Wow Im So Tempted !

[stompe]

Hi Guys

What do you think of this? http://www.ds5.citroen.co.uk/uk/

I think im falling in love

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Don't do it. It's a Citreon

Sure they make stylish cars and that DS5 looks a beauty, BUT it's a Citroen and you've been spoilt with Toyota ownership. You know within 6 months you'll be sat in Sainburys carpark, bonnet up waiting for the AA. Or if not Sainsburys, the M1, that busy crossroads on the hill when it's raining hard, the side of a road 5 minutes before that important meeting etc.....you get the idea. :!Removed!:

p.s. the lady on that website link is rather foxy though B)

[Glyyde]

I neva thought Citreon's car have problems?

The DS5 looks sexy though.... but its a diesel hybrid.... Wonder how much it will be

[stompe]

Hi Grumpy

Hmmmm know what you mean but to be honest I have been with Toyota now for 35 years and I think they have lost the plot re your excellent post about the oil, my continuing saga with the crap SatNav and the diabolical Toyota GB customer service. I have enjoyed the Gen3 to a point i.e. the rattly dash and the poor finish of the interior plastics and I am sorry to say I am feeling the accountants are building the cars now which shows in the build quality. I am a bit weary of the Citreon but can it be worse. The price of the new plug-in Prius is as what you say taking the p*ss. At the end of the day we will see the Citreon is not out until Spring and I will take it from there and I will look to see what warranty they offer as I only got a measly 3 years on this Gen3 Prius.

Stompe

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I'll put it another way;

Out of 100 vehicles on our taxi fleet there is ONE Citroen. He's had it about 4 months now and it's been back for suspension warranty work, some of which wasn't covered due to wear and tear!?! It's a new C5 estate and looks really nice and has lots of toys, but the guys who've been doing this job for years shook their heads when he got it - it'll end in tears.

Nice looking cars, much better reliability than they used to be, nicely put together, good ride, BUT the dealers are still in the stone age (you think some Toyota dealers are bad) and the cars will have niggles galore. But that's just my uneducated opinion. If you don't do many miles or rely on your car it might be worth a punt.

[Parts-King]

Citroen make a lovely looking car these days but they are still the same pile of cack they have been for donkeys years. No Citroen dealer makes money selling Citroen cars, they make it on aftersales!

If you want a spanking in the wallet department, go for it, you might think your Toyota has problems, it will be nothing like owning a Citroen

You have found issues with plastics and a thread on the oil grade, but lets face it, that pales into insignificance compared to waiting for the breakdown service to arrive or making sure you have enough credit left on your card for the next batch of repair work not covered under warranty

Kingo

[Chris Dance]

I would never buy a Citroen, not only because of the reliability but its safety build. Sadly I had two friends who broke down in a Citroen on the M25. They were on the hard shoulder and another car smashed into them the Citroen broke up like matchwood and they were killed. At the time a lot of people said they may have only been injured if the had not been in a Citroen. I must admit they look very smart cars and they are comfortable to ride in.

[stompe]

Hi guys

I am taking all your comments on board just a few observations. You will not have bought a Skoda years ago but now they get marvellous reviews and you would not have bought a Vauxhall because of the rust. Over all the years I have trusted Toyota and their build quality but I raised the points in previous post, also I remember Toyota vehemently denying the brake fiasco until they were forced. I have noticed that Citreon have n-cap results of 5 so seemingly they should be safe in an accident. I will check their warranty for loopholes but all said and done it is down to a road test and a word with the salesman and the service manager. At the end of the day I don't buy any thing without doing the research and if any box remains un-ticked then I will not be proceeding. It is a good looking car and some of the road tests have been good (bearing in mind the Prius never got outstanding marks in the road test) and I will take it from there.

Thank you for all your comments.

Stompe

[timberwolf]

Unless you drive a car the way most motoring journalist appear to, I wouldn't put much faith in what a journalist has to say about a road test!

[stompe]

Hi Timberwolf

I just use them as a guide, the final say is down to me, lets see when the prices are announced

[ph47mf]

I have a brand new DS4 1.6 turbo as a company car, the car is fantastic and it shows how far the French marque has come but a big question mark still looms over its reliability. if it was my money, i wouldnt buy a Citroen. with all its gadgets, it will be a disaster once the warranty runs out.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Update - The guy with the C5 I mentioned in one my earlier posts has had issues with his Citroen again. This time it's a failed drive shaft at 53k miles. He was telling me in the 4 months he's had it it's had new suspension strut thingys, suspension arms, new wishbones! and now a new drive shaft.

Apparantly the dealers are playing him that it isn't warranty stuff.

[stompe]

Thanks Guys!

Gonna look at there warranty small print.

[blue verso 56]

I have a lot of time for Citroen cars and owned a few diesel Citroen BXs in the eighties and they were a terrific car at the time and despite the rumours the suspension system was very reliable and If I remember correctly had a 5 year warranty on it ! I was covering about 30,000 miles a year the downside was the servicing it was every 6,000 miles so I always seemed to be at the dealership ! with regards reliability at that time they were very good a but bit tinny build quality .

