Citroen C5 how bad are they really?

[Luxxo Waftybarger]

I have a very specific requirement for an addition to the fleet and the Citroen C5 seems to fit the bill. I'd have a BX but they are mega rare, expensive etc. Basically I need a car for occasional surf trips at weekends that can has the following qualities:

 

comfortable on the motorway

must have cruise control

big enough to kip in when required

handle the worst of Cornwall's beach carparks and farm tracks

wont rot terminally

 

I really don't care about the following:

 

handling

mpg

reliability so long as it's something I can unscrew and reattach for less than £50

style

 

For some reason I get the feeling that a Mk1 C5 estate will fit the bill. Plus there are loads of them about in Devon giffer land and they are cheap but that's making me wonder why. I never off road so a proper 4x4 seems unecessary and wouldn't have the same boot space. My Subaru Outback is currently undergoing palliative care until I can shortly sweep it off the drive way - West Cornwall weather will make the hardiest metal fizz.

 

I'd be looking at pez, preferably manual. (but are the diesels that bad?)

 

Please let me know what you think about the C5 or offer suggestions for appropriate alternatives.

 

[twosmoke300]

2.0 hdi isn't bad . Not sure if you can get the ultra reliable 90 hp one tho . They don't seem to cause much hassle on the ones I look after . Few strut return pipes and that's about it .

[dollywobbler]

The hydraulic pump on these is electric, and they can fail. But I got some BX wheels from a chap who merrily rebuilt them (for his own cars) so not necessarily end of the world. Having driven one to Paris and back (diesel auto) I can confirm they're very comfortable. As mentioned, the 2-litre HDi really isn't that bad. Certainly not as bad as what followed. Petrols can be woefully cheap though, as no-one wants them. A V6 must be pleasant.

 

My other thoughts.

[richardmorris]

C5s don't seem to rust. At all. I had a love / hate relationship with mine. It was fantastic value for money and very well specified with electric everything. But, it was the hpi engine ( don't worry about this, you won't find them around any more). Generically. I had a new gearshift cable, two climate control packs ( Citroen paid for one) and a battery in 60,000miles and six years. Non generically for the hpi, it had four oxygen sensors, a fuel pump, two fuel pressure relays, a cambelt and cog thingy( it's now a doorstop), an egr valve, exhaust, rear discs and calipers ( damned corrosion).

 

Mile per mile it's cost more than my merc.

 

 

NB. It's also left me with a permanent twitch on hearing a warning "bing". I am not one one life's people who are able to ignore warning lights or messages. This is the main reason I do not have a c6. If this applies to you, for the love of God, do not buy a c5

 

Oh and this was low mileage- i bought it at three years and 33,000 miles old for £3500 and a dying cx.

[UltraWomble]

2.0 HDi = FTW - you wont get a 90 in the Estate though they only appeared in the LX saloon.

 

Snow by Marty Hopkirk, on Flickr

This is a 90 and gives 50 MPG - you can kip in it too - put  VW badge on the front and pretend its a microbus

[stephen01]

I had a MK1 90 HDI, was a very good  car until it decided to eat its own gearbox! was used as a taxi and very much feel like I was well and truly mugged off when I had it. it had done about 170k when I had it, still i managed to put about another 15k before it went bang. 

 

I'd have another no problems... 

[Pillock]

I'd go with the Picasso... Colleague has been doing 30k a year for five years in hers, doesn't get serviced, killed it by ramming a bollard apparently.

[richardmorris]

I'd go with the Picasso... Colleague has been doing 30k a year for five years in hers, doesn't get serviced, killed it by ramming a bollard apparently.

Ah, if I had to drive a Picasso I'd kill it too

[twosmoke300]

Or myself

[chaseracer]

Old-shape Blingo Multispazz 2.0HDi 90.

[captain_70s]

Dad had an old 2.0HDI estate for a quite a while, held up pretty well. Had done something like 160,000 miles when he traded it in for an Octavia and it didn't lead an easy life...

 

 

It was also staggeringly comfortable, you didn't realise just how well it rode until you got back in a normal car. The Octavia felt like it didn't have shock absorbers in comparison!

[UltraWomble]

Old-shape Blingo Multispazz 2.0HDi 90.

THIS.

We went to the moon and back in ours with three kids - bloody brilliant and comfortable too. And you can kip in it.

[twosmoke300]

A berlingo is a pretty tough old bus . The 1.9d does feel very slow compared to modern stuff tho . 2.0 hdi ftw

[RayMK]

With any hydropneumatically suspended Citroen, try to find out why it is for sale.  If the service history has been 'lost,'  it will be to hide several volumes of utter despair and financial ruination.   The only time I've considered a C5 was several years ago in one of those car supermarket places.  We sat in (salesman present), started the engine, the suspension woke up, then went up, down, up down in a gentle but probably expensive way. A height sensor or two was ad-libbing.

