalled. She replaced it with a V6 '85 Skylark Limited sedan and had it at the time of her death in '98.
They were terds! I can remember how disappointed I was after all these years! Transmission fell out with low miles! Made payments for almost 2 years with no car to drive! When it was paid off to the scap yard it went! Still pissed FUCK YOU GM!
I went to ASEP (GM training program) in the mid 90s and one of my instructors was a factory-trained X body specialist. He was basically a rep between dealership techs and GM engineers. He drove nothing but Citations, phonenix, etc for 3 years straight. There is not enough space on the internet to repeat all the horror stories he witnessed in those three years breaking down all the flaws to report to GM. I personally think they were decent looking cars inside and out but as per GM corporate groupthink there were a few key details missed in development and GM ended up with a near-repeat of the Vega. Unfortunately it didn't end with the X cars
Had a dark blue '83 X-11. Really loved the sporty look, fiberglass rear spoiler and hood with functional cowl induction and vacuum operated air cleaner flaps. Used to use aluminum etching wheel cleaner on the mags which made them pop! Was really difficult to find aftermarket radios do to its vertical mount.
I remember these, they were turds. They had more recalls than even the Vega, and did poorly in frontal crash tests too. The Celebrity was based on the same chassis, yet drove much differently---GM had learned it's lessons from the Citation and got rid of most of it's flaws in the Celebrity, which was a pretty solid car
not only were they turds, but the body styling is absolutely HIDEOUS. One of the worst ever produced. Ray Charles could've come up with a better looking body. Goodness gracious, what were they thinking? When that guy is sitting in the back seat, he looks like he's stuffed into a sardine can....lol. I'd like to see him ride back there for 3 hours on an interstate cruise! When he got out, after that, he'd be on disability, for sure.
@@beauhatman4395 Yeah, and what about those paint schemes? What is that in the thumbnail, beige and orange? Those are two colors that just don't go together
Two major reasons that the early X-body cars were poor: Time (prematurely rushed into production during the 1979 oil crisis with Iran which caused gasoline prices to surge...an extra 6 months of engineering was necessary). Money (these cars used new technology and new assembly methods that made them expensive to build yet the public expected compact cars to be cheaper so materials were substandard as was build quality)
@@Andyface79 Sure it does. The issue is coating it. GM made significant steps in coatings at truck cabs - something like 4 steps, IIRC. It looked excellent - still they rusted. I've used epoxy, and it is excellent because nearly all oxygen molecules cannot permeate epoxy - these are the issues (until economics comes into play).
My benchmark for malaise era cars has always been my uncle Dick's '79 Ford Thunderbird. 19 feet long, 4000 pounds 150 horsepower. A huge car with hardly any room inside. It started falling apart the week he brought it home. They were on the right track with the X cars - FWD, rack and pinion steering and decent packaging. Too bad the build quality was shite and the styling was farmed out to a dumpster manufacturer.
Was getting my 72 Nova inspected , when I saw the new ones come off the carrier at the Chevy dealer in 1979 . Just another box . The Nova was a box too, but I’ve never seen aCitation at a classic car show !
Make sure to introduce your prospect to the Service manager also because he will be seeing him quite often with this clunker.GM lost a lot of customers with the X body.
Shit-tation. My family added an extra t to the name. Mother callled it the plastic car. you couldn't hear the radio from all of the plastic in the interior squeaking and rattling.
I had a '80 X11, I loved it. Quickly found out you don't buy 1st year GM. Rear brakes would lock up early. The transmission blew up twice in 60K, but Chevrolet fixed it twice. My Mom bought one ran it almost 10 years and 245k miles. She had almost no trouble. In 2003 I bought a Chevy Impala, what the Citation should have been. Ran that 300K sold it to a friend and it is still running.
I currently own a 1981 Pontiac Phoenix with the iron duke and 4 on the floor and it’s the best car I’ve ever owned. Has non of the issues people complain about.
GM cars of that time were a gamble. Some cars got all bad parts, some got all good parts, and most got one or two of the bad. Good cars, like yours, are the survivors. All the others never left the 90’s.
Is that news anchor Wes Sarginson as the pitchman? I didn't know he did that along with anchoring at WWJ (now WDIV), WJLA in Washington, and both WSB and WXIA in Atlanta
My dad bought a 1980 Citation in 1983. It went to hell quickly .Paint peeled off the hood and bumper , plastic knobs inside came off , and it died by '84
@@rodferguson3515 The issue with the Corvair was mostly about quirky handling if the car was driven too aggressively or had improperly inflated tires. The issue with the GM diesels was about reliability and with the Vega was about engine reliability and body corrosion.
@@SpockvsMcCoy I would rather deal with build quality and rust issues than to drive a innovative nice looking but unsafe vehicle like the corvair... A car that was deemed "Unsafe at any speed " by consumer advocate Ralph Nader... That's why I am criticizing the corvair .When I was little about 3 years old my mother almost bought a brand-new corvair (1967 model) thank God she didn't
While it was no Vega, the GM X-Bodies were almost the same level of disaster. My dad, a VW driver, went upscale and ordered the base Buick Skylark version. Yes, it was roomy, comfortable and nice looking. One fatal flaw in all the X-Bodies was the brake proportioner valve, which was responsible, as the name suggests, for distributing brake effort between the front and rear wheels. The result: even moderate application of the brakes in wet weather caused the car to do a 180. This happened three times to my dad, who was as conservative driver as one could imagine. GM also grossly miscalculated the V-6 take rate; the gas crisis of 1979 led to much higher demand for the old Iron Duke 2.5 liter four cylinder leading to long backlog for delivery. Too bad for my dad the 4 cylinder did eventually arrive.
The problem with GM in the 80s was that they figured people would buy whatever they produced regardless of style or quality. It open the door to foreign car makers
The " X " body was touted as " The Most Tested Car of GM " . WE had to do 5 recalls on them before we could sell one. The entire drivetrain was a disaster. Both 4 and 6 cylinder engines had problems as well as both the manual and automatic transmissions. Then there was the steering racks. Bad seals and seals wearing groves into the aluminum steering rack housings. THEN..." Morning Sickness " as it was coined. Vehicle would loose power assist turning one way when cold. Good intentions delivered in a hurry lead to many problems .
Compared to the Citation, the K-car was a Mercedes, reliability wise. Even in Mexico, back in the eighties, those Citations had already a damaged reputation. "You're better off with a Gremlin, a mid 70's Dart or a Datsun than driving that steaming pile of manure" people used to say, as far as I remember. And my! I was only eight or nine years old at the time.
My dad bought one in late 1979, it was on a turntable at the dealership. It was a 2 door hatchback with the V6 and F41 package. It rode well, was very roomy, and the V6 was smooth. Unfortunately it stalled on the way home from the dealer and needed to be towed back...LOL! I drove it through high school and it performed well the whole time but the check engine light was on pretty much the whole time we owned the car 😬
I worked on them in the mid 80's, they sucked to work on. Little wonder that by the early 90's they had almost completely vanished. Just so many poor designs for a service and longevity perspective.
We bought a new one in December 1979 and enjoyed it for five years. It was a club coupe with a V6 and manual transmission. No options, no air. Ran great all the time we owned it.
