1996 Citroen Xantia review from UK and Ireland
"A splendid car which suffers from apocalyptic reliability problems if neglected"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
My ownership of this car has been plagued by problems. In one year it has cost me over £1800 in repairs. Be warned! If buying one of these second hand, it must have a FULL service history otherwise you'll have myriad problems on your hands.
The suspension spheres seized up. There was no travel in the suspension at all when this happened, but the ride height would go up and down with the control lever. First the front two went, both at the same time, then the back two went about 1000 miles later.
A suspension control linkage broke as a result of the rear suspension seizing problem. This was replaced with a modified linkage, after which, the ride height has been a little too high.
The heater blowers stopped working along with the heated rear windscreen. This turned out to be a faulty control circuit-board on the heater box under the dashboard. Citroen wanted £410 for a new one, a good scrappy sold me a 30 day warranty one for £50 which hasn't broken yet, (fingers crossed).
There is a persistent problem of an erratic idle speed, often resulting in the engine stalling. I have had no joy whatsoever in getting this problem resolved. My suspicions lie with the Engine Control Unit (E.C.U.) which is another of those expensive black boxes.
General comments?
Excellent road-holding once the suspension was fixed and working properly. This thing just sticks to the road and doesn't let go.
It gets a bit tippy through chicanes and sudden bumps can surprise the suspension a bit, but usual road undulations are smoothed right out.
The engine seems to respond well to being driven hard, with the real action being between 3 and 5000 rpm.
The boot-space is absolutely cavernous on this estate model.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 1996 |
| First year of ownership | 2003 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2003 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.8i Manual |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 3 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 6 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 0 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 98000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 102000 miles |
| Date of Entry | 8th December, 2003 |