Considering another Xantia v6

[rutter123]

Spotted on c+c very early v6, I had one about 8 yrs ago and it was superb in auto.
Now this one has great description and appears to have been well maintained but the mileage is 171k, is this a concern or high for the v6 and how robust are these engines.
I seem to remember replacing the coil packs on mine and they were £400 and the exhaust which was very hard to find.
Or any other advice would be appreciated.
Can't be many v6's left now

[xantia_v6]

The ES9 V6 engine is very hardy. I have owned 4 Xantia V6s, plus a spares car, and other than oil leaks have never had an engine problem. One of my V6s I got to 195,000 before swapping it for one with lower mileage, but I know that it lived on quite happily for several years.

The transmissions typically fail somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 miles, depending on how they are driven. It is a fact of life. The problem is that they have a non-replaceable oil filter that eventually gets clogged with wear debris (mainly form the lock-up clutch in the torque converter) and they get to the point where there is insufficient hydraulic pressure to operate the transmission, leading to a catastrophic failure. Conversion to manual transmission is possible (I did not say easy).

The only possible preventative maintenance is to remove the engine, dismantle the transmission and replace the filter, which no-one does (not even me).

Exhaust systems are still available at reasonable cost from eastern Euarope, and I beleive that stainless systems will shortly be available from a French supplier. Generally spares should be better than many 13 year old cars because there is sufficient interest in Euarope for keeping Activa V6s on the road, so some spares are now back in production (a few even put back into production by Citroen).

There were about 1000 RHD Xantia V6s manufactured, about a third of them are the 1997 Mk 1 version.

[rutter123]

So are all v6's activa's with 10 spheres?
The ad says rust has been an issue but not sure where or where the hot spots are, can only see mot history from 2007/8 on the gov site. That gearbox issue is a worry with potentially only 30k left in it, not a job I'd want to tackle.
Highish mileage 24yr old Citroen with potential to explode at any minute doesn't sound great does it. Money pit or worth a punt?

[jamescarruthers]

I've had that engine in my old C6 and current Avantime.

The C6 had well over 100,000 miles and was on LPG and all I had to do was change one coil pack.

The Renault (they call it the LX1 engine) has also been ultra reliable although did suffer an oil leak which filled up the spark plug recesses. Previous owner had to change the coils. On Avantime-Owners.com the advice seems to be to stay away from Sagem branded coils. That has had its engine out though for oil leaks and the gearbox filter was changed so I might be lucky with long life on this particular model.

New coil for the C6 (P/N: 597094) was 35GBP from Citroen and certainly seem to last many many years before inevitably failing like a lot of modern cars. This would have likely been a Valeo branded one. I'm still in touch with the current owner and he hasn't had to change a coil yet. I was very lucky as it ran rough one morning, I called Citroen, got a lift there and had it changed within an hour of it happening.... it was on the front bank though!

If and when a coil pack goes in the rear bank, just take the opportunity to change all 3 there while you have