Yes buy it the one my sister had in the late 80's was a great car was a daily driver for over 12 years with no major repairs just oil changes and normal wear and tear
Perfect example of an innovative concept that was executed horribly. The press actually liked these, but the quality control on production models was just appalling and they were difficult to service.
My wife drove one as her company car in our first year of marriage, 1982. It was ok, not spectacular, just “kinda there”. On the other hand, my sister-in-law and her husband bought a 1980, and while it was true they normally trashed whatever they owned, the car itself didn’t help matters any. Oil leaks, braking problems and the all-time worst: the motor mounts let go somehow and the engine dropped out , not to the pavement but it was bad enough. Of course, he didn’t drive it once the problems showed up, he had my sister-in-law drive it and he drove the Buick so when all of these problems appeared, he could blame her, he was a real winner, just like that useless car.
Yeah my parents refused to buy American in the 80s. Gave their money instead to Datsun/Nissan (including 88 Stanza Wagon!). They still refuse to even entertain the thought of buying anything not Japanese.
@@timothyhh Our family had a 1978 Chevette 4-Door which was loaded with options. My father bought it used in 1979 and sold it in 1982 to acquire a 1979 Datsun 210 Wagon. I don't remember why he sold it as I don't think it had any mechanical problems. After the 1979 Datsun came a used 1992 Geo Prizm (reskinned Toyota Corolla), then a used 1995 Geo Prizm, and then the 2009 Nissan Versa he bought new and still has.
My relatives went for a x-11,only six years later the car was resting in the bone yard, we went for a datsun 510, that I stil have and drive fourty years later.
I saw a German road test. They drove 2000 km with it in 1980, so it was a brand new press car. 7 items broke or fell off, worst of all the belt driving the generator and later the generator itself, but also 4 wheel covers and some body trims and interior fittings. It could not perform the high speed cornering test with a bump in the road on the Mercedes Benz test track. The underbody would hit the pavement violently. It was bad, bad quality.
I just watched that too. To be fair, I doubt any non-sports Detroit car of that era would have passed that test because they were all so softly sprung.
@@bobbbobb4663 I enjoyed that too: ruclips.net/video/GANcs2sxcH8/видео.html . 13,6 0-62 was rather slow, and with A/C 15,6 sec. But the topspeed was 177 km/h which was better than expected, and the noise levels were also not bad. They called it 'kinderkranken' but they called it good money worth, and the standard of fit and finish was of US level. But they said that basic car design wasn't bad, and they knew their stuff... Oh yes the comment (2:58) in german about not having side bolsters in the seat, but not needing it with 90 km/h on the US highway was funny. (Two different languages, both not my own, made this comment hard to write)
I watched that too. I don't speak German but a lot of the footage spoke for itself. I'm surprised GM even tried to sell the Citation in Europe. Even though it was FWD and a hatchback it was clearly not designed for that market at all.
@@timothyhh Chevrolet always imported a subset of their cars to Europe. They had a few dealers around our county (Netherlands) and service could be had at any Opel (GM) dealership. My grandfather had a Chevrolet Malibu for example bought new in 79 or 80. The dollar was down on the floor and made those cars interesting proposition. The equipment levels were better than most European cars, and automatic gearbox, cruise control and power steering were options not much seen on European cars. (The driving dynamics, and a transmission which failed with towing where less stellar). Oh yes, the maximum speed in our country was lowered to 100 km/h so speed wasn't so important as it was until 1974, and later it became apparent that it never would go back to be unlimited in our country, so a more relaxed car was an viable option...
@@JJVernig Well that makes sense. I can see how a low price and standard features from the same company that produced the familiar Opals could sway people. American GM cars tended to look clapped out after only a few years; I feel like Europeans would've had less tolerance for that, but I don't know what I'm talking about really, so maybe I'm wrong.
I was a junior mechanic just out of trade school when I worked for a Pontiac and later a Chevrolet dealer when the X bodies came out. Nothing but problems one after the other! Especially disheartening was the malfunctioning dual diagonal brake system! I later took a job at a dealership that sold three popular brands of Japanese cars (I won’t name them here). But I will say that I would be a very wealthy man if I had a $1 for every consumer who ever said “I will never again by American car!“
Ur right. I started working on gm fwd peace of shit in 83. Rack problems brake problems. I hated to see on the property in the morning. If it a dip shit. Any car that goes A. To b. Is a good car. Look at some of the comments. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT A GOOD CAR IS. LOL.
The spotty quality of the '80 model year and GM's refusal to fix the rear-brake lockup problem gave these cars a lot of bad press, but my parent's '81 was well built, reliable and comfortable; it was a lot of car for the money because it was really GM's next mid-size chassis (used in the '82 A-bodies) being marketed as a compact. The one thing in this video not worth touting was the "fan-forced ventilation system"; without air conditioning, these cars were hot in the summer and I had to put a valve in the heater hose to make the air coming in more of a blessing than a curse. GM had ditched the vent windows of the 1960s and the large-duct flow-through ventilation of the early 1970s (probably to save space), leaving those who didn't want to spring for air conditioning feeling like neglected orphans.
My mother switched from Chrysler to Chevy when she bought her 1980 Citation, after her and her cousin had bad experiences with mid 70's Chrysler products. The Citation was a good vehicle for her, and me as it was passed down to me as my 1st car, but after that her allegiance shifted a bit when her next vehicle, an '88 Nova. Her next 4 vehicles were Nummi build GM badged Toyotas, The Nova, a Geo Prizm, a Chevy Prizm, and a Pontiac Vibe. I still have the Vibe.
We had an 81 also, but it was a Buick - and it was also fine. We really liked it. We had it for many years and it went over 200,000 miles. I agree that the problems of the first model year were worked out, and the 81 and later cars were fine.
It was going to be called the Condor at first. Perhaps GM wanted some kind of wackadoo name like some of the names Japanese auto makers were cooking up.
Husband: Honey, I went out and got a Citation today. Wife: Really? For what? Husband: For about $5,000. Wife: $5,000!? What the @$&#! were you doing? Husband: I thought it was a great deal. I talked them down $500. Wife: Where are we going to get the money? I’m tired of you’re irresponsible behavior! This is unacceptable! I want a divorce. Husband: I guess could I could get an older Cougar. I’d have to make a sacrifice with the higher maintenance for nicer curves. Wife: As she walks out the door she sees the Chevy Citation, and realizes the whole argument could have been avoided. Still decides to leave anyway.
My dad bought a two door Citation in early 1980. Early on he had braking problems on the car and traded it in two years for a Mazda GLC. Four years later, he bought a gently used 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity for my mom which ended up being much more reliable.
Dad got 81 [built in 80] Phoenix with 4 spd and 4cyl - had no power steering when cold e-brake failed and a bush stoped the car from rolling into on-coming traffic after being parked. After it went thru ca smog, it would not idle smoothly and surged and overheated until temp light came on, it was fixed and need a new carb: the wrong 49 state carb was installed on it but when it was a year old, it had no turn signals and we were pulled over by local pd after almost causing a 4 way wreck, this was a common issue as that year were going to yearly family thanksgiving trip and the phoenix had the transmission recalled and had only 3rd and and 1st gear and dealer replaced the shift rail and clutch in warranty with 30k but interesting thing is while dropping it off a woman lost her turn signals and drove to the dealer with pd following her and they accused of her of dui and the owner and service manger came out and said, "oh yeah- it's an oklahoma car before jan 81, they got the bad hazzard flashers- its a vendor issue- they all do that". She beat the ticket then went next door and ordered a honda but another family member had 78 bonneville v8 with 150k+ and loved it and replaced it with new Pontiac 6000 but that one had most the xbody bugs worked out and was 4 cyl fuel injected with automatic and after 5 yrs really had no problems with it and it was almost the same car but they got the bugs out of it: it was amazing what difference 2 yrs improvements made. Both cars were great in snow and almost didn't need chains in tahoe or east coast snow and did 25-30 mpg on long trips with regular unleaded. We remodeled the bathrooms and the phoenix held everything from tile to plywood sheets, 2x4's and drywall like a wagon or pick up and the clean up, so it did pay for itself but alot of repairs and the computer controlled emissions carb, clutch and e-brake was always a headache-it didn't make smog/ state inspections easy but the seating was nicer on the phoenix and could seat 5 people in comfort. With Trans am spoke rims ,Silver and wine Interior it was nice looking but the things that were fixed, were fixed at least 2x on it but what it did well, it did really well. If Gm waited and had the bugs worked out like they did in 82 and later models, it would have been a much better car. We missed the phoenix's hauling ability after an newer olds and went to Subaru also fir its 4wd/AWD. While ago, I did see a phoenix in salvage parts yard and grabbed the grille for garage art and memories but surprisingly the phoenix and pontiac bages, steering wheel and floor shifter were pulled off the car and other pieces were being pulled as it was the same as the celebrity/6000/cutlass cierra/ century-motor, radiator, some glass etc interchanged so GM did get it right in the end.
I went to ASEP (GM training program) in the mid 90s and one of my instructors was a factory-trained X body specialist. He was basically a rep between dealership techs and GM engineers. He drove nothing but Citations, phonenix, etc for 3 years straight. There is not enough space on the internet to repeat all the horror stories he witnessed in those three years breaking down all the flaws to report to GM. I personally think they were decent looking cars inside and out but as per GM corporate groupthink there were a few key details missed in development and GM ended up with a near-repeat of the Vega. Unfortunately it didn't end with the X cars
My parents bought used the Pontiac version, the Phoenix. The first year we had it, it was slower than snot. No power going up hills. It began to stall out so I took it to the mechanic. He worked on the carburetor and said it was shot, needed a new one. It would take a day to come in. I drove it home and couldn't believe all the extra power it had. Never did replace the carb. In the end I totaled it as it lost traction and fishtaled into the next lane. Turns out every owner of a Citation that I met all said the same thing, the car loved to fishtail. One even traded it in only a month after buying it and fishtailed twice on him.
Although this surely wasn't a great american vehicle, I somehow like it as well as the entire video, because it brings back kind of sentimental memories of way more relaxed times never to come back. Thanks for uploading and greetings from Germany.
You can bet that most the customers that purchased these GM pieces of chit in the early 1980’s purchased a Toyota as their next new car. The 1980’s were the dark ages for GM and paved the way for Toyota’s future success.
Yup, the only thing GM did in the 1980s that remotely qualified as offering quality was Geo, and that was because the vehicles were either rebadged or co-manufactured (NUMMI) with Japanese companies.
Take the customers to the arctic ice and snow then ask them how it handles...don't forget to mention the plastic shift forks in the manual transmissions ... those were wonderful ....
Friend of mine had one of those years ago. Still ran but it was rusted out and ready for the junkyard. We neutral dropped it to death and pushed it to the junkyard with my 73 Chevy Impala.
I Owned the racier 1981 X-11. Great sounding, responsive V6 engine with Rochester Varajet carb, excellent ride comfort, good room and unbeatable handling - and it looked decent. Great car. Remember the competition was the Ford Fairmont/Zephyr and the Dodge Aires/ Plymouth Reliant K-car. I would by one today if they made them This time a Buick Skylark optioned up - Sandy
I remember my brother had a dark blue Citation, I was impressed by how smooth and quiet it rode. It felt like a large car, but handled very well. The only thing that sucked was the tie rods let go unexpectedly at highway speed and it ended up on its roof at the bottom of a river. He kicked out the back window and luckily survived. That part was left out of the sales presentation...
I laughed so hard at that. And I don't laugh easily. I had tears in my eyes.
a real american car then xD
😊
I remember as a kid, my dad called them The SHitation
pretty much what they were
Haha. Why? It looks great.
I always loved the shápe of this mid-sizecar, in my country available 4 doors and automatic only.
Greetings from 🇨🇱 Santiago Chile.
@@crist67mustang My family bought one new, and it was terrible. See my complete post above.
🤣🤣
The Citation was actually a pretty big deal: it was GM's first small front-wheel-drive car, and became the best-selling car of 1980, with over 800,000 sold that year. It got rave reviews when first launched, but it turned out that Chevrolet had sent out specially modified versions of it as press cars, with improved handling compared to the ones that consumers would end up buying. Steering and braking problems and GM's typically poor reliability of the time gave it an unfavorable reputation that it never recovered from.
It's a shame too, the 84 Skylark I still own didn't have any of the first year problems in it. GM overlooked the small stuff, again, on the way to market. Should have made 10,000 the first year in fleets to iron out the kinks in their first transverse FWD platform.
Citation wasn't the best selling car of 1980, the Cutlass was. No car has sold 800,000 in one year unless maybe if you go back to the 60's the Impala might have.
@@stepheng3667 I thought it was the Cutlass too but according to Wikipedia they sold 810k Citations in 1980.
@@1967davethewave Wikipedia can be wrong sometimes and it is definitely wrong about 800K Citations in 1980. I've seen that before with Wikipedia. Cutlass was #1 from 1978 -1981. Citation was never #1. Especially for a first year model , they would never have been able to ramp up that fast.
@@stepheng3667 I know Wiki can be wrong. It did mention that there was prolonged sales season but didn't mention what that was. Ford did sell about 650k 65 Mustangs on the roll out with a prolonged sales season.
They started selling them in April instead of September. May people still refer to them as 64 1/2's or just 64's even though they are titled as 65's. But I guess it doesn't really matter in the end. I have seen at least 20 late 70's/early 80's Cutlass's just this year alone but I haven't seen a Citation in at least 4 years and that was only because my best friend had inherited one from his grandma when she passed. lol. I guess the Cutlass was just a better car!
My grandfather had the worst luck with cars. Towards the end of his life he could afford anything but after buying a few nice cars only for them to grenade on him, he gave up. It was to the point where he had the dealer lease him whatever base-model shitbox they had. If he was driving it, it was as good as an indication as anything that you probably didn't want to buy the same car. He'd treat it like a rolling ash tray, never change the oil or open the hood once and when it was turned in, it might as well go to the junkyard. Goes without saying he had one of these.
I'm heading on down to my Chevy dealer right now. I hope they still have them in stock.
I recognize Wes Sarginson.
Sarginson was a TV news anchorman who worked in Atlanta (at WSB-TV and WXIA-TV), Washington DC (at WJLA-TV), and Tampa Bay (at WFLA-TV). Had no idea he did this piece for the Chevrolet Citation.
Sarginson is enjoying retirement.
