1993 Citroen Xantia LX TD review from UK and Ireland

My mechanic just sent me a postcard from Disneyland which prompted me to write...

Firstly, the fanbelt stripped which left me with no brakes, suspension or steering. Then the towing company grounded it trying to lift it onto the truck.

Little plastic clutch thingy keeps breaking... also accelerator cables seem to go quite a lot...

Back end creaks like a farm gate - guess what? rear axle is mild steel, but bearings are hard steel, so guess which wears out first...

Net result is annoying creak at all times and inside of rear tyres lasts about 5000 miles.

Back end doesn't lift up on starting, so I have to jack it up on the control then hop out and lift it by hand.

This week, 2 days before I was going to change it for a sexy yellow Volvo 850 T5, the suspension pump blew up. Nothing comes as a surprise.

It overheats erratically as well, and every time it does the fan switch melts!

My fingers have begun to seep blood so I'll leave it at that and hope you get the general picture...

This is a devastatingly good car that still looks the part, cruises at 100mph all day (hello, officer) and returns 55-65 mpg all the while. It's fairly quiet, too, and the speakers are monsters now I've let them loose on a decent stereo and scrapped that half-arsed standard Citroen 0.5 watt mono wireless receiver (cat's whisker kept jumping out of place).

I love the acceleration, but find it a tad lumpy - why can't the turbo kick in lower? It's just above the point where you change gear - and find the handling pretty exhilarating (I just can't catch it out), although the steering is a bit uninvolving, like an arcade game.

Citroen thoughtfully have provided a grab handle for my mother. Alas, no choke for her to hang her handbag, though.

I keep itching to replace it, but it subdues me with a huge repair bill for something or other to make me get my money's worth for just another couple of months.

I remember my dad ladening his Marina down with sacks of coal to stop the back end skipping about. The great thing about Priscilla is the back end doesn't go down under any weight due to the suspension, which is handy for driving half a ton of Welsh bluestone down the M4. I'm told they tow well, too, but can't afford a caravan due to having to save for the next repair bill.

It still looks great, though - a recent session with a carpet shampooer proved that the seats were in fact grey, not black - and really ought to have some personalised plates (I need the sixty quid for the next back tyres, though).

Unlike some of your other reviewers, I've found parts prices to be pretty good if you hunt around.