ruiferreira89 (June 2, 2008 at 1:50 am)

Yes, as long as you don't own a Saxo VTS such as my sister's... the electronics on it are horrendous. On the other hand, my brother drives a 14 year old 1.9 (XUD engine) ZX that was company's car for 8 years (yes, no quality maintenance at all and lots of abuse) and, altough its 380000 km have worn down the shocks that the company refuses to replace, I love driving it. The gearbox is just superb and the engine... battle proven!

sgtcht92 (May 19, 2008 at 6:16 am)

i think the solution here is to buy a Volvo- reliable and durable.

retepsniktun (May 18, 2008 at 10:08 pm)

I agree, I am on my sixth and have three at present. There is nothing to touch them for a combination of space, comfort, ride and economy (manual diesel models) and. unusually in this day and age, you can repair them yourself. The suspension, as well as giving a superb ride, ensures a constant ride height, which not only maintains handling and aerodynamics, but also keeps the front wheels in track, minimising tyre wear. The 2.1 manual diesel is good for 50 mpg+ driven with a little restraint.

retepsniktun (May 18, 2008 at 9:56 pm)

I agree, but reliability and durability are two different things. I have been runnings XMs for about 12 years now, and although the Mk1 version was far from reliable the Mk2 is much better, but, generally they don't develop serious faults and if you keep repairing them they will keep going. The last one I sold had covered nerarly 300k miles and still drove beautifully on most original major components.

tamsie8it (April 6, 2008 at 8:51 pm)

anybody know of a mechanic or garage who repairs these in or around london?? we want to buy one but need to know exactly what we're getting into as they obviously need to be well looked after. replies greatly appreciated.

gazzaxm (March 18, 2008 at 12:26 am)

I am on my third xm ,fantastic cars the suspension is well sorted.never once have these cars let me down.and the ride quality and feel on the road is in the executive class.I have had a lot of cars and none comes near to the xm.

russ13b (January 3, 2008 at 10:05 pm)

How is it valid to say that the ford would be better than the xm if you fitted different suspension parts? There's a lot of work to do to the ford just to make it similar, then someone tweaks the xm and it goes even faster, and still has smooth ride quality.

russ13b (January 3, 2008 at 9:56 pm)

Your experience is your experience, and i'm not going to try to discredit it. However, all the citroens we've had (and additional ones owned by friends) have proved to be more reliable than bmws, audis, vws, a saab, renault, ford, and a couple of rovers owned by work colleagues and friends. Not only that, but a citroen with 100000 miles feels far newer than anything comparable with much less miles on.

sgtcht92 (January 3, 2008 at 8:23 pm)

the hydraulic suspension on citroens are rather effective and reliable, but the rest of the car isnt so durable, depending on what citroen it is obviously. but in general, citroens are not as reliable as fords (in my experience).

sgtcht92 (January 3, 2008 at 8:21 pm)

citroens are generally quite unreliable. as is the trend with french cars (with few exceptions).