Citroen C5 I - risk or opportunity?

Innovation is exciting, but only up to a point. It's like dreaming about traveling around the world in your school days and in your adult life instead of buying an apartment when you have money. Why does it work like this? Reason just wins. The Citroen C5 is also tempting with amazing comfort and excellent equipment, but when it comes down to it, German competitors are often in the garage. Should I buy this car?

I think Citroen has always given the impression that its designers have a secret connection with aliens, especially when it comes to the DS model of the 60s. Hydropneumatic suspension, stunning exterior and interior styling, torsion bar headlights... It was a completely different world, which is only now, in the 60th century, beginning to be normal. And this car is more than a year old!

The French brand is still trying to stay ahead of the pack. True, he had a moment of visionary weakness during the Xsara, but looking at the Cactus model a few months ago, you can tell that the people who designed the DS in the last century already have children who also started working for Citroen. C5 of the first generation, however, looks quite nondescript, what is hidden behind a well-balanced shell? As the market suggests, a technology that is sure to scare away many drivers.

CITROEN C5 - CAR FEAR

The Citroen C5 I has a lot to offer, but the market has shown that people are still afraid of it. It has a lot of depreciation in price, it can be bought cheaply in second-hand stores, and it is not in high demand. This is right?

Topic number 1 - hydropneumatic suspension. Many people compare its ease of maintenance to defusing a bomb, but it really isn't all that bad. The design is very schematic, and the only thing that can raise costs is the hardware, which fails not as often as most people think. The current generation of the system has been sufficiently improved. However, accidents are associated with fluid leaks, replacement of worn shock absorber spheres, and sometimes the pump - the latter, unfortunately, is quite expensive. However, these are extreme cases, because in an ordinary car, the stabilizer struts, bushings and fingers most often fail. They are all cheap.

During operation, one should expect problems with bearings and errors in the ECU. By the way, there are a lot of electronics in the car, which ironically lives in its own world. Failure of sensors and electrical equipment is the norm. The radiator fan and steering column switches also often fail. However, it is worth looking at the car from the other side.

UNIQUE

Despite everything, the Citroen C5 stands out from the competition, although it has a number of drawbacks. The car was introduced in 2001, and looks like a project from the 90s. In addition, the interior is as boring as the body, although there is a cure for everything - in the case of the C5, this is a 2004 facelift. The design changed quite a bit and the design lasted until 2008. What can be found in the interior?

The top of the dashboard is soft to the touch, worse than other plastics. I am looking for double pockets in the front door and single pockets in the back. There are also places for cups, and the sofa passengers have an almost flat floor, since the central tunnel is minimal. Interesting - you can also count on interesting ideas. For example, the sun visor is double. As a result, one part can be folded down to cover the side window from the sun, while the other part can cover the windshield. The driver has other reasons to be satisfied.

Sufficiently comfortable seats, large buttons on the console, rich indicators and often better equipment than competitors - thanks to this, you can quickly learn about the Citroen C5. In addition, the station wagon version offers as much as 563 liters of body volume. Instead of a sedan - a liftback. Such a case may have a lesser reputation, but loading is easier thanks to the glass that opens with the hinged lid. However, what can I say — the biggest advantage of this car — it's comfort.

THE BEST OF CITROEN

Hydropneumatic suspension automatically adjusts to the type of surface. It goes up on dirt roads and down at highway speeds. The height can also be adjusted manually, for example to drive up to a high curb. Does the lowered car feel sporty? No. And no one expects this from him. I still can’t get enough of how well the Citroen C5 picks up bumps and what high comfort it provides. The car literally crushes funnels on the road, and although the suspension suffers, and in the first cars it works a little loud, the driver relaxes like in no other car.

Motors are divided into safe and unsafe. The former include, for example, a 1.8-liter gasoline engine with a power of 118-125 hp. What kind of performance does it provide? Poor for a limousine, not even a noticeable power reserve. But this is forever. Like the 2.0 136KM, this one is a little more nimble, so it's worth looking into. A more powerful version with direct injection, unfortunately, already has problems during operation, and the ignition system fails in V-shaped engines. One way or another, they burn so much fuel that you should immediately install a hook and buy a trailer with a canister of gasoline.

However, diesel is the king of the aftermarket. Although their operation, contrary to appearances, is not so cheap, the purchase may make sense in case of high mileage. The smallest 1.6 HDI 110KM provides virtually no performance and has problems with the timing drive, but the 2.0 HDI 90-136KM version is quite liked by users and is generally recommended by mechanics. It's worth looking for a stronger version because it will be much nicer on the road. And so they all suffer from problems with the injection system, supercharger and dual-mass wheel, which is not something strange in the world of modern turbodiesel. Also in some versions there is a particulate filter - old and imperfect, which usually requires replacement before 100 2.2. km. You will also need to fill it with Eolys fluid. After the facelift, the service life of the FAP increased slightly. By the way, the power of the flagship 170 HDI diesel engine was also increased to hp. This option is already quite pleasant on the road, although the suspension makes for a quiet ride.

Many people are actually afraid of a used Citroen C5 and end up choosing the competition. However, the truth is that this car offers advantages not available to many other brands, although you should also be aware of the disadvantages of this design. However, it is hard to resist the impression that the world would be boring without such cars, and our Polish roads are becoming less bumpy...

This article was created thanks to the courtesy of TopCar, who provided a car from the current offer for a test and photo session.

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