Citroen C5 - end of an era

A few years back (around 2013), I became the proud owner of a 2003 Citroen C5. Little did I know, but within a few short years, the advanced hydropneumatic suspension system in this car, that has been the trademark of big Citroens since the Citroen DS was released in 1955, would be consigned to the pages of history. The last Citroen with the latest version of this suspension (known as Hydractive as it is electronically controlled to react to changes in the road it is travelling on) came off the assembly line in 2016.

To be fair, Citroen is replacing the previous self-leveling hydraulic suspension with a less sophisticated but supposedly just as comfortable "Progressive Hydraulic Cushion" aka "Citroen Advanced Comfort" suspension system in its new cars, but I am doubtful that it will have the handling ability or the overall smooth ride as the existing C5's. My car is the first generation C5 and I haven't driven the latest model that replaced it in 2008, but I will be holding on to this car as long as I can.

Not only does it have the revolutionary suspension, but it also has a very economical turbo-diesel engine which gets about 6.5 - 7 litres/100kms, which is very thrifty for a roomy 5 seater car that also has a very generous boot for luggage. It has a 68 litre tank which allows for almost 1000kms between fills. On a long trip with fewer stops, and running on cruise control on the motorway, the average fuel economy can get up to 5.5 litres/100kms.

So far, the car has been mechanically reliable, with the exception of a few peripheral equipment failures which you can expect from a 14 year old car. The drivers side power window motor burned out, and the harmonic balancer pulley on the engine broke (probably due to the rubber being perished with age), also a minor fuel leak that was fixed by replacing the fuel filter drain assembly. But the engine itself, being a diesel, is still running perfectly after 250,000kms and will probably do another 250,000. The suspension had a minor leak when I first bought the car but that was fixed by the replacement of a couple of hydraulic hoses and hasn't given any trouble since. The only real gripe I have with the car is the difficulty of changing headlight bulbs when they blow. I recommend that you get this job done by a Citroen dealer as they are very hard to access and it is well worth the cost of getting the job done by someone that knows what they are doing. I understand that the next model doesn't have that problem, so Citroen obviously got a few complaints about that issue and fixed it.

For more information about the end of the Citroen C5 see here: http://www.citroen.com.au/citroen-australia-bids-adieu-to-c5/