viewed a 93,000miles, 1.8 16v, 1999 xantia auto in nice condition overall, and never owned an auto car i have always been told to stay away. But for £700 is seems fairly good value considering its condition and new mot
1) What is the members’ views on the xantia autobox?
2) Is it reliable?
3) What mpg will i realistically expect in town?
4) Should i stick with what ive got and continue looking for a manual?
xantia autobox questions?
Moderator: RichardW
xantia autobox questions?
currently no citroens 
1.4 2000 forte now gone too
xantia 1.8i 16v dimension 1996P now gone,
1.4 2000 forte now gone too
xantia 1.8i 16v dimension 1996P now gone,
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Quackers
- Posts: 399
- Joined: 11 Nov 2005, 12:58
- Location: Staffordshire, Newcastle Under Lyme
- My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5 3.0 V6 Exclusive + Navi
2009 Citroen C6 2.7 V6 Exclusive + Lounge Pack
2007 Citroen C5 2.2 (173) Exclusive + Navi
2000 Citroen Xantia Activa - x 17
I've only had the 3.0 V6 Auto, which did not give me any issues, even at 150,000 miles. But even the 3.0 V6 was 8.5 seconds 0-60, if your looking at a 1.8 16v with an autobox i imagine it would be sluggish.
Auto's are great, if you want a Xantia one i can only recommend you get the 3.0 V6 Exclusive one. You can still get 30mpg + on motorway trips in them, about the same as the Activa, i had an Activa and a 3.0 V6 at the same time, yes i was mental, tax , insurance and fuel for a 23 year old was mad!
Auto's are great, if you want a Xantia one i can only recommend you get the 3.0 V6 Exclusive one. You can still get 30mpg + on motorway trips in them, about the same as the Activa, i had an Activa and a 3.0 V6 at the same time, yes i was mental, tax , insurance and fuel for a 23 year old was mad!
Rule #1 I've been told by Xantia owners over here (we get the 2 litre 2.0i the 2.0 16 valve and the V6 but not the 1.8 ) is to avoid like the plague, the ones with a AL4 auto box in them.
It seems that it is prone to strange things when being used as well as a variety of reliability problems. Some reckon if the ATF is changed each time the engine oil is, that you can get away with less problems.
The ones with the ZF auto seem far more reliable and the ZF is also used in Mercs, Beemers and Saabs as well as several other European cars so is well tried and tested.
We found out here that the ZF boxes had problems due to local grease monkeys (and dealers too would you believe) decided that Dexron 111 was the only fluid to use in most transmissions, amd in the case of the BX also with a ZF box, that it was common to burn one out between 90K - 120K klms depending on how soon the incorrect (Dexron 111) had been put in the box however, other brands using the same box seemed to be getting 400,000 + without problems providing they were regularly given fresh fluid say every 20,000 or less and given the correct fluid which varies a bit from model to model, but most important the correct fluid is used.
My BX Tri has a ZF transmission in it as does a family friends that I also service and when going right, are a brilliant box.
Slow off the mark up to around 10 - 15kph after which it's hard to distinguish between one of these and a manual as they really get up and go.
Fuel consumption; unlike the old band style autos, these things lock up in top gear and will do as good if not better than most manuals on a long trip, however, the consumption does fall away to an extent in City driving and if the Xantia is anything like the BX, isn't happy running around town at legal speed limits as it tends to flair between 3 rd and 4 th gears, as a result, it is usually more practical to drive locked in 3rd which isn't as bad as it might sound, as I umderstand 3 rd is top and 4 th is overdrive anyway.
Hope that's some help.
Alan S
It seems that it is prone to strange things when being used as well as a variety of reliability problems. Some reckon if the ATF is changed each time the engine oil is, that you can get away with less problems.
The ones with the ZF auto seem far more reliable and the ZF is also used in Mercs, Beemers and Saabs as well as several other European cars so is well tried and tested.
