Demise of the C5?

[hirsty]

I went to my local Citroen Dealer today to look at a C5 as my company vehicle is due for renewal soon. They hadn't any in stock and on checking on his computer, I was advised that Citroen had only one C5 VTR in the UK. Apparently they are pushing the new DS5 which I was surprised to learn is only £300 dearer than the equivalent C5.

Keith

[Citroenmad]

But does the DS5 ride nicely? I've not experienced one yet but all road tests say not and if the car mags are complaining about ride, its got to be bad!

C5 is pretty much out of the scene now it would seem, probably the last Citroen to have the famed suspension too.

[KP]

There is no LDS sprung DS5 though thats why they are pushing them more and because they want to flog more hybrid versions as well.

[Quackers]

No no no no i've only ever had cars with green or orange blood running through them (1xBX, 4x Xantias, 1xC5), i cannot possibly have a spring suspension car, they are just weird and don't float!

I though the DS were the premium and the C's were the everyday cars , did not imagine them ever stopping them.

[hirsty]

The hybrid versions are plus 5k to the list of the standard DS5. I didn't have time for a test drive , though I may go back and try it.

Keith

[Richard_C]

I work as an HR consultant and today I was looking at PCP plans to get a feel for what car allowances should be. Remembering this post, I looked at which Citroens were on the list of a very big contract hire company.

Zillions, Berlingos, C all sorts, DS5, but not one C5 variant. Looks like you might be right.

They are still on the Citroen UK website and "configurator" but maybe that's just to draw in the one person who wants the one they have left.

I guess private buyers are not that likely to part with the money for a new one and because depreciation is fearsome lease values for business users are high. A top model tourer on 3 year lease is about 100 per month more than the equivalent Mondeo, and in the same territory as a BMW 520.

So, fine vehicle but I can see why it might drop off the radar. Who is it aimed at?

Sadly there won't be year old ones for people like me to buy, so in a year or 3 when I want a change what then? No big SAABs, no big Citroens, aaaaargh, Insignia?

[addo]

Lexus?

Interestingly, I think one of the lease finance companies here used to allow some "classic" cars, not modified though. With an arrangement like that you could get a real DS!

[Richard_C]

Lexus

Hmm, doubt it depreciates fast enough to get year or two old one cheap. The great thing with SAAB 9-5 and the C5 is that they are interesting cars but were cheap enough second hand even with a year or two of manufacturers warranty still to go.

I suspect Citroen will hope DS5 keeps its value so on paper is cheaper to run than C5, but I wonder what second hand prices will be like in practice.

[Stempy]

Well I was at a dealer today and they had only one C5 on show tucked round the corner and that was a murky brown colour, so it will probably be there for a while yet! The top spec DS5 however was centre stage and very nice it was too.

[lexi]

They may have had a short term contract with Opel then to phase it out.

There will be a few 32k German built ones with real suspension filtering down to us bottom feeders soon enough.........I love those kind of machines for 2k!

[Mandrake]

Do we know what percentage of C5 X7 (and what spec levels) were Hydractive and what percentage were steel sprung ?

I'm guessing that the steel sprung models will have less depreciation than the Hydractive ones making a Hydractive one potentially a good bargain for those of us who prefer proper suspension and know how to maintain it...

[Richard_C]

Report in Guardian today, new car sales in EU falling and lower than any year since 1990. Peugeot Citroen down over 12% year to date and that's compared to a bad year before.

Strikes me that range pruning is essential, otherwise you end up with lots of low volume lines. I noticed the Nemo multi space seems to have disappeared from the Cit UK website.