2001 Citroen Xsara LX review from UK and Ireland

The gearbox stuck in 2nd gear at around 15,000 miles. The repair involved changing the gearbox oil and upgrading the firmware. Fixed under warranty.

Airbag warning light on (5 times!). Fixed under warranty by cutting off an old connector under the driver's seat and replacing with a new connector. I have since tidied up the wiring and tied in it place to avoid future problems with the connector.

Engine management warning light on and the car would not accelerate (at all!). Repair has involved 3 trips to the garage to have sensors replaced and firmware upgraded. One trip was self-powered, the other 2 on the back of a recovery vehicle!

It is a very comfortable and capable car. It does everything I've ever needed it to do apart from being 100% reliable.

Bearing in mind it is a 4-speed automatic, it accelerates well. The 0-60 miles per hour time is around 14 seconds, but it doesn't feel that way on the road - it feels much faster. It's pretty quiet at speed although you do notice some wind noise. But the thing I like most about it is that rides like a much bigger car with that "floating" quality you get in large automatics. At the same time it handles like a small hatch back.

The brakes are fantastic, much better than any other car (or motorbike) I've ever driven. Although the price for this is that discs and pads wear out quickly, and in my case the back ones went first!

Don't be surprised if when you have problems, your dealer has difficulty fixing them. The car has more than one computer in it, so software skills seem to be more important than the traditional mechanical skills.