2008 Citroen C2 Code Review - Unloved New, But Worth Buying Now?
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- čas přidán 18. 08. 2021
- In today's video we look at another potential car for young drivers, or those with more experience who want something affordable and accessible. This week it's the turn of the mighty Citroen C2 Code. One of many special edition Citroens, this one featuring a brown leather interior and a very odd stripe on the roof...
#Citroen #C2 #Code
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I had a c2 vts loeb edition for 2 years, it took abuse for the whole time and in the 15k miles I done it only needed a new rear caliper. What great cars
In 2008 the Golf GTi had a 0-60mph time of 7.2 seconds. Quite why JayEmm thinks a Citroen C2 doing an 8 second 0-60 time back then is glacial does suggest he still has some grounding to go.
Or you can look at it this way: the last car he drove was (aside from the one he used to get there and back) was a Ferrari Portofino.
Agreed !! In 2008, the On the Road price of a Golf GTI was £20, 695 for the base spec, whereas the C2 Code had an OTR price of £10,695 with all the bells and whistles. To be within a second of car that is pretty much TWICE the price and for it to cost about 1/3 of the insurance for a young newly qualified driver was damn good
The saxo vts was better
That's as fast as my Lexus IS.. this hatchback definitely isn't a slouch.
That 1.6 is super fast compared to many modern 75 to 90 hp ford and vw stuff. For beginner its scary fast if you red line it. The fast part is over 4k rpm.
A nice surprise to see this morning. It was nice to meet you James, thanks for the review of my car and for lunch! Good stuff. Cheers! :)
hi i just got one in black with these seats etc, have you ever had a new key im not paying citroen prices
It's called the Code with a reg ending in CPU. Pretty cool coincidence!
In the 90s I had a car that by complete coincidence the reg ended 486 CPU. This was in the days that the latest cpu was the intel 486, then the pentium was released and my car’s registration was not so cool . The car was always cool because it was Citroen BX 16
@@Rich.Aardvark how did you guess?
I have a C2 Furio, and whilst it is my first and only car, and i lack driving experience in others, I really enjoy driving it and find it perfectly balanced.
Was my first car owned 2 BMW 3 series and a fiesta ST stage 3 since then and just bought another C2 couple weeks ago a VTS 1.6 60,000 miles for £1000 in mint condition, absolutely brilliant car cannot fault it especially in a tough used car market.
As someone from the States I have to say this is a pretty cool, funky car😎
You do have some cool funky cars too though. I like the 2002-2005 Thunderbird and the classic Pontiac Fiero for two oddities we never see here in the UK
@@TheBlueStinger55 the Fiero was cool, after the 2nd gen...then they killed it, typical GM😔 Should've had the blown 3800 Buick engine in it but that didn't come around till 4 yrs after it was axed.
I'm glad you like the T-bird but it's a turd
It’s a shit car
I own a C2 VTS, I purchased it as my first car and I still own it. It's a fun car for little money. I truly think you have to spend at least twice the money to get a car as fun and enjoyable as this one.
I love all this affordable content, it reminds me of my friends and I having shite boxes back in the day. In particular one of my friends had a fully optioned 04 Corsa SRI 1.8 and it seemed to be the fastest car in the world, but it had heated seats, sunroof, cruise control, climate control, leather everywhere and sat nav. First car I saw the speedo go round to 140mph and it had a £1200 Piper exhaust which sounded amazing. Those really were the days!
the 1.8 SRi was way too fast for the time, too good value, possibly the best thing to ever wear a Vauxhall badge - including the VX220 and all the Commodore rebadges
I've got a sexy silver c2 cool 1.1 first car! I love mine had it for a year and I'm still in love with it, my 7yr old loves it too. Great fun to drive, nippy and so easy going ❤
I've always imagined these to be a pretty good first car, a friend of mine had a Saxo and whilst they are absolute deathtraps in terms of safety, it was a proper fun little car.
