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Can be extremely troublesome. Good engine, badly built with a body that falls apart easily. Had one, know that other owners were less than happy. Had four excellent ZX diesels and a Turbo D that blew the socks off my sisters Golf GTi bought the same day in 1995! Still have a ZX 1.4 Elation as a second car and love it!
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I agree that the Xsara might be the best choice for reliability but on a good day, a Y reg Focus will never make more than £4,500 in a private sale really... and for that money there's no other way that you'll get an 04 plate Xsara diesel. Therefore I'd probably do the deal regardless and then decide afterwards if I wanted to keep the Xsara as there's a good grand or two extra to play with if he sells the Xsara on in three months or whatever.
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I have the Turbo D Xsara and I'm very happy with it. Go for it, but make sure it has air con, and double check the rear tyre is still under the boot.
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thanks for your replys. will update tomorrow if he decides to go for it...think its a fair swap and at the end of the day it still has warranty if anything major goes wrong.
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>Y reg Focus will never make more than £4,500 in a private sale really...
I'd say that was pushing it. SWMBO has just bought a 51 1.6 LX auto with 40k for £5k from a Ford dealer
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Can be extremely troublesome. Good engine, badly built with a body that falls apart easily. Had one, know that other owners were less than happy. Had four excellent ZX diesels and a Turbo D that blew the socks off my sisters Golf GTi bought the same day in 1995! Still have a ZX 1.4 Elation as a second car and love it!
>>
The build quality is worse than a ZX? I had a ZX and the build quality was poor, much as I liked the car.
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Do you mind me asking what problems he's had with the Focus?
What problems has he had with the Focus?
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>>What problems has he had with the Focus?
Fairly long list of expensive problems really,
1. Cluch pedal dropped to the floor and left him in 1st gear
2. Gearbox still stiff to change and doesnt like being rushed
3. Steering rack needs replacing for next MoT
4. Engine cuts out intermittantly (baby on way so not really safe)
5. Exhaust rattling, expect its the cat.
All this for 35,000 miles and was an ex-mobility 2 owner car before he bought it 12 months ago.
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If Focus was considered troublesome Xsara might not be the best replacement. Listed as 8th from the bottom of most unreliable car list in Top Gear survey 2004 and to quote HJ's Car by Car Breakdown - "In June 2001 Citroen was rated by Motor Warranty Direct as Britain's 3rd worst out of 22 marques for warranty claims"... Of course the are exceptions to every rule, but out of curiosity - is it a car dealer that's willing to do straight swap of 14 month old Xsara for his Focus?
By strange co-incidence we swapped a 1.4 Xsara for a Focus Zetec about a year ago. The Focus has been virtually trouble-free, whilst the Xsara had continuous electrical problems from when we got it (6 months old) until we sold it. I would imagine that the 2 liter diesel engine in this car would eventually shake its poor build quality apart !
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Any Ciroen problems?
If engine does not have a faull and comprehensive service history - run away. Frequent oil changes and fuel filter changes are essential.
Citroen skimp on electrics: connections/design and actual practice are cheap and very nasty. Engine fans exposed to salt die. As do connectors. Electric windows fail, as do heater/ac switches. Cooling systems corrode and leak.
I spent a lot of time looking at Citroen diesles - and whilst the mechanical parts are very good - they do not respond well to any neglect.
ALthough some diligent and careful owners can get very large large and trouble free mileages, others get consistent problems. Citroen dealers range form the competent to the awful.
Personally I would never buy any car made by Citroen with complex electricals. they screwed up the C5 big style in 2001 - recent enough to show they don'y care/have learned nothing from the past.
madf
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Are they realy that bad. As part of the PSA group I assumed there was not too much difference quality wise between Peugeot and Citroen. My best car by a long way was a peugeot and I have been impressed by the performance of all peugots and citroens I have been in. I was thinking of getting a picasso 2.0 HDI as a replacement for a Scenic petrol to get away from awful build quality, reliability and fuel consumption. It seems like the wrong choice.
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Like all makes, you will find supporters and critics. If you fancy a Picasso, I would give it a go. It's the competence of your dealer that makes the difference.
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Any Ciroen problems? If engine does not have a faull and comprehensive service history - run away. Frequent oil changes and fuel filter changes are essential. Citroen skimp on electrics: connections/design and actual practice are cheap and very nasty. Engine fans exposed to salt die. As do connectors. Electric windows fail, as do heater/ac switches. Cooling systems corrode and leak.
They don't need any more frequent oil changes than what is required by the service schedule, so nothing out of the ordinary there. I have owned three Citroens to date and the engines have been fine, with no oil required between changes.
As far as the cooling systems are concerned, again just the required changes are needed. I only recently had the radiator replaced on our 11 year old Xantia TD. The electrical component to fail (aside from bulbs) on this car has been the rev counter.
