Another Newbie With Questions.

[yellowhillman]

Hi there.Back in the day when a lot of todays population were still to be born I had the pleasure of owning a DS21 Safari followed by a CX2400. Both of which were great but the DS shone. I have now decided to buy a C5 estate, either 2.0 160 or 3.0 V6 automatic around the 2010 mark. I am primarily looking at the Exclusive models and I was hoping that somebody could clarify the seat adjustment on the models with electric seats. What I want to know is whether the angle of the seat can be changed. I've found seat angle adjustment on manual seats but  no mention on the electric ones. Also anybody know what the ATF change period is. Any tips on buying these cars would be greatly appreciated. One last thing that I am curious about is the great slab of switchgear in the middle of the steering wheel. Does it not get in the way? Thanks in advance.

[Johndouglas]

Hello & welcome back to Citroen. The C5 is a great car with the 2ltr 160 engine being the most popular. It has (in my opinion) all the performance you'll ever need with out trying to find a decent 3ltr model. By 2010, many of the faults which plagued the 2008/9 models seem to have disappeared but you'll only find the hydraulic suspension on the Exclusive versions - not throughout as in previous years. I cannot advise on the electric seats as I don't have them, but on my previous C5 which was a Mk2 Exclusive, that had three switches located at the base of the seat. That gave forward and backward movement together with reclining of the backrest.

To keep the autobox in good condition it's advisable to have the fluid changed each year. Yes - the non-movement of the switch gear in the centre of the wheel takes a bit of getting used to. For the first few hundred miles I often found my fingers getting pinched.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

In the C5 Technical section there is a pinned topic on common problems to have a look at with steering racks leaks being one that appears often on here. On the C5 Questions About the C5 section there is a pinned topic on buying a C5 mark 3 tourer. You can read/print/copy the handbooks here http://service.citroen.com/ddb/ but you may need to select your language first and this should give info on the seats. Our C4 has switches on the steering wheel but these are too close to be able to read/use so are never used. I do not know the ATF change frequency but I think it is not something you can do DIY. If you specifically want the hydractive suspension, the was also a 2.2 hdi with it and that did not need to be an exclusive since they were all hydractive.

[ESL57]

Not sure about the 10 plate autos but normally the Lexia was needed to read the temps of auto fluid before draining.

   I have drained the sump on a few 3litre and 3.5 litre French cars without using Lexia and just getting the fluid hot. So it would be interesting to see if Lexia really is needed on the latest ones.

      As usual the Auto's will be sealed for life.......or death.  Every year is a good mantra for an auto box fluid change. You are dropping about 4litres each year. If you had no record of changes, and over 50k miles, I would drop the oil twice in as many months, to get more clean oil in there. Then resume, once a year.

[yellowhillman]

Thanks to all of you who replied to this topic. The thing about changing ATF is whether there is a drain plug in the torque convertor or not. If there is then it is an easy job, if not a real pain . The fluid temperature is far more critical when topping up than when draining. The link to the handbooks was very useful.Thank you. One more thing that I would like your opinion on is is  the steering and handleing as bad as a lot of reviews make out or is it just kneejerk to something a bit different. Please excuse me for asking these questions instead of test driving a car but because of where I live (Pembrokeshire) the nearest car that I have found for sale is 100 miles away and that isn't the spec I am looking for.

[paul.h]

I can not comment on the 2010 C5 but all the Citroens we have owned have handled ok and I have not thought there was anything odd or bad about them. The C5 hydractive suspension at first will feel a bit different since it absorbs the bumps and feels as if it is floating along whereas a steel sprung car tends to pass on the bumps more. Our Citroens have been/are 2004 C5 hatchback, 2007 C5 estate, Xsara Picasso (this rolled a bit on bends), 2008/2011/2015 C4s, 2003/2010 C3s.

 

One thing to listen for on the latest C5 is tyre noise if low profile tyres with 18 or 19 inch wheels are on the car.

 

This is in Citroen's prcedures for changing the ATF fluid:

CAUTION : The gearbox must be drained when the oil is hot (60 °C minimum), to eliminate the impurities suspended in the oil.

N.B. : The oil change is partial, since the converter cannot be totally drained.

[yellowhillman]

Thank you very much Paul. That was very helpful. Basically it was what I thought based on my memories of my DS and CX. As for tyres I had already made up my mind to avoid anything with over 17" wheels. The ATF info is also highly appreciated.

[Johndouglas]

is  the steering and handleing as bad as a lot of reviews make out

I currently have a 2010 C5-X7 and the handling is not much different to my previous C5 - in spite of the earlier car having hydraulic suspension. Taking bends without too much slowing down is superb. Maybe the extra width of the tyres, compared to the previous car is helping. The lack of hydraulic only becomes apparent when driving on really rough surfaces.