I always thought the Saco VTS was a cool wee machine. I hope there’s still a decent one out there when I eventually start driving. I wanted one at 17 and I still want one at 35 👍😂
@@jamp12008 they’re nippy because they are light - he wanted a VTS but could only insure the 1.1 at the time as we were 17. I remember taking it down country lanes and being able to press on the roof with one finger and watch it flex. Thankfully he was a skilled driver so we had some good fun. 8 years on and hes just picked up a 2006 Aston V8 Vantage which I hope to do a video on soon. How the times change!
@@ItsDanLatham oh nice. I’m goni sub and also hope you get a shot of it 👍🤝
You’re not wrong about the Saxos/106s. Someone I know had one as a field car and it went over a small jump (I do mean small) and afterwards it looked like a banana from the side as it had folded at the B pillar. One of those cars I’ll never go in again.
The C2 is a rather nice car though actually. Always liked the S1600 rally car but they were definitely a lot more grown up.
@@mcgherkinstudios Indeed. As much as I enjoyed my saxo experience I’m glad that by the time I have kids old enough to drive that I wont have to worry about things like that being on the road!
Had one for about 3 years now. (Well the VTS which is the same but without the baby poo brown leather). Great cheap to run / insure nippy cars. Mine has a straight through exhaust (well cat into straight pipe) into a custom backbox with 3" rolled tip. Pops and bangs on up & downshifts but not too obnoxious, makes the car sound pretty decent and quite meaty for a 1.6.
My main gripes having owned one is the gearbox is very very vague, and the steering is ridiculously light so it can be difficult to feel the subtle road surface changes. Great fun in the twisties though, you can just chuck it into the corners and know exactly how the car is going to respond. Pretty easy to get the back end out a little on a roundabout if you play on the throttle whilst cornering too.
To get the performance out of it that's advertised you really do have to rev the bollocks off of it right up to the limiter - the torque dip at around 2.5kRMP can be a real issue in traffic if you are trying to drive more relaxed without hammering on the car.
Average MPG through ownership is around 30. on motorway journeys cruising at 70 I can get about 37.5MPG. I don't think I've ever seen 40 out of it.
For £1k - £2k, you can't go wrong really.
I've had a c2 code since November and have owned a variety of motors over the years - e46 330, tuned mr2 turbo, rado vr6, mk2 golf gti, B18 civic and the c2 (factory spec) is the most fun car I've had. It's a firm ride from the factory so it handles nigh on like a go kart - all it needs is a decent set of tyres. There are rattles from the split rear boot lid, the cable for the electric windows can rattle in the door and the gearing is designed to make the most of the engine torque so it tends to rev quite high at 70mph. I found the engine is happiest cruising at about 62-65mph but the engine and box combination is perfect for having a tear down windy b roads.
Keep these coming, breath a fresh air!
Brilliant video as ever. Thanks. Nice to see a regular car being well reviewed. 🙂
Fun little car of which I own one at 48 year old, only drive it once or twice a week and it always puts a smile on my face when I do 😀
Just bought a black version of this 71k miles for my first car cannot complain I really enjoy the little pocket rocket to me it's amazing great review also 👍👍
My first car was a Saxo vts, fun memories. You don’t see them on the road anymore though. Rust issues probably killed them all. Great review again James. Greetings from Belgium 🤟
I had both a saxo vtr and then a vts and they were tremendous fun. They would never be possible again safety wise but, the 16 valve version in particular was a nippy and superb handling little car.
You know what I really didn’t like hearing your opinion on the abarth like some other people BUT I will tell you this i have been subscribed and have been watching your channel after your Abarth videos because you actually do the most weird,wonderful and rare hot hatchbacks or them if you know you know type cars that it makes me stay and watch.
Thank you and keep doing what you do
0 to 60 in 8 seconds is glacial for a warm hatch ? You’ve been driving ferraris to long !
Just bought a vts as a daily driver, what a drive few hours after i got it I was up the black mountains in Wales throwing it around and never lacked confidence in its handling ability
I just bought a one of these a couple of days a go for a little run-around. It is a 2004 1.1 with 45,135 miles on the clock and One previous owner with full history for £500. It need a little body work around the rear wheel arch and a front wheel beating. MOT'd till December 2024. Great wee car to drive. My only issue is in 5th gear you feel as if it is looking for a 6th. But apart from that it is great for my needs and I am sure I will get a good few years out of it.
