Am i right to be wary of....

[HDI Dave]

I must admit I can see both sides

Yeah Ian, thought the same things meself when I got mine, (never been a fan of citroens)

and yeah also, all this linked brakes jobbie,(xantia meself).

I don't get this 'magic carpet' ride meself,

But I know me spheres are old, so probly goosed..not fussed tho,just drives like a coiler

Been a bit converted tho on the old citroen magictrickery..as someone else says, not a bad car, just different,..


or as addo says,(although, and I hate to say it , bee ems are good drivers cars,powerful,rear wheel drive, tought,well set up etc

and..

...you've no hassles with indicators, mirrors etc..heck, even mobile fone driving seems to be compulsary with bee ems

[myglaren]

The times I've heard the dodgy electrics on French cars you wouldn't believe , and when people hear the word Citroën they think troublesome hydraulics , well I ran three Xantia 1.9 td's a few years ago as private hire taxis and they NEVER missed a beat , I've also run two C5 Hdi's without any problems . IMO some of the best cars in their class , don't believe the bull**** !!!!!

Mark

My daughter Annika just dumped her Civic due to consistent problems with it, px'd it for an 03 Astra.
Second day it went completely haywire. She brought it to me with all the dashboard light =s flashing at 1Hz, rear fogs dead, headlight alignment motors dead.

I was no help and the guy she bought it from was in Ireland.

The next day was worse, all the lights flashing if she used the indicators or the wipers - it was chucking it down. She had to start work (in Sunderland) at 08:30 and didn't finish until 20:00 then had a meeting in Newcastle until around midnight.

Took it in on Saturday afternoon and it was a dodgy relay under the dashboard. Headlight alignment motors are u/s.

It isn't just the French!

The only electrical problems with mine, in over 5 years, are the trip computer failed the day I bought it (don't care) the rain sensor never worked. (not that bothered) and the light sensor seems to have given up the ghost. (again, not too bothered).

The Xantia never had any electrical problems at all. Only 'problem' with it was the heater matrix (twice)

[Rupert Fridge]

136k on my 52 plate 2.0 HDi. The only electrical thing to give trouble has been the tailgate window - a well publicised fault. Mechanically it has used only service items - pads, discs, exhaust - oh and one caliper where the handbrake cable bracket broke off.

The suspension is still excellent and supple. I had a new C3 for a week and remembered just how good a ride the C5 has. The clutch is a bit heavy though.

If you don't want electrical gremlins then avoid VW's.

[Ian63]

There's to many (-expletive removed-) French electrics to go wrong, dont think I'll have it long

Then why'd you buy it in the first place

Apart from stupidness....I cant answer it

[andy5]

There are electrical problems on other cars.

The central locking and windows and other things went haywire on a friend's car, and enquiries made by one of his blokes at work established that water gets into some box and an ECU ends up standing in a couple of inches of water. It's common enough that VW may have done a recall on some cars, but Audi didn't bother. It happens because a bundle of leads go through a grommet into the box, and the grommet seals around the edge, but all the small gaps between each of the wires are not sealed. There might be a new gasket kit, but a simpler cure is empty the water out and seal between the wires with silicone rubber.

So not all problems are on Citroens

[SaabC5]

Am i right to be wary of....

No. You're dead wrong.

But if you want to talk yourself out of a nice car and into something less enjoyable on the road, please go and buy a BMW. They're perfect for the misinformed.

And you'll never have to use your indicators again.

[Rupert Fridge]

Am i right to be wary of....

No. You're dead wrong.

But if you want to talk yourself out of a nice car and into something less enjoyable on the road, please go and buy a BMW. They're perfect for the misinformed.

And you'll never have to use your indicators again.

.....nor the inside lane.

[BullyDotDug]

You do have the ride height set to "normal", not "high"?

Just a thought....

[Citroenmad]

It must be said that the eldest C5 is now 10 years old and many now require spheres, they do not last the life of the car. If your unhappy about the ride quality of a C5 then change the spheres, or at least get them checked.

Some might see this as a pointless expensive when you can have a car which rides of bits on bent metal. However there are so many advantages which derive from the hydractive set up. Not least the ride comfort but also the ability to self level - meaning the handling and braking stay consistant. Then there is the fact your crash protection is always in the optimised place to hit another car. You also have the ability to raise and lower the car for certain roads, your C5 lowers at speed to increase stability and reduse drag. There is also no chance of having the inconvenience of a snapped coil spring - very very common on normal cars. The C5 is a very well sorted suspension set up and not to be knocked.

The brakes are not linked to the suspension on C5s, this was a safety principle which Citroen thought might attract buyers who were previously put off by the complexity of previous systems. The handbrake is fully mechanical on the original C5s (C5IIIs are electric) and so no electric bits are fitted to the parking brake.

Its a very simple set u and rarely goes wrong, a C5 which has well maintained suspension rides very well and far better to any conventional car ive driven. (Have not driven a Rover 75!)

[Deanxm]

The brakes are not linked to the suspension on C5s, this was a safety principle which Citroën thought might attract buyers who were previously put off by the complexity of previous systems.

Is this right? i was told they were forced to adopt this setup due to EU legislation, the original setup was actualy far less complex dont you think? just one pump, brakes that were powered by the weight of the car should failure accure.
I was under the impression the C5 had hydraulic suspension with an electrical pump running LDS then the power steering on a seperate system with yet another belt driven pump using LDS then a conventional brake system using dot fluid, then a conventional hydraulic clutch system using dot fluid.

Glad they went for the simple approach after all those years of complexity

D

[Citroenmad]

Perhaps though I think that is part of it, its also why the majority of new C5s have coil springs. More simple to appleal to more people, mainly reps. No doubt it costs a great deal more to fit hydractive suspension rather than a few bits of bent spings, especially as its really a Peugeot.

Should engine failure occur the Xant etc does have brakes, however limited. They should also not be towed as the brakes are very very limited, virtually dont work with the engine off. Much to my neighbours dissapointment who rolled his new Xantia estate back on his sloped drive, pressed the brake and shot straight through the closed garage door, damaging the brick pillar. So I can see why that was designed out.

Its not really complex as every normal car has brakes and steering seperate, all your adding is a electronic pump for the suspension. I like it, I guess some people might favour the hydraulic powered brakes as they are more like a switch, though dont actually offer any other benefits and C5 brakes are far more powerful and have a lot of bite anyway. Steering, well neither set up is really built for communication, I can't tell the difference other than the C5 doesnt have heavy moments as the car is depressurised, pumping up etc. I also like the electric suspension pump, its so much quicker. Though this does sometimes make me forget to let the XM or Xant pump up before driving off.

With all, XM, Xant and C5, they pump up beside you when your filling it up with fuel. I like that!

For me, the perfect Citroen would have C5 style hydraulics and a symplified Activa system. As the C5 is a huge wafing car, pretty much the same length as an XM but quite a bit wider, its not a sporty thing, so something a little smaller fitted with the above system and the 160bhp version of the 2.0 HDi, would be ideal!

If the DS4 had hysractive suspension with a more simple ARCS system, that would be very very interesting. As it is on its primitive coils, its not so appealing.