The Citroën ZX was our family car for 25 years, and became my first car which I drove for 9 years until 2018. I can tell that was a great car. Excelent chasis, light and nimble, with a direct non-asisted steering wheel wich provided great feedback (so did the whole car). With a petrol 1.4i 75hp engine It Wasn't fast at all, but it had nuts and great (immediate) throttle response. The rear suspension was "pseudo directional" and on top of that, independent. Fun fact: despite having a soft suspension with evident pitch and bodyroll, It sticked very well to the road and had great cornering, being able to quickly change direction. It was very rewarding to drive. I miss it a lot.
Back in the early 2000s, I had a ZX 16v, rare then, almost impossible to find now - hugely under rated. 167hp, passive rear wheel steering and a sharp chassis, what's not to like!
The 16v was a lovely car! I only ever saw them in white, dark green and a light metallic blue colour. I would love the dark green metallic one with the black leather, that was the one I remember being featured in the ZX adverts back in the 90s
I have 3 of these cars. 1996 16v (M), 1995 2.0i(M) and a 1997 1.8i(A). Just love them. Bought them for runabouts for my sons but they regularly do 500km highway bouts in a single trip. Just service and keep a watch on the hoses (> 25 years old). Am looking to get another one soon (167bhp 16v). Superb ride quality even at this age.
I own a Citroen ZX 1.4 from 1991, the first month of production of this model. The car is in factory condition, 33 years old. The material used for production is of enviably good quality. The car has a retrofitted LPG system and low fuel consumption. 6.7 L LPG per 100 km... Today, a car like this is rarely seen on the roads of this part of Europe. Greetings to everyone from Belgrade, Serbia
Gosh, you're making me feel so nostalgic. I had the exact same model except it was green and the 1996 model, but everything else was the same right down to the cassette in the tape player. I used to tape entire programmes off BBC Radio 1 and 2 for the car (reggae, world music, jazz, dance, blues, etc.) and that was my entertainment system. I bought it off eBay with 60K on the clock for £800 in 2008 and had 7 years of lovely, trouble-free driving with it. Eventually, two of the glow plugs fused so badly in the block that my garage man said they couldn't get them out and it wasn't worth fixing, but he gave me £500 for it so you could say I got 7 years driving for £300! I live in West Cork, Ireland, where our roads are narrow, twisty and bumpy, and it was like riding on a magic carpet. But it could also handle the odd 300 km motorway journey with no problems and had plenty of punch when needed. I love how you broke down all the things it didn't have. I've got no need for any of that stuff either! As you say, just more stuff to go wrong. At 62 years of age I've owned 7 cars; a Renault 9, three Honda Preludes, a Citroen BX14 and the ZX, as well as my current car, a Honda Accord. All were bought used, for cash, and the total amount I spent (combined) came to £12500, meaning I've averaged less than £2000 per car, plus the cost of annual servicing. I'd happily go back to any of them in a heartbeat, and no amount of persuasion would make me want to go out and buy anything being offered on today's new car market. We're all different and some people like to have the latest thing, but I like older cars that still do their job. I'm not surprised you called your ZX your French fancy. I can relate to that. I used to call mine Fifi, and she was very French alright!
my dad owned the 3door zx 16v version. I liked that much I bought it off him after he owned it for 6years. quite rare back then only noticed 2 others on the road at the time.
I bought a 500e 4 months ago with this engine and since then I no longer use my "pretty" 308! Very endearing car Reliable comfortable and consuming almost nothing Salutations de France!
I have a 2 year old Berlingo with almost all those features, most of which I've never needed or used. It's the Swiss army knife of cars and we love it. But, we used to have a 1996 Citroen Synergie ( 7 seater MPV ) with the 1.9td engine that we loved much more. It cost 500 quid, we had countless adventures 8n it. It would get us, 3 kids, the dog, our camping gear ( with a huge roof box ) the 170 miles to the seaside on 12 quids worth of vegetable oil. We covered about 30k miles in it. I reckon everyone has fonder memories of their automotive underdogs.
ZX 1.8 Petrol aura white color was my first car. i bought it in 1995 in the Sultanate of Oman (i was expatriated) the car is stil in my garage and totalize 286 000 kms (i use it as a second car) . i broke many recent cars , but i never broke my ZX it run perfectly , seats covers are still ok , plastic are still ok . it is a small car with a big engine, fun to drive ...u fucking good car , i love it !
