Faults:

Air bag cable under the passenger seat fails contact, giving a signal of air bag failure on the dashboard, however the car doesn't have an air bag on the passenger side - why do Citroen put a sensor for the air bag in a seat that does not have an air bag?

Both electro vents went out at 90.000 km. I found original new and cheap replacements at a Peugeot dealer, and I replaced them myself.

The car has a strange sound at the bottom like a suspension crack. I take it to be checked and all the suspension seems to be fine; the sound comes and goes without reason.

General Comments:

The Xsara VTS 2.0 167 HP is a very fast car, and turns like an race car. The feel on the road is very clear, and you know where the car is going.

The trunk is big and you can fit a lot of stuff there, and it is a very comfortable car.

The car in city driving has poor fuel consumption (25 km per gallon), and with a city full of holes, the suspension is very hard and you suffer a little.

The Citroen dealer in Colombia is very expensive; that makes it so that people don't want to buy a Citroen because they think it will be a hard car to maintain.

Faults:

The car seemed well built, had had an engine rebuild and chassis maintenance, and it was very cheap. My mechanic and later a Citroën dealer confirmed that the car was in a very good shape.

But, big BUT, the engine (1.6 109hp) was too weak to pull the car up my driveway as long as it was cold. People wouldn't believe me at first, but were stunned trying it themselves. Citroën says this is due to a long first gear, fuel saving electronics, and an engine in no way built as a Volvo engine (where I came from and intuitively went back to). A big letdown!

Apart from that, the newly maintained chassis made the car rock along its long axle, and the seats were cheapish.

Otherwise, the car was very likable in shape, space, design and function. But it had to go again fast, and people buy this stuff; I made a 20% surplus of my initial investment.

Faults:

Starter motor went at 101K.

Many electrical faults, two of which have required RAC help.

Last MOT was over £700 - nothing big, just loads of smaller things.

It uses a lot of oil without there being any fault to cause this.

General Comments:

We call this car the "motorised sitting room", because if you put some wheels on your sofa, this is how it would feel! Seriously, the handling is horribly vague, and the car rolls around in the mildest of bends.

It does have good brakes.

The fact that I've just sat for a few minutes trying to think of something else relevant to say - and failing! - probably sums this car up. It would be totally anonymous if it weren't so awful in so many areas.

Faults:

Brakes.

Battery.

Steering belt/pump.

Misfiring when very hot.

Faults:

CD player was affected by cold when I got it, then completely gave up. Car has 2 x 12v sockets, so I just run an iPhone with FM transmitter for music.

Wiper arms started slipping because ball joint had worn out. Had to replace the whole mechanism (not cheap). 244,000km.

Right front head light unit is spring loaded somehow, and light ended up pointing at ground, so the whole unit had to be replaced. 256,000km.

New clutch needed at 262,000km.

New ball joints and suspension bushes at 280,000km.

Gearbox is starting to whine at 286,000km. Oil was replaced with the clutch change, so likely to be something else.

Driver seat has lost its bounce and is uncomfortable after a couple of hours.

General Comments:

Great fuel economy, averaging 5.2L/100km.

Car is suffering wear and tear, but then it's averaged 25,000 km per year.

Great corrosion protection, sits outside and we're 100m from the beach, with no visible rust yet.