We found out here that the ZF boxes had problems due to local grease monkeys (and dealers too would you believe) decided that Dexron 111 was the only fluid to use in most transmissions, amd in the case of the BX also with a ZF box, that it was common to burn one out between 90K - 120K klms depending on how soon the incorrect (Dexron 111) had been put in the box however, other brands using the same box seemed to be getting 400,000 + without problems providing they were regularly given fresh fluid say every 20,000 or less and given the correct fluid which varies a bit from model to model, but most important the correct fluid is used.
My BX Tri has a ZF transmission in it as does a family friends that I also service and when going right, are a brilliant box.
Slow off the mark up to around 10 - 15kph after which it's hard to distinguish between one of these and a manual as they really get up and go.
Fuel consumption; unlike the old band style autos, these things lock up in top gear and will do as good if not better than most manuals on a long trip, however, the consumption does fall away to an extent in City driving and if the Xantia is anything like the BX, isn't happy running around town at legal speed limits as it tends to flair between 3 rd and 4 th gears, as a result, it is usually more practical to drive locked in 3rd which isn't as bad as it might sound, as I umderstand 3 rd is top and 4 th is overdrive anyway.
Hope that's some help.
Alan S
RIP Sept 19th 2008.
She said "Put the cat out" She didn't mention it was on fire!!
She said "Put the cat out" She didn't mention it was on fire!!
I had a Xantia V6 too, auto box in that was ok, no problems, it was quite smoothe, although it may be smoother with an oil change, they are supposed to be sealed for life boxes, but you can obviously change the oil in it, but getting the proper specific esso branded oil for it is a real challenge. Mine had 115k when I sold it.
My opinion of auto boxes is good, i've not had a bad experience from them yet.
And if you want an auto car, get a one with a big engine, auto boxes seem to suit big engines/fast cars better than smaller engined/slow cars. They got to be fun right?
My opinion of auto boxes is good, i've not had a bad experience from them yet.
And if you want an auto car, get a one with a big engine, auto boxes seem to suit big engines/fast cars better than smaller engined/slow cars. They got to be fun right?
Well been to see it, not been for drive yet
Good points
-4 x continental eco tyres, est. backs 6mm front 4mm, spare looks like new
-Air con is cold!
-Fully valeted inside, looks like new
-12m mot
-not playing on price too much maybe go to £650
Bad points
Stereo not working/ comes up with dashes along the lcd display when the power is on-maybe needs recoding
Couple of points
When the engine was started there was a clicking for 2 seconds form behind the dash, i think it was linked to the gearbox, is this normal?
5 owners in total, last owner four last 4 years, but only done 25000 miles in that time according to history, so looks like in the first five years it clocked up 70000miles under 4 owners.
So it could be that the car was poor and kept changing hands, or maybe simply do a few miles and then changed it-seems reasonable.
Good points
-4 x continental eco tyres, est. backs 6mm front 4mm, spare looks like new
-Air con is cold!
-Fully valeted inside, looks like new
-12m mot
-not playing on price too much maybe go to £650
Bad points
Stereo not working/ comes up with dashes along the lcd display when the power is on-maybe needs recoding
Couple of points
When the engine was started there was a clicking for 2 seconds form behind the dash, i think it was linked to the gearbox, is this normal?
5 owners in total, last owner four last 4 years, but only done 25000 miles in that time according to history, so looks like in the first five years it clocked up 70000miles under 4 owners.
So it could be that the car was poor and kept changing hands, or maybe simply do a few miles and then changed it-seems reasonable.
currently no citroens
1.4 2000 forte now gone too
xantia 1.8i 16v dimension 1996P now gone,
1.4 2000 forte now gone too
xantia 1.8i 16v dimension 1996P now gone,
Remember that auto boxes will make it use more fuel than a manual would. It sounds like a nice car, and for £700 seems an ok price really. If you want to compare it to other cars/prices go on autotrader, knock a bit off the price, or go on ebay and search for completed item under xantia. Also send parkers a text with the reg and mileage, the number wiill be on their site.
