2.7HDI Lignage

A RARE DELIGHT, THE C6 IS FOR THE DISCERNING LUXURY BUYER WHO DOES NOT FOLLOW THE HERD AND ASTUTE ENOUGH TO WANT OUTSTANDING USED VALUE.

I love the C6. It is not the obvious luxury car choice and that is part of its appeal. Follow the herd and you will wallow in the dull competence of Audi, BMW and MB. The C6 is idiosyncratic but the better not the worse for it. It is a true successor to the Citroen SM. It is style with substance, and rare enough to provide a level of exclusivity the herd buyers will not achieve.
If like me you think the studio audience of "Top Gear" must be the saddest group of people ever, with awed faces hanging on the every word of the messiah, the corpulent teenager that is Jeremy Clarkson, then you will perhaps appreciate that the C6 is not deemed by those unrepresentative arbiters of bad car taste that are motoring journalists to be much of a "drivers car". And much the better for it! This is a car for relaxed effortless serene comfort. Not for driving like a lunatic on bone shaking suspension and bone hard low profiles.
I spent 30 years at quite a senior level in the Car industry, and it never ceased to amaze me just how much people listen to car journalists, generally (with the exception of HJ) a bunch of self appointed, self opinionated experts who know as much about cars as your average bar bore.
I first encountered the C6 at the Geneva Motor Show in 2005, and took an immediate shine to it. A further thing I learned while working in the industry is that you have got to be a mug to buy a new car. The astute buyer buys nearly new/used. Low mileage 2 or 3 years old is best in my book.
Now I am retired and buying myself, I did not want to sacrifice creature comforts and style, and the C6 offers an amazing amount of highly desirable, rare car for not very much money. OK so it is not cheap to run, but I will not be footing the bill for a lot more depreciation. 30mmpg is OK, and £450 road tax is quite OK in combination with 20K service intervals.
I paid around £11500 for this 2.7HDI with 22k miles around 1 year ago. It now has 34K miles on the clock, and has been utterly reliable so far. The only minor transgression has been the "de-pollution system fault" warning light has come on spontaneously twice. And equally mysteriously dissapeared a day or so later before I had chance for a dealer to investigate. However given the engine management inhibits kickdown when the light is on, it can be quite potentially hazardous if the light comes on as it did when overtaking - and kick down power is lost. I think a rear brake is starting to bind, which I will get checked out at the forthcoming 40k service. Its has had a new set of Nangkang tyres, which are fine for around £350. So far running costs have been more than acceptable given it is a large car of some complexity.

The C6 dares to be different and succeeds. It is a pleasure to drive and own. I was tempted not to write this given I quite like that it is one of motoring's best kept secrets.

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