Quite what Citroen were thinking about with that hydractive suspension is beyond me. Avoid like the plague.
Like all French cars I suppose, you need to buy them when they are very new. I bought it when it was 7 years old, so I suppose I was asking for trouble.
It's French so it's comfortable and stylish, but that damn suspension... bonkers.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 8th August, 2016
The good things are completely ruined by the bad things
Where do I start?
About a month after ownership all the electrics completely collapsed. I gave the car to Citroen and it was fixed.
The suspension went wrong (don't know what happened), but the car was sitting on its floor pan. Back to Citroen and fixed.
It was the brakes next at about 2000 miles. Lucky they didn't fail when I was driving! I noticed when the car failed to stop on the driveway when I was about to set off. Back to Citroen.
I thought the steering was getting heavier, I thought it was my imagination at first, but I came to a point where I was getting out of the car with my arms aching like mad. I couldn't be bothered to faff about with Citroen's dreadful customer service so the steering went unfixed.
The car failed to start one day at about 2500 miles. The engine would turn over but not start. Back to Citroen.
The locks kept popping open randomly. First time I was in a shopping centre and I had my things stolen because the car unlocked itself. At first I thought I didn't lock it properly so I made a habit of checking the doors after locking.
One day my son walked in and said the car was open, this is when I realised there was a problem with the doors.
There were various other little things (mostly electrical) that went wrong, but I've covered the main problems that nearly got me fired from work.
The car was nice and comfortable.
It's nice and big inside, and loads of room in the back.
The ride is excellent (while the suspension worked).
The steering wheel is very odd and hard to get used to because you can't tell the position of the wheel.
The car is very safe crash-wise.
The sat nav and speedometers are very nicely designed.
To be honest, my previous car was a Vauxhall Belmont, and I bought a Citroen in search for some comfort, unfortunately the price for comfort is awful reliability. Stick to the Belmonts.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 16th September, 2010
Great Hi-Tech system, let down by allowing dangerous conditions to happen
1. Instability at traffic speeds (about 30mph) ; maybe dead spot on the throttle Pot. Throttle sensor replaced - Seems to have cured the problem.
2. NOTE: A potentially dangerous fault. Driving along at an even speed, the car (computer) suddenly, completely ignores the throttle. Result - you slow down and stop, & if you wait for a minute, the throttle starts working. No fault is shown or registered. If you switch off straight away and restart it is OK immediately. The engine idles through this fault. The Car is 'Fly-by-wire' so the throttle is a sensor potentiometer. Has happened at 6 times in last 6 weeks, at speeds from 30 to 70mph.
3. The mpg shown on the trip computer reads 15% wrongly. i.e. shows 42mpg and really only gets 36mpg. Therefore miles left in the tank will also show (wrongly) 15% more than you've got. I am an Engineer and have checked this MOST accurately over the last 2000 miles. Litre into the tank to miles done.
4. Automatic (auto adaptive 6 speed), takes FAR too long to make its mind up. When launching across a roundabout, it will give little power until about 1 second later.
Sequential manual HAS to be used to avoid a dangerous situation when it's busy.
Car went in (last week) for Fault 1, 2 & 3.
Fixed 1, NOT fixed 2 & 3. Fault 4 seems to be regarded as a 'feature' of this model!! (Is now booked in again).
1. Acceleration, Good.
2. Motorway Cruising, Good.
3. Lighting, Good.
Especially Xenon, Swivel-ling Dips, Bright.
4. Auto 'speed' Intermittent Wipers good - except for Misty days - doesn't work on auto!!
5. Computer 'assisted' braking - comes on too early. You only have to touch the brake a bit too quick and the car will stand on its nose.
5. Seats too hard for an Exclusive.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 8th October, 2007
The gearboxes are great - ZF items - however Citroen's lousy programming is the issue, I suspect if you took the car to an auto gearbox specialist and had the EPROM zapped with the standard ZF software, the 'box would be much better.
The gearbox issue is confined to the diesels. I suspect that what is happening is that you arrive at the roundabout in 5th or 6th gear, but not come to a stop, so there is a delay before the box changes down to 3rd or 4th. Add to that a bit of turbo lag and you're in trouble.
I have the 3.0 V6 petrol and the same gearbox and haven't got this problem at all. It still arrives at the roundabout in 5th at about 35mph, but a slight touch on the accelerator shoves it into 4th where there is still plenty of power even at low revs to get the car across the island.
I.e. without the turbo lag, it's not an issue. For the diesels, it seems like the gearbox needs to change to 3rd as you slow below 40mph, without waiting for the shove from the accelerator peddle. The only trouble is, that won't do the fuel economy much good at all!
The French make some genuinely interesting cars, but you'd think if they were going to persist with loading their cars with electronics, they'd at least take the trouble to make them work properly.
Our old Renault Grand Scenic was mechanically robust, but I can't believe it was allowed onto the market with so many bugs and gremlins in the electrical system. It was appalling.
Thought you might all be interested to know that I have a 2013 Citroen C4 1.6 eHdi ESG 6 speed, that has exactly the same hesitant roundabout problem! As it is a semi-auto, when you floor it for a quick getaway, it suddenly appears to go into neutral, before juggling with the gears and setting off like a scalded cat! I have heard this is a common fault on all Citroen diesels and is to do with the programming. Should really have resolved it by now. Maybe the French don't like roundabouts!
In case you're wondering why I am commenting, I am currently looking for a C5 estate for towing and thought I would chuck my ten pence worth in!
11th Jun 2022, 21:26
Sadly after reading your review I ended up not knowing exactly what went wrong, I just know you didn't think the suspension had a reliable system!? Overall a confusing review. Not anything good to say?