Do you think I should buy a C4? No really...My 1998 Citroen Xsara 1.4LX is, basically, a sh***er. And it seems I'm not alone. Thought that the comedy cutting out was due to cold weather, worn spark plugs, an infestation of owls...But then it did it after three hours on the motorway. Repeatedly. In a traffic jam. At least other people stuck in the traffic got to laugh at the mental bloke smacking seven shades out of his steering wheel with an AA Atlas. Anyway, 300 quid later, after Citroen's 'super' computer found no problems and the nice men cleaned the throttle unit and said 'It's cured', it's still cutting out at 'humourous' moments. So, thinking of buying a Citroen Xsara? You can have mine for three grand!
purchased facelift model in may good performance, comfy, quiet for a diesel, overall a very good car. also own a c3 bought new, excellent car never had a problem, both cars are very well equipted.
reliability,
nonne
Reviewing a 2004 model.
xsara lx 2.0 hdi
Owned for more than 5 years.
What a bunch of whingers! Bought Xsara 1998 (R) 1.9 LXD second hand, now has 73k on the clock. Fantastic reliable and very economical vehicle. No faults, no airbag light, if you want a great and reliable car BUY ONE (have mine - the wife wants a change, apparently a woman's perogative? Email me for details :)) Really well specced vehicle too, PAS, EW, ESR - you dont get all that on a Ford for standard money do you? I have also owned an AX 1.4 Gti (from new) and A ZX 1.6 petrol (2nd hand) Both GREAT CARS! Citroen are superb!
Reliable and economical
NONE!
Reviewing a 1998 model.
1.9 LXD
Owned for 3 years.
hi there, i have just bought a 1.9td xsara two weeks ago and i have been back to the place in which i bought the car, more times than i have had to anywhere else. the speedo keeps falling back to zero, and the water washer bottle has a leak and now the central locking does not work. i have put the child locks on the rear doors and i cannot find away of opening either door from the inside or outside. is there anybody out there with any advice,( not the obvious one). please. thank you all. ps can citroen make better cars than they already do but with no hitches
Citreon Xsara LX 2001...A lot of Car For Not a Lot of Money. I bought through a dealer with a warranty for a year. Good economical family car with a low road tax tarriff. People who come on this forum complaining about this car that they bought recently should really think about buying a years warranty for peace of mind as ALL cars go wrong on occasions and the Xsara is no different in that respect. The Xsara is a cheap little 2nd hand car plus you get Air con as standard on the LX model which you would pay a lot more for on other makes. its fun to drive and because it has less electronic gadgetry theres less to go wrong as these cars get older. Coincidentally I owned a Mondeo previous to this car and that also suffered with Airbag warning light problems. A good Car if you get a low mileage 2 hand one and remember to cough up the exta for the warranty for a years peace of mind and no further bills.
economical reliable
possibly more expensive on parts like ALL foriegn cars
Reviewing a 2001 model.
Nothing Modified
Owned for 3 months.
I've had this car for 8 years now. The only problem it has given me, was the airbag light, witch i solved in 5 minutes. The problem is caused by a sensor coupled under the driver seat when it gets a bit of humidity. Just bought a can of 'bala' ,(witch is an anti-humidity product that costs about 3£), and sprayed it under the seat ,close to the cables. Lasts 6-8 months, witch is the durability of the spray. This is not product publicity, I just took the first can of the shelf.
Cheap, Confortable, Enjoyable
Lack of power, bad Service, bad value
Reviewing a 1998 model.
1.4sx
Owned for more than 5 years.
Hi ive had most ov the problems, i must say from reading alot of them, theyre only easy repairs even for people with basic car repair skills,
The air bag light keeps on! i resolved this by removing the darm light, ive had this car 4 years its done my head in its crap that replacing the sensor will solve its a major cock up with the manufacturer yes you can have a repair done and it will last 6months or maybe more but it will return just remove the sodding light makes life better.
The missfiring issues. I managed to locate the fault with this one of the main is the MAP sensor but theres another common problem wich reqiures removal of the throttle body wich is the hex screws all you do is clean god knows why it gets so pogged up with black greasy residue ive always renewed the air filter but it always ends up pogged up and when it does it starts to missfire i clean mine every six months and it sorts it.
the map sensor also reqiures cleaning wich makes the car superb for a while, my presumption of this fault is that the air flow pipe coming from under the air box is pointing down to the road i reckon there would be no problem if citroen would of placed a belly pan under the car to stop the road crap reaching the throttle body.
so the above is the main two problems.
others ive had is clicking noise from the clocks before starting.
drivers seat not locking into position properly.
gearbox leak
ive now got a problem with the brakes wich is squeeling wich i got sorted when the car was nearly new....
Heres what to check for with the brakes check the handbrake does it reqiure effort to apply a good hold. If so a simple brake bleed of the system will sort out ive found this to cuase alot of sqeeling due to the back brakes having less pressure therefore the front brakes are applying fully but the rear only slightly if that makes sense. just try it we did and it sorted mine out.
also the front top grill section drops off ive lost 2 now getting peed off next one is getting some locktight on it.
all in all it is a good car i know where all nocking it but its got alot less than most cars for common faults they all have faults and the citroen only has a handfull and if you know what your doing they can be sorted for nothing.
when my cars without fault its a dream to drive most time it doesnt miss a beat.
So every six months get that throttle body of and cleaned i cant see you having any trouble then, i do the cleaning when i do the service and my cars run without fualt for nearly 2 years and is great on fuel.
i would agree Citroen havent got a clue when it comes to aftersales and servicing. are family have had two citroens over the last nine year and they have been very reliable. only visited Citroen main dealer once or twice in there life. first citreon was a 1.4 AX echo Diesel no problems - just normal wear and tear. even after my mom put petrol in it (she was driving the nissian Silvia the day before) and still no problems. then we went back to citroen dealership and got a 1.9 td citroen was an amazing car the VSX - 6 captin seat, climate control,cd autochanger ( that broke). but dealership odviously havent a clue because the car had done 130,000 and they had never changed the cam belt within are ownership so there went 12k of are money. the engine was completely ruined now we have a Kia Picanto and a Suzuki Alto. Realialbity and fuel economy is ubalievable and i'm buying a citroen Xsara 1.6i VTR coupe fot my first car £795 70k on the clocks
hi, just bought a xsara 1.8 vtr from trust cars in castleford, not had it long but 2 days after my purchase, suprise suprise the airbag light came on, the invoice said sold as seen fair enough but ive had nothing but trouble. the airbag cost £85 to be fixed. citroen- more trouble than their worth.
I have just bought a Citreon Xsara SX HDI 1999 year. I love the car, its a nice ride, quick enough for a diesel, and everything works great. I have only had it four days, and have yet to experience a long journey in it, but city driving is fun, and economical.
Already i have had a problem with it though. As mentioned already in reviews, the AIRBAG light keeps coming on and flashing. After reading the reviews on this website, i went out to my car, grabbed the handful of wires under the drivers seat and wiggled them - very technical i know! Hey Presto, job sorted! Not been on again since.
My mk2 90 hdi LX was used by its previous owner for bringing a jet ski to the beach, so it sat around alot in salty conditions all the time, but no problems. Apparently it never gave him any trouble whatsoever. I have owned it since Feb 05 and must admit, where he used it for its towing ability, i have abused it for its handling. I have to admit, i give it a very hard time and it comes up smelling of roses every time. I even had a chain around the tow bar and used it to rip up the trees from our front garden.... My only gripes - I should have gone higher spec and i should have bought a 110bhp hdi.
Hi there. I've been reading about the Map sensor problems that many of you had with ur Xsaras. My car went in for a service about 2 months ago and while it was there we asked them to check out the misfiring and cutting out while stopping like junctions and traffic lights. They came back with the car £400 later only to have the same problem. It's only just gone in now and on the computer. I was told that it was the map sensor and this cost me a further £156. All in all the car has been exellent. Starts in winter like a dream and through anything it runs amazingly. Shame we've had this expense now but you cannot fault that on a S reg model with just 36, 000 on the clock. I'm very happy with it and wont swap it for the world! Only thing is when that map sensor did go ( on a junction on a very steep hill ) I lodt all power steering and had almost zero which is pretty dangerous as I was on my way home from picking my daughter up from nursery. U have to get this problem identified and sorted as soon as possible because it wont fix itself !