"Son, I clocked you doing 44mph in a 30mph zone....I'm writing you a citation"......."but officer, I'm driving a Citation, isn't that punishment enough?"
Hahahhahahhaha
Welp, I just watched this video in its entirety. Now I’m ready to snort some coke and have a Tab.
👋😂👍lmfao!
Me too. I think it’ll be easier to find the coke than the Tab, though.
Love it, well I’m Audi 5000!
Pretty sure the dolt at 2:55 had done the same exact thing just before filming his lines.
LOL
My dad bought one before they even went on sale, in April 1979. When it came in, I was impressed: black hatchback with black interior, really comfortable, decent acceleration. It spent the first 3 weeks in the shop because it would spit the transmission dipstick out under acceleration. The paint started bubbling up on the roof and had to be repainted 3 times! The heater hose popped off in the summer. Then it was recalled because the floorboards were weak. One day a hunk of seam sealer fell out of the drip rail and it had to have its 4th paint job. When he paid it off he traded it for a Ford. In retrospect, they were complete hunks of garbage.
When a company asks their sales force to sell garbage it's a wonder that car salesman have the reputation that they do. This car was a disaster. The X platform... A very bad joke
Comes with a map with the directions to the nearest junkyard
👋😂👌hahahaha....lmfao!
Thank you, cause I got most of my parts in 1989 for my 1980 which I paid $400 for.
I had a garbage Chevy Mutation - EVERYTHING broke on that piece of junk!
👍👍❤️that, those cars were shit boxes. There’s a reason they don’t make them anymore, they couldn’t sell hardly any of them. I remember my cousin bought one new, the first time I rode in it I told her it was junk.
Lmfao!
First car I ever got a loan on!
Transmission laid an egg on me, what a let down!
Thanks GM!
HAHAHA! Great comment!
I bought an '07 Silverado 1500 4x4 - first new vehicle I've ever bought in my life after driving beaters for decades. Right off the showroom floor, the brakes pulsated like the 266,000 mile '94 K1500 I was driving at the time. Then the door trim fell off the driver's side a week later. Went back several times under warranty for the noisy interior - incessant squeaks & rattles, 10x worse than that 266k mile K1500! Also went back 5 more times for pulsating brakes every 1-3,000 miles. At 38k, the lower ball joints were sloppy enough to get the inspector's attention. At 50k, the front differential began leaking out the output shaft seals, upper ball joints were sloppy, hub bearings were noisy, 1 strut was smoked, and the engine started to burn oil regularly if I worked it too hard. Then I had a couple phantom dead batteries - no rhyme or reason - flatlined 0 volts. Recharged, and didn't happen again for years. Also had a few no crank events randomly. At 97K miles, during a second rear differential fluid change, I noticed chunks of metal on the magnet. Further investigation revealed nearly every tooth of the spider gears had lost the tips of their teeth! Also, the carrier was all worn out and sloppy, and the G80 clutches were metal-to-metal. And this brings us to the last saga just 5 months ago - 103k miles, the 4L60E transmission burnt up the 3 / 4 clutch pack!
I used to be a die-hard GM guy. Now I despise them!
@@SmittySmithsonite All the mean while GM employees cussing over their bonuses not being big enough!
@@SmittySmithsonite that was 30y ago
@@neilgibbons2532 -14 years ago. My truck is a 2007, as I posted in the first sentence.
Laid an egg 😂
They got absolutely amazing gas mileage. Because they spent most of the time on the back of flatbed tow trucks after the transmission imploded.
No, My parents had great success from the Citation
So did mine, drive it for 216,000 miles then gave it away. Had its quirks but they dealt with them.
I was a young salesman on the day the car came out. We did not have enough to sell the first day. Started out a$4,500 but within one year, some of the cars were approaching $9,000. I remember watching this film in the sales room. We were successful in switching to other Chevrolet models but after the transmission failures car was doa. Took up another line of business in 1982.
My teacher bought a new 1979 Buick Regal Turbo Coupe...$9,000.
I knew I wasn't alone with the transmission failure! Failed shortly after the warranty! I got screwed big time! This car should've been taken back under warranty and fixed!
To all the GM employees reading this, I feel robbed twice when the government gives are tax dollars to keep your doors open! GM needs to learn survival of the fittest!
@@tommcintosh7241 You are not alone. GM took the easy road for short term profits and putting out a car that promised so much and delivered very little
What's truely FUNNY about your story to me is I bought a used Citiation in 1985 for $2G and now some 38 years later I'M STILL DRIVING IT. Yes, I fixed and changed "things" along the way (as you do with ALL and ANY car). But a car that cost me $2,000 in 1985, I'm still driving in 2023, now THAT'S FUNNY. While people today blow $60G to $100G on cars of today, I LAUGH and me and my Citation just keep on rolling along. 99% of people talking "S" about the Citation DIDN'T SERVICE THE CAR LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE.
@GeeBee909 I guess its not a bad car for what they designed it for. But the ppl that drive the car buying (typical white ppl making over $60k) they now want suvs that tow 9k lbs. Theyre full of it! Gm, Toyota, & especially dodge knows its customers are full of crap. They just give them what they want & call it a day. With that said, gm could have named it something else other than "ticket" I guess they wanted an "authorative" sounding name for a new platform😁.
Now THERE is a car that desperately needed OnStar!!
Hahah
It probably wouldn't work either
Havent seen a Citation or any other X body GM's for years
Right, not even in the warm climate states. Disappeared.
Because they were crap!
I occasionally see one driving around.
They were pieces of shit out the gate.
Like cutlass cierras...lmfao
Crapbacks...every thief in town had a hardon for those big hatch windows.
The chevy citation: it's not a chevette.
But it may as well be.
Very few of them lasted more than 10 years.
Heck, they got me wanting to drive one now... They make it sound like it’s a Cadillac 😂😂
Lol kinda like a cimmaron?
@@spacecat7247 if you're referring to that Cadillac. 💁♂️well I thought it was cute
@@neilgibbons2532 for the time they were but they were a service and maintenance nightmare
It's a shame that the Citation was such a monumental failure. It has an extremely innovative design and versatility, all of which was far overshadowed by horrendous quality issues and loads of recalls. GM's bean cutters and corporate arrogance strikes again.
GM had a huge opportunity to change the automotive marketplace and, as you cite, they blew it by letting accountants take over.
This abortion was the result of government standards. This was an awful car.
@@chrisedward7575 Not really since competing Japanese cars that faced both tariffs and the same standards somehow proved reliable and acquired loyal customers. This was a typical GM cockup like virtually everything they did. Just read the autobiography "Rivethead" to see the quality standards GM had at the time.
@@LearnAboutFlow I agree that GM is a horrible company but what the government did was wrong.
@@chrisedward7575 I don't disagree with that. The whole passive seatbelt stupidity proved that in spades.
The steering column wiring in my parent’s Omega melted. They bought Toyotas after that experience.
A lot of people bought Toyota's after driving these shitboxes for a few years.Once they drove a Camry or an Accord for awhile they never went back to GM
I’ve owned 15 cars and the top three are all Toyotas - 2006 Highlander Hybrid, 2012 Plug-In Prius, 2021 Corolla Hybrid. Quality is top notch.
