1997 Citroen Xantia LX Estate from UK and Ireland - Comments

Too early to say.

However the drivers side door has been welded at some stage apparently a common fault.

There's no service history, but the numbers on the clock are all in line.

There's some kind of oil leak from the sump / gearbox - could be the drive shaft oil seals or could be hydraulic fluid leaking from the tank.

Not as economical as expected, only does 30 mpg around town & 35 on a run.

Rear suspension sticks when inflated then returned back to normal height, cured when totally deflated & returned back to normal height.

Seems to burn oil, perhaps due to lack of servicing.

Goes like a rocket when driven hard, the turbo only kicks in at approx 2700 RPM.

The car's comfortable enough, however avoid the A/C version, the air-con works fine, however this drinks the diesel. I have not used this yet, but have heard this from 1 or 2 people.

Overall not a bad car for its size & weight.

I plan to tow a caravan, the tow weight is approx 1250-1300 Kgs, 50 - 100 Kgs over the limit.

3 diagonal lap belts is a very clever design.

Parts are cheap, however the dealers are pricey. Suggest people use a Citroen specialist rather than expensive dealers for repairs on cars 4 years +. It cost me £60.00 for a belt change, that's using a genuine Citroen belt.

Providing that nothing serious occurs & that I can sort the fuel consumption problem, I intend to keeping the car for 2/3 years.

I agree about the mpg. I expected around 40 in town but 30 is much nearer the mark which is similar to the 1600cc petrol driven Nissan I had previously which, incidentally, started first time everytime. I cannot say the same about my '96 Citroen LX TD when warm it is appalling and can take up to 4 minutes to start - will it - won't it, very embarrassing at the pumps!

Ref: fuel consumption, regularly use a injection cleaner. I was getting 36mpg before using some cleaner, now getting 45mpg.

S.T.P. is the best @ £5 approx. Injectors need cleaning or replacing @ 60.000 mile intervals.

Ref: poor starting, try new glow plugs and check that the relay unit is working properly.

Disagree that using the Aircon drinks fuel. I keep a log of my fuel consumption and reckon it is costs no more than 2 MPG.

I have a sx td 1996, overall very pleased with it, now done 170,000. only problems starting from cold, heater plugs seem fine as does general economy. so I think injector, s OK too.can't seem to solve the problem. any thoughts?.