How many cars were not built by him running it for 20 years? Far better to keep these spinning, for the price of a couple of month’s PCP payment you’ve got reliable transport and fantastic fuel economy! And yes I’ve just bought a ticket! Cheers, Simon M
I have a 2000 Citroën Xantia Estate petrol, which I’ve now had for 5 years. It was a one owner and was taken good care of. It’s my third Xantia and I seem to be strangely addicted to them, so I take good care of this one despite it’s used year round. And people I know get increasingly puzzled when I meet them after not seeing them for a while (“you STILL got that thing?”) 😃
Just had to spend £500 on my Xsara Picasso for the MOT. Had it not had ABS, The bill would have been about £120. To bee 100% fair, Other than the cambelt, it has only needed servicing and tyres in the 8 years I have owned it. Bought it from a gentleman who had it on mobility and then he bought it after the 3 years was up. 20k and 7 1/2 years old for £3k Cheap and very reliable motoring. Just the window regulator to do once the better weather comes (Part was £20)
Fantastic car. I’ve got a 1997 1.4i SX (ELECTRIC WINDOWS AND SUNROOF!!!!) with 81k miles. Just been put through an MOT, six of the fail items were rear brakes. It’s pretty decent nipping about the local area but motorway driving is a bit of a drag, although that might be down to the throttle cable needing replaced. The engine is noisy and has a worrying additional noise under load though!
I had the 1.9 Turbo Diesel was very nippy for a diesel but sadly had to scrap it in the end as rust eat away the sills it was made in 1995 and died in 2015 so had a good run , 125mph top speed too
@@richardcarne753 The engne was good Turbo Intercooled making around 100bhp the weakness was the rot and also the wiring loom would have had to be replaced too as electrics were starting to break down
@@richardcarne753 According to the specs it only had 90 bhp but did 0-60 in 12 secs and 115mph top speed but i got 125mph on a downhill motorway once lol
Just goes to show how much useless crud is built into a modern car. I’d love a simple car like this - less silly gizmos, then max out on quality materials and build quality……..but it’ll never happen!
I had two in the late 2000s...great cars but with some known faults...would have one again without rust. Some ZXs did have cup inserts in the glove box door lol
I had to scrap my 2006 1.5 clio dci that had only 80k. It was still drive like new as i did most of the milage on motorways and looked after it my self. Full tank diesel can last me over 800 miles. I couldn't keep it because it started to be expensive paying £ 12.50 a day when the ulra low emission zone was enforced where i live in London.
@@cnapdap7619 thats stupid, imagine you buy a new car with a 2.0 litre diesel engine, it will pollute more that your older Clio... they make stupid.laws to make.people buy electric vehicles
i completely agree what you said i love that car so much i bought mine in 2011 for 250€ it was 272 000k I still got it it have now 520 000k ans still in good conditions
@@GeoffBuysCars me too, but it can be a bit annoying at times, on my xm it was deactivated by the previous owner, and i din't know the code, so i had to get a new ecu for it just because of that
Yuss. 🤩💪🏼 I’m about to throw £1500+ worth of work at my Xantia diesel because it’s kind of a challenge to get it 250k now I feel. 😂 Like you say, it’ll keep going, no need for a new ant on wheels with all the unnecessary electrical madness that will inevitably be what causes the most headaches. I’ve had a ZX. My dad is proper XUD/W124 obsessive kind of man, he’s had BXs, ZXs and XMs….. I want an XM but he moans about working on them. 🙄 Anywaaaaay. Nice to see a little bit of ZX. 🤗
that´s interesting. iam about to do the same thing to my Xantia 1.8 16v from 1998. i love the car so i keep it. the engine is rock solid but the paint is starting to give away so most of the money will be spend to paint it. i will also change the brake discs and brake pads. everything else is just fine.
@@GeoffBuysCars Yeah, help yourself. I keep buying new parts…. One thing is connected to another thing; “might as well replace that too” …..ad infinitum. 😂 it’s going in next week to have all the new bits on then MOT on 11th.🤞🏼
Only this evening I watched a neighbours grandson try to park his grandads car.....it had no power steering , reversing camera or parking sensors. Poor lad was totally out of his depth and at a loss as to how this was going to pan out. We need less techno and a more back to basics approach to driving in order to save the planet and give driving skills back to the nation. If someone needs hill assist in order to drive their car they really shouldn't have a licence if they have no clutch control. Keeping it simple really is the key to pleasurable and skillful motoring 👍
Imagine having to put a code in any time you wanted to go anywhere. What a headache. Back in the 90s my Dad wanted to buy a Peugeot 306vand it waz the same but I convinced them to buy a Meganecas it had no silly keypad for the immobiliser. It was in the key. Much better and it was a much more modern far too far nicer than a 306.