 

Picassos of the type suggested above are *reliable, comfortable, roomy, numerous and good value.  You can't see the unattractive shape when you are in it.

 

*excluding automatics

[ruffgeezer]

It's a shame you didn't ask this a few weeks ago, I've agreed to trade mine in for a paltry sum, it's a 110 2l hdi and has been a fantastic barge, you REALLY need to take your time as the amount of shit ones out there far outweighs the well looked after ones.

 

I would not consider buying one I didn't know through the garage I work at.

 

Mine does 40mpg and has worn pretty well for it's 120k

[forddeliveryboy]

Check the frenchcarforum - there can be great cars for sale there. The only thing with the C5 is that you need to choose carefully, there are loads for sale and a good few will have gremlins. Otherwise competent, comfy Euro-blobbox. I'd try and avoid the Hydractive ones, unless you drive pretty fast everywhere.

[Luxxo Waftybarger]

 

I would not consider buying one I didn't know through the garage I work at.

 

Seems mixed, much as I thought. I'm scared of diesels and would rather avoid but it seems the estates are all in that flavour.

 

Do the SX and/ or LX trim have cruise control? I am under the impression they are boggo spec but option list seems prolific and it's hard to tell.

[forddeliveryboy]

Ancient Xantias are as cheap and cheaper, aren't controlled by electronics (which with a French car can never be a good idea, surely?) and the ones left are probably mainly in great order. I'd have one any day, they're highly rot-resistant - the XUD is the sweetest diesel ever and as simple as clockwork. Even the petrol ones are fine - the 2 litre turbo (estate form only I think) is especially good.

[UltraWomble]

 

 

Do the SX and/ or LX trim have cruise control? I am under the impression they are boggo spec but option list seems prolific and it's hard to tell.

LX no

SX - factory option

VTR - Standard (I think)

Exclusive - Standard

 

It can be retrofitted for the price of a switch (two if you dont have the additional sensor on the brake pedal) and a friend with a Lexia.

[2MB]

I know nothing about them but two days ago saw an Irish registered one parked up at John O'Groats with the suspension stuck on max height and an iron on the back seat. take from that what you will, I don't really know what to make of it

[robinmasters]

...has the following qualities:

 

comfortable on the motorway

must have cruise control

big enough to kip in when required

handle the worst of Cornwall's beach carparks and farm tracks

wont rot terminally

 

I really don't care about the following:

 

handling

mpg

reliability so long as it's something I can unscrew and reattach for less than £50

style

VOLVO.

[Talbotman]

If it's got a tidy service record...and it looks well looked after and maintained.. C5s aren't really that bad a bet at all. Don't discount the petrol models if running costs aren't paramount, they are dirt cheap, other than making sure the cambelt is changed their tough old units bar the Hpi models which you don't touch with a barge pole. Usual Psa checks apply..make sure the indicators are working and self cancel on the comms unit,duff stereo units etc etc...but most of the nasty ones are long gone now. My mate pick up a 2.0 peza estate on an 03 plate for 300 quid 3 or 4years back and racked up 100k in it over 2 years without a hint of trouble until it got rear ended at 190k. A late pre facelift Sx would be my choice in Petrol or Derv.

[hairnet]

multisplatz or a 406 - xantia diesel guaranteed it wont shit itself and will do 200k

 

after richard? one that shat it self the less to go wrong the better

[dieselassist]

Please let me know what you think about the C5 or offer suggestions for appropriate alternatives

 

 

had the uncles 04 Hdi 2.0 one here round Xmas to do a load of stuff to it; it handled like spacehopper n the brakes were terrible, you could only get in the back drivers door - 3 inner door handles were busted; kinder egg toy grade plastics....his one arrived here with a non-functioning starter - they seem to be demand on these as the breakers had none at all, and a berlingo one had to be bought NEW at €175...

 

Calipers on rear seem prone to seizing - as do the bolts that hold them onto the beam - both of his were seized n the pads down to metal; handbrake is on the front on these; like all recent citroen n Pug tat the ARB droplinks go every 7 or 8 tho miles, n he reports its wallowing about again, so it probably need a new pair fitted when he drops it off again next week for a fettle for the test, and ill also fit a few more inner door handles - rear door ones can be fitted to the front door with a bit of plastic trimming;

... interior bits n inner n outer doorhandles are 'very hard got' from the breakers here - first few bits to be picked off a new arrival, presumably....

 

The do seem to go on , n on, but the quality of the bits they are built with- in terms on interior plastics are very brittle; late xantias seemed to be going this way during their run-out....