My aunt used to have a 2006 VTR with the SensoDrive automated manual.
The transmission wasn't the best but the car was very well equipped, with electrically foldable mirrors, automatic wipers and cruise control.
Got a c2 vts back when I was 18 years old and it was a great little car. Having 125bhp at 18yo was pretty unthinkable back then but the insurance was so cheap it was obtainable. Most of my mates had 1.2 corsa’s and polos so it was a rocket ship compared. Was set on a fiesta st but it was double the insurance! No regrets though the c2 was a fantastic car that gave me and my mates nothing but good days out on the road and never let me down once. 10 years on having had more premium cars (m3’s, rs’s, alfas etc) I’m now coming back round to appreciate a cheap little car you can just jump in and rag the life out of whilst getting good mpg and having little worry about in regards to it breaking down.
My wife had a TD one from new, with orange seats 🙈 she loved it, kept it 10 years. Very funky little cars with character.
Started with a 1L Citroen C2 and upgraded to the Code a few months back. Absolutely love it for a cheap fun runabout which can be surprisingly nippy in the high revs.
Is the upgrade worth doing? I’m looking to do the same!
He really will review anything. 🤣 but that’s the beauty of this channel !
I am into (nearing the end ) of my "Screaming Sixties" and a year ago
I bought a C2 VTR 1,4 l with 73 hp to a weight of 980 kilograms.
I am totally happy with the car on small dwindling roads as it has
almost no body roll, good brakes (the deer and boars are happy)
and it still seems well screwed together. I´d recommend it any day,
not just to young people, but even to old gaffers like myself, who
do not need the roominess of a station wagon nor the ability to
hook on an any old cart... Go C2; go free!! (Live in Sweden, btw!)
How is the reliability on the1.4 ? Is it diesel or petrol?
I'm 21 with a C2 VTS, I do 18,000 miles a year for work. Keep it under 3k rpm and it doesn't drink too much fuel. Cheap to insure even with 3 points and just 1 year ncd (£72 p/m). Cheap to repair, a clutch cost me £600 (only real bill I've had). Other than the gearbox that is like stirring a bowl of soup (typical French gearbox) and the steering doesn't have a lot of feedback but if you're young like me you won't have much to compare it to. I would highly recommend for affordable fun! On a country road you can surprise a lot of higher performance cars!
A very comprehensive and honest review- refreshing.
Thanks for posting 👌
From recollection, there's quite the modification scene for these, which only adds to their coolness for newbie first car owners. Citroen are a very underrated marque!
Clutch is is high because they believed that having to push your foot closer to the floor put strain on your knee so for the most ‘comfortable’ experience the solution was to naturally bring the bite point higher
Clearly the French have no knowledge of bumper to bumper traffic... inching forward 4ft every 10 seconds in rush hour is murder when you have a high biting point clutch
I love the seats in these.
For the fact the reviewed such a unusual car I had to like this vid 👍🏾
Always thought it looked weird, but fun to drive. Went rallying in a VTS, loved it.
I have one and it's amazing! Sadly not a Code just a base spec 1.1 but I chucked a VTS wing and wheels on it and it looks lovely!
120+hp sounds pretty great actually compared the 85 or so in my little hatch
I surprised too when I think the zetec s fiesta of that age was roughly 100 hp and this has to be a smaller and lighter car too.
@@squeakers27 the ST Fiesta was 2.0 150hp the 1.6 S was 110 . I almost went for the ST back in the days but I was somehow scared of 150hp for my first car. Insurance was much higher too. 125hp makes the C2 a real car not a fast one. You could easily follow and embarass anything under a 320d on the highway wich was proper fun. The looks I got from audi drivers that wouldn't move over as I gently pushed them in my french shitbox were priceless. It lacked 25hp to be a proper fast car. But on that engine it is very very very expensive to get that sort of power out.
Very timely video. I'll be in the market later this year for something to teach the teen beast in so this is good. Was initially thinking of the Fiesta but open to alternatives... 😁
For whatever reason I always picture these with early 00's D&B blasting out of them.