I bought a citroen xsara forte 1.4 last year. it is an August 2000 and has done 46,000 miles. The airbag light came on some time ago, but last week the gearbox went. it cost me £660 for a second hand one. My mechanic told me it was a design fault and that he had fitted 7 last year. I wrote to citroen as I can't believe that something so major can go after 46,000 miles. They wrote back basically saying bad luck as it is out of warranty. DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL!
I have owned my Xsara 2.0 VTS for 14 months. I had an intermitent misfire in the first week of ownership and considered asking for my money back but i`m glad i stuck with it,problem was the manifold pressure sensor (MAP sensor) since its replacement i have had no trouble at all.The performance of the car against cost is excellent, my only gripe would probably be its a little thirsty, and gearbox is a little notchy but i have improved the gearbox a little by using a different oil.
I've owned a Xsara VTS 2.0 for a year and done 40,000 miles in it. It's S registered and cost around £3,500. It's the greatest car I can imagine for that amount of money. It goes like a rocket, truly astonishing acceleration! Reliability has been 100%, nothing has gone wrong with it. Yes, there are a couple of annoying points like the seats not locking in propely, intermittent brake warning light coming on for no reason, but for a 137mph car that goes from 0-60 in less than 8 seconds and cost £3,500 I am definitely not complaining! Do I have serviced? No! oil change every 20.000 miles and that's it. Tyres, brake pads etc replaced when they wear out. The best thing about this car is it's unassuming looks - stop at the traffic lights next to a 2.0 Mondeo and he thinks he can burn you off cos you're just a Xsara. Five seconds later and he is just a blur in your rearview! Super!!!
Just bought the Citroen Xsara SX 2.0 HDI and am delighted with it. However, had a problem with it after only 1 day! Driving along the vehicle suddenly cut out and stopped. Failed to restart for 10 mins then was OK - for 2 miles and then stopped again. Short story the local main Citroen dealer could get it to fail for 3 days! Eventually after purring it on the computer found it was a faulty fuel relay under the bonnet - relaced it its been fine since. Previous owner has same problem was told by his main Citroen dealer it was a faulty injector and charged him £500 to replace it! It still had the problem later and trader it in. Thats how I got it. Moral of the story? Take the car back to the main dealer!! I would have! Paul
Acquired Xsara 1.6 16v estate in September 2ith 22035 on the clock. Now 24400 so it's been busy. On test drive, air bag light on so off when I collected it. Came on again day fater and I've enjoyed it's company for near;y a month. Yesterday (Fri) it went off and has been off since. Fuel economy average 43 which I think is excellent for the performance. OSF brake disk squeals under light braking. Everything else in good fettle. Stalls easily but I had three years of 1.9 diesel which was very forgiving so I'm happy to think part of it is me. Fuel gauge is erratic but at least over reads so you're not going to run out of petrol. Local main dealer inspires no confidence at all so I shall use my usual independent who has always been fair in the past. The car was a decent price and I'm prepared to forgive a few electrical gremlins as long as the car is basically reliable. Time will tell.
Xsara II, 3 cylinders when cold « on: Today at 2:09pm » Quote Modify Remove
Hi Everybody! I neeed some help
Xsara II 03/2001 1,6 benzin, 30.000 km Engine: NFU10FX2F0942025, VF7N0NFUB73108297
For a few months when the engine is cold enough (under 7 C) the car starts fine but after a fewhundred meters You can feel that the power is not enough, rotation speed of engine is moving beetwen 650-850, one valve is not working. Sometimes the engine goes out even, if I'm not in a gear. Motor diagnostic iis flashing (but not always) If I drive a little and restart the engine (if I can do it easily, sometimes it sounds like I had no power in my battery) it works fine again. Until it has time (6hours) to get really cold again.
What happened till know, with no effects: 1, According to a garage Citroen proposes to change the spark plug and the cables for this serie. 2, Cheking the fuelpressure, compression (for the spark plugs) 3, Changing the transformer (which gives the spark) 4, New lambda sonda
I have the same issue as llaw below, or very similar. Its a vtr 1.4 petrol and it was cutting out, solved that :) but now the fault diagnostic light comes on. To stop the car stalling i got the stepometer cleaned. No idea what it is, thats the mechanic said he cleaned and that its common in Xsaras. The fault light tends to come on when alot of the electrics are running and the car is idling low. Any ideas on what causing it? REALLY appreciate some help, I want to sell the car and having warning lights come on tends to put people off :P
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