Citroen C5?

Snog, marry, avoid? :pac:

Well, not exactly, but I'm thinking of moving on from my Octavia (5 years old and low mileage, but I fancy a change) and the Citroen C5 is one car that has crossed my radar screen, mainly based on its looks and because you do seem to get a fair amount of car for the price.

But I'm not sure. I've never been sure about Citroen as a brand over the years, and let's face it the C5 isn't exactly popular round these parts.

Anyone got any experience of the car? Or do you know anyone who has?

Nody

My father had one about five years ago; lovely car to drive and ride in with the suspension etc. but he blew two turbos in three years (and he's your average driver so no young boy red line driving doing donuts etc.), the suspension went (i.e. it got locked in normal mode so could not raise the car) and when it came to upgrade did not go back for a second one.

Audioslaven

Hi,

I had the C5 (2008 1.6HDI). I had the car from new. It is a nice drive but the 1.6HDI is under powered for the car size, so the 2.0/2.2 litre is the way to go if you are buying one. It is ok on motorway driving but country roads is when you feel the under power.
I had some issues with it

2 Window Regulators went 2 Wiper Motors went a brake switch a switch on the front lights the EGR valve was acting up on it after cleaning it, so I blanked it and the straw that broke the camels back was the steering rack started leaking

I put 167,000 KM on it. I had no turbo problems compared to some other posters but I serviced the car @ 10,000 KM (Citroen had 20,000KM service interval at the start but reduced it to 15,000KM AFAIK) and used the correct oil. I used Mobil ESP ACEA C2 and Mazda Dexelia ACEA C1 Oil (low saps Oil) on the services. I always bought the oil and oil filters from the dealer as well. 55 euro for the oil and filter which is not bad from a dealer.

I had no DPF problems and I just had to top up the DPF fluid which is standard for this engine. I could always hear when a DPF regeneration was happening(engine would growl and the fuel economy would go down) so I used to drop down a gear and bring the revs up. I was travelling 80KM a day to work. They say the DPF filter will need cleaning around 160000 to 170000 KM according to a Citroen mechanic I spoke to.


Would I buy one again.... No because the issues with the wiper motors/regulators and steering rack should not be happening. I was always wondering what is going to go next on the Citroen. I have a Mazda 3 with the same engine and all I had to change was the back shocks and this car has around 150000 KM.

Thanks for the responses.

In fairness, there doesn't seem to be a massive amount wrong with the car, but not that much to be enthusiastic about either.

GaGa21

We bought one in January and so far so good. We changed from a VW passat and himself had his heart set on another or a Skoda superb. But we just couldn't find a decent one in our budget whereas we could go up in year and in spec for less money on the Citroen C5. We have the 1.6 aswell which i would agree is not the best powerwise. But other than that, no issues and it does look great(i think anyway!)

For Forks Sake

Herself has a 08 1.6HDi. Main error we made was buying it with that engine, it's a big car and feels slow, should've gone for the 2.0 but they're in short enough supply Apart from that, no serious issues beyond routine maintenance, although the DPF will need a job doing on it sooner rather than later.

Pros: big boot, comfortable, relatively well equipped, good motorway cruiser (once it's gotten up to speed)
Cons: Not enough power, handling is awful on any sort of windy road, not as economical as you'd imaging due to the power:weight ratio, needs a 6th gear.

Audioslaven

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Herself has a 08 1.6HDi. Main error we made was buying it with that engine, it's a big car and feels slow, should've gone for the 2.0 but they're in short enough supply Apart from that, no serious issues beyond routine maintenance, although the DPF will need a job doing on it sooner rather than later.

Pros: big boot, comfortable, relatively well equipped, good motorway cruiser (once it's gotten up to speed)
Cons: Not enough power, handling is awful on any sort of windy road, not as economical as you'd imaging due to the power:weight ratio, needs a 6th gear.

I think the last thing this car needs is a 6th gear for that sized engine as the power would be terrible altogether, never mind getting the revs up for a DPF regeneration.
I would agree once you get the speed up, it cruises away very nicely. I was getting around 52mpg on my wagon and i felt alot more power when I blanked the EGR, which results in no lights on the dash. I would do that if you are getting any hesitation in power