These were absolutely awful cars from the get-go. A work collogue of mine bought one brand new, so I was able to test drive it almost "off the showroom floor". It felt more like a "go cart" than an actual car. It was underpowered and the handling was dreadful.
To give you an example of the poor build quality, when she (the co-worker) first got the car I popped the hood to have a look at the engine compartment (as any car-nut would do). The first thing that I noticed was that there were no bolts through the hinges holding on the hood. The hinges were glued on! I kid you not. Small wonder this model was completely scrapped after only a 5-year run. It was total rubbish.
The glued on hinges were not uncommon for GM products of the 80s/90s. The 88-98 Chevy full size trucks had glued on door hinges....they never failed completely but would sag over time lol
Well at least they just came out and admitted you couldn't climb a hill with the a/c on!
Hondas still have that problem, 40 years later.
@@thirdstar9255 Are you serious??
@@JCWiley2300 unfortunately yes
@@thirdstar9255 My Lord.
Most modern cars do this
I had brown 84 model. Good car but I got it in 94 so it was well used and rusted. Hatchback part was awesome and you could stuff insane amount of cargo inside.
This car could've had a legendary legacy, GM had one job and they fucked it up.
They fucked up a lot of things along the way. Vega was a complete failure as well.
They did themselves no favors with the way they managed the public perception of these cars, but ultimately, they turned them into the much more profitable A-body mid-size models that were a GM staple for years.
Fucking up is what Government Motors does best
Chrysler Transmissions Ford 3 spark plug V8 should I keep going Chrysler and Ford made pieces of shit too
@@sldl04 wrong, that's immature to say.
I remember my grandpa traded in his 1959 vw bug that he bought brand new for one of these, almost immediately he said he regretted it.
They sure overblew the balloon to have it burst in their faces later with these cars.
12:14 Wonder how much you save with the optional "No Right Doors" trim package.
Probably a $50 credit or something, maybe you can use it to get the FM radio.
I thought these were great looking cars and I remember being excited when they came out. Too bad they ended up being so miserable.
So... never had any taste then.
I get what you're saying.... the styling seems downright dull today, but for 1979 they looked crisp and it was clear they had front wheel drive packaging, meaning they seemed to be looking towards the future rather than with something like the Volare or Fairmont.
My parents bought a new '84 Citation with the 6cyl. and rear spoiler. It had a great deep-tone exhaust and was quite reliable, for the 7 years that we had it.
The 2.8 had a nice growl.
You're one of the lucky ones. I got used to riding in a tow truck. 😂
My grandmother bought a new '79 Citation 4-door. She was in a serious head-on collision and walked away while both cars were totalled. She replaced it with a V6 '85 Skylark Limited sedan and had it at the time of her death in '98.
I remember as a kid at the age of 7 , my parents friends bought a new 83 model. Even as a kid I thought it was ugly 🤣
Lmfao!👋😂👌
Same here. I couldn't stand the five door hatchback.
I worked on them at the dealership, they were Bombs with not resale value.
They were terds!
I can remember how disappointed I was after all these years!
Transmission fell out with low miles!
Made payments for almost 2 years with no car to drive!
When it was paid off to the scap yard it went!
Still pissed
FUCK YOU GM!
I went to ASEP (GM training program) in the mid 90s and one of my instructors was a factory-trained X body specialist. He was basically a rep between dealership techs and GM engineers. He drove nothing but Citations, phonenix, etc for 3 years straight. There is not enough space on the internet to repeat all the horror stories he witnessed in those three years breaking down all the flaws to report to GM. I personally think they were decent looking cars inside and out but as per GM corporate groupthink there were a few key details missed in development and GM ended up with a near-repeat of the Vega. Unfortunately it didn't end with the X cars
Yep! Junk.
@@303nitzubishi4 ...on a long enough time line...
I remember my dad had an 84 Citation II with the 2.8L V-6. It was a great car and very reliable
Yes the citation II had all the gremlins removed from the original 80' products
Had a dark blue '83 X-11. Really loved the sporty look, fiberglass rear spoiler and hood with functional cowl induction and vacuum operated air cleaner flaps. Used to use aluminum etching wheel cleaner on the mags which made them pop! Was really difficult to find aftermarket radios do to its vertical mount.
I remember these, they were turds. They had more recalls than even the Vega, and did poorly in frontal crash tests too. The Celebrity was based on the same chassis, yet drove much differently---GM had learned it's lessons from the Citation and got rid of most of it's flaws in the Celebrity, which was a pretty solid car
not only were they turds, but the body styling is absolutely HIDEOUS. One of the worst ever produced. Ray Charles could've come up with a better looking body. Goodness gracious, what were they thinking? When that guy is sitting in the back seat, he looks like he's stuffed into a sardine can....lol. I'd like to see him ride back there for 3 hours on an interstate cruise! When he got out, after that, he'd be on disability, for sure.
When you’d apply the brakes suddenly the rear wheels would lock up and they’d skid out of control. So dangerous
@@beauhatman4395 Yeah, and what about those paint schemes? What is that in the thumbnail, beige and orange? Those are two colors that just don't go together
i had a 89 celebrity was a great car ,,,
Two major reasons that the early X-body cars were poor:
Time (prematurely rushed into production during the 1979 oil crisis with Iran which caused gasoline prices to surge...an extra 6 months of engineering was necessary).
Money (these cars used new technology and new assembly methods that made them expensive to build yet the public expected compact cars to be cheaper so materials were substandard as was build quality)
Had a 1982 Citation X-11. Well handling and quick car. Lasted until 1990 until it literally.rusted away.
Damn 12 years smh will that’s Government Motors for you
@@CarringtonHollister All steel rusts.
You got lucky it lasted that looooong!
@@louf7178 Yeah but not that fast.
@@Andyface79 Sure it does. The issue is coating it. GM made significant steps in coatings at truck cabs - something like 4 steps, IIRC. It looked excellent - still they rusted. I've used epoxy, and it is excellent because nearly all oxygen molecules cannot permeate epoxy - these are the issues (until economics comes into play).
Signature car of the "malaise era" was this thing, base model in beige.
The malaise era.....beautiful cars, imho.
I owned an '80 beige Citation....lol. Had to keep spraying starter fluid in the carburetor to get it going.
First wife had a matching 79 Chevette when we got married. It was a terrible car.
My benchmark for malaise era cars has always been my uncle Dick's '79 Ford Thunderbird. 19 feet long, 4000 pounds 150 horsepower. A huge car with hardly any room inside. It started falling apart the week he brought it home.
They were on the right track with the X cars - FWD, rack and pinion steering and decent packaging. Too bad the build quality was shite and the styling was farmed out to a dumpster manufacturer.
Was getting my 72 Nova inspected , when I saw the new ones come off the carrier at the Chevy dealer in 1979 . Just another box . The Nova was a box too, but I’ve never seen aCitation at a classic car show !
Most of the people in this video are probably in an old age home by now.
Make sure to introduce your prospect to the Service manager also because he will be seeing him quite often with this clunker.GM lost a lot of customers with the X body.
It was your last American Car my family ever bought.
@@gymjoedude Probably the last American car for a lot of families.
I even remember the tagline:
"It's the first Chevy of the 80's;
This could be the car you have in mind."
"Chevy Citaaaaaaaaa Shun!"
@@BELCAN57 Indeed. I'd forgotten. Thanks.