I agree they messed up big time with the launch of the C5 but once sorted out they are OK.
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Colleague got rid of his diesel Xsara estate after 2 years from new.
Innumerable unfixable electrical problems associated with the bus? wiring system. Typical problem was the headlights switching off by themselves.
Now got a Skoda Octavia estate. Peace in the office.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Only the newer Xsaras had the multiplexed wiring system. The older ones have a normal system, and in my experience they work fine. I haven't had any electrical issues so far (touch wood) apart from a number plate bulb going. Mine's a 99 S reg.
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We have four Citroens in the family, one of which is a 2002 Xsara HDI. OK - the Xsara blew it's matrix in the second year but apart from that, all four have been very reliable. We're well satisfied with all of them.
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Couldn't agree more. We're on our tenth Citroen. 100% reliable every one of them. They also offer a lot of driving pleasure along with comfort and practicality. Our recent addition is a Multispace HDI and we are absolutely delighted with it!
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Don’t be put off by the “pundits”. I bought a Xzara estate 110Hdi earlier this year, from a dealer specialising in diesels. It’s a three year old model,direct from the lease company. The SI version I chose had 75k on the clock, but the price was fair and the condition very good. I thought long and hard about the purchase, mainly reservations about buying a Citroen, but cash was tight and I saw nothing else in my price range. My wife also liked the colour! 6000 miles on…so far so good. I have kept every fuel ticket and overall consumption is 50.2 mpg (aircon usually on, normally Shell fuel). This is better than I was led to expect on the forums. I do a mix of town and motorway driving and like to keep up a good pace. This engine is a cracker, an excellent power/economy compromise. Motorway performance in fifth is remarkable, just a light touch on the throttle and you can leave all but the most determined tailgaiters way behind. It also steers, handles and brakes well. Negatives?…the gearbox is a bit clunky and the interior fit and finish could be better. On a long run (or several hours) the seats prove lacking. So far, no other problems. Only time will tell, but it is the best performing, most economical and best looking car I have owned.
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Wsn't there an issue with a plastic clutch spacer/bracket/release arm that required the GB to be dropped to replace? Did Citroen ever re manufacture a sturdier component?
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Wsn't there an issue with a plastic clutch spacer/bracket/release arm that required the GB to be dropped to replace? Did Citroen ever re manufacture a sturdier component?
Are you thinking of the clutch cable clip on the Xantia? There was a piece of plastic attaching the cable to the pedal. It broke.
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Are you thinking of the clutch cable clip on the Xantia? There was a piece of plastic attaching the cable to the pedal. It broke.
Yeh, well done gathered that much myself i.e it broke.
Question is did Citroen ever modify it to prevent it breaking?
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It has never broken on our Xantia, that much I am sure of.
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My last car was a 1993 Xantia - did 105,000 miles over 9 years before I sold it. The clutch cable clip never broke and needless to say, neither was the clutch itself ever replaced.
I was a bit disappointed, however, that it had to have the original battery replaced in its 9th year - about a month before I traded it in for the C5.....you'd expect better reliability than that.........
Citroens don't break - people break them!
Graeme
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Interestingly, once adjusted, I found the driver's seat surprisingly comfortable. I only rate the passenger seat 4/10 though, but since I hardly ever sit in it, I don't really care. :-)
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Looking at it simply your mate is swapping one mainstream car for another thatis 4 years NEWER and he's not having to part with any cash.
I assume the Xsara has a FCSH and thus will have the balance of the warranty?
If so, I suggest your mate is at the dealership about half an hour before he opens with the V5 etc for the Focus ready to do the deal before the dealer gets his camel coat off, parks his trilby and lights his cigar!
Any warranty issues would get sorted by Citroen.
The Xsara can't be any worse than the Focus he's had.
It's a 2.0 HDI!!!!!!!!!!
Case closed.
Oh, and if I didn't make myself clear - go for the deal.
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Update for everyone!
He decided to leave it and keep looking, car has not had a service since new, know its only 18 months old and 12K however is overdue - also had 3 owners with first being supplying dealer. He was a little worried that the dealer wouldnt honour the warranty and to make matters worse the air conditioning didnt work so could have been costly in the long run.
Thanks for all your replys - have been very useful.
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I think you can ask a Cit dealer to perform the next service, even though one is late, and that will re-instate the warranty.
Surely the dealer will fix the air con as part of the sale.
The 2.0 HDI (especially the 110) is a cracking engine. Not fast like a BMW 2.0d 163hp, but more refined than most engines produced recently.
Remember the 90 and 110bhp 2.0HDI engines were introduced in the Xantia in 1998/99 and the few problems are easily spotted and repaired as most garages have now come accross the engine.
Contrast the Cit HDI reliability with the introduction of the Mondeo TDCI. Glad I bought French now! No going back.
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