Faults:

Mostly electrical. Too many to list.

As with any car, oil changes are a must and I kept it serviced. Mechanically, the usual parts were replaced expected of high mileage - brakes, exhaust, etc. Looking at the cars history, it had the famous "pneumatic suspension" repaired at a dealer when fairly new for over £2500!! Thankfully not during my ownership.

Interior is surprisingly sturdy despite lots of cheap looking plastics used. Outside the paintwork was a little faded.

General Comments:

Good looking in red, the Xantia is a sharp car. Inside is also nice looking. Seats are a bit too soft but are comfortable. LX is mid range and was suitably equipped at the time.

This was one of my first French cars and was warned off due to reliability concerns. Although it was not great, most repairs were cheap enough to fix, and thankfully the major suspension problems the car was famous for was fixed before I got it.

1.8 petrol could average 35 mpg, and was quick enough for me. I've heard the 1.9 TD was the engine to have, high 40's mpg with decent acceleration, about as good as it got in the 1990's. The car handled very well for its size.

Ended up trading it at 10 years old and higher mileage. In general it wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be, but I couldn't recommend a Xantia nowadays. Maybe the updated 1998 models are slightly better. And I've heard the more modern Citroen C5 is much better, but cannot comment as I have never had one. I did however go on to buy a Renault Laguna from roughly the same time period, and was virtually identical to the Xantia in regards to reliability and running costs. Good looking nice to drive French cars, you could have for cheap if you have the patience for their common irritating faults.

Faults:

I got a bit of a lemon for my first Citroen, there was a lot that needed doing for the first year, and one by one I had them done. First I was stung badly by the local Citroen dealer, then I got to know the local independent specialist (vital as a Citroen owner).

As different things were repaired (front suspension complete, spheres, brakes, radiator, clutch, clutch cable, hot plugs, LHM pumps, filters, oil, exhaust...), it became more new than old; with almost all the suspension replaced it drove like a dream!

The engine had run on synthetic oil when new. and had a good service history.. up until a couple of years before I bought it.

I just loved driving it though, and way more so than any previous car. You can drive a Xantia in two completely different ways, economy or fast, and neither make much difference to the excellent fuel economy of those 1.9 diesels. I wish I had it now, or even a 2.1TD.

Faults:

Apart from replacing the normal things that wear on any car - tyres, windscreen wipers, bulbs and exhaust bits etc, nothing - repeat NOTHING has ever gone wrong with this car.

I thought this unblemished record had become tarnished some 2,000 miles ago. Although she started as normal and idled perfectly, power was down and she struggled uphill. I checked everything, compression was good and even across all cylinders, there were no inlet leaks and no electrical gremlins. The problem turned out to be a collapsed monolith in the catalytic converter, (it had done 120,000 miles so no criticism) so the lambda sensor was giving duff information to the engine management system. I fitted a new cat. and my hat hit the back seat the first time I touched the gas pedal. Since then she has performed like a new car.

General Comments:

This car has been an absolute joy to own and to drive.

The engine is quiet and responsive, burns no oil and starts first time EVERY time.

The ride is 'magic carpet' smooth with the Activa suspension stiffening when cornering hard.

The air con has never been touched and still works perfectly.

Parts are cheap and readily available.

Interior is comfortable and easy to maintain.

In the recent wet weather the hydro-pneumatic suspension has been a godsend in that I have put her on high lift and have been able to tiptoe through deep flood water and not even get the body wet.

I admit to being a bit of a Citroen freak, (I currently own five different models), it's not that I collect them, I just find I cannot bring myself to let them go when I get a new one. Logically I know that they are just so much metal and rubber, but these cars are like nothing else on the roads and have such quirkiness and personality that they almost become one of the family.