1997 Citroen Xantia SX review from UK and Ireland

Interior didn't fare well - looked OK when I bought it, but seats wore quickly, and seat belt was starting to go when I traded it in.

Found an irritating design flaw - the rear suspension height corrector lever was easy to dislodge (looked like a miniature plastic spoon), which happened a few times whilst driving. Not too hard to fix, but DO NOT ATTEMPT IT WHILST RELYING ON THE JACK!!!

Clutch cable snapped - dealer wanted a ridiculous amount of money for this (over £600 +VAT), but can be done for around £50 at a backstreet garage.

Strange problem when accelerating - on frequent occasions (especially when foot-down after changing into 2nd) the engine would judder as though there was a fuel feed/electrical issue (nothing found at service)

Despite its aforementioned problems, I loved this car. It was reasonably quick & responsive, fairly economical, comfortable, easy to drive, and I would seriously recommend this car to anyone who is after a low-cost, but not low-quality vehicle.

Does however have a slight "cheap" feel in some areas (stereo, dashboard controls etc.), but if you can live with this, it is well worth the buy as it's a lot of car for not a lot of money.

I would, however, recommend that this car is only purchased by those who are either a) mechanically proficient, b) know someone who is, as there were many small faults and issues that would have cost easily many hundreds had I taken it to a dealer each time.

Lastly, there are many things that can (and do) go wrong with these cars - whilst many are easy fixes, it is worth having an (experienced Citroen) expert check it out before you buy, as they are easy to "patch up till it's off the forecourt"