Will never forget the day in 1986 when my friend's Shit-ation died in 8 lanes of traffic on I-90 in Chicago when it was 90+ degrees out.
Shit-tation. My family added an extra t to the name. Mother callled it the plastic car. you couldn't hear the radio from all of the plastic in the interior squeaking and rattling.
Be grateful. It was doing humanity a favor.
Where on I90 in Chicago is there 8 lanes ? Exaggerate much?
@@donc6781 8 lanes means four in each direction.
I had a '80 X11, I loved it. Quickly found out you don't buy 1st year GM. Rear brakes would lock up early. The transmission blew up twice in 60K, but Chevrolet fixed it twice. My Mom bought one ran it almost 10 years and 245k miles. She had almost no trouble. In 2003 I bought a Chevy Impala, what the Citation should have been. Ran that 300K sold it to a friend and it is still running.
Those Caprices/Impalas lasted forever...
@@georgemartin1436 The Caprice - that was a real car. Shame they didnt make them all to that standard.
I still see plenty of 8th gen (00-05) Impalas around. GM did something right when they made those.
My uncle bought a brand new early 1980s Pontiac Phoenix. He got angry when I told him it was a glorified Chevrolet Citation. LOL!
I currently own a 1981 Pontiac Phoenix with the iron duke and 4 on the floor and it’s the best car I’ve ever owned. Has non of the issues people complain about.
GM cars of that time were a gamble. Some cars got all bad parts, some got all good parts, and most got one or two of the bad. Good cars, like yours, are the survivors. All the others never left the 90’s.
Iron Dukes last forever...they were in S-10's too...
@@georgemartin1436 If they lived the first few years of life. 1 in 7 iron duke Fieros burned thanks to poor oil pan design and crappy connecting rods.
Maybe yours was made in Japan.
Is your electronic carburetor still functioning? I think the iron duke got fuel injection in 1982.
"The first Chevy of the '80s...This might be the car you have in mind..." Remember the commercials vividly...
Me too!💕
I guess the "retains it value" didn't work out so well for Chevy.
Have you seen values on them lately? Their values are through the roof with one I seen close to 9k now. 🤷♂️
Are these videos still a thing? I wonder if in 20-30 years we’ll se the “New Chevrolet Cruze sales training video”
Is that news anchor Wes Sarginson as the pitchman? I didn't know he did that along with anchoring at WWJ (now WDIV), WJLA in Washington, and both WSB and WXIA in Atlanta
It was common back in this era for Detroit anchors to also do freelance work on industrial films like this one.
It's Wes. As a decades long Atlanta news viewer, I recognized him right away.
My dad bought a 1980 Citation in 1983. It went to hell quickly .Paint peeled off the hood and bumper , plastic knobs inside came off , and it died by '84
The 1st Chevy of the eighties ... I learned how to drive on one of these slugs... I remember thinking how powerful the Ford Pinto was compared to that
The beginning of the end for GM.
Before this car was introduced came the Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs with diesel engines and before that came the Vega.
Agreed 👍
@@SpockvsMcCoy ... And before that was the Corvair....lol☺️
@@rodferguson3515 The issue with the Corvair was mostly about quirky handling if the car was driven too aggressively or had improperly inflated tires. The issue with the GM diesels was about reliability and with the Vega was about engine reliability and body corrosion.
@@SpockvsMcCoy I would rather deal with build quality and rust issues than to drive a innovative nice looking but unsafe vehicle like the corvair... A car that was deemed "Unsafe at any speed " by consumer advocate Ralph Nader... That's why I am criticizing the corvair .When I was little about 3 years old my mother almost bought a brand-new corvair (1967 model) thank God she didn't
The radio position always aggravated me
I knew it! You still alive?! 👋😂👌
I’m sold! Where can I get one?
While it was no Vega, the GM X-Bodies were almost the same level of disaster. My dad, a VW driver, went upscale and ordered the base Buick Skylark version. Yes, it was roomy, comfortable and nice looking. One fatal flaw in all the X-Bodies was the brake proportioner valve, which was responsible, as the name suggests, for distributing brake effort between the front and rear wheels. The result: even moderate application of the brakes in wet weather caused the car to do a 180. This happened three times to my dad, who was as conservative driver as one could imagine.
GM also grossly miscalculated the V-6 take rate; the gas crisis of 1979 led to much higher demand for the old Iron Duke 2.5 liter four cylinder leading to long backlog for delivery. Too bad for my dad the 4 cylinder did eventually arrive.
The problem with GM in the 80s was that they figured people would buy whatever they produced regardless of style or quality. It open the door to foreign car makers
The " X " body was touted as " The Most Tested Car of GM " . WE had to do 5 recalls on them before we could sell one. The entire drivetrain was a disaster. Both 4 and 6 cylinder engines had problems as well as both the manual and automatic transmissions. Then there was the steering racks. Bad seals and seals wearing groves into the aluminum steering rack housings. THEN..." Morning Sickness " as it was coined. Vehicle would loose power assist turning one way when cold. Good intentions delivered in a hurry lead to many problems .
Compared to the Citation, the K-car was a Mercedes, reliability wise. Even in Mexico, back in the eighties, those Citations had already a damaged reputation. "You're better off with a Gremlin, a mid 70's Dart or a Datsun than driving that steaming pile of manure" people used to say, as far as I remember. And my! I was only eight or nine years old at the time.
My dad bought one in late 1979, it was on a turntable at the dealership. It was a 2 door hatchback with the V6 and F41 package. It rode well, was very roomy, and the V6 was smooth. Unfortunately it stalled on the way home from the dealer and needed to be towed back...LOL! I drove it through high school and it performed well the whole time but the check engine light was on pretty much the whole time we owned the car 😬
That's why God invented black electrical tape... Just put a strip of it over the check engine light... Problem solved! 😅 😂 🤣
@@herrunsinn774 I treated it as ambient lighting 🤣
Check engine light was only a warranty service light before everything changed in 96.
I worked at a Chevrolet Dealer when these came out. The mechanics hated them.
It was probably the retirement plan for those mechanics. Endless supply of work.
I worked on them in the mid 80's, they sucked to work on. Little wonder that by the early 90's they had almost completely vanished. Just so many poor designs for a service and longevity perspective.
The Accord kicked its butt, still does today.
Yep! Junk.
@TcZ my 2004 accord still on the road. Drives fantastic!
10:28 Props to the dude that landed a hot chick with a Chevy Citation.
Lol. Her ex-boyfriend had a pinto
I had an 83 "sport" 6 cylinder and manual transmission. It was a great car. Reliable.
I have some swamp land in Florida and a bridge in London for sale, if you are interested. I'll give you a great price on them both. Haaaaaaaa! 😅 😂 🤣
@@herrunsinn774 How many did you own?
@ Herr Unsinn
That’s not how that euphemism works... lol.
And then you woke up.
And then you woke up.
I had an 81, drove it untill 1992 then sold it , still saw it running around in 2000.
We bought a new one in December 1979 and enjoyed it for five years. It was a club coupe with a V6 and manual transmission. No options, no air. Ran great all the time we owned it.
Man ya baby boomers had all the nice car's.
Should i buy one i saw one for sale for less then 5g and it had less then 50k on the clock.
