C5 versus Xantia 2.0 hdi

[bill hughes]

My 1994 xantia is getting past its sell by date and I was considering getting a fairly early C5 hdi but looking on the forum it seems to be the most problems on the forum are with the C5 not least of all the posting by HDI, my question is would I be better off looking for a late xantia 2.0 hdi I use my car for mostly short trips but also fairly frequent 800 mile round trips to France, any advice would be welcome, many thanks

[jgra1]

def C5 for me..

20,000 trouble free miles in mine in 12months, from 110K to today exactly 130K
comfortable, quieter, perfect for long journeys

I do miss the smaller lighter xantia TD with it's little powerband.. but not a lot..

get an sx or exclusive hdi 8 valve if you can, with history

but.. everyone will have an opinion here.. xantia hdi, petrol c5 etc etc

for me it was £600 of daily useful car that I trust(ed) enough to drive to Croatia and back.. I have another vehicle for speed

[Peter.N.]

I have bought a couple of C5s from ebay, you can get them very cheaply if you are prepared to do some work. The 2.0. Hdi engine is pretty bombproof, mine has done nearly 200,000 miles and still has the original clutch/DMF. If you can bear not to have hydropnumatic suspension the 406 is an excellent alternative with very little to go wrong and tighter handling but not quite the space of the C5 although its about the same size as the Xantia.

Peter

[KP]

I think Xantia issues aren't as common now as the normal ones have been sorted and there are so few of them around.

C5's do rust, tailgate comes to mind for a start but nowhere else in my experience.

Mine has given me an issue with the rear suspension cylinder which has been solved with a used replacement.

To me if you aren't using NON-diesel fuels the C5 is best, for anything else the Xantia 1.9TD is the better bet.
Also getting an SX C5 nets you aircon and Cruise control sometimes, one thing i miss is cruise control

[RichardW]

If you'd looked 5 years ago, most problems would have been Xantia, and most C5s still with the dealers. If you'd looked 10 years ago, most probs with BX, Xantia still with the dealers....time moves on! C5 no worse than Xantia really, despite predictions it would be a nightmare with the electronics, there are a few polints to watch out for though...

Rear brakes - the caliper bolts are loctited into the calipers and a complete mare to get off - check to see if they have been off to have the caliper de-rusted.
Handbrake cables - they run in tubes for the back half, into which they corrode solid - replacement involves dropping the exhaust, so not a lot of fun
Indicator swtiches - they use the infamous COM2000 unit for switch functions, so check for any spurious indicator / light operation. Replacement not difficult, but the parts can be expensive.

[Stewart(oily)]

I recently acquired a rather fresh Xantia HDI 110, everything works and it drives beautifully, I have worked on C5s and driven one, very nice and they seem to be coming into the breakers now so used parts will probably be at the place where Xantias were six years ago, have I made a mistake buying another Xantia ? well if this one is a patch on the last one I actually needed very few parts at all over the seven years I owned it, and the majority of the ones I had to buy were wear parts anyway.

[RichardW]

In 100k miles up to current 150k nearly, other than service items my Xantia HDi has only consumed 2 alternators, a crank pulley, a brake pipe, a suspension pipe, and a repaired rear suspension cylinder. Any replacement will have to go a long way to beat that, but decent Xantias are very thin on the ground now...currently 14 on Autotrader, compared to 709 C5s! Rather like the situation with BXs vs Xantias when I went to Xantia in 2002.