Living with a Xantia.
Moderator: RichardW
I do feel the Xantia grows on you. When I aqquired my 97 year TD Temtation(with air con)my other car was a 306 TD. Compared to the 306 which I drove all the time the Xantia which I drove occasionally seemed dreadfully slow and ponderous. Only after we parted with the 306, did I drive the Xantia on a regular basis. Soon relized it was deceptably quick and the handling once your used to it surprisingly good. We love the comfort it provides which in combination with the air con provides comfort all year round. So far mine has been reliable with routine servicing only. As things stand I cannot think of any similar car we would prefer. Am fully aware of the potential reliability problems ahead though, which in conjuction with freefall depreciation, makes big servicing bills hard to justify.
I've done over 7k miles in my early '98 Mk1 Temptation 2 (whatever that means) 1.9TD in my first 3½ months of ownership. The Xantia feels a pretty solid car; it may sound silly since I've moved up from an AX but comparing it with the SAAB 9000 I had before, the Xantia is comparably heavy and chunky - not what I was expecting from a Citroen. The seats aren't quite as comfy as the SAAB as they’re a bit more solid but they are equally as supportive. The drive comfort is far superior though with the suspension soaking up the ruts. The steering is crisp and precise and nicely powered and the road manners reassuringly good. I was disappointed at the performance and have begun to tweak it a bit. This has improved driving immensely – I can chug along at 30ish in 5th without the engine struggling (previously it was beginning to get unhappy in 4th at this speed) and the pickup has improved to the point where I feel it is now safe to overtake. The SAAB could overtake anything at a drop of a hat – with a 2l turbo and automatic box all you needed was a stab of the right foot; one hell of a difference when I went to the AX, that needed planning permission to overtake…
My requirements were for a large estate with good fuel economy. I do nearly 30k miles a year and it’ll have to last me 3 years. All this for £3k. These aren’t a huge list of requirements but they were pretty difficult to fulfil. My mate has a ‘N’ reg Passat estate, 1.9Tdi and 110bhp which rarely drops below 50mpg – nice looking and lively but very mundane inside. I looked at the Mondeo and wasn’t impressed with the trim or the way the rear seat folded (even in Ghia form); it too was slow in TD. I discounted Renault, couldn’t quite afford the 406, liked the Fiat Marea but it was getting small (as was the ZX, 405, Escort, etc). In the end I brought the Xantia for just over £2k with FSH, under 90k miles and pretty well everything working – I have replaced front and acc spheres and need a fast idle vacuum solenoid. It has crisp lines in estate form and is a big car inside – oh why did I cram myself into the AX for so long?
Now you can ALL WAKE UP, I have a question – looking at all of the posts here raises an obvious question: do all Xantias have problems or is it just a handful that has many problems? Post here if you are extremely happy and have had many trouble free miles/kms in your Xantia…
My requirements were for a large estate with good fuel economy. I do nearly 30k miles a year and it’ll have to last me 3 years. All this for £3k. These aren’t a huge list of requirements but they were pretty difficult to fulfil. My mate has a ‘N’ reg Passat estate, 1.9Tdi and 110bhp which rarely drops below 50mpg – nice looking and lively but very mundane inside. I looked at the Mondeo and wasn’t impressed with the trim or the way the rear seat folded (even in Ghia form); it too was slow in TD. I discounted Renault, couldn’t quite afford the 406, liked the Fiat Marea but it was getting small (as was the ZX, 405, Escort, etc). In the end I brought the Xantia for just over £2k with FSH, under 90k miles and pretty well everything working – I have replaced front and acc spheres and need a fast idle vacuum solenoid. It has crisp lines in estate form and is a big car inside – oh why did I cram myself into the AX for so long?
Now you can ALL WAKE UP, I have a question – looking at all of the posts here raises an obvious question: do all Xantias have problems or is it just a handful that has many problems? Post here if you are extremely happy and have had many trouble free miles/kms in your Xantia…
If its any consolation, the starter on my ZX is exactly the same, and has been for most (or all) of the six years I've had it. It takes a couple of seconds of slowish cranking before it starts, even with a good battery. It does always start though. If its been run the starter spins quickly and the engine fires almost instantly.
It can get very slow when the weather is very cold (but again, it does always start - thats the main thing [:)] ). I wonder if its something to do with reduced battery power when cold, or perhaps thick oil. Or perhaps a characteristic of this particular type of starter.
It can get very slow when the weather is very cold (but again, it does always start - thats the main thing [:)] ). I wonder if its something to do with reduced battery power when cold, or perhaps thick oil. Or perhaps a characteristic of this particular type of starter.
[:D]Got to agree about the solid feel of the xantia, All of my family have always had medium/large rovers and was led to believe the were well built cars, sold my 416 sli after 5 years bought a 97 1.9td xant purely for the diesel economy, and it feels like a rolls royce in comparison, much better than a workmates 98 vw passat tdi, Got to admit they do grow on you, best car bargain I have ever bought (and I have bought a few) 97 1.9 td 65000 miles all the gadgets £2500!!!!![:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]