Need general guidance on C5

[KP]

Toyota?!? reliable....

17 Warranty claims on less than 8months suggest otherwise to me and i stay well away from them and their shoddy service, especially Pentagon Toyota dealers....

[cachaciero]

Er..! reliable? don't remember that word in my post.
Reliability or lack of it seems to me to be the result of many things, ranging from quality of original design, quality of fabrication, quality/ability of franchised repairers (often the first to turn a relatively minor problem into a major disaster), attitude towards maintenance of original and successive owners and finally that elusive factor a modicum of luck.
All manufacturers seem to be capable of making cars that are very reliable while making other models that are a disaster.

Notwithstanding "Which best car brands" put Toyota at 13th behind such illustrious marks such as Porsche and Skoda in fact most German manufacturers, and well ahead of Citroen and indeed all other European manufacturers.

cachaciero

[KP]

Sorry, but even the build quality was atrocious on the ones i had only a few years ago.

Build Quality?? Would that be the build quality that saw the 5th injector let go and instead of spraying fuel into the exhaust sprayed it over the engine bay instead?? or the corrosion on a 2yr old car with the rust going INSIDE-OUT????

Toyota had numerous chances to repair properly and every time was worse and worse

[Peter.N.]

They do have very good after sales service though, other companies make rubbish and won't do anything about it.

Peter

[Northern_Mike]

Of course if one has decided, as PSA obviously has that Hydro-pnuematic suspension has had it's day then there are other manufacturers that supply coil sprung cars which score higher on either technological advancement or quality of build or both, Toyota for one.

cachaciero

Well, quite. If I had £8-10k to spend on a conventional sprung Estate, it'd likely be a BMW 3 or 5 series Touring, in a diesel form.

[Citroenmad]

A Toyota to fit this bill would need to be an Avensis, sure the new one looks less dull than the old one, but there are many better estates about.

I would be looking at the Ford Mondeo, not a bad car at all and its huge, drives well and easy to find. Peugeot 407 SW, very reaonsably priced and with a bit of flair too. The new Skoda Superb estate is also massive, I like its odd looks and its very good value, that is a strong contender (in even more odd looking hatch/saloon form) for my next car. The last shape VW Passat, not the new boxy thing which looks just like a Jetta in saloon form, is a cracking car, very nice indeed.

If you want a large holdall but are not bothered about the suspension but would like to stay Citroen, id be looking at a C4 Picasso.

[Napoleon]

Why is it that most C5 III are in dealerships and not private hands? SO it seems from eBay, at least, if not AutoTrader.

[Citroenmad]

I might well be being very generalistic here, however I believe a good amount of people get cars on finance now. When they have had enough of that car or its reached 3 years old its often chopped in for a new model. It happens a great deal. Also C5s are rep mobiles and once a company is done with the cars they often get through the trade network, either by going back to the dealers in part ex for new ones or through trade auctions, eventually finding their way on sale to the public by a trader. It doesnt help that the C5 cost upwards of £16K new and so the above will almost certainly be true. Smaller cars after more often bought outright than bigger cars. Another factor is the heavy depreciation in the first few years of a C5s life, great for buying used but not excellent if you have paid for a new one.

[Napoleon]

Does the rep car factor indicate that a dealer-found car might need to be viewed with more suspicion that you would with a privately owned one?

[Citroenmad]

I would say there is just as much to look out for with a previous rep-used car as there is with a private sale.

The rep cars will no doubt have covered motorway miles, which isn't too hard on a car. The engine is frequently warm, the diesels are low reving and as its been company owned it usually means a full history, quality tyres etc. Private cars could be used for the school run and doing more short distance work, not great for the DPF in a HDI. Maybe more time spent in carparks might mean more dings. You just never know, it depends soley on the person has has been in charge or has owned the car as to how it has been looked after.

At 3 years old I wouldn't expect to find much. However it would be tempting to buy from a dealer who offers a bit of warranty, for that peace of mind. If your dead set on a C5III, this is the route I would take to get one at the moment. When they are a few years older and there is more choice and considerably lower prices, the private market might be worth a look.

I still maintain, that if you want a good, reliable car, which offers good economy, performance space and value, the C5II is very hard to beat. Fing a later model C5II estate with a 2.0HDI 138 engine and in spec from VTR upwards and you will be laughing. You'll be able to find such a thing from £4000 upwards, to get a good, late model with average miles.

[Napoleon]

Many of those in autotrader, 3 years old, 50k miles, 2.2l, VTR are in the region of £8-10K. I know that's the 2.2l. Anything I should be concerned about with the 2.2l? These are all, in the pictures anyway (!) very good looking cars. By that I mean no obvious dents etc. Can't say about scratches in a photo, alas.

[Napoleon]

Example.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

[Peter.N.]

There are a lot of early C5s on ebay for £600-800 which seems to be all they fetch, I looked at an 02 2.0L a few days ago with only just over 100k and full service history, its got one bid at £800. There was an exclusive in Autotrader with everything including satnav for £795. I shant be looking for a late one.

Peter

[Citroenmad]

Example.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

That does look tidy, in the right spec too. The 173bhp 2.2HDi seems a reliable engine. However these are very few and far between in the C5II that they are a little unknown to me. THey seem similar in reliability to the 2.0 138 though.

It is interesting that despite that C5III having 35 more bhp than my C5III HDi, it has a slower 0-60 time! Just shows how much weight the C5III has gained. Economy is blunted too, no doubt 40mpg on average from that.

Its also interesting that the three main things I would want to know from an advert are missing in that one Has it an MOT, Tax and service history? Who knows!

It is a nice looking car and does look tidy in those pictures, the price seems about right. If its going to be a very long term car then it would suit, but for me its still got a lot of money to lose over the next couple of years. Then it'll level out at about £5K and its when I'll be getting mine

[Napoleon]

And maybe that's good enough reason for me to wait, too. Hmmm. And yes, it's not obvious in ANY of the adverts that these motors have tax etc.

Grrrrr, why can't things go MY way for once?!