Myself with modern day cars they are in the main all reliable it just the luck of the draw but would say they seem to have design faults which manufacturers know about and do not rectify .

I am pleased to see Citroen have moved back to quirky designs again that is what the brand Citroen should be about with there past history in motoring

[Ancient Nerd]

I have a lot of time for Citroen cars and owned a few diesel Citroen BXs in the eighties and they were a terrific car at the time and despite the rumours the suspension system was very reliable and If I remember correctly had a 5 year warranty on it ! I was covering about 30,000 miles a year the downside was the servicing it was every 6,000 miles so I always seemed to be at the dealership ! with regards reliability at that time they were very good a but bit tinny build quality .

Myself with modern day cars they are in the main all reliable it just the luck of the draw but would say they seem to have design faults which manufacturers know about and do not rectify .

I am pleased to see Citroen have moved back to quirky designs again that is what the brand Citroen should be about with there past history in motoring

I have to agree completely. I've had quite a few, mostly from new, from a Dyane 6 (602 cc, 0-60 in around 35 seconds, and still the most fun I've had from a car) to a CX20 (the most comfortable car of all).

And yes, I agree about the hydro-pneumatic suspension. It was very comfortable, and very reliable.

And unlike the Toyota Weasel Warranty, when Citroen extended their warranty from two to three years, they extended it for existing cars too.

I will be very interseted in the Citroen diesel hybrid once it has bedded down. Although given what Toyota have done to the resale value of the early Gen III Prius, I will be keeping the current Prius until it drops.

[Tchantchès]

Hi,

Have a look at this : Choose AUTOMOBILES then Voitures particulières and finally Rappel constructeurs.

Sorry, it's in French but nevertheless you will be able to consult the list of the cars recalled for a problem. Sometimes it is striking.

Certain marks of cars are not often quoted; since I like much Guilietta from Alfa Romeo for example.

Best regards.

[Lorna2]

Hi,

Have a look at this : Choose AUTOMOBILES then Voitures particulières and finally Rappel constructeurs.

Sorry, it's in French but nevertheless you will be able to consult the list of the cars recalled for a problem. Sometimes it is striking.

Certain marks of cars are not often quoted; since I like much Guilietta from Alfa Romeo for example.

Best regards.

Had a look, its like VOSA we have in the UK.

[Red diesel]

DS 5 ride quality is supposed to be shocking - if the road test report i read is anything to go by.

I really don't get why the french manufacturers were/are tempted down the road of germanic style hard suspensions, a classic case study

of why if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Regarding the BXs - yes there was a 5 year warranty on the suspension (with a mileage limit of 125 000 if i remember right), it (the suspension) would have undoubtably turned many off. But the funny thing is that its very simple now compared with some of the complicated stuff on newer cars, i went through a phase back in the late 80s early 90s where i loved BXs. Simply because they looked different to all the normal cars on the road, actually though that suspension had its practical uses, being self leveling the car stayed level even with a load on the back (useful for towing - and the BX actually won tow car of the year awards at least partially due to the suspension). It was also supposed to give very good ride quality - although some people reckoned Peugeots such as the 405 could match Citroen on ride quality even on normal suspension. Citroen though could have done a (far) better job of ensuring that their suspension set up could be maintained for sensible money, by not over egging the pudding on things like parts and labour costs for any repairs needed and making the whole thing more fuss free for customers.

The brother for example loved the look of Xantias - but with any potential repairs to suspension being potentially main dealer only and looking expensive it would be a step into the unknown. Hence a sensible Japanese car was bought instead .

Hopefully they will sort out DS 5 ride quality on production cars - although i suspect all that will happen is that they will merely make the ride acceptable. Rather than going all out to make it amazing because if they were - theyd have done it by now :ffs: .

Unfortunately when going down the retro/quirky route - manufacturers these days tend to concentrate on styling rather than a whole package, yes the DS 5 has lovely styling but Citroens of old were more than just styling - older French cars tended to ride exceptionally well (i still have very positive memories of how a 1989 Renault 5 could drive over bumps without you noticing them - a far cry from a Fiesta of the same age lol).

Red diesel

[timberwolf]

I think my beige Citroen BX was the most unreliable car that I've owned, a number of things either corroded or snapped leaving me unable to change gear or use the clutch.

[blue verso 56]

The BX suspension could be raised to the highest point and go through floods with ease also lowered to the lowest level which frustrated many a wheel clamper as they could not get the clamp on the wheel .

I am sure there was a Television advert with the BX travelling down the road on 3 wheels

Edit

No it was the Citroen GS

[stompe]

I think this makes interesting reading http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/reliability-survey-2011/258307

[Glyyde]

hm... Toyota Prius only have 4 star rating.....

funny to see the top 10 reliable cars are Japanese and Korean made

[markleigh]

My experience was with a 2005 C3 SX diesel. Really economical car but gearbox failed after about 20k miles and clutch failed after 26k miles which they tried to pin on me...eventually agreeing it was manufacturing defect...