Yes buy it the one my sister had in the late 80's was a great car was a daily driver for over 12 years with no major repairs just oil changes and normal wear and tear
Perfect example of an innovative concept that was executed horribly. The press actually liked these, but the quality control on production models was just appalling and they were difficult to service.
They were absolute junk
8:27 what's that white car? Some kind of a Datsun?
My wife drove one as her company car in our first year of marriage, 1982. It was ok, not spectacular, just “kinda there”.
On the other hand, my sister-in-law and her husband bought a 1980, and while it was true they normally trashed whatever they owned, the car itself didn’t help matters any. Oil leaks, braking problems and the all-time worst: the motor mounts let go somehow and the engine dropped out , not to the pavement but it was bad enough. Of course, he didn’t drive it once the problems showed up, he had my sister-in-law drive it and he drove the Buick so when all of these problems appeared, he could blame her, he was a real winner, just like that useless car.
Oh God, this sounds like my ex-uncle Rich, or "Asshole Rich" as he is known in the family now.
These turds were a gift to Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. GM's market share in 1979 was in the high 40 percentile....now about 17-18 percent.
Yeah my parents refused to buy American in the 80s. Gave their money instead to Datsun/Nissan (including 88 Stanza Wagon!). They still refuse to even entertain the thought of buying anything not Japanese.
@@timothyhh Our family had a 1978 Chevette 4-Door which was loaded with options. My father bought it used in 1979 and sold it in 1982 to acquire a 1979 Datsun 210 Wagon. I don't remember why he sold it as I don't think it had any mechanical problems. After the 1979 Datsun came a used 1992 Geo Prizm (reskinned Toyota Corolla), then a used 1995 Geo Prizm, and then the 2009 Nissan Versa he bought new and still has.
@@SpockvsMcCoy I just traded a 2011 Versa. A dependable if not inspiring car.
@@timothyhh I still have the 2010 Ford Focus Coupe that I bought new.
These were why Detroit got their asses kicked in the 80's and 90's.
Damn car fell apart driving off the dealer lot.
Hahahaha....you killed me with that comment!👋😂👉💀☠⚰
I love the fact that this entire video is to help salespeople around the fact that this car was beaten with an ugly stick.
My relatives went for a x-11,only six years later the car was resting in the bone yard, we went for a datsun 510, that I stil have and drive fourty years later.
I saw a German road test. They drove 2000 km with it in 1980, so it was a brand new press car. 7 items broke or fell off, worst of all the belt driving the generator and later the generator itself, but also 4 wheel covers and some body trims and interior fittings. It could not perform the high speed cornering test with a bump in the road on the Mercedes Benz test track. The underbody would hit the pavement violently. It was bad, bad quality.
I just watched that too. To be fair, I doubt any non-sports Detroit car of that era would have passed that test because they were all so softly sprung.
@@bobbbobb4663 I enjoyed that too: ruclips.net/video/GANcs2sxcH8/видео.html . 13,6 0-62 was rather slow, and with A/C 15,6 sec. But the topspeed was 177 km/h which was better than expected, and the noise levels were also not bad.
They called it 'kinderkranken' but they called it good money worth, and the standard of fit and finish was of US level. But they said that basic car design wasn't bad, and they knew their stuff...
Oh yes the comment (2:58) in german about not having side bolsters in the seat, but not needing it with 90 km/h on the US highway was funny.
(Two different languages, both not my own, made this comment hard to write)
I watched that too. I don't speak German but a lot of the footage spoke for itself. I'm surprised GM even tried to sell the Citation in Europe. Even though it was FWD and a hatchback it was clearly not designed for that market at all.
@@timothyhh Chevrolet always imported a subset of their cars to Europe. They had a few dealers around our county (Netherlands) and service could be had at any Opel (GM) dealership. My grandfather had a Chevrolet Malibu for example bought new in 79 or 80. The dollar was down on the floor and made those cars interesting proposition. The equipment levels were better than most European cars, and automatic gearbox, cruise control and power steering were options not much seen on European cars. (The driving dynamics, and a transmission which failed with towing where less stellar).
Oh yes, the maximum speed in our country was lowered to 100 km/h so speed wasn't so important as it was until 1974, and later it became apparent that it never would go back to be unlimited in our country, so a more relaxed car was an viable option...
@@JJVernig Well that makes sense. I can see how a low price and standard features from the same company that produced the familiar Opals could sway people. American GM cars tended to look clapped out after only a few years; I feel like Europeans would've had less tolerance for that, but I don't know what I'm talking about really, so maybe I'm wrong.
GM was so excited about the X body they released it in early 1979 as 1980 model.
I BEGGED my dad not to buy one of these but he bought one anyway. One of the worst cars we ever had.
Surprised they didnt sell a Pontiac version called the Parking Ticket
I have no idea what they were thinking with that name. WTF
They did have a Pontiac version.... as well as an Oldsmobile and a Buick version. The Phoenix the Omega and the Skylark respectively.
I want a Chevy Citation now
I remember when the X cars came out. 1980 sounded so futuristic then.
You could hear them rusting at night. The X-body was a good concept, horrible execution.
I was a junior mechanic just out of trade school when I worked for a Pontiac and later a Chevrolet dealer when the X bodies came out. Nothing but problems one after the other! Especially disheartening was the malfunctioning dual diagonal brake system! I later took a job at a dealership that sold three popular brands of Japanese cars (I won’t name them here). But I will say that I would be a very wealthy man if I had a $1 for every consumer who ever said “I will never again by American car!“
Ur right. I started working on gm fwd peace of shit in 83. Rack problems brake problems. I hated to see on the property in the morning. If it a dip shit. Any car that goes A. To b. Is a good car. Look at some of the comments. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT A GOOD CAR IS. LOL.
The spotty quality of the '80 model year and GM's refusal to fix the rear-brake lockup problem gave these cars a lot of bad press, but my parent's '81 was well built, reliable and comfortable; it was a lot of car for the money because it was really GM's next mid-size chassis (used in the '82 A-bodies) being marketed as a compact. The one thing in this video not worth touting was the "fan-forced ventilation system"; without air conditioning, these cars were hot in the summer and I had to put a valve in the heater hose to make the air coming in more of a blessing than a curse. GM had ditched the vent windows of the 1960s and the large-duct flow-through ventilation of the early 1970s (probably to save space), leaving those who didn't want to spring for air conditioning feeling like neglected orphans.
My mother switched from Chrysler to Chevy when she bought her 1980 Citation, after her and her cousin had bad experiences with mid 70's Chrysler products. The Citation was a good vehicle for her, and me as it was passed down to me as my 1st car, but after that her allegiance shifted a bit when her next vehicle, an '88 Nova. Her next 4 vehicles were Nummi build GM badged Toyotas, The Nova, a Geo Prizm, a Chevy Prizm, and a Pontiac Vibe. I still have the Vibe.
We had an 81 also, but it was a Buick - and it was also fine. We really liked it. We had it for many years and it went over 200,000 miles. I agree that the problems of the first model year were worked out, and the 81 and later cars were fine.
Actually, I loved my 1980 Citation V6
At 15:30 That was Some nice clean images of a Chevy Citation X-11 before they rotted out
Gotta love the "functional" spoiler though! Sure that's real useful in a car that goes 0-60 in 20 minutes.