The Citroën ZX was our family car for 25 years, and became my first car which I drove for 9 years until 2018. I can tell that was a great car.
Excelent chasis, light and nimble, with a direct non-asisted steering wheel wich provided great feedback (so did the whole car). With a petrol 1.4i 75hp engine It Wasn't fast at all, but it had nuts and great (immediate) throttle response.
The rear suspension was "pseudo directional" and on top of that, independent. Fun fact: despite having a soft suspension with evident pitch and bodyroll, It sticked very well to the road and had great cornering, being able to quickly change direction. It was very rewarding to drive. I miss it a lot.
Back in the early 2000s, I had a ZX 16v, rare then, almost impossible to find now - hugely under rated. 167hp, passive rear wheel steering and a sharp chassis, what's not to like!
The 16v was a lovely car! I only ever saw them in white, dark green and a light metallic blue colour. I would love the dark green metallic one with the black leather, that was the one I remember being featured in the ZX adverts back in the 90s
Oh I loved these little bad boys. My mum had one, zx 16v in black, awesome car.
I have 3 of these cars. 1996 16v (M), 1995 2.0i(M) and a 1997 1.8i(A). Just love them. Bought them for runabouts for my sons but they regularly do 500km highway bouts in a single trip. Just service and keep a watch on the hoses (> 25 years old). Am looking to get another one soon (167bhp 16v). Superb ride quality even at this age.
Great comment, I love this little thing.
@@GeoffBuysCars j’aime 👍 ❤❤
nice one- I bought one in Germany in 2001 (93 model). Great car- gave it to my father-in law in Belarus in 2005 and still going now. Strong engine.
So good to hear!
Such good cars, they had passive rear while steering too so they went around corners brilliantly.
I miss mine.
This one is now in a charity raffle to raise money for the kids school :-)
I own a Citroen ZX 1.4 from 1991, the first month of production of this model.
The car is in factory condition, 33 years old.
The material used for production is of enviably good quality. The car has a retrofitted LPG system and low fuel consumption. 6.7 L LPG per 100 km... Today, a car like this is rarely seen on the roads of this part of Europe.
Greetings to everyone from Belgrade, Serbia
Gosh, you're making me feel so nostalgic. I had the exact same model except it was green and the 1996 model, but everything else was the same right down to the cassette in the tape player. I used to tape entire programmes off BBC Radio 1 and 2 for the car (reggae, world music, jazz, dance, blues, etc.) and that was my entertainment system.
I bought it off eBay with 60K on the clock for £800 in 2008 and had 7 years of lovely, trouble-free driving with it. Eventually, two of the glow plugs fused so badly in the block that my garage man said they couldn't get them out and it wasn't worth fixing, but he gave me £500 for it so you could say I got 7 years driving for £300!
I live in West Cork, Ireland, where our roads are narrow, twisty and bumpy, and it was like riding on a magic carpet. But it could also handle the odd 300 km motorway journey with no problems and had plenty of punch when needed. I love how you broke down all the things it didn't have. I've got no need for any of that stuff either! As you say, just more stuff to go wrong.
At 62 years of age I've owned 7 cars; a Renault 9, three Honda Preludes, a Citroen BX14 and the ZX, as well as my current car, a Honda Accord. All were bought used, for cash, and the total amount I spent (combined) came to £12500, meaning I've averaged less than £2000 per car, plus the cost of annual servicing. I'd happily go back to any of them in a heartbeat, and no amount of persuasion would make me want to go out and buy anything being offered on today's new car market. We're all different and some people like to have the latest thing, but I like older cars that still do their job.
I'm not surprised you called your ZX your French fancy. I can relate to that. I used to call mine Fifi, and she was very French alright!
Had one for 5 years, highly underrared car.
Fantastic Cars I had a 1.4 Petrol for 8 wonderful trouble free years .
Underrated car, underrated review.
my dad owned the 3door zx 16v version. I liked that much I bought it off him after he owned it for 6years. quite rare back then only noticed 2 others on the road at the time.
Yes there weren't many 3dr. Always liked them in Volcane spec.
I had a silver 5 door 1.9TD SX for 8 years and 86k..loved it.. did 50mpg day in day out.. super car..
I like your style and car criteria Geoff. Always thought the ZX were lovely looking cars, and so simple too!
I bought a 500e 4 months ago with this engine and since then I no longer use my "pretty" 308!
Very endearing car Reliable comfortable and consuming almost nothing
Salutations de France!
Lovely little thing isn't it!
@@GeoffBuysCars Yes im in love! ;)
Thanks for your videos
The 1.9D is unbreakable. We had the same on a Peugeot 405. More than 650k kms before accident….easy maintenance and reliable. Good choice !