This was me and my friend Joe, but in a silver saxo 1.1.
I've driven the VTS, a fun little roller skate and a reasonable improvement on the Saxo - few more toys, somewhat better built (although just barely!) and quite a bit safer by all accounts too.
Not a bad call for a first car at all, this.
Prices are shooting up for saxos and 106's now you used to be able to get them for a few hundred quid now they're over a grand
@@jeeves_uk they all ended up in ditches or rust.
@@TheBlackD sadly thats too true, i recently tried finding out what happened to mine because i sold it when i blew the engine and turns out it was scrapped which is a shame since i replaced the rear axle and had it undercoated to prevent rust damn i miss that car :(
Drove a 2008 1.6 vts for the first time today, doing a test drive with the prospect of getting it as a cheap 2nd car for runs to the shops and school etc. Low mileage, 83000km, typically Frrrench with the high clutch, but a decent ride. Promised i would never buy a Citroën again, this will be the 4th, but there's just something about them that keeps drawing me back. Not sure what it is, but maybe its also because they are a tiny player in our car market so they are relatively rare compared to the regular boring stuff out there. My Mokka 1.4T has more punch than the C2, but can't wait to bring it home.
Thanks Jay for cheap car reviews, im off to see a C2 VTS for 650quid today!
The Hereford/Holme Lacy road is a fun jaunt.. when there aren’t any traffic lights on it 🤣
Worse thing about these Citroen / Peugeots are the vague gearboxes, like stirring porridge. They did however make a proper working gearbox, when they introduced the DS3 to the world.
Just bought the VTS model 😍. So much fun!, same color as the one in the video. A 2005 though.
Enjoy it Jensen!
very under rated car my first c2 was a code i loved it cheap to tax insure and pretty decent on fuel too. since then iv had 2 c2 vts’s, currently have a mk2 focus and would happily chop this in for another code if i could go get one today i would. just make sure service is update and belts etc have been changed they’re pretty reliable.
I’ve just put mine back on the road after being parked up for 18 months. Fitted a new battery and she fired up straightaway. Just got it serviced, mot’d and cam belt and water pump done along with 2 new rear springs and a tyre for £700. I’m keeping it until it becomes uneconomical to repair or rots away
I actually own a saxo vts and a c2 vts (both stock). If you're trying to do a drag race the saxo is way quicker, but when taking off after a corner the c2 is quicker. In montain roads good luck keeping up with the c2 if you have a saxo. One downside with the c2 is you cant completly turn off the ESP.
I love thay way you drive every thing. You should try a Proton Savvy it's not a bad as you think it would be but I think it's probably easier to find parts for an old ferrari than a newish proton. Great review as always. 👍
Love the Christmas lights on the dash 😬
I had these in consideration when choosing my first car, although none were really in the best condition and they have quite a little space. So I ended up with a Megane mk2
That shirt though. Legendary ! P.s. nice reveiw
might consider one of these as my first car
i love your rational - but funky stuff - videos
They're so much fun to film, although I do find myself wanting to buy half of them
lol so true about cramming your mates in .. I used to cram 2 mates who were both over 6.3 into my classic mini. Not just for road trips but sleeping in the car as well 🤣
Never even heard of the code version, quite a funky little car it seems.
£1000 car playlist , not just for first cars but what you can get for 1k in this market is vastly different to a year or two a go and would be interesting to see more of
My first car was a VTS in blue with 75k miles on it. Second gear would go all the way to 60mph when taken to 7k+ revs. Great fun for 19 year old me! It came with pirellis on it too and stuck to the road brilliantly. Bought it for 1600 quid and now it would have been worth a little more... got rid of it sadly.
Would not mind having one of these little citrons, alongside with a 3-door, phase-1 AX GT.
Great design for a first car
It looked dented all over from new 👍🏆
I have a code as my first car and its hilarious even with a blackbox
Lot to be said for fun little cars like that. Has the opposite effect to driving a BMW or Audi, as in people are more likely to give way and let you out if junctions. I went from a Skoda Fabia to an Audi A4 estate and the difference in how you’re often treated by other road users was really noticeable.
