DS5 Anyone?

[qprdude]

Trawling through cars for sale, the DS5 caught my eye. Apart from Parkers reviews, I've heard nothing about the car. Do any members have experience of them or know someone who has?

[Stickyfinger]

A well regarded car by the reports I have seen. I tried one but found my leg was uncomfortable next to the high center console, I am 6ft4in however so accept that may not effect most people.

[elma]

Not sure which DS I sat in but it felt far more solid than current Citroens.

[qprdude]

Thanks guys. I read somewhere that the DS4 suspension was pretty hard, and it had a few other problems. The DS5 certainly looks the business. Kind of giving the 1.6 a miss, but the 2.0 sport and the hybrid look OK. Centre console won't bother me, unless I cant see over it! They ain't cheap though.
I'd like to stay with Citroen and I'd probably like a hatchback but my budget means I might have to settle for a lesser machine.

[GiveMeABreak]

The only thing I like about it is the interior styling and design - especially the model with the watchstrap seats and cockpit ceiling, Heads Up Display etc. Downside was the ride - more so in the pre 2015 versions, which was badly damped and you could feel every single bump and dent in the road. They were supposed to have improved this from 2015 on. Space in the rear is not so good, especially if you are quite tall - many have complained of their heads rubbing the ceiling! Yes, buckets of money for some models so only really worth considering second or third hand unless you're part of the Saudi Royal Family.

[Muddle238]

I have a 2013 DS5 DSport 2.0 HDI 160, I've had her coming up two years now and so far covered 25k miles. Bought second hand, she's had no expense spared and is now back in showroom condition despite being used as my daily driver.

Personally I love it, there's a real sense of theatre about it when you're behind the wheel, it's totally different to anything else on the road. I dare say there's even something slighty classy about it, helped by the fact that they're somewhat rare compared to say a DS3/4. There's plenty of gadgets and toys, the styling overall is very concept-car-like and the materials are very good. Attention to detail in the design is excellent, both inside and out. Luckily a majority of the buttons and switchgear inside was bespoke to the DS5, so it feels and looks "right" with the design, not as an afterthought or as generic parts raided from the PSA parts bin. Although the aesthetics are very futuristic, underneath the oily bits are standard PSA so hopefully not too much of a shock to those who are familiar with more conventional PSA cars of more recent years.

The car could benefit with hydraulic suspension but unfortunately all but hybrid models have to make do with a torsion beam setup in the rear. While it's not the smoothest, most wafty riding car you can get, it's no worse 99% of the time than many other marques out there with the fashionable rubber-band-for-tyres setup, despite the motoring journalists ripping it to shreds when it came out.

In terms of reliability, the mechanical side of things have been perfect. In terms of the electrical system, about 10 times a year I get some form of interference with the reverse camera image on the screen, seems to be a known problem although I'm not sure of a permanent cure. The camera was replaced under warranty although it made no difference. I also on only one occasion had the eMyWay system fail to boot up, it remained locked on the boot-up screen for the duration of my journey. Nowadays I don't move off until the system has fully started up, since then has never failed to boot up.

Overall I rate the car highly, I'd say 4.5/5 stars. Generally the good points are the design, materials, reliability, equipment, running costs, exclusivity and general feel-good factor, bad points are the suspension and the fact it's a 4-pot diesel (I always thought a 3.0 V6 petrol would suit this car more, along with hydraulics...). Hardly the car's fault though.

[qprdude]

Thanks for that comprehensive review. Coming from a C5 Exclusive with every conceivable toy (except lane departure), I will find it difficult to find an affordable replacement. To be honest, I'm not at all sure the loss of hydraulic suspension will bother me too much. One of my biggest concerns is that when the car was up on ramps over two years ago, the pipework was showing signs of rust and the cost of replacing it all just doesn't fill me with any pleasure. I sat in a DS5 when my car was in for a service three years ago and decided then that it felt like a nice place to be. As a matter of interest, does the sat nav still have provision for 6 postcode digits, and therefore useless for UK codes?

[GiveMeABreak]

The same issues on the Head units apply to the DS5 - check out the thread here:
http://ds5owners.co.uk/ds5forum/technic ... e-upgrade/

[Paul-R]

...the DS5 - check out the thread here:
http://ds5owners.co.uk/ds5forum/technic ... e-upgrade/

Oh Lordy, what a horrible web site. The overall gloom and the distracting background picture. Then there's the font size for the quotations - way too small.

Designed by someone who puts style waaaay before substance.

[qprdude]

Yes, I agree Paul. However, to put it simply, if the new (ish) Citroen Sat Nav won''t accept full 7 digit post codes, I will NOT be buying it. My C5 Sat Nav doesn't accept postcodes and it totally pees me off, as so many hotels and other destinations just give the postcode as Sat Nav addresses. OK, that would appear to be that. On to a new manufacturer for me. As someone has said, I also have no intention of paying many thousands of pounds for a vehicle with Satellite Navigation that is useless for the UK.
Maybe a 3 series BMW might work for me? I'm assuming that the Peugeot Nav suffers from the same malady?

[ekjdm14]

From reading that thread, it seems a firmware update to v2.8 (I think it was) sorts the postcode problem & can be had for free if you complain that the reversing camera isn't up to scratch... I agree though that it seems a huge mistake for PSA to have released a car without properly working sat nav in this day & age

[GiveMeABreak]

Yep that's the ticket Rick - It does mention ^^ about the firmware upgrade fixing it on the eMyWay system (sorry I should of mentioned it) - but it is buried in pages all over the shop there and yes agree that it is a horrible site to navigate / read!