I have a 2 year old Berlingo with almost all those features, most of which I've never needed or used. It's the Swiss army knife of cars and we love it. But, we used to have a 1996 Citroen Synergie ( 7 seater MPV ) with the 1.9td engine that we loved much more. It cost 500 quid, we had countless adventures 8n it. It would get us, 3 kids, the dog, our camping gear ( with a huge roof box ) the 170 miles to the seaside on 12 quids worth of vegetable oil. We covered about 30k miles in it. I reckon everyone has fonder memories of their automotive underdogs.
I'm buying a k reg 93 1.9 aura zx today has eletric windows ,sunroof and pas and abs and central locking 1 owner with 1 years m.o.t can't wait to get.
ZX 1.8 Petrol aura white color was my first car. i bought it in 1995 in the Sultanate of Oman (i was expatriated)
the car is stil in my garage and totalize 286 000 kms (i use it as a second car) . i broke many recent cars , but i never broke my ZX
it run perfectly , seats covers are still ok , plastic are still ok . it is a small car with a big engine, fun to drive ...u fucking good car , i love it !
How many cars were not built by him running it for 20 years? Far better to keep these spinning, for the price of a couple of month’s PCP payment you’ve got reliable transport and fantastic fuel economy! And yes I’ve just bought a ticket! Cheers, Simon M
Totally Simon, makes so much sense doesn't it?!
I had a red ZX Volcane. Bought it at auction after falling in love at first sight. Brilliant car.
I have a 2000 Citroën Xantia Estate petrol, which I’ve now had for 5 years. It was a one owner and was taken good care of. It’s my third Xantia and I seem to be strangely addicted to them, so I take good care of this one despite it’s used year round.
And people I know get increasingly puzzled when I meet them after not seeing them for a while (“you STILL got that thing?”) 😃
This is the best and most reliably car I have ever owned
Love a good ZX
Just had to spend £500 on my Xsara Picasso for the MOT. Had it not had ABS, The bill would have been about £120.
To bee 100% fair, Other than the cambelt, it has only needed servicing and tyres in the 8 years I have owned it. Bought it from a gentleman who had it on mobility and then he bought it after the 3 years was up. 20k and 7 1/2 years old for £3k Cheap and very reliable motoring. Just the window regulator to do once the better weather comes (Part was £20)
Gotta love this video! Nice job, mate!
Had the 1.4 petrol. Loved it and hated it. But one of the sweetest cars you build memories with
This never break down
Fantastic car. I’ve got a 1997 1.4i SX (ELECTRIC WINDOWS AND SUNROOF!!!!) with 81k miles. Just been put through an MOT, six of the fail items were rear brakes. It’s pretty decent nipping about the local area but motorway driving is a bit of a drag, although that might be down to the throttle cable needing replaced. The engine is noisy and has a worrying additional noise under load though!
1.9TD was a great engine, very good on fuel! Found one for sale on ebay right now! Tempting
I had the 1.9 Turbo Diesel was very nippy for a diesel but sadly had to scrap it in the end as rust eat away the sills it was made in 1995 and died in 2015 so had a good run , 125mph top speed too
What model zx did you have Christine
@@richardcarne753 The 1.9 TD Avantage Model it had electric windows sunroof and an ancient cassette player lol
@@richardcarne753 The engne was good Turbo Intercooled making around 100bhp the weakness was the rot and also the wiring loom would have had to be replaced too as electrics were starting to break down
@@richardcarne753 According to the specs it only had 90 bhp but did 0-60 in 12 secs and 115mph top speed but i got 125mph on a downhill motorway once lol
@@Cayres9 we had a 1.9 diesel non turbo 1990 or 91 j reg advantage then swapped it for the 1995 aura turbo diesel
Very nice Clip of a very cool car. Thanks so much (y)
The inventor of the keypad immobiliser can't have seen many '80's horror films.
Just goes to show how much useless crud is built into a modern car. I’d love a simple car like this - less silly gizmos, then max out on quality materials and build quality……..but it’ll never happen!
I had two in the late 2000s...great cars but with some known faults...would have one again without rust. Some ZXs did have cup inserts in the glove box door lol
I had to scrap my 2006 1.5 clio dci that had only 80k. It was still drive like new as i did most of the milage on motorways and looked after it my self. Full tank diesel can last me over 800 miles. I couldn't keep it because it started to be expensive paying £ 12.50 a day when the ulra low emission zone was enforced where i live in London.
Woooah they can do it???
@@tiagofilipe2481 do what? I didn't understand?
@@cnapdap7619 low emissions zone
@@tiagofilipe2481 to be able to drive in the ultra low emission zone the diesel cars must be no older than 6 years.
@@cnapdap7619 thats stupid, imagine you buy a new car with a 2.0 litre diesel engine, it will pollute more that your older Clio... they make stupid.laws to make.people buy electric vehicles
i completely agree what you said i love that car so much i bought mine in 2011 for 250€ it was 272 000k I still got it it have now 520 000k ans still in good conditions
Wow, that's impressive. I'm jealous. I miss mine!
Hey, little tip for you: the imobiliser can be deactivated if you want to do so for some reason, it says in the owners manual how you can do so.
Thanks man! I quite like the feature!
@@GeoffBuysCars me too, but it can be a bit annoying at times, on my xm it was deactivated by the previous owner, and i din't know the code, so i had to get a new ecu for it just because of that
Do all of them have a emobiliser? I don’t want to deal with that if I get one
Hello, where do i buy this wheel caps? I bought a ZX but it doesn't have the wheel caps anymore. I can't find here in Brasil.
There used to be loads of these cars around when I was a kid, but now they're impossible to find!
Yuss. 🤩💪🏼 I’m about to throw £1500+ worth of work at my Xantia diesel because it’s kind of a challenge to get it 250k now I feel. 😂
Like you say, it’ll keep going, no need for a new ant on wheels with all the unnecessary electrical madness that will inevitably be what causes the most headaches.
I’ve had a ZX. My dad is proper XUD/W124 obsessive kind of man, he’s had BXs, ZXs and XMs….. I want an XM but he moans about working on them. 🙄
Anywaaaaay. Nice to see a little bit of ZX. 🤗
Thanks for the comment! This one is now in a charity raffle for the kids school fund raiser :-)
that´s interesting. iam about to do the same thing to my Xantia 1.8 16v from 1998. i love the car so i keep it. the engine is rock solid but the paint is starting to give away so most of the money will be spend to paint it. i will also change the brake discs and brake pads. everything else is just fine.
Be good to do a review on your Xantia Diesel alongside my Volvo diesel. I love an old oil burner.
@@GeoffBuysCars Yeah, help yourself. I keep buying new parts…. One thing is connected to another thing; “might as well replace that too” …..ad infinitum. 😂 it’s going in next week to have all the new bits on then MOT on 11th.🤞🏼
I've noticed a lot of Nissan Almera's on the roads recently are they making a retro comeback?
Funnily enough we were talking about Almeras yesterday at work...
@@GeoffBuysCars I guess there's something about them, Ive even seen young people behind the wheel of them.
They are all rusted away..
Hey is all the 1.9 diesel version? Or there's petrol version!
I have the same car, even the same color, but with the steering wheel on the other side.
really surprised rear passenger door sxsara estate look actually not far off from complete xsara
Power stirring would be nice.
Couldn't agree more!
Since 2010 I drive a 92 ZX Avantage 1.4. It's a very good car. Lot's of fun to drive but here in 'Golfland' (Germany) totally vorgotten....
Only this evening I watched a neighbours grandson try to park his grandads car.....it had no power steering , reversing camera or parking sensors.
Poor lad was totally out of his depth and at a loss as to how this was going to pan out.
We need less techno and a more back to basics approach to driving in order to save the planet and give driving skills back to the nation.
If someone needs hill assist in order to drive their car they really shouldn't have a licence if they have no clutch control.
Keeping it simple really is the key to pleasurable and skillful motoring 👍
That's equally hilarious and worrying!
Does my volcane have a driver's airbag NO!
Subbed. I would be all over that car. Expect nothing and you can't be disappointed ....
Convenient stash place in the steering wheel on the pov spec models...how we laughed.
Oh and this is also known as the Citroën Fukang in China.
What spec is the zx being tested
Looks like the base model Reflex. Ot that's what they were called initially.
@@deancary6676 it has similar wheel trim to the advantage
nice buy love it
I love my Volcane
Imagine having to put a code in any time you wanted to go anywhere. What a headache. Back in the 90s my Dad wanted to buy a Peugeot 306vand it waz the same but I convinced them to buy a Meganecas it had no silly keypad for the immobiliser. It was in the key. Much better and it was a much more modern far too far nicer than a 306.
To be honest. Every car needs airbags, ABS and ESP. Besides that no funky tech.
You don't need ESP on a 1.9 non turbo car, but I will concede that airbags and ABS are a must.
Did he say good looking ?
It’s fooking ugly as sin ha
what do you think looks good