Citroen C5, V6 petroleum, mad, bad or sad?

[Uncle Jimmy]

Noticed one of these Frenchies for sale nearby earlier today, 2003, so an earlyish one. Mileage about 80k, decent nick on preliminary investigation; £1800.

Are they more Pug than Shitroen? They do have active suspension and at least some things use green ooze, so a bit of old skool Citroen appeal. Anyone here had the pleasure...or displeasure of owning one?

[Tamworthbay]

Sounds pricey for an old one. I have been tempted by a couple but both were below £600.

[srad34]

They are shit and thats way too expensive....crack on son

[D Spares & Tyres]

Price, mad

 

Cost to run, bad

 

You in six months, sad

[twosmoke300]

Gotta be a nice drive but at least 1000 too expensive

[Pete-M]

I think they're awful things. £1800 is dreamer territory.

 

The later shape one (2010 ish on) is quite a nice thing to drive, but I wouldn't give £1800 for one of those either.

 

2003 is 13 years ago. There's a massive choice of better cars out there in the £2k / 13 year old car range.

[richardmorris]

They use LDS which is red, and five times the cost of LHM. But it should last for ever.

That price though is about twice its value. V6 will be exclusive spec. So all the toys- climate, electric all round adaptive suspension, cruise, self closing Windows and auto wipers, headlamp washers and xenon headlamps. Cd changer under drivers seat as well as cd in dash. Esp abs and active yaw control plus five star crash rating and about 10 airbags.

 

BUT you will also get 13 year old French wiring. Mine was a pain at four years old!

[Pete-M]

There's a load of spare engine bits on Captain Slow's drive.

[warren t claim]

How much is the tax on these?

[Pete-M]

About £25/year if you SORN the thing as soon as it breaks.

[R9UKE]

I've had five C5 V6s and I bloody love them. But £1800 is a joke. I'll have one for sale soon with 80k and a full years test for £850 - even then, I'm not counting on a quick sale.

 

They are waft-tastic. But very much a laid back V6 compared to the Laguna and 406 I had at the same time. It doesn't like to go quickly. There's a sport button for the suspension and the gearbox, it'll stiffen up, howl up the rev range nicely but still let you know that it doesn't like it.

 

Reliability wise - I've not had any major issues. The biggest thing has been the steering rack pissing out LDS Fluid on my second one. Thankfully I only paid scrap value and scrap is what it ended up. The steering rack requires the engine to be lifted in the V6.

 

They have all the toys. An annoying defunct traffic master voice, a rain sensor that shuts the sunroof and any windows when it begins to rain, and dual zone climate that has a habit of blowing arctic on one side and Saharan on the other no matter what.

 

Tax is £290 a year. Do it if, like me, you enjoy a laid back and effortless cruiser. Not an ASBO magnet for doing wheel spins in the pub car park. And certainly not at £1800.

[richardmorris]

Coming back to this topic. They are an excellent car but have their faults. I had a love/hate relationship with mine, but I did 55,000 miles in it from 2006 to 2012. they're extremely comfortable if no ball of fire to drive. Getting back into mine after a few months driving my X1/9 was like flying the starship enterprise- totally serene with no feeling of actually touching the road. In the end I couldn't live with the error messages cropping up. Anti bloody pollution fault!

 

It also left me stuck at the side of the road more than any other car - 2CVs, CXs, the X1/9 and Mercedes included.

 

It has left me with a nervous tick whenever I hear an in-car Bing!

 

It binged when A fault popped up, bonged if you left the lights on and chimed when put in reverse.

 

Having said that the velour type interior was immaculate, I've never seen a rusty one and mine was excellent value for money ( 3.5 years old, 30k miles and £3,500) .

 

Faults included...

Three climate control resistor packs - Citroen paid for 1

Five! Oxygen sensors- Citroen paid for four

Cruise control clutch relay

Gear change linkage cables

Brake calipers

Coil pack

Egr valve

Washer pump

Exhaust- it fell off!

Cam timing gear cog delaminated, and I now use it as a doorstop.

Cambelt

Fuel pump - nearly the final straw

Fuel rail pressure regulator - the final straw.

 

It also ate spark plugs - the supposedly long life 30,000 mile kind.

 

 

SO, I pxed with my friendly second hand Citroen CX car dealer for the w124( he allowed £750 four years ago - I'd almost have paid him that to take it away at the time) and haven't looked back. No engine management lights FTW!

[SiC]

They are waft-tastic. But very much a laid back V6 compared to the Laguna and 406 I had at the same time. It doesn't like to go quickly. There's a sport button for the suspension and the gearbox, it'll stiffen up, howl up the rev range nicely but still let you know that it doesn't like it.

Is the C5 not a ES9? If not, what did they put in?

[Uncle Jimmy]

Sounds dreadful. Lots of them about with low mileage and high prices; Funny that..

[rantingYoof]

A conversation I once had with someone who has worked as a mechanic for longer than I've been alive...

 

"Looking at cars. I've been thinking about buying a C5 V6..."

"Liar."

"What?"

"You're lying. You can't possibly be thinking if you are considering a V6 C5...."

 

 

Did it make it less tempting? Did it fuck.

[RoadworkUK]

I'd have one, but it's been confirmed that there's something wrong with me.

[SiC]

I'd be tempted because of stuff like the fancy suspension. However I'm utterly put off by the C5 beached whale look.

[Bren]

13 year old top of the range frenchie with big petrol engine - worth fuck all.

 

Knock a zero off - the first big bill will see it bridged.

[406V6]

You were unfortunate with the amount of woes affecting your V6. Not surprising that french cars pick up a bad reputation which is only deserved some of the time. The ES9 is normally pretty reliable apart from the coil packs. Look through the 406 coupe forum where there are a lot of V6s and relatively few problems with this engine.

[Pete-M]

If I was considering blowing a grand on a French V6 it would probably be a 406 V6 estate.

 

The C5 Mk1 is too ugly, the Laguna too likely to implode so that leaves the 406, which in estate form is a damn good sleeper.

 

"Not surprising that french cars pick up a bad reputation which is only deserved some of the time." - unfortunately, the some of the time in question is often when the occupants of French vehicles had planned on being somewhere other than Captain Slow's driveway, waiting for the HIAB.

[R9UKE]

Is the C5 not a ES9? If not, what did they put in?

Yes, but a different gearbox to the other cars.

[artdjones]

I'd be tempted because of stuff like the fancy suspension. However I'm utterly put off by the C5 beached whale look.

The suspension is fairly trouble free.It's the "conventional" bits that cause any trouble going.

[myglaren]

It binged when A fault popped up, bonged if you left the lights on and chimed when put in reverse.

 

 

 

I have had my current one for about four years and never noticed that it doesn't do that - the old one did!

[D Spares & Tyres]

I had one for a bit. Was alright, if a bit dull and ugly.

 

The Mrs didnt like to sit in it alone as often when it was unlocked but with her sitting in it, the suspension would go up and down on its own and she would feel silly.