1996 Citroen Xantia Dimension review from UK and Ireland

Interior fan motor (£35 s/h)

Speed sensor (£13 Euro Car Parts)

I have a 1996 1.9TD Dimension (with air con) Xantia, paid £460 from eBay for it - how can you complain at that?!?! and no, its not white, or got starship mileage. It's metallic blue with 109k on the clock.

It had a few niggles which I had to put right - interior fan was broken - £35 from breaker - 3 screws, a connector later and it was working, new wing mirror as that last one had been badly glued on £25. New set of batteries for the remote £1.99! So I had a fabulous 'big' car for just over £500. Very cheap insurance for this type of car (£300 fully comp. - I'm 29 in high-risk area parked on street), very cheap to run, 45+ MPG is actually achievable. Although with a heavier foot 40MPG is more realistic (bit less if you are really bad!)

Why oh why do people moan about the suspension on these cars? Would you moan about replacing the shock absorbers on your 'conventional' suspension? With aftermarket parts you can get the spheres for £18.75 per corner - show me a car this size where you can get the shocks that cheaply! Even OEM parts are only £61 The spheres are designed to be consumables, that is why they are so easy to get to and change - why do people expect them to last forever? The trouble with shocks is that they go off slowly, so most people don't replace them until they are really bad, if they were replaced when they really needed to I'm sure they would not out-last the Citroen spheres.

Can't say enough about this car. I had several BMW's before it and (apart from my E39) I would say it is a better can than any of them in terms of reliability, costs, parts, ride quality. OK, maybe the doors don't 'clunk' like the BMW, but I expected it to be a lot worst than it was given the poor reviews it gets, switch-gear all seems to be of a decent quality and clicks well, no problems so far. I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased with my purchase.

Parts are readily available from GS&F and Euro Car Parts, as well as a number of Citroen specialist breakers, cheap too - not as you are lead to believe (as long as you avoid main dealers - but that goes for any car now-a-days really)

I went to drive quite a few before finally purchasing. Be aware, there are some real dogs out there with no history, badly neglected - these *will* be unreliable - but so will any car if neglected - even BMW's - trust me - I know (and have paid the bills!!)

I will definitely be looking for another - probably a HDI when I come to change this one.

Good luck with your purchase - you will not regret it if you follow basic 2nd hand car buying rules.