Is the 6 EAT DS5 good on the road?

[Whichone]

Hello to everyone ,
To start with Happy New Year! Wish you all the best!

I have one general question about which model do would you prefer to drive. And to others - more specific questions about one of the models.
So lately my wife and I want to buy a new car and the DS5 1.6 automatic diesel, 115 HP, 2015 or later in order to be with 6 EAT not with robotic manual and also for the PLV technology, got our eyes. Our current car is a Renault Scenic, 2.0 automatic petrol, not very powerful one and for sure not fuel economical, but the car itself is very compact in size.

1) We had hard time choosing between which engine should we go with - the more economic 1.6 HDI diesel, 115 HP, or the more powerful 2.0 HDI Diesel, 160 HP, both automatics. Firstly we were looking towards the 2.0 engine, but we saw that they are mostly coming with robotic manual gear box and that’s why we switched to the full auto 1.6 HDI. I think it should be more powerful than our Scenic.
Also we’ve seen a lot of posts and topics saying that the robotic manual transmission gives kind of stiff performance (https://www.evo.co.uk/citroen/ds5/ds-5- ... nd-gearbox). Haven’t quite seen anything written about the full auto.
But would give us your opinions - do you think the 6 EAT 1.6 HDI, 115 HP engine would still feel fast on the road and give good performance?

2) Second question is about the DS5 maintenance. We’ve heard that their parts are expensive, due to the luxurious design and shape. I’m talking about the outside more cosmetic eye-catching parts like bumper, doors, fenders, also oils and filters, not for the stuff under the hood. Therefore could you give me an opinion about that - is it really hella expensive or it’s just by a notch or two?

3) We also marked the DS4 (again 1.6 HDI Diesel, 115 HP, automatic) as a possibility because it’s a bit more compact in size - therefore it should be a bit more fuel efficient. But as both cars share the same engine and transmission (I actually don’t know if the DS4 comes with full auto 6 EAT) they would share almost the same performance stats. Maybe the maintenance of the DS4 could be a bit more financially economical, but again my opinion - not proofed information. But if the gap between the DS5 is big we would settle with the DS4 as it would be more affordable for maintenance. That would be our more general question - which one would you prefer between the DS4 and DS5?

Lastly I want to say that both DS4 and DS5 are really awesome in shape, design and if the DS really stands for “Different Spirit” it would give it some more style points

Big thanks to everyone reading this and helping out!

Best Regards

[GiveMeABreak]

From what I can tell 2014 specs and the AM6 6 speed Auto only fitted to 2.0 Models (HDi 160 and HDI 180). The 1.6 of this year were only fitted with piloted manual systems. So I think you have your info wrong about the 2.0 having piloted manual systems - they have the full auto transmissions fitted (apart from the 2.0 Airdream Hybrid Models). The 2.0 Petrol THP was a 6 Speed Manual not shown below.

Click to Zoom

2) Body parts for the DS5 like any vehicle are generally bespoke, so don't expect to find aftermarket pattern parts - especially for vehicles that did not sell very well. The DS 5 was discontinued in 2018, so already 7 years since end of production of 2018 models. DS vehicles use very much the same technology as in other PSA vehicles - they just hiked the price up trying to go 'Premium' and charged a lot for it, which is one reason why they stopped production due to poor sales. Early models had very poor suspension, and that also affected reputation. Lack of room to work on anything was an issue and the telematics units were RT6 systems the same as other PSA vehicles of the year - these will also fail due to flash memory card issues. The last ones has the early NAC versions. So it's all a matter of budget, and parts availability going forward.

They do look nice externally and the interior is very 'enclosed'. I looked at these back in 2014, but decided against for them being overpriced and of course the resale values plummeted as expected.. I went with an X7 as it was far more roomy and much more comfortable.

[Whichone]

Hello Marc,
Thank you for your answer and help! I really didn’t know that about the 2.0 models transmission. Which really puts my focus point back on them. I’ve heard that this 6EAT automatic transmission is being used for the new 2008, 3008 and etc. Peugeots and people are giving good feedbacks on them about the driving performance.
We really do like both exterior and interior of the car - the heated and massaging seats sound pretty wow to me. But as you said on mechanical standpoint it is noting special - same as other models, which again, I didn’t know. This changed our minds.
These days we’ve been looking for some alternatives, but we got hard times finding some.
Again thank you Marc, your answer changed our perspectives and helped us a lot.

Best Regards

[GiveMeABreak]

Actually the EAT6 6-speed autos have been replaced with the 8 Speed EAT8 on many later vehicles now (depending on engine and power output), which provide smoother changes as there are 8 speeds, which is supposed to provide more economy as well as a smoother change.