Citroen Reliability..?

BX · Post by BX » 09 Mar 2011, 22:42

I know that this is going away from where this thread is at right now but it is an opinion on the matter in the subject heading. Look at these links and be prepared for some surprises.

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/top-100

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 09 Mar 2011, 23:54

Very interesting, its nice to see the French manufacturers relatively high up in that list, and the individual car list too.

Quite surprising to see cars and manufacturers which you think would rank high to be near the bottom.

Also the C5 (III I assume) is on the list at 14th, excellent!

hdi_man · Post by **hdi_man** » 10 Mar 2011, 08:29

this list is based on stats from Waranty Direct...which means all cars will be 3 years old and out of manufacturers warranty.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 10 Mar 2011, 10:28

hdi_man wrote:this list is based on stats from Waranty Direct...which means all cars will be 3 years old and out of manufacturers warranty.

Does that mean you think cars out of warranty are more reliable?

Penguin · Post by **Penguin** » 10 Mar 2011, 10:52

Citroenmad wrote:
hdi_man wrote:this list is based on stats from Waranty Direct...which means all cars will be 3 years old and out of manufacturers warranty.
Does that mean you think cars out of warranty are more reliable?

Perhaps he means that all the horrible niggly faults you can get with new cars have been fixed by that time?

Xantidote · Post by **Xantidote** » 10 Mar 2011, 11:39

Interesting that the C5 problems are 50% electrical

hdi_man · Post by **hdi_man** » 10 Mar 2011, 11:50

well my experience is a lot of things going wrong in the first 3 years...then hipefully all faults fixed and plain sailing.

thats what I am hoping for when this damn clutch gets fixed !

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 10 Mar 2011, 12:00

You might well be right, though it does rather beg the question why a lot of people feel the need for a brand new car every 10 minutes

Ive never had any major issues with cars ive had, as long as you find a well looked after one your usually onto a good thing.

Geoff Lebowski · Post by **Geoff Lebowski** » 10 Mar 2011, 12:01

Sad to say my dads C5 has been back to the garage more times in the year he\'s had it than his XM has ever been in with problems considered other than wear and tear.

He too is losing faith.

To add to your potential woes, but more importantly over concerns of your safety, check your tyre pressure valve - but be careful.

My father noticed a flat tyre on his C5 - damn he thought. When he went to take the wheel off, he noticed there was no valve cap or the threaded portion that the valve cap screws onto; the valve was missing also.

He went round to check the other side and just as he removed the cap, the threaded portion and the valve itself popped out (nearly getting him in the eye) and the tyre was flat in seconds.

It was corrosion, presumably due to salt but also, whereas traditionally valve \'holders\' are made of brass (I think) these were made of finest French Crapite.

Citroen refused to acknowledge any safety concerns and after a lot of erm conversation they agreed to replace them both under warranty.

I wonder if C5s Pug brother has similar problems? Not just tyre valves but issues such as yourself and my father have experienced?????

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 10 Mar 2011, 12:08

That is quite an odd issue!

Is this a C5III your talking about? I guess it is, as C5I and C5II have conventional brass tyre valves.

As with any car, often the first models off the production line have the most issues. It would seem they use the customers as the test drivers, then slowly improve problem areas.

Same with the C5I, early Y and 51 plates were improved upon with later models. Gearboxes were changed, the climate control slightly improved and so on. Recalls were made on early C5s with steel wheels as the welding was not sufficient etc etc.

Every car has some problems, its once they have been on sale for a while and early ones have had the problem areas sorted out that they become more reliable.

Post by **Paul-R** » 10 Mar 2011, 12:31

Citroenmad wrote:Every car has some problems, its once they have been on sale for a while and early ones have had the problem areas sorted out that they become more reliable.

I remember reading an article about people who will only buy a car when it's just about to replaced. It'll be cheaper than the succeding model and will have had all the bugs ironed ouot.

This was some 30 years ago and the only model (then) that went through its life cycle without being modified was the Triumph 1300 - that's the FWD car, not the RWD Toledo.

Has there been a car since that can also claim that title?

Post by **Peter.N.** » 10 Mar 2011, 12:35

I have been running XM's for about 15 years and yes, I have had some problems but once you get them sorted out they can be very reliable, I have covered 100s of thousands of miles in them and they have not cost me a fraction of the maintenance costs of a modern car and I paid very little for most of them in the first place and in my opinion they are better than any run of the mill car available now.

The previous 2.1 estate I had been using had given about 70,000 trouble free miles after I changed the head gasket and would have continued to do so had my wife not wrapped it round a bus shelter.

I reckon if you buy a used XM, how ever much money you spent on it will be less than buying and maintaining an 'ordinary' car with the bonus of luxury motoring.

I recently bought an Hdi 406 estate and I like it, but its had more niggly and some not so niggly problems in the last 6 months than I would have expected with an XM in several years, and one of my XMs has done nearly 300,000 miles.

Peter

Geoff Lebowski · Post by **Geoff Lebowski** » 10 Mar 2011, 13:17

Yes it is a C5III. It\'s the tyre pressure sender unit gadget type ones that fail - not sure if they do \'normal\' valves too. I think you are probably correct about early models being the ginea pigs so to speak - but they must still do untold testing. As for being unmistakably German.............

Peter, I think my Dad regrets buying the C5 and it was supposed to last himk the rest of his days. I keep trying to persuade him to get rid and buy a C6, probably the only real substitute for an XM.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 10 Mar 2011, 14:09

A C6 is more complex than most C5IIIs, most have auto gearboxes, all have hydractive suspension, parts are more expensive and its a similar age of car. Your not going to find fewer problems with one of those than you will with a C5III.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 10 Mar 2011, 14:11

C6 is doubtless a nice car Geoff but they don't make it in my spec - manual, estate, and its far to complicated

Peter