I rode in a '99 Citroen Xantia "zan-sha" in Belgium at the time and this car was amazing! It went up paver roads in Brussels like they were asphalt. You heard the road, not felt it. Eventually I drove it, and it cornered like a VW GTI, but normally the suspension was perfect!
It's a shame we couldn't get this car officially back in 1992. It would have probably cost in the mid-$30,000 range instead of close to $50,000 after being imported by CXA. The XM wagon would have been great to have now.
My elderly grand parents had an XM Familiale Diesel in the UK they lived off road in the country to get to their house they had to drive down a rutted track that was nearly a quarter of a mile from the main road, they though it was perfect for the job I do remember that it was quite an unreliable car as it aged especially with the brakes and electrics, the car ultimately went to the Scrap yard as many big Citroens did prematurely.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="180">03:00</a> the reason why people bought a Citroën back then, the best ride quality of all cars back then the Xantia has even the best results in the Swedish elk test
XM wonderfully different. Totally an oddball rare buy in EU. Especially in UK. Don’t doubt France was at best a low seller. It’s a larger saloon. They don’t sell
I was a mechanic back then when those cars where 2 years old (Europe) My god always something broken they loved the service shop!! Most of them luckily 4 cil gas or Diesel engines. They drove nice when they did…🙃
@@FEGTTTSDH The lack of reliability only applies to the very first production year(s?). The cost cutters botched up the electronic connectors, IIRC keeping test connectors in the first production batches. They changed that weakness quickly and the first Generation (Y3) is even more rust resistant than the second (Y4) produced from 1994 onwards.
... poorly designed??? 🙄It's not true, have in actually a great Technology. I own 12 Hydropneumatik-Cars. 3.0 hdi C6, C5, 3x xm y4 v6, Xantia Activa v6 and 4 further Xantia, BX, GSA Pallas. I believe, I have enough Experience that to say.... 😉
@@aviestrela they aren't, you can clearly see that they aren't as wide and that the grille is widened to make it look like it's supposed to be that way.
They're the headlights from an early 90s Pontiac Grand Prix, which are a little narrower than the original lights. There's a painted piece to fill the gap.
In this case, American English is closer to the French pronunciation than British English... Unless I am mistaken. Same in how Americans say Citro-en, more similar to the French pronunciation.
Citroen is NOT a reliable car!! I m professional mechanic in Europe for 25 years!! No French car is reliable!! Even today! Except 1994 Renault Twingo!!🙂🤣
When I was self employed I had two Citroen Dispatch vans (98 and 02) that went way past 200K miles without a hitch. My 2015 Renault Trafic I sold with 225K a year ago and the guy still has it and uses it daily. I also had two Ford Transits that were nothing but trouble.
And how exactly is it not reliable ? Some owners had issues, some of them hadnt any, so it mostly depends on luck, same with modern German and Italian crap.
I have worked on Citroëns for 30 years and in the same time driven over a million km in XM´s. And I´m happy to say that you don´t know what you are talking about. The XM is a VERY reliable car. And no, I´m not a "Citroën only". My personal "collection" has always had both Swedish and German cars together with the French. One of my four XM´s has over 500000km on the clock and has not left me stranded once. The myth about poor reliability is only kept alive by bad mechanics that doesn´t know anything about Citroëns, and of course bad journalists like this one in motorweek. Long time since I saw such a bad review. I mean, he managed to complain about interior space in the front in the car with the same space as an S-class. Also, complaining about body-roll when Tiff Needell judged the handling on par with a Lotus. I guess it´s like when biased motorweek killed the Isuzu Trooper in the handling test (and lost in court after beeing sued). Bad journalists makes bad tests.
@@michaelheimbrand5424 Wow that is nice to hear. We had C5 Estate 1.6 HDI 1.Gen (bought new), it had few factory issues in the beginning , but after issues were resolved it ran flawlessly, sadly it was sold at 125K KM, because of financial reasons. Modern hydropneumatic suspension can last a long a time before it needs some servicing, but for comfort it is definitely worth the money.
The XM is a delightful sleek aerodynamic wedge, thank you very much! Not some boring 3-box sedan. 😉 The idea the quality is noticeably worse than other European cars is untrue IMO. Besides a little TLC is part of the charm. Same goes for the even more beautiful Alfa Romeo 164. 😊
XM wonderfully different. Totally an oddball rare buy in EU. Especially in UK. Don’t doubt France was at best a low seller. It’s a larger saloon. They don’t sell
