2000 Citroen Xantia HDI SX review from UK and Ireland

Driver's side window regulator mechanism (not the motor itself)

Climate control seemed to loose some of its power after 100 000 miles.

CV boot replaced at 90 000.

This is a second generation Xantia with common rail turbo diesel engine. The engine is a vast improvement compared to the older XDU turbo diesel engine in both performance, refinement and fuel economy.

I managed to get over 800 miles per 63 litres of diesel. This was mainly motorway driving. The engines is powerful enough for comfortable motorway cruising and gives good amount of torque.

The suspension is slightly firmer than the older Xantias used to have, but still comfortable. The body of the car feels firmer than the old ones had, at least there aren't may rattles and squeekes.

Seats are nice though I would prefer the ultra-soft ones Citroen BX used to have, but I guess Citroen had to design more "mainstream" European feel for this car. Generally the interior has a good feel though the design shows its age - the design was from early 90s. Still, all functional and stylish.

I had the car serviced once at the Citroen main dealer in Farnborough, Hampshire. It was quite expensive and I did not take the car for routine servicing after that. I used to change oil and filer myself every 12 000 miles. Also change the brake pads twice and replaced front tyres twice, rear tyres were still the originals when I sold the car. I had cam-belt replaced at the independent garage at 70 000 miles, cost about £180.

The car was 100% reliable and the only fault was a broken plastic clip in the window regulator. Even all the electrics were working perfectly. There was something wrong with the climate control - possibly the air-conditioning needed re-gassing.

Citroen has got a bad reputation in terms of reliability. Maybe I was lucky with this or the later model year Xantias were more reliable. I would like to believe it is the latter one.

The car was really comfortable to drive and also looked good. The only reason I sold it was because we moved from UK to Australia. Otherwise, I would probably had this car for another 100 000 miles.

I would not hesitate buying another HDI Xantia if I only find one in Australia.