I originally bought the Xsara VTS because it represented so much car for the money. With the engine (but unfortunately not the same six-speed gearbox) as the Peugeot 306 GTi-6, the performance on offer was enough for a fun drive but the cost for a less-than-3 year old model was far less than any of its competitors due to its terrible residuals. My plan was to benefit from these and then run the car into the ground so as not to suffer from them.
The facelifted Xsaras were among the first PSA models to use the new common bus electronics but the system cannot have been properly tested and proved to be the car's greatest achilles heel. The stereo would turn itself on when the car was locked which would set off the alarm and things got so bad that I could turn the ignition off and the engine would continue running!
I eventually traded the car in, just to be rid of it, and ended up losing a whole lot of money due to the aforementioned plummetting residuals.
My advice would be steer clear!
We bought our Citroen Xsara HDi about three years ago, second hand with about 30k on the clock. We got a good deal I reckon, compared to similar other cars, so check this one out if you want to make a saving. I was a little concerned about a sort of mixed reputation for Citroens, but it's worked out ok. It's had some work needing, like a gasket here and a coil there, not much though. I mean, brake pads and exhaust and things, like you'd expect, but nothing else big.
Big selling point for the Citroen Xsara 1.4 HDi: petrol. It doesn't take much, which is more important than ever these days. You still get a fair bit of power for that. The injection gives plenty of that. It's getting slightly old these days, only slightly though, complains a little bit when it's cold and takes a little while before it want to get up hills, but really not that bad.
The suspension is something really to mention, so very soft. I know a lot of Citroens have this, the Xsara is one of them. Having said that, the seats themselves aren't actually all that comfy, I mean I've sat in better. Also my wife has a bit of a dodgy knee and she says it's a bit of a problem being so low down. We might be looking for a people carrier next time so she can sit upright more.
It's got quite good space inside, although I suppose the leg room in the back is getting to be a little inadequate for our eldest, he complains about it sometimes. It's clever with space though, like you can fold the seats completely flat for a double size boot. I know that's pretty standard these days but for the price and for its age I reckon it's a pretty good feature.