Citroen XM Forum

Hi all

Browsing though the local paper like i do every week for Xm's (ive only found 2 in 7 years ) and a C5 cought my eye and i was amazed at how little it's up for, no piccies but it reads:

Citroen C5 04, 54
2.0 hpi exclusive top of the range, sat nav, cruise, alloys, elec everything, fcsh, just been serviced and new clutch fitted, very clean car but high miles, must sell £1400 ono

Now i dont like the look of the C5 its too round and blobby like a micra, although the newer one is an improvement, but for under 1400quid can you really go wrong as a runaround car????? is this the price they go for? usualy on a private sale ima i have never looked into C5 prices but god i wish i could get a 54 plate C6 for this sort of money

D

Hi Dean

There is no such thing as a free lunch...but it is a seriously low price. At that price/mileage it may have been a taxi? Still probably worth a look.

C6's will drop since every Citroen dealer in the country still seems to have a demonstrator on the forecourt. I am thinking of getting one, but I'm going to wait until the scrappage ends and when dealers will have deserted showrooms. I reckon beginning of next year will be about right. Of course things like £400 a year tax means that you have to be a bit of a citroen fan to want one.

Tony

Hi Tony

Im sure the HPI is a petrol in which case i think a taxi driver would ovoid it like the plague, i might go and look at this sunday if it hasnt sold.................just out of curiosity

D

Hi Dean,

My dad has a facelift series 1 type C5 (2006) 2.0 HDI. Its a grand enough car. But thats all it is. It is only a car, it doesn't have the charm or character of an XM, CX or even a Xantia. However if you need cheap transport,they're hard to beat. Just boring as hell. They're roomy, comfortable enough etc.

I'm not going to buy one. I'll just stick with the Xm. If I'm beat. I'll go back to the Xantia again.

I would suggest you look at a nice Xantia instead of the C5. Xantia is from the same era as the XM where you can do most of the work yourself without too much electronics. Whatever you do, don't buy one fo the first C5s, they were riddled with electric problems, (where have we heard that before...)

How about a very rare Activa for little money?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1996-CITROEN-XANT ... 0378931514

Buy it now for £200!! Buy to save and fix rather than dismantle!!
I really want it but mustn't - I have too many already...






Andrew

Hi Dean

I never thought I would say this but you are probably better of with a petrol one, the reliability and cost of repairing the common rail diesels has set diesel motoring back about 25 years. The 2-300,000 miles of reliable motoring from an XUD engine is just a dream to many Hdi owners. You also have the problems associated with multiplexed wiring and engine management systems, otherwise, I like the car

Peter

Yes i do like the Xantia they are very common over here, there are 3 in my road and one of them is an activa but i dont want another keeper, in fact im not buying another because i cant afford it, well........................... anyway its the big car show on sunday in ryde so i will be there all day, keeping me out of c5 trouble.
Peter? is that you? advising me to get a Petrol are you ok i think you are right though as far as modern cars go, and Andrew i cant get that Activa, if i did then swmbo says she would shoot me i would love to go up with the lorry and bring it home though.

D

Ah, the good old HPi engine, that is the reason its cheap!

These are often plagued with faults, mainly the fuel pump, its a very common thing to fail on the Hpi aparently, and i think i remember right in saying that since its a high pressure pump its very expensive, try around the £700 mark i think.

We went to view a HPI estate, seemed like a bargain and was the very range topping Exclusive SE spec too. On the way down we phoned a Cit specialist to get some prices for C5 spheres. At which point they asked us which engine it was and strongly adsived us not to get a HPi, so we didnt! We did go and view it as we were almost there anyway, a very nice car but id always have that niggling feeling that it might just let us down one day and cost a huge chunk of its value to put right again. I dont think the 2.0Hpi made it into the facelift C5?

In my opinion the HDI 2.0 is the only way to go with an earlier C5, early 2.2s can be a lot of trouble too, mainly the FAP filters but also injectors.

Facelift C5s got a slightly different range of engine, all of which have the lovely FAP filter, its supposed to be improved over the early 2.2s though.

In truth Ive not been totally cought by the C5 bug, they are nice cars, drive ok, return ok fuel economy and are very good on a long run etc but nothing has struck me as different or outstanding, its a bit dull. The suspension is ok, however if you go for the earlier C5 then the 2.0HDi is the most reliable, however you dont get full hydractive with that, which is something i really love on the Xm. The C5 is also very short on suspenion travel, so you can easily find its limitations on undulating roads. I dont often drive slowly and often like to enjoy some nice country roads and its difficult to do that in a C5, or atleast the ones which are not fully hydractive.

My C5 hatch is still going well, in the time ive had it - 8K miles and 6 months - its been fine, with only one small suspension leak which was easily fixed. Its not a car i really look forward to driving though, unlike the Xm.

I far prefer driving our 2.1TD Xm estate over our old 2.0HDi C5 estate, which seems a good comparrison, i dont think the C5 comes close to mathcing an Xm in many ways .. but thats my opinion

Now then, why do i have a C5 since i obviously havent fallen totally in love with it ... well its a huge lot of car for little money, its very safe, econimical for a large car, well specced, spacious (not as spacious as an Xm though), comfortable, relatively modern and you hope that its going to be reliable, which it has been. The recently sold C5 estate did have a few niggly faults while we had it but the hatch has been fine. The C5 is perfect for my daily useage though, i now have a commute of around 65-80 miles most week days, so its good on the motorway with the cruise control set. Although i split this mileage with the 2.0HDi 206, which i do find very fun to drive, though suspension must still be on the options list as its certainly not on the car So there are big plus points to C5 ownership too, and mine was faultless on the drive down to france this year, so long as you get the right engine it should prove to be a good car.

In my opinion the best time for Citroen during my years was the time between around 1990 - 2000, which saw Xms, Xantias, Zxs, Bxs, Axs, etc, all cars i like but the recent range from 2002 > doesnt grab me in the same way, the styiling isnt there (one of the things i love about the Xm is the looks, especially the hatch) they are needlessly complex and reports of them going wrong just sound like too much hassle.

So we really do need to keep these Xms and its relatives going as long as possible, as the future is grim! (Ok, this maybe a little exaggerated!)

Chris.

This is interesting, so all you C5 owners arent really impressed then, am i right in thinking your all saying its ok but you may as well buy any other car as it doesnt feel like a Citroen then???

D

Didn't Steelcityuk say similar things about his s1 C5. I guess it depends where your reference point with all these cars
is and which one you started out with. I personally cannot abide their looks and have this idea that any car I own has
to look "right" whether it's undertated or elegant.

I'm starting to feel very uncomfortable with the new C5 and even the C6 which I adored from it's launch. Close daily
familiarisation with a local C5 finds me geting more uneasy about it's styling clumsiness and the sheer bulk of the
design with slab sided down to the floor tumblehome actually isn't such a good look; subtle it aint.

Chunky and frumpy seems to be the new style, not sharp but svelte and elegant.


Andrew