Life can be a lottery. As much as we try to plan our lives sometimes you end up doing something surprising. You may not have planned it but you are glad you ended up doing it. When I travel abroad I often have to hire a car. This gives me a couple of days to try out something different. When I got to the Europcar desk at Brussels Airport the other day they informed me the car allocated to my hirecar booking was a Citroen Xsara 2.0 Hdi. I suddenly thought, I have been driving for 30 years (no, not non-stop before Alkaliguru makes some comment) and I have never driven a Citroen.
I have been a passenger in one or two. A relative of mine had a BX, all angles and sharp edges and a ride like a slow rollercoaster. I also went in a recent Xantia which was quite nice if again not the worlds most attractive design. When I arrived at parking space 108 where the Xsara was supposed to be there was a Mercedes E-class. Unfortunately it was just an error on the from as the Xsara was hidden just behind it. My first impressions were favourable, it is actually a nicely proportioned, well finished, little car. The lines are quite low and racy with very attractive light clusters at the front, not overly huge but pleasantly large. The rear has a chopped off look after the boot but overall pretty good. They have come a long way since the 2CV that’s for sure.
Inside the car the driving position is comfortable if a little odd. The instruments seem too low and you feel as if you are riding on top of the car rather than in it. The instruments include a rev counter and are small but neat. There was no air-con or CD player (not that I had any CDs with me) but everything else was good and worked very well. The car had done 14,000kms (we were in Belgium of course) but was perfect. A word here for Europcar who I must review one day – excellent. The car was not just clean it was valeted quality clean. The materials used inside seem to be a very good quality and it is pleasing to see how far interior trim has progressed for even small cars like this one. Lots of useful space to store things too.
Once out on the road the car has excellent acceleration and kept up with the barking mad Brussels traffic at 130kph without a problem. There even seemed a fair bit left. Whilst it only has 90 bhp that seems plenty for this car. Visibility forwards is excellent but behind was obscured by some over large headrests. Headrests should be a safety feature, these were a safety hazard. The fuel economy seemed to be excellent too. Over 2 days and about 170kms of driving the fuel gauge hardly moved.
Around town the car handled well, the ride over village cobbles and ruts was very good and the steering is very positive. The brakes were capable of propelling passengers forward as the car stopped very well, perhaps they could have been a little more progressive. I did not have any rear seat passengers and looking at the rear seat I am glad. It looked about as inviting as a game of cards with Roy Keane. The boot was a reasonable size for the size of car and was a good shape without intrusions from suspension parts.
I was quite impressed with the Xsara. For car manufacturers life can also be a lottery. Selling large numbers of cars to fleets as hire cars is good business but risky. It puts your product in potential customers hands and often the cars are not that well looked after. My experience was good though, this was a very good car very well looked after. My overall view of not only the Xsara was improved but also of Europcar and Citroen generally.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
very helpful by (90%):
helpful by (10%):