Had a C2 for my first car that I bought back in June 2020. £500 off autotrader, doesn't do anything special so at the time always felt like I wanted something bigger and better. It's electrics went in the October and I got a 06' Polo, I can say the small C2 drove 10x better than the Polo. Even though now I have a 2020 Skoda with all the toys, I still miss that C2 deep down
I also had one of these as my first car - mine was around £650. Had to scrap it after 6 months though.
@@masterrpain2110 likewise £140 back for it. £350 for 4 months of 1st car fun. Can’t complain.
I bought a 54 plate VTS in 2007 with 13k on the clock and loved it, I loved it so much I still own it now 14 years later with 56k on the clock.
Did a few basic mods over the years (Eibach springs, stainless exhaust, GSR induction and remap + added cruise control).
The funny thing is I keep looking at newer cars and never see anything I would like to replace it with as if its affordable it slower and if its faster its very expensive, so I have come to the conclusion its drive it to destruction (which at current mileage rates could be a while) and replace it with an affordable EV in 15-20 years.
Respect for c2!! I have vts! best town sport car!
Looks like a fun car, I wish they had them in the States!
I’d have the c2 over a Fiat 500 anyday if I was 17 again
Trust me Jay, the vts has a bit more go than you experienced if you properly Rev it out to near the limiter
Bruh this video brings me some nolstaligic love and pain, I do love my vts loeb, but time hasnt been kind to it and its time for me to move it on, its a great car if you ever get one its fun for in the city and the b-roads.
Had a loeb, had a code and a VTR, the all much the same but I liked the loeb so much more
The Citroën C2, in the rally scene for young drivers and the N-1600 group as much seen as it's predecessor and the Peug 106...
Nice funny review 👍🏻
Bought and sold one of these in this exact Code colour combo! Great cars.
You gotta like a C2. For an old(ish) french car, its super easy to drive and really reliable!
@@BDMZ404 it’s a shit car
Sometime in the future, could you one on the Hyundai Getz Auto 1.5. Reliable as hell. Can't kill it! Even in Aussie outback roads.
I had a vts hdi and blew the turbo in 3 months of ownership. Fun wee car though!
Great little cars, we ran one for a few years but watch out for those timing belts. Alas, ours went kablammo at 55k miles. :(
You say this C2 brought to you some interest about the 1007, but the 1007 despite having the same 1.6 16v engine, is actually downtuned to 110hp (compared to the C2 VTS's 125hp), it's also 200kg heavier than the C2 because those sliding doors are the heaviest things known to man. The centre of gravity is a bit higher as well since it's a taller car.
It's cheap to buy now, sure, but buying one for driving pleasure would be a bruh moment.
It sounds like you'd really need the top 1.6 diesel when driving one of these, to get around the extra weight of those doors - nearly 1.3 tonnes dry. I'd also be a bit concerned about the reliability of those doors given their weight. However... one of my old neighbours had one in 2008, and they still have it in 2021, so it can't be all that bad. Perfect if somebody's parked a few inches away from your driver's side door in the supermarket as you stand a far better chance of being able to get into your own car. If only the concept had succeeded, perhaps there would've been a 1008 that went on a serious diet.
@@stephandolby Yeah I thought the same about the diesel, it's not better as far as power is concerned, but those extra 100Nm of torque would be very welcomed.
To be fair the only 1007 horror stories I've heard were about the automated manual gearbox which is a absolute dog to use, so it's probably a pretty decent and usable car as long as you steer away from those automated manuals and smaller than 1.6 engines.
The 1007 is a 'blue rinsers car'...
I had one of these, It was a fantastic car. Not the fastest or the most fuel efficient and the teflon leather seats were god awful for cornering but it never went wrong, was cheap and easy to fix and I did a review on Driveway Developments of it
A black one with gold wheels? Yes, I watched that a few times after I got this C2. Agree about it being reliable and parts and labour (I don't do the oily bits) are very cheap yes. There's a few things I want to do still, like get a later C3/DS3 steering wheel and replace the gear linkages but everything else is pretty much up together. Cheers!
