Unlikely Car of the Week: Citroën Xsara 1.4 – the hatch that time forgot
There are cars you want, cars you need, and cars that make you wonder if you’ve accidentally joined a witness protection programme. This 2002 Citroën Xsara 1.4 petrol – ULEZ compliant, no less – is all three.
Back in the early noughties, the Xsara hatchback was the middle child of the Citroën family. The Saxo got the street cred, the Picasso got the practical dads and the C5 got the fancy suspension smugness. The poor Xsara just… existed. And yet here it is, 23 years later, freshly MOT’d, recently serviced (including cam belt), and upgraded with a Bluetooth radio so you can stream Les Misérables or MC Solaar as the designers surely intended.
The seller admits the paint suffers from ‘typical Citroën lacquer peel,’ which is basically the French way of saying ‘patina’. A full polish has been applied, which in classic Xsara style is less about shine and more about holding the red together.
Two owners from new (same family) plus the current custodian. Yours for £1,195 or best offer – and it’s even ULEZ-friendly, which is more than can be said for most things from 2002 that aren’t made of tofu.
Will it make you the envy of your street? Probably not. Will it get approving nods from passing ZX owners? Almost certainly. And in a world where most commuter cars are just grey boxes with mood lighting, this is defiantly not that.
From the 2002 brochure (probably)
‘Citroën Xsara: For drivers who refuse to choose between the boot space of a hatch and the thrill of a working cigarette lighter.’
Vital stats:
- Engine: 1.4-litre petrol – thrifty yet unhurried
- MOT: 12 glorious months, no advisories
- Owners: Two (same family) plus current guardian
- Entertainment: Bluetooth radio
- Special features: Lacquer peel, rusty black steelies, apple-shaped air freshener
Go on – you know you want to give this Citroën Xsara a home.
Here’s how it scored on the ShedSeal™ rating.
ShedSeal™ rating: 20/25
Tat factor: ★★★★★ (French, red, lacquer peel, black steelies – you know the drill)
Survivability: ★★★★☆ (23 years, still MOT’d, still ULEZ-compliant)
Shed appeal: ★★★★☆ (cheap enough to be daft, comfy enough to justify)
Comedy MOT history: ★★☆☆☆ (two clean passes in a row, but it's French so anything could happen)
Petrolblogginess: ★★★★★ (nobody asked for it, yet here it is)
Certified under the ShedSeal™ Code of Conduct (revision 0.0). All photos courtesy of Auto Trader.
