So good - I bought 2! (Citroën Xantia 1.9 TD SX)

Member Name: wjwallace

Product:	Citroën Xantia 1.9 TD SX
Date:	16/05/02 (2739 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent ride and comfort levels, good fuel economy, great reliability

Disadvantages: not the most street cred of marques or style

Once upon a time, when I was gainfully employed (I was recently made redundant), I used to travel 140 miles per day to and from my place of work.

As you can imagine in that scenario, I had 3 real requirements for a car, comfort (700 miles a week can get frustrating), reliability, and perhaps most importantly - economy.

At the time I had a Rover 620 SLi, which whilst a very nice car - was only returning 30mpg, which meant it was costing me a bomb in fuel costs.

So I had to find a replacement. After a very length search - using such tools as the Parkers Price guide, and indeed their vehicle guide (which I found invaluable for obtaing mpg and vehicle comparisons), I decided upon a Citroen Xantia 1.9TD SX.

Now, I had never owned a Citroen before, so I wasn't entirely sure what it would be like. I had read the reviews which all praised the reliability, and especially with the Xantia, the 'magic carpet' ride due to its self regulating pneumatic suspension. But having no previous experience of the marque myself, I was curious as to how it would drive.

Diesels, whilst generally appreciated for the frugal economy (at least on the whole, although these days some petrol cars can match and even exceed these values), are not noted for being a joy to drive.

Now the car in question was an 'L' plate - and this was in 1998 - so it was approximately 4 years old, and already had the glorious sum of 100k + miles on the clock!

I realise that would scare a lot of people, but I had been assured by a number of technically competent friends that these diesels could go forever, as long as they had been looked after. And indeed, the car I purchased had a full service history - so I was not unduly concerned.

The first thing I noticed when driving it was that it didn't actually feel like a diesel! It drove like a competent petrol - and whilst it was certainly no hot hatch - it was acceptable, with a
smooth progression of power - resulting in my having no qualms in overtaking - even at motorway speeds.

Next there was the ride. 'Magic carpet' certainly is a good term for describing the feel, as you do seem to glide over most of the bumps, making for a very relaxed drive. Even the cornering was good - although I must admit that the power steering did not provide much feedback, although the car itself handled perfectly.

The trim level was excellent as well, with teh SX model I had offering amongst others:
remote central locking,
electric windows all round,
electric mirrors - driver and passenger (heated),
electric slide and tilt sunroof,
etc

More than adequate for most users.

Now - as I mentioned originally I had 3 main requirements to fulfill.

1. The car had to be, comfortable. This it managed in buckets

2. Reliability. Well, I had the car almost 4 years, and rarely had it serviced, other than brakes, tyres etc. It had 102,000 miles when I bought it, and 178,000 miles when i got rid of it. In all that time I had only to replace the exhaust - standard wear and tear, and the wiper motor for the front windscreen went, costing me £32all in from an inetrnet motor factors (including delivery).

So I think I can say it achieved that purpose more than adequately.

3. Economy. Either travelling long distances, or even when my wide had the car in the latter years and only did short local journeys, we still got a consistent 45 mpg from it. Certainly not ground breaking, but for a large family acr - with the degree of road handling and ride comfort that the Xantia possessed, I think it faired very well.

As I said in the title of this opinion, I liked this car so much that I actually went and bought a second one, same years, same spec, 3 years later. Again this car gad over 100k miles on the clock, and it behaved in very much the same way as the roiginal o
ne, with the only difference being a slightly firmer ride.

All in all, anyone wanting a good second hand car at a reasonable cost could do far worse than consider the Xantia 1.9TD SX.

I hope this has been of help.

Summary: