Will I be very poor if I get a C6?

[Quackers]

I've always wanted a C6 since I first saw one, but no way I could afford the £37,000 list price back then, plus I had the Xantia Activa to make me smile.

I've had my current 07 C5 for 6 years now almost and she has been very reliable. I should be able to afford a around £10,000 for a used C6 next year and so whilst browsing the internet I came across c6owners.org and after reading the forums there I feel like my dreams have been smashed and set on fire.

After reading a lot of the posts on that forum it comes across that the C6 is very unreliable and a big money pit with most jobs costing almost £1000 and it will spend more time in a garage than out of one. Like the handbrake cable costing £750 to get fixed

Just after people's opinions on the C6 from a reliability point of view.

[Stickyfinger]

It scares the CR#p out of me

[elma]

Test drive one, see if the smiles big enough for the money. I think £per grin the C6 may be extortionate myself, only sat in one static though.

[Quackers]

Test drive one, see if the smiles big enough for the money. I think £per grin the C6 may be extortionate myself, only sat in one static though.

I did back in 2007 on a Citroen fleet day, every Citroen they made at the time, a private race track multiple cars of each model and you just asked for a key to what car you wanted. Unfortunately every time I asked for the C6 I kept getting the 2.2 manual 173bhp which is the engine in my current C5 and it felt very under powered for the C6. Somebody else was always out in the 2.7 C6 they had for testing.

I loved the car, just not that 2.2 engine, so would have to be a 2.7HDI or preferably a later 3.0HDI but they are very rare.

[elma]

Sounds like maybe you have to have one. I think you will probably be very poor.

From what I've read and heard about the C6 its about as reliable as any other car of it's era, just the repairs cost more.

[BenC5HDi]

You'd be as well off looking for an older one for half that money, that's already broken expensively and been repaired properly..

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[jgra1]

You must be quackers!

No but seriously ..a very nice and very different luxury car.. a once in a lifetime car..

let's not talk about electric handbrakes right now.

[daviemck2006]

I think I would love one, but I'd be a bit like Ben and look for an early one that has had all the repairs done, have it a couple of years then get rid before the second wave of expensive repairs kick in.

Do they have an electric handbrake, which technically wouldn't be a handbrake as you don't put it on by hand [emoji48] [emoji12] [emoji13] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

[GiveMeABreak]

They are lovely cars - and a lot of the technology we have on the Current X7 and even the Mk2 facelift originated from the C6 - so in a sense that was the proving ground for a lot of it. It was showcased at the Genava motor show back in 1999 and went into production in about 2005.
The RT3 Navidrive systems suffered like on the C5 Mk2 - with the tuners going, the suspension had AMVAR on most models - and that was even more complicated when it went wrong as you had the active damping via additional valves on each strut - there were lots of moans about the ride getting bumpy and that was down to the sensors. Electronics don't like bumps and knocks, so inevitably these failed and were expensive to replace - and as we know from topics here - setting the ride height on these after replacement is a bit of an Isaac Newton affair!

If you ever take the plunge - you really need to see the history and all and any garage bills for work that's been done on it. There are some really nice examples of these and there are a lot that have been owned by company directors etc - so no expense spared in having anything and everything done at the main dealer - so some additional assurance there. Get a good one and keep the mileage lowish (but with a good run every now and then if a Diesel so you don't end up with particulate filter issues unnecessarily etc..

[white exec]

My guess is you need to be pretty competent mechanically/electronically to own and self-maintain a C6, and have good access to Citroen's technical manuals. Otherwise it will be big bills.

The increasing complexity of Citroens post BX happened incrementally, although the XM brought with it a significant hike in the level of electronics, which has grown since. A good few XM owners, who love their cars, struggle to tackle circuitry and components, and find it difficult to budget for garage repairs - that is assuming they can find a professional with the knowledge and documentation (all the more difficult on an older car).

There's a balancing act to be done between buying a piece of recent luxury cheaply, knowing it could cost down-the-road, and choosing instead something less recent, but comfortably within one's technical competence. XM, C5 and C6 somehow don't fall into the 'old banger', just-throw-in-some-oil-and-water category. Would have loved to own one as a student, it's just that I would have got even less studying done! I had to make do with a 1960 Rover P5 and a 1959 Mini (another story).

[vborovic]

I'd definitely go for the latest 3.0 HDi (Euro 5) engine, that's C6s manufactured 2010-2012 I believe ... The parts will become scarce sooner or later, but if you take into consideration the total manufactured vehicles, it might be an issue having them on the road in the next 5-10 years ...

[Quackers]

Thanks for the replies, i don't feel quite as scared now in getting one.

In my head i thought the C6 would be as reliable as my 2007 Exclusive 2.2 [173] Auto C5 with the Navipack. I paid £4200 for it when it was 3.5 years old with full main dealer service stamps on 115,000 miles. It is now on 162,000 miles over 5 years later and apart from the normal servicing and tyres i've only had an air dosier on the turbo go at £280 to fix, the cabin heating vents get stuck on one side which was a common fault and Citroen had a fix pack but the dash had to come out so that was a £600 job and the gear box go very violent a few months back but 2 oil changes at £85 a time seems to have cured that. All done at local Citroen specialist.

Not sure if i have been very lucky or if thats normal for a C5. Would just past the 100,000 mile mark be a good milage to look at C6's?

I think i would keep my existing C5 too for transporting things as i hate having missing features so the C6 would have to have the heated/reclining rear seat option which means i cannot go Ikea and put a wardrobe in the car. Plus if i did get a run of things go on the C6 that were expensive i still have a second car to run around in.

[GiveMeABreak]

I would definitely say keep the C6 as an 'occasional' car that you take out for a spin every now and then and use the C5 for your everyday driving - that should keep your C6 costs down and you can enjoy the car for longer and should help with any resale value in years to come when they are even rarer!

[demag]

Absolutely love 'em. Look beyond the faults (which you have to with any hydro Citroen) and the C6 is up there with the top Lexus, Mercedes or Beemer models. I saw one the other day for less than £5k with 100k plus on it so they certainly do the mileage. But yes it would have to be a weekend car.

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[Lighty]

I would take ages drives if possible if you can, we service at least 4 of them & I have driven each one a few miles, one owner left his with me for a week to drive as much as I wanted to find a rattle.
Personally I think they are very disappointing. The suspension in each one is just plain poor. C5 is a far better ride.
Don't get me wrong, I love the looks , quirkiness etc, just think they don't drive well at all in my opinion.
Have not found them especially unreliable or stupidly expensive otherwise.