Any common minor/major faults?

15th April 2010, 12:35

Have recentley bought a 2001 On an X plate saxo forte.....Was just wondering is there any common faults (minor or major) that particualr model may have or occur?

Thanks

15th April 2010, 12:37

This is a quote from what i wrote in the common faults thread...

Quote:

Originally Posted by db_sax

The reason the cars are labelled as unreliable is becouse theyre a common young person car, or for poeple who have just passed their test, therefore they havnt been looked after and the drivers like to do wheelspins at traffic lights...

Basically just driven by idiots, and any car driven by an idiot would be unreliable.

As long as you look after it it will look after you Dont be put off by high milage on these engines as they can go for quite awhile again provided theyre looked after.

Spares are cheap and redily available.

Basically, if available check service history, general condition of the car to tell if its been looked after or been trashed in its past.

Faults on these cars to be weary of:

-Rear Beam: the bearing seals can collapse on these more so on lowered cars as the seals are not seated properly therefore allowing water in. To rectify this costs about £300 + labour if not fitting yourself. The wheels tend to sit with camber on the rear beam like / \ or | \ etc.. check for uneven wear on the tyres which can show this, usually on the inside edge.

-Bad idle: usually the idle air control valve which needs a clean or the coolent temp sensor needs replacing. If your very interested and looking to buy it with a bad idle, get some carb cleaner, only £5 from halfords and clean the ICV see if that cures it. If it dont and a replacment ICV dosent sort it or temp sensor then it can be a long process of sorting it out which somtimes is never found out. This is either a cheap fix or a long winded never ending expensive problem.

Apart from that, just the regular car checks, rust, general wear, 'mayo' for the head gasket symptoms and crash damage etc

Everything else is easy and cheap to sort out.

15th April 2010, 12:39

Thanks for that.....interesting read

15th April 2010, 12:53

The drivers seat bolt whole nearest the gear stick cracks.

There is play in the brake pedal

the pedals are tooooo close together

Wishbone bushes tend to perish

lower engine mount

rear axle bushes

VTS alarm interior sensors play up

head gaskets are prone

drop links

wheel bearings

drive shafts

the front seats move/rock when accelerating and braking

the door handle clip come off so you cant open the door

key get stuck in the petrol cap

lol just off the top of my head