Ex antias. :-)

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James.UK
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Ex antias. :-)

Post by James.UK »

As a newbie it does seem to me that the xantias are prone to more probs than the other models? (Based on what I have read on the forums) so why would anyone buy one? and why would I buy a car with the weird "hydro-sodit" complex suspension thingy that makes the car go up and down? (Why not use a jack like everyone else?) [:o)] Whats the attraction with these cars?
Cheers.. James..
alan s
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Post by alan s »

As far as problems go, look at the production figures & relate that to the number of problems people experience.
Xantia From - 1993: Production - 1,216,734
That puts the percentage of problems into perspective.
<b>Cause of the problems:</b>
(a) Neglect through lack of routine servicing (ie)Changing fluid at correct intervals, checking sphere pressures etc. and using vehicle whilst it has an obvious fault (ie) driving on flat spheres etc.
(b) Believing repairers more interested in talking up a job than doing what is required. Being conned into believing that every job on them is a major one when in fact they are usually minor.
<b>The attraction?</b>
The safest form of suspension ever as well as the most comfortable. Blow a front tyre in one of these in comparison to any other car & you'll soon see what I mean.
Ease of maintenance, cheap long term running costs; compare the cost of maintaining an old fashioned type of suspension with shock absorbers and tin springs to one of these. After owning a hydraulic Citroen for 20 years whilst also runnng the old fashioned type, give me the hydro suspension any time for all of the above reasons.
The mileages some of these Xantias have done is also worth considering. I drive amongst others a CX '79 model. They also had the reputation of being "unreliable" for exactly the same reasons as the Xantia. It's my daily driver & gets abused like you couldn't believe. The previous owner spent thousands & sold it because a repairer told him it needed "thousands" spent on it. I spoke to the repairer by phone & laughed at him (he didn't like it) when he told me what wanted doing & how much it was going to cost. In 35K I have spemt about $200 but have serviced it regularly; that's the difference.
Alan S
ghostrider
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Post by ghostrider »

Alan,
You are doing it again!:-)))) namely giving away one of the best kept secrets in the auto trade, namely that Cits are almost unbelievably cheap because even the main agents (or should that be especially the main agents :-)) dont seem to know how to look after them. I second your opinion, I too have owned hydraulic Cits for around 25 years and even though I've given up "preventative" maintenance and reverted to regular servicing and the "if it aint broke dont fix it " strategy, I have never as yet been left stranded, despite many of the cars I've owned having done intergalactic mileages and being the wrong side of ten years old
Why do we do it? well like many others on this site I come from an engineering background, and on a purely engineering level it would be difficult to design a system that would offer any advantage over what is a very simple idea. Why dont other manufacturers do it? Who knows, why do people watch anything but Sony TVs (Picture quality) or use anything other than Macs ( ease of use), the answer is summed up by a comment from an IT specialist years ago who said "no one ever got fired for buying IBM"
The only real complaint I would have is that just sometimes the suspension is just a bit too good, like when I had a front wheel puncture on the CX Turbo at some very illegal speed on the M5 and only really new about it when the front tyre disintegrated, bit of a nuisance really if I'd known sooner I might have saved that tyre;-))
Pete
________
CALIFORNIA MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY
Last edited by ghostrider on 22 Feb 2011, 05:45, edited 1 time in total.
lhm_leak
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Post by lhm_leak »

I have to concur. Problems on these cars are usually due to slipshod maintenance. They're certainly no less reliable than many of the more mainstream makes, and properly looked after, quite a bit more so in my very humble opinion ( 4 Vectras, 4 catastrophic failures, 4 hefty repair bills. One was 14 months old, 14k miles when it ate its 16 valves... Friends cars, not mine, thank the evil gods.)
So I, personally, will be driving Xantias until they're all ready for scrap, even though my current pair are not without their problems. Maybe by then Citroen will have produced a new model worth buying - I don't like the C5.
Homer
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Previous:
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Xantia 2.0 Exclusive CT turbo Break,
Peugeot 807 2.0 HDi 110,
Renault Grand Scenic, 2.0 diesel (150bhp)
C5 X7 2.0 HDi 160 which put me off French cars possibly forever
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Post by Homer »

15 years of Hydraulic Cits (sometimes two at a time) and I have spent less on the suspension (hydraulic parts) than I did on one Ford Escort.
You see lots of queries about the system here because this is <b>the</b> place to come for advice.
Saying Hydraulic Cits are no good because lots of people here have problems with them is abit like sitting in a scrapyard and saying cars in general are no good because there are so many broken ones.
Dave Burns
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Post by Dave Burns »