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masood_ilyas
- Posts: 121
- Joined: 01 May 2001, 00:01
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars:
- x 1
I have two (1998/99) Xantia 1.9TD automatics (glutton for punishment) and in my experience these cars are fantastic but a pain when it goes wrong. My cars have only shown problems after 110K miles. Warning signs start with car downgrading to emergency mode with lights flashing for various reasons, two of them being a) pressure modulator valves and b) oil wear counter deciding the oil needs a change. Restart the engine (electronic ecu reset) and all comes good for the rest of the day. If you change the oil but do not reset the gearbox ECU counter it still thinks it should protect the box. This unfortunately requires a dealer computer software so out of the diy enthusiast's reach. Other users on this forum have mentioned the gearbox oil heating causing premature wear i.e gears not progressing smoothly or gears stuck and not moving at all. As has been mentioned earlier, DexronIII when used has made a poor situation worst. The wisdom of "sealed for life" has been responsible for short life of these boxes. Manufacturers obviously want to sell cars and to them a long life is 100k miles!. hence their reason for not even putting a dipstick to measure oil level on later AL4or DPO boxes. In my view regular gearbox oil changes would have made them last longer just as the diesel engines can and do.
Whatever the cause the specialist will quote you around £1400 for the pleasure of taking the box out for rebuild or exchange.
If you decide to have a go yourself there are very few spare part outlets and on top of that the technical information is sparse.
If you fancy a car priced £700 add another 1400 to that now ask yourself do you still want it?, a car with a duff box will mean writing off £700.
More important make sure your wife is happy about spending this much money (£2100) on what she might think is an old heap, as this will be used against your financial decision making skills.
Good luck
Whatever the cause the specialist will quote you around £1400 for the pleasure of taking the box out for rebuild or exchange.
If you decide to have a go yourself there are very few spare part outlets and on top of that the technical information is sparse.
If you fancy a car priced £700 add another 1400 to that now ask yourself do you still want it?, a car with a duff box will mean writing off £700.
More important make sure your wife is happy about spending this much money (£2100) on what she might think is an old heap, as this will be used against your financial decision making skills.
Good luck
masood_ilyas has some good points there.
I should add that the gearbox in my xantia v6 did the emergency mode a few times too, and switching the engine off, taking the key out and start all over cured it till next time, weeks or months rather than days.
The gearbox on my car DID have a dipstick, and a top-up hole, and obviously a drain hole, so sealed for life is a load of tosh, as mentioned before, try getting hold of the proper oil!!
I did get hold of the complete official technical manual for the gearbox on the V6, the link is here on the forum somewhere, it makes for interesting reading, although if it broke down, i still wouldn't know where to start.
Personally, if I was to buy another automatic, I would ask for full service history and recent ones, with receipts. Regarding the MOT: from personal experience, it would be quite easy to find a mechanic to be slack in the MOT and pass a car that a good mechanic would have failed. In saying that, an MOT is only valid for the day it's issued and is by no means a sign of good mechanical order of the car, more safety than anything. I.E It doesn't guarantee the gearbox.
I should add that the gearbox in my xantia v6 did the emergency mode a few times too, and switching the engine off, taking the key out and start all over cured it till next time, weeks or months rather than days.
The gearbox on my car DID have a dipstick, and a top-up hole, and obviously a drain hole, so sealed for life is a load of tosh, as mentioned before, try getting hold of the proper oil!!
I did get hold of the complete official technical manual for the gearbox on the V6, the link is here on the forum somewhere, it makes for interesting reading, although if it broke down, i still wouldn't know where to start.
Personally, if I was to buy another automatic, I would ask for full service history and recent ones, with receipts. Regarding the MOT: from personal experience, it would be quite easy to find a mechanic to be slack in the MOT and pass a car that a good mechanic would have failed. In saying that, an MOT is only valid for the day it's issued and is by no means a sign of good mechanical order of the car, more safety than anything. I.E It doesn't guarantee the gearbox.