I highly question the decision to name a car after the thing you get when your parked illegally, or the meter runs out.
It was going to be called the Condor at first. Perhaps GM wanted some kind of wackadoo name like some of the names Japanese auto makers were cooking up.
Husband: Honey, I went out and got a Citation today.
Wife: Really? For what?
Husband: For about $5,000.
Wife: $5,000!? What the @$&#! were you doing?
Husband: I thought it was a great deal. I talked them down $500.
Wife: Where are we going to get the money? I’m tired of you’re irresponsible behavior! This is unacceptable! I want a divorce.
Husband: I guess could I could get an older Cougar. I’d have to make a sacrifice with the higher maintenance for nicer curves.
Wife: As she walks out the door she sees the Chevy Citation, and realizes the whole argument could have been avoided. Still decides to leave anyway.
@@shamish-2960 My sister was away at school when my parent's bought theirs; at first she thought they were in some kind of trouble.
I despised the Citation as butt ugly when it was introduced, and that sentiment has not improved with age.
Gosh it was absolutely HIDEOUS!
Olds Cutlass and Buick Century hatchbacks were hit by the ugly stick too.
My dad bought a two door Citation in early 1980. Early on he had braking problems on the car and traded it in two years for a Mazda GLC. Four years later, he bought a gently used 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity for my mom which ended up being much more reliable.
Dad got 81 [built in 80] Phoenix with 4 spd and 4cyl - had no power steering when cold e-brake failed and a bush stoped the car from rolling into on-coming traffic after being parked. After it went thru ca smog, it would not idle smoothly and surged and overheated until temp light came on, it was fixed and need a new carb: the wrong 49 state carb was installed on it but when it was a year old, it had no turn signals and we were pulled over by local pd after almost causing a 4 way wreck, this was a common issue as that year were going to yearly family thanksgiving trip and the phoenix had the transmission recalled and had only 3rd and and 1st gear and dealer replaced the shift rail and clutch in warranty with 30k but interesting thing is while dropping it off a woman lost her turn signals and drove to the dealer with pd following her and they accused of her of dui and the owner and service manger came out and said, "oh yeah- it's an oklahoma car before jan 81, they got the bad hazzard flashers- its a vendor issue- they all do that". She beat the ticket then went next door and ordered a honda but another family member had 78 bonneville v8 with 150k+ and loved it and replaced it with new Pontiac 6000 but that one had most the xbody bugs worked out and was 4 cyl fuel injected with automatic and after 5 yrs really had no problems with it and it was almost the same car but they got the bugs out of it: it was amazing what difference 2 yrs improvements made. Both cars were great in snow and almost didn't need chains in tahoe or east coast snow and did 25-30 mpg on long trips with regular unleaded. We remodeled the bathrooms and the phoenix held everything from tile to plywood sheets, 2x4's and drywall like a wagon or pick up and the clean up, so it did pay for itself but alot of repairs and the computer controlled emissions carb, clutch and e-brake was always a headache-it didn't make smog/ state inspections easy but the seating was nicer on the phoenix and could seat 5 people in comfort. With Trans am spoke rims ,Silver and wine Interior it was nice looking but the things that were fixed, were fixed at least 2x on it but what it did well, it did really well. If Gm waited and had the bugs worked out like they did in 82 and later models, it would have been a much better car. We missed the phoenix's hauling ability after an newer olds and went to Subaru also fir its 4wd/AWD. While ago, I did see a phoenix in salvage parts yard and grabbed the grille for garage art and memories but surprisingly the phoenix and pontiac bages, steering wheel and floor shifter were pulled off the car and other pieces were being pulled as it was the same as the celebrity/6000/cutlass cierra/ century-motor, radiator, some glass etc interchanged so GM did get it right in the end.
I Remember the 1980 Chevy Citation Was on Sale in Most Dealerships in the Spring of 1979 with a very appealing song.
I don't care how crappy the cars were....take me back to the 80's!
Computer match suspension sound so futuristic. I'm actually watching this on a pocket supercomputer
I'm pretty sure all that means is they made sure the employee pulling springs from the bins wasn't completely plastered
@@jblyon2 Higher ABV only allowed on Fridays. Gotta keep some professionalism in the GM plants.
@@jblyon2 Well, it wasn't assembled in Fremont, so that was probably already true
I went to ASEP (GM training program) in the mid 90s and one of my instructors was a factory-trained X body specialist. He was basically a rep between dealership techs and GM engineers. He drove nothing but Citations, phonenix, etc for 3 years straight. There is not enough space on the internet to repeat all the horror stories he witnessed in those three years breaking down all the flaws to report to GM. I personally think they were decent looking cars inside and out but as per GM corporate groupthink there were a few key details missed in development and GM ended up with a near-repeat of the Vega. Unfortunately it didn't end with the X cars
...On a long enough time line...
My vega was way better than anything f.w.d. gm MADE. People who think fwd. Cars handel good never drove a car that handles. And has BRAKES.
That looks like Wes Sarginson of WSB-TV
My parents bought used the Pontiac version, the Phoenix. The first year we had it, it was slower than snot. No power going up hills. It began to stall out so I took it to the mechanic. He worked on the carburetor and said it was shot, needed a new one. It would take a day to come in. I drove it home and couldn't believe all the extra power it had. Never did replace the carb. In the end I totaled it as it lost traction and fishtaled into the next lane. Turns out every owner of a Citation that I met all said the same thing, the car loved to fishtail. One even traded it in only a month after buying it and fishtailed twice on him.
This is the best car Chevy ever made.
I totally agree
I don't think so.
Although this surely wasn't a great american vehicle, I somehow like it as well as the entire video, because it brings back kind of sentimental memories of way more relaxed times never to come back. Thanks for uploading and greetings from Germany.
You can bet that most the customers that purchased these GM pieces of chit in the early 1980’s purchased a Toyota as their next new car.
The 1980’s were the dark ages for GM and paved the way for Toyota’s future success.
Yup, the only thing GM did in the 1980s that remotely qualified as offering quality was Geo, and that was because the vehicles were either rebadged or co-manufactured (NUMMI) with Japanese companies.
@@LearnAboutFlow A lot of the 77-90 Chevrolet Impala/Caprice would last over 200,00 miles and near 20 years.
@@waterheaterservices Funny! Mine could barely make it through one western NY winter. Sold it for $200 it was so awful.
Take the customers to the arctic ice and snow then ask them how it handles...don't forget to mention the plastic shift forks in the manual transmissions ... those were wonderful ....
Oddly, late X-11 models were consistent winners in Showroom Stock road racing back in the day.
Friend of mine had one of those years ago.
Still ran but it was rusted out and ready for the junkyard.
We neutral dropped it to death and pushed it to the junkyard with my 73 Chevy Impala.
A girl in high school drove one of these, wasn't bad. Got us where we wanted to go at lunch time.
👋😂👍Lmfao! Just lunch and home after school.
The Chevettes big brother
I Owned the racier 1981 X-11. Great sounding, responsive V6 engine with Rochester Varajet carb, excellent ride comfort, good room and unbeatable handling - and it looked decent. Great car. Remember the competition was the Ford Fairmont/Zephyr and the Dodge Aires/ Plymouth Reliant K-car. I would by one today if they made them This time a Buick Skylark optioned up - Sandy