Self leveling suspension, allways maintaining the same attitude and suspension geometry relative to the road regardless of loading.
Power brakes, not simply assisted as on any other car, rear brake power directly proportional to load being carried, reliable, long lived, uncomplicated 1.9 diesel engine are some of the features that draw me to it.
Hell will freeze over before I go near a C5 though[V]
People that can't use spanners and can't afford to pay people that can should not run a Xantia, then hopefuly we wont encounter them here moaning about it.
Dave
lhm_leak
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Post by lhm_leak »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">People that can't use spanners and can't afford to pay people that can should not run a Xantia<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Sure they should. Where else am I going to get my next one from?[8D] I bought my petrol one a couple of years ago (for around a verse of the proverbial song) from someone flogging it for spares, as it was going to cost £000's to repair. The problem? A knackered hydraulic line that took an afternoon's work and a tenner's worth of parts to fix permanently - oh, and a rear wheel missing its balance weights... The only other serious problem I've had in 2 years is the infamous heater matrix - but the part isn't expensive and I'm not afraid of dismantling the dashboard, it's just a matter of finding the time. Other than that, the car's in good condition (much better than my TD!) and runs well. Not bad for something written off by it's previous owner as a basket case.[:p]
Let the uneducated masses drive Xantias - richer pickings for those of us who know something about them when they "break".[}:)]
James.UK
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Post by James.UK »

Hi again, and thanks for all your views and info, I was not intending to "knock" Xantias, I genuinely wanted to know. [|)] I have never even been in one, but saw an exploded drawing of the suspension system once and it scared the hell out of me! [:0] [:I] I think I will stick to my ZX for a few more years yet.. [^]
Cheers.. James..
PS. What you gonna get when we run out of 'old' Xantias? [:o)] any ideas?
lhm_leak
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Post by lhm_leak »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">What you gonna get when we run out of 'old' Xantias? any ideas? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Well, I didn't like Xantias when they first appeared - I was thoroughly hooked on my BX at the time. They just sort of "grew" on me. I suppose that, given time, the current C5 may just do the same - and in 10 years we'll be having the same conversation about those...
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> I have never even been in one, but saw an exploded drawing of the suspension system once and it scared the hell out of me! <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Try driving one when/if you get a chance - love it or hate it, at least then you'll know what all the fuss is about. As far as the hydraulics are concerned, don't let the diagram scare you - after all, we only concentrate on the bits that are broke, it doesn't go wrong very often, and when it does it's usually cheap if not exactly simple to fix (e.g. front offside sphere feed pipe - often chafes through, costs about 10 pounds for a replacement, is a swine to fit [:(!].). The advantages of this type of system (Alan, Dave above) far outweigh the disadvantages though, which is why I do most of my 40k+ miles/year in a Xantia.
Stu.
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Post by CITMAN »

Yeah ive noticed that in the citroen forum they are all mostly xantia's. Where are the ax's zx's, saxos, xsaras etc.
lhm_leak
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Post by lhm_leak »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Where are the ax's zx's, saxos, xsaras etc<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
AX - mostly disintegrated by now (There are still a few though...)
ZX - A fair few on this forum.
Saxo - being driven, generally, by gentlemen wearing the last word in natty headgear and with such a wealth of experience in motor mechanics that they don't actually <i>need</i> this forum. They are also <i>so</i> careful and diligent with their cars that absolutely <i>nothing</i> can or will go wrong with them. Or happen to them.[:D]
Xsara - mostly still owned by the bunch that reckon a garage is the only place it is legally permissible to open the bonnet.
Stu.
mbunting
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Post by mbunting »

Excuse me, lhm_leak !
I have an AX 1.0 debut ( 95M ) which is in excellent condition bodywork wise, just that the engine siezed after the oil ran out !
tomsheppard
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Post by tomsheppard »

Mum's E class Merc is much less comfortable than the BX.
If you are really picky, you can spend a small fortune suspension bits, especially if yours is an old car. The French neglect theirs but still manage huge mileages. I am looking forward to my next one, despite the last one's (considerable) foibles. Once you get hooked...
ZXturbo_Aura
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Post by ZXturbo_Aura »

my friend has a merc S320, its crap as far as ride goes, my dads xantia is miles better over bumps and speed bumps, infact... my ZX TD is probably better!lol!
citroens are very underated
Dan
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