@@TheBlueStinger55 Yeah that was the one. Bought a 106 gti after it, different kettle of fish altogether.
@@Bombastic_Spastic Nice, they're getting very rare now. Enjoy!
Looks great! Kinda like a poor man's Yaris GR
Please do an i20N review soon!!
I’ve been watching you for a while now and would like you to review a Mini Cooper, no s, as I have brought that for my first car (2011) so it has the revised engine
I like the C2. Very quirky-looking thing. Kinda sad when they killed it and replace it with 2nd-gen C3 and DS3. Thankfully both were good-looking things.
ive got a c2 vts in a rare weird yellow colour and i love it, its nippy and sounds good with a new exhaust, its my first car and i disagree with what he said about friends not being impressed, the 8.0 second 0-60mph is faster than all my mates cars!
I love the yellow! Had one years ago CK54 KKO. I miss it
That car would have been perfect with 150hp . I had a 125hp vts for 5 years and it costed me a lot of money (engine, suspension, clutch) but it was a great first car. I removed the rear bench, installed EBC brakes and had a lot of fun.
in my opinion, 140 is the sweet spot for this car after I improved its intake and exhaust, it reached somewhere around 140 after a stage 1, it reached around 155hp and it became quite slippery when you accelerate to the maximum, it loses about 0.3 seconds of grip and this makes it lose its charm, here I'm not talking about the idea of drift, but that the wheels literally spin empty because it's too light
Brilliant review, but I still insist that a BMW Z3 2.8L is the coolest car for young people. Might not be everything to everybody, but it’s bloody good. FYI I’m 18, it’s my first car, and it’s about £1500/y on insurance for me. Can get a sensible one for about 3500-4k. Give it a look, fellow young ones.
was it hard to get insurance on?
Ive got a 2008 Code, brilliant first car. For sale soon if anyones interested - had over £1k in maintenance
Is the transmission prone to failure in the c2 as with many other French cars?
I really wanted to like these however I remember being disappointed by how flat the flatness of engine and how lifeless the steering was.
My dad had been driving a phase 1 Saxo VTS for years and I'd driven it a few times, my uncle brought a C2 Loeb just like this one and let me take it for a drive but it was disappointing both when compared to the Saxo and even when compared to the slower Ford SportKa I was driving at the time.
It''s a shame as I love the looks and I must admit I keep thinking about one as a cheap hack should my current car ever be off the road.
Thanks for the review.
Forget reviewing the fast exotics. This is much better.
if it is a good first car... it is also a good 2. 3. 4.... car. As stated in the description it really is only about the money.. not the age of the driver
I own a 1.6 diesel vts 110bhp but now its stage 2 170bhp problem is it struggles to put the power down unfortunately 😕
You should check out a Gen 1 Honda Jazz Sport, loved it until I crashed it 😂
These pretty much passed me by at the time. Looks like they might make a Good used buy though. Certainly look different.
I'd drive one of these but I gotta get a swift spot first
They are alright most of them get scrapped for corrosion especially on the sills.
I'm looking at buying one of these in 1.1 guise as I need something very cheap to run for a while. I love the look of them think they look sporty and stand out. I'm worried about the reliability though can anyone tell me what problems they've had with theirs ? A lot of people say avoid French cars like the plague but I had a saxo which served me well for 5 years hassle free besides wear n' tear.
James, are going to try what is called DS? Those Citroen luxury brunch cars
Yes, very soon!
Looks like an Audi A2. On a more interesting note I drove past a Ferrari today on a country lane. I think it was a Lusso but it could have been a Roma? I waved at him and he waved back.
Back in the day I ended up crashing my Saxo VTR which was written off and my insurance replacement was a C2 VTR with the sensodrive.
I loved the C2 and in many ways it was a big upgrade over the Saxo. Only thing that let it down was that gearbox, not bad on the move but awful when either in stop start or crawling traffic.
Great little cars though, and cheap as chips even when new
Still see C2s&2nd generation C3s,BXs&Xantias.