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My four month old C5 Estate has been back to Dealer four times for a number of faults . The main fault being a very jerky auto gear change which Dealer seems unable to put right. As AS stated, there is a detailed series of comments on the C5 on Yahoo, Groups,C5-L. Well worth a look.
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i would seriously be interested in bringing a legal action against citroen,as you say there are so many people and horror stories around this unreliable and at times dangerous car,i have compiled a dossier of faults over two years and would realy like like minded people to confront citroen legaly,toyota had serious faults with their cars but they at least admitted it and rectified the faults,citroen will not,they just take exorbitant amounts of money for electrical faults they cant fix,why cant they fix,because the car has an inbuilt unfixable fault with the computer bsi system,they have no second hand value,dealers wont touch them and they are probably the most expensive unreliable heap of technological crap built since the edsel,its a damn shame as when they are running,yes they are good,but when they go wrong,and they will,you will never buy another french car,thats if you can afford one after spending all your money trying to fix the the thing,
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I have had a Citroen C5 since 2005 and although there seemed to a stigma attached to this brand I purchased a 2004 C5 2 Lt. Automatic with 40,000 kms on the clock. I have now done 90,000 kms on some of the worst roads in Africa and this car is still as comfortable as ever. Having had several Toyota Camrys, BMW 318s, Toyota Cressidas, Volkswagens etc. I can honestly say that this C5 is the most comfortable car I have ever driven. Apart from replacing sensors in the Automatic Gearbox and fitting a new Cam Belt (which cost less than a VW Polo Cam Belt) there has been nothing else required apart from Servicing it EVERY 30,000 Kms! We regularly go into the Bush where 4 x 4s are the only other vehicles around, and we get through the rough tracks and mud with the raised Hydramatic Suspension and the "Snow" feature! Perhaps the Dealers are not properly trained in the UK but I don't know why as my car was assembled by Citroen in Slough, England! Pity Citroen's Marketing Department hasn't woken up yet, even with seven WRC Awards under their belts!!!!
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Racing success does not always translate to glitch free mass manufacture though. I've had wories about Citroen for a while. Quite simply they are too cheap. To complete the financial circle, the manufacturer must cut corners in areas which the customer doesn't immediately notice. Electrical systems are an ideal place to cut corners because the spec remains high and the sticker price low. Ideal that is until the intermittent faults start.
Toyota can afford to be less thrifty with recalls and warranty work because their cars retail at a sensible price.
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Headlamps flickering seems to be a "feature" of C5s - however the odd thing is my C5 (factory Xenons) does not seem to do it since I replaced the battery with a (higher amperage than standard) Bosch S4. Other than the odd niggly problem the car has been reliable in the five years I've had it. I had an ignition coil break down which I replaced in about 10 minutes, the car carried on home on 5 cylinders maintaining my record of never being stranded whilst driving a Citroën or Jaguar - two supposedly unreliably marques - both of which I've cover 100s of thousands of miles in.
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I've got an 'unreliable marque' which has also proved to be unreliably unreliable. Bonus!
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I've got an 'unreliable marque' which has also proved to be unreliably unreliable. Bonus!
"unreliably unreliable" I like it! :-)
I used to buy Citroëns because they were interesting, C6 aside (and possibly the new DS3) they're pretty mundane. Now they are boring but cheap and perfectly serviceable. Jap stuff aside (which is slightly better made) no brand of Eurobox is that much better than another, the price differential between the various brands is totally unjustifiable. Sure, some Beemers are nice but they are not worth two Citroëns!
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Here in South Africa one never buys a Beemer which is out of the Maintenance Plan because of the cost of repairs. So all one sees on the road are new ones! My son swears by BMWs but the problems he has had with his wife's 320 and his X5 are amazing and very expensive, but strangely very few people run the BMWs down here in South Africa.
French cars unfortunately have terrible reputations although there are still old Peugeot 404s and 504s, as well as Citroen ID19s, running perfectly in Zimbabwe and in our rural areas. I had several Peugeot 404 Station Wagons that never ever gave me problems.
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Hi Untrottled, The new Citroen C5 retails at nearly R400,000 here in South Africa, that's NOT cheap at all!
I'll stick to my 2004 model which cost R240,000 when new with a 5 year Maintenance Plan! The first Service which I will pay for is at 100,000 kms! Cost +- R5,000. Great value!!!
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I have been running hydropneumatic Citroens for 25 years or more, the first were CX DTR Safaris which were technically fantastic and pretty reliable, I then moved on to The XM td Estates which although lacking some of the brilliant mechanical design are still very good. The early one suffered numerous electrical faults but by the time the Mk 2 came out in '94 they had pretty well ironed them out, but it was to late, they already had a reputation for unreliability and as a result very few were sold, but I am still running them, not only are they the most roomy, comfortable best riding estate available but the 2.1 td manual version is almost as economical as a modern diesel, I can also repair them myself which is a huge bonus, one has done nearly 300,000 miles and is still going strong.
When considering a modern replacement I looked at the C5 primarily because it was one of the few cars to still retain the hydropneumatic suspension but the build quality was nothing like that of the XM and although I hear that the ride is good I have also heard of and read about all the problems associated with them and so shan't be buying one.
I am also suspicious of modern common rail diesels, they don't seem to be nearly as durable as the old IDI engines and are very expensive to repair - with the possible exception of the 8 valve 2.0 litre as used in the early C5 which seem to be wearing well. As a result of all this a bought a Peugeot 406 Hdi, nice car, reliable, brilliant engine but a dreadful ride compared with the XM. I'm afraid Citroen have shot themselves in the foot with this one.
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My mk2 XM was fantastic, fault free and a beautiful ride - the C5 is nowhere near as good although the C6 rides nearly as nicely.
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Are all these Citroen C5s that are giving these huge problems the 3 litre 6 cylinder models?
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I have had two C5s and now a 407 all diesels and the only problem I had is a noisy alternator bearing.The citroens did over 100kmiles each and the 407 is now on 116k km.They are no worse or better than any other modern cars 90% will never have a problems while 10% will it depends how they are used, I would not recommend anyone buy my secondhand company cars as they ill be well used to say the least.
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Hi Colos,
You say you have a Peugeot 407 Diesel with 116,000 kms. on the clock?
The car magazines in SA say that one should never buy a S/H Diesel with more than 100,000 kms. on the clock because of inherent problems on ALL diesel-engined cars.
Do you believe this to be true?
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Ivanovoch, The only common problem with the V6 is ignition coils, I replaced them with cheap (£25) aftermarket ones after one broke down - haven't had a problem since, the PSA V6 is a pretty robust engine with few faults.
The vast majority of faults with the C5 relate to "anti-pollution" faults with the diesels. petrol models can be stupendously good value because they are inherently pretty reliable.
Edited by SteveLee on 01/05/2011 at 12:31
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If those are all the faults you have with a ten year old car then I would consider yourself lucky imagining trying to work with a ten year old computor.The radios can be replaced for peanuts the headlamps are no problem but can be cured with a bigger battery and a new type alternator and as far as the headlining creaking then a little work and blue tack would soon cure that.The whole car is only worth a few hundred quid in the UK its hardly a new caris it.
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I have to report that I just had my 2004 C5 Auto 2 Litre in for a Service at 90,000 kms (the manual said it should be 30,000 kms but I believe with the dust, sand roads, potholes etc. in Africa, I believe it should be serviced more often). The cost of the Service and all Synthetic Oils etc. was 124 Br.Pds. Excellent value for a car of this quality. Mercs and BMWs cost over 800 Br. Pds. for a normal Service.
Anyway at 90,000 kms I have never had to replace brake pads at all and I replaced the timing belt at 80,000 kms and the Michelin tyres at 70,000 kms.
In December, 2011, I am driving from Johannesburg to Cape Town and anticipate doing over 4,000 kms. in two weeks.
I believe that dependability rests with the owner and his driving habits and regular Servicing !
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Most modern cars ride as though they have concrete springs, the only practical cars that give a good ride are the hydrophumatic Citroens, as the C6 is out of reach of the average person the C5 is the only option. I am still running XMs but they are getting old so someday I am going to have to replace them and the C5 seems the only option to me as ride comfort is my number one priority. I certainly wouldn't buy one of the later ones with springs but the early models with the 8 valve Hdi engine seem very durable.
Since my first post on this subject I have bought a Peugeot 406 Hdi 110 bhp and its a brilliant car apart from the dreadful ride. Mechanically they seem to be as durable as the XMs with many exceeding 300,000 miles, mine has done nearly 200 k and drives like new and will do 60+ mpg, it has only cost me about £100.00 in maintenance in 10,000 miles, so a C5 with one of those engines will probably be my future car
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I have just returned from a 3 week road trip through the Free State, Northern Cape, into the Karoo, Then the Eastern Cape, on to the Garden Route, then down the Western Cape coatsl route to Hermanus near Cape Town (over 1,600 kms each way) in my Citroen C5 2 litre Petrol Automatic with over 90,000 kms on the clock. I kept up with the fancy new BMWs, Audis, Mercs, Toyota Prados and other large SUVs costing four times as much as the Citroen was when new!
I drove at our Speed Limit (120 kms per hour) and averaged 8.61 litres/100 kms. In the three weeks ( and 4,000 kms later) my Citroen C5 gave me no trouble whatsover in spite of the outside temperatures exceeding 40 C. And the comfort was absolutely superb with the Hydramatic Suspension even over the numerous pot-holed roads we have here in South Africa. The air-conditioning kept us in total comfort throughout!
I am still absolutely enthralled with this 2004 Citroen C5 and am considering replacing it with a face-lifted 2005 model which has Speed Control and also has 16 inch Wheels.
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