USED Citroën Xsara Hatchback (97 - 04)

My car

Having gone from a M reg 1.7D Astra to a HDi LX 90 model on a 52 plate I thought this Xsara was excellent! On the test drive the car was perfect.

It's fun and fast but the suspension is terrible, it clanks and knocks over every bump. On tight turns theres a weird scraping sound which I think are the bearings. The air-con only comes on when I've got the blowers nearly on full (which is deafening!).

The cons far outweigh the pros on this one.

Its fun to surprise the chavs and leave them behind as dots in the rear view, but owning it is one big, expensive nightmare!

My car

I own this French comfortable car since 1999 and I just love it! The ride and handling are superb, it has a really French Gallic side; the 1.4 engine is enough for city and open road use and is economical.

The interior is pratical, simple and well build. Perfomance is ok. Its design is neat, nothing exuberant or 'carnivalesque'. Since I purchased it I only had minor electronic problems which were solved swiftly. Nice car!

My car

Who wants a boring, silver Ford Focus? Our '51 reg Xsara 1.4i LX was bought new and has now completed 105,000 miles. Comfortable, quiet at speed and largely reliable. Minor electrical faults only, most notably wipers and ignition coil. It has also suffered minor suspension faults although most of the above were early in its life and covered under warranty. Spends 90% of its time on the M4 and always returns 42 mpg. After 5 years the Xsara still looks good in its ice blue metallic. The only downside is resale value. I was recently offered peanuts against a new Picasso and decided to keep it at least another year. This is the longest time I have kept any car and overall I have been delighted.

My car

I bought my xsara in june 2004 after trading in my hyundia lantra 1.6 estate because i wanted something a bit smaller and cheaper to run.. having test driven the xsara i thought it was an exelent car. And it had only done 19000 miles... problems started from day one. the clutch has only two settings..its either on or off. setting off the clutch tries to throw you through the windscreen then tries to through the back of your seat... In the summer time the cabin is quiet.... But on cold mornings and in winter time the roof lining creeks and pops to a unbearable level.. The car stalls for no apparent reason. The cars central locking has started to pack up.. But the worst that happend was at 27000miles the cars ecu fried leaving me with a £1200 repair bill...after that i will never buy any kind of french car again...(hope this helps)