Faults:

Headlight washer cover fell off.

Aircon needed recharging.

General Comments:

This is the second C5 I have owned, and I have been totally happy with both. The first was a new 2001 C5 2.2 SX diesel, which I owned for two years, and apart from servicing, never visited a garage.

I bought my 2007 C5 two years ago, and apart from the above, it has been totally reliable. It achieves up to 63 MPG on a run, and averages 50 MPG on mixed driving.

It tows well and has all the toys, which have all performed reliably.

Between me and my wife, we have owned over 60 Citroen's in the last 40 years (everything from the 2CV to the DS-old shape(!), including GS, GSA, BX, CX, XM, and C4 Picasso. And yes we have had the odd problem, but touch wood, nothing major, and no worse than other makes of cars we have owned.

I am now sourcing a replacement for the C5, and looking at the new shape model, or if I can persuade my wife - a DS5!

Faults:

Water ingress on rear near side suspension joint, resulting in a loud squeak.

Leaking rear suspension cylinder.

General Comments:

I have always been a proud owner of 100% reliable Rover cars since passing my driving test in 1998. However as most British drivers preferred not to support their own manufacturers I am no longer able to purchase a Rover since the company ceased to operate in 2005.

Thus I reluctantly purchased a Citroen C5, primarily because of reading reviews of its excellent diesel engines and supreme ride comfort.

I must admit the I have been quite impressed by the Citroen, the engine has bags of power and I have embarrassed many smug drivers of German marques!

The Citroen is also loaded with equipment such as TV, sat nav, integrated telephone, voice activation, auto wipers, auto headlamps, electric windows and much more. I can even phone the emergency services or Citroen Assist at the touch of a button, and the car will read my text messages to me!

The Citroen is very refined providing a silky smooth and virtually silent ride, just as good as my previous Rover 75's.

Unfortunately I can't offer much praise to the local Citroen dealer, quite simply they're incompetent. An example being fitting an incorrect headlamp bulb and failing to identify the cause of my squeaky rear suspension on several occasions.

I would recommend the C5 to anyone, but be sure to find a good dealer.