hj2k_x
18-02-2008, 05:00 PM
Herewith my own personal review of the car I have been driving for the last 3 and a bit years. Thought this might be a cool idea for people to do, once they have been driving a car for a while, to aid prospective buyers in making the right decision in choosing a new or second hand car.
My Velo is an early 2005 model with about 46000km on the clock. It was bought then because the bank insisted that we get a new vehicle if they were going to finance it and the Velo was the best car we could find at the time for the money.
New, it cost R85k. Now i think the CitiStorm or Citisport range come close to being the same thing.
What I like:
--> Sports dashboard, 'racing' pedals and steering wheel
--> Fun to drive
--> Plucky 1.4i engine
--> Comes with 15" mags standard
--> Sits nicely on the road and the seats are comfy even on long drives
--> Lowered suspension
--> Twin exhausts give the car a nice purr
--> Decent stock cd player and speakers
--> Rev counter ( might be standard in most cars now, but it wasn't always)
--> Replacement parts and services are cheap
What I dislike
--> Poor fuel economy for such a small, basic car ( I get around 500km off a tank in the city)
--> No safety features whatsoever
--> Poor build quality (what you would expect from a 30 year old design)
--> No power steering which makes steering quite heavy, especially when the wide 15" tires start losing tread
--> No aircon. Not even as an option
--> Very easy to and prone to being stolen (mine was stolen twice)
--> Not very unique seeing as every second car is one
I love driving and I have really enjoyed driving my Velo over the last three years. I do feel, however, that for the money, it is very difficult to recommend anyone to buy one. For the same money you could get a decent new small car with aircon and power steering and all the bells and whistles.
If you just enjoy driving for the sake of it, then I would say go with the Velo - the ride is surprisingly nippy, considering it only has a 1.4 engine, the tires are grippy, and the lowered suspension really helps around fast bends.
For a more everyday runabout I would certainly say look elsewhere.
My Velo is an early 2005 model with about 46000km on the clock. It was bought then because the bank insisted that we get a new vehicle if they were going to finance it and the Velo was the best car we could find at the time for the money.
New, it cost R85k. Now i think the CitiStorm or Citisport range come close to being the same thing.
What I like:
--> Sports dashboard, 'racing' pedals and steering wheel
--> Fun to drive
--> Plucky 1.4i engine
--> Comes with 15" mags standard
--> Sits nicely on the road and the seats are comfy even on long drives
--> Lowered suspension
--> Twin exhausts give the car a nice purr
--> Decent stock cd player and speakers
--> Rev counter ( might be standard in most cars now, but it wasn't always)
--> Replacement parts and services are cheap
What I dislike
--> Poor fuel economy for such a small, basic car ( I get around 500km off a tank in the city)
--> No safety features whatsoever
--> Poor build quality (what you would expect from a 30 year old design)
--> No power steering which makes steering quite heavy, especially when the wide 15" tires start losing tread
--> No aircon. Not even as an option
--> Very easy to and prone to being stolen (mine was stolen twice)
--> Not very unique seeing as every second car is one
I love driving and I have really enjoyed driving my Velo over the last three years. I do feel, however, that for the money, it is very difficult to recommend anyone to buy one. For the same money you could get a decent new small car with aircon and power steering and all the bells and whistles.
If you just enjoy driving for the sake of it, then I would say go with the Velo - the ride is surprisingly nippy, considering it only has a 1.4 engine, the tires are grippy, and the lowered suspension really helps around fast bends.
For a more everyday runabout I would certainly say look elsewhere.