Faults:

More a case of routine servicing rather than defects.

Replaced cam-belt, water pump (£450), clutch and flywheel (£460), new tyres all round (£300).

Repaired tailgate (£40) and starter motor (£40).

Eloynos fluid top up (£130).

Spending over £1500 may sound a lot, but it would be expected of any car at the 100,000 milestone. My local garage did the servicing, so it was very reasonable in terms of cost.

General Comments:

I have read many negative reviews, but my experience with the C5 has been excellent. Citroens seem to get a poor deal from reviewers as they're not Mondeos. It's for that reason I bought one. By French standards this model is very conventional (in fact boring compared to the likes of the XM or CX), but by British standards this is an odd ball choice.

I surrendered my company car as it was not practical or comfortable enough for my needs. So I prefer driving a 10 year old C5 to a £20k Renault Megane. In a year I have put 20,000 miles on the clock and it has not missed a beat.

It is a delight to drive. It does not set your pulse racing, but rather soaks up all the bumps in the road. It is like sitting in a lounge chair. I don't want to be at one with the bumps in the road, I want to be isolated from them.

The estate is big, perhaps too big as things tend to slide around. It regularly holds 2 folding bikes and 2 weeks of luggage. The best feature is the suspension, which is relaxed and well proven. The Hydractive 3 suspension has been totally reliable; it's a wonder it is not available on other cars.

The 138 BHP engine is excellent. If you take it easy on the motorway i.e. 63 mph it will return up to 55 MPG. 51 MPG is the average I get on the motorway. which is amazing considering it is such a large car. It never feels underpowered and is always willing.

Faults:

Cannot start the engine - sometimes it starts, sometimes not. It is something like an interruption in the fuel supply. Diagnostics cannot find the fault. When it starts occasionally, everything seems OK. When I stop the engine and try to start again in few minutes - the engine turns, but does not start. Sometimes it is possible to start in the N position of the transmission instead of P, and sometimes - conversely, P starts, N just turns the engine with no signs of fuel ignition. Of course, the legendary "Antipollution fault" appears usually after each start, and then disappears within 30 seconds. When driving smoothly, sometimes the warning "Automatic gear fault" appears and disappears, though nothing evidently bad is happening.

Some small interior details are designed badly. Any malfunction is not possible to repair easily.

General Comments:

When it goes, it is not bad - same as most cars running on the road. But its reliability with starting is a real headache. The same is true with its electronics - nobody can tell how to handle all kinds of "fault" indicators, nobody knows if these are real problems or just wrong warnings. The electronics are like a free style artist, nobody can control it or predict its actions. Meanwhile - this artist controls all vital functions of the car, like engine starting, power steering, automatic transmission etc.