Faults:

The rear brake pads wore to the metal at around 40,000 miles.

The clutch clip snapped at 63,000 miles. The clip that connects the clutch cable to the pedal is, quite possibly, the most inaccessible part that I have ever seen on a car. Eventually the instrument pod had to be removed to allow access to the top of the pedal. I consider myself to be a competent DIY mechanic, but I would put the car into a dealership in future if this ever happened again.

Other than regular servicing every three months to take into account the high mileage I do, the car has been very reliable, and still looks and drives as fresh as when I first bought it.

General Comments:

If you are in the market for a no-nonsense, frugal, comfortable, individual, second hand car, then I would not hesitate to recommend a TD Xantia.

My car is a Temptation limited edition, which means that it comes with remote central locking and alarm, electric front windows, electric glass sunroof, remote control stereo (which mutes itself for no reason sometimes), power steering, and air conditioning, which I feel is a lot of kit for the money I have spent.

I have seen over 600 miles from a single tank of diesel before the warning light comes on, on more than one occasion, and the car is very quiet once the engine is warm.

Faults:

Clutch Cable retaining Clip broke at 86K, cost £95 at a Citroen specialist, then £65 at another Garage to have done properly.

Cam Belt Tensioner broke at 88K, lucky not to cause valve-train damage. Cost £180 including new Belt.

Rear wiper failed at 93k. Not prepared to pay the quoted £130 to repair it.

Michelin Energy Tyres on rear "Bulged" within a few weeks of each other, still had 3mm of Tread. I was told it was old age! could they be the originals at 90K?

Drivers Seat height adjuster broke, fixed by myself in an hour, as were two of the Courtesy light switches.

The Alarm has never worked properly and the Tailgate central locking is intermitent.

Glow-plugs all replaced at 95K for £110, I believe that is long as they are expected to last.

Engine is now a bit smokey, doesn't use any oil so it might be the injectors (£150?) but I'll try injector cleaner first.

General Comments:

We needed a spacious cheap to run car with air-conditioning, and it has delivered, we paid £4K for a 3year old car. My wife hates driving it and I dislike the constant niggling problems.

However at 8p/mile to fuel and an overall running cost including depreciation of 18p/mile it fulfils our needs.

Faults:

Glow plugs failed, shortly followed by the battery, during the first winter I owned it. Car had covered over 80000 miles by then and the plugs & battery were the originals, so can't really complain!

Indicator/light switch broke at 100000 miles, but I managed to repair it.

Suspension spheres were all replaced at around 95000 miles, but this is really just routine maintenance on a Citroen and the old ones still had some life left.

Mine is the 'base' (fleet only) model, so doesn't have any of the electronic gadgets that can often give trouble on the high-spec models.

Generally totally dependable.

General Comments:

Performance, ride and handling generally very good, especially for a cheap diesel family saloon.

I've seen a lot of these being used as minicabs now, which is a good sign in my opinion!

For servicing, either do it yourself, or find a good independent specialist. A lot of Citroen main dealers are awful & very expensive in my experience.