Citigo away and don't come back

[MorrisOx]

My other half regularly tells me we should get a smaller car even though 1) I don't think the Octy is actually that big, and 2) my plan at the end of my current PCP is to look at a Superb or a Kodiaq.

Anyway, I've got some live ammo now. My Octy is in the bodyshop (ahem) and I'm in a Citigo 1.0MPi loan car. Oh. My. God...

Yes, it's solidly made, ridiculously easy to drive and actually pretty comfortable. But that's where the compliments end. It's also cramped, noisy, yawningly slow out of town and incapable of clearing its windows properly on a cold night. That is city car reality - they just don't have the guts to do what bigger cars do.

I am using every opportunity to share this experience with my better half. I share it with the Forum in the hope no one ever trades down to one of these biscuit tins.

Edited 28 November, 2016 by MorrisOx

[ituksw]

I drove a UP and in the first 15mins around town I thought the same, amazing little car but i soon missed the power out on the main roads and ended up driving it so hard the fuel consumption must have been terrible, I suppose all the small city cars suffer from the same?

[pist0nbr0ke]

This one might change your mind if it's ever finished:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/243854-citigo-go-a-citigo-with-more-go/

[MorrisOx]

And again this morning. Window clearing? Fifteen bloody minutes. It's a sewing machine!

[SC03OTT]

Good little cars IMO. Don't have these issues with my wife's.

[VRS230]

I had one when mine was in for a service, awful bloody thing but I'd just stepped out of a 230 estate.

 

In isolation they are a fine little car for the money, my wife liked it, it looks a bit like a washing machine in white though! 

[SC03OTT]

For sure, for doing the type of cross country driving that I do in my vRS the Citigo isn't ideal and to compare it for that isn't really fair. For short distance and commuting it's ideal.

[MorrisOx]

But it just can't get the job done on a cold morning! Iced up on the INSIDE while I was clearing the outside, aircon proved incapable of clearing the moisture it left behind, which ran down the inside of the screen as I drove.

It's a 15 plate car and I don't see any reason in this day and age why that would happen, unless a cheap car with a cheap spec means thin glass which doesn't insulate properly.

Edited 29 November, 2016 by MorrisOx

[SC03OTT]

Sounds like a lot of moisture inside the car. I can assure you though, ours does not have this problem.

[sniperpenguin]

The citigo has been cheapened beyond belief.

The partner has a Citigo Sport - The PID is clunky, the radio is from the 90's, and since it needs to be "not as good" as the UP! it lack DAB and refinements. There is also a known "behaviour" with the gearbox meaning it clunks whenever you change gear.

Even minimal haggling will get you into a better specced Fabia for the same cash.

[SC03OTT]

I think people are missing the point of these cars. They're cheap and cheerful motoring. You can't expect a car to be bursting at the seems with the latest tech whilst only paying a tenner for it and getting some change.

[ahenners]

I think people are missing the point of these cars. They're cheap and cheerful motoring. You can't expect a car to be bursting at the seems with the latest tech whilst only paying a tenner for it and getting some change.

Except you aren't really paying anywhere near a "tenner". The list for the most basic Citigo is around £8.8k and you aren't likely to bag one for under 8k. This amount buys you other, almost-new cars, that offer more than the basic 4 wheels, a steering wheel and some seats. Perhaps the newer/higher up models are better but my dad had a basic one a couple of years ago as an insurance courtesy car and there was little positive that could be said about it, compared to his fiesta.

I can't think of many scenarios where I start with 8k cash, need a car, but a Citigo is the answer above everything else out there.

Edited 29 November, 2016 by ahenners

[MorrisOx]

May be it depends what time of year you drive it. My experience right now (frosty winter) is that it doesn't actually do the basics very well.

Again this evening on the way home from the station it couldn't clear its windows - had to use a gloved hand to wipe moisture off inside as each time I switched heat off the screen to a mix of windows/feet the windows steamed up. If it can't manage that no amount of cheap makes it good value.

[M12MKD]

Oh the other hand I really really liked my citigo and do miss it.

Yes it was slow, noisy etc....but it was much more fun than the octavia is.

[Kobayashi]

Wife has one and loves it even with a few known issues. Ours is windows steaming up or the car being too hot to the point of one of us feeling sick from having the heaters on!  They have to be really hot to clear the glass!

 

The more people in the car the more it steams!  Also no boot light but then there isnt one in the VW UP!

Edited 30 November, 2016 by Kobayashi

[MoggyTech]

Horses for courses, Good car for what was intended, but it isn't going to win any F1 races. 

[MorrisOx]

Think it would struggle to take the trophy on a Scalextric track...

[MoggyTech]

Think it would struggle to take the trophy on a Scalextric track...

   

[GlenAnderson]

The 90bhp tsi version of the Up! is a considerable improvement, performance wise. A shame that the Citigo and Mii are both only available with the 60bhp engine. Rumors persist of a 113bhp "Gti" version of the Up! on the cards; now one of those would be a hoot.

Edited 28 December, 2016 by GlenAnderson

[vc-10]

You can get the 75PS version of the 1.0 in both the Citigo and the Mii.

 

I think you have to look at what it is- it's a cheap car, that is cheap to run. Compare it to other cheap cars (Toyota Aygo, Hyundai i10 etc) it's pretty damn good. Regarding people asking 'why would you buy it over a second hand Fiesta?' etc- the same question could be asked 'why buy a new Octavia over a second hand 3-series?'. It's because you want something new with a warranty. 

[GlenAnderson]

You can get the 75PS version of the 1.0 in both the Citigo and the Mii.

 

Can you? Must be a fairly recent development, as you couldn't when I was looking to buy one last year.

I think you have to look at what it is- it's a cheap car, that is cheap to run. Compare it to other cheap cars (Toyota Aygo, Hyundai i10 etc) it's pretty damn good. Regarding people asking 'why would you buy it over a second hand Fiesta?' etc- the same question could be asked 'why buy a new Octavia over a second hand 3-series?'. It's because you want something new with a warranty.

Agreed. I tried all the big manufacturer's city cars, and the Up!/Citigo/Mii siblings were the best IMHO. Like many, I buy new not only to be able to choose the exact specification I want, get warranty etc., but also to fix my outgoings.

[SC03OTT]

Can you? Must be a fairly recent development, as you couldn't when I was looking to buy one last year.

Agreed. I tried all the big manufacturer's city cars, and the Up!/Citigo/Mii siblings were the best IMHO. Like many, I buy new not only to be able to choose the exact specification I want, get warranty etc., but also to fix my outgoings.

The Citigo has had the 60 and 75ps engines from the start. In the U.K. anyway.

[SurreyJohn]

I had one as a loan for a day during some warranty work

Was pretty gutless, although was easy to park, but would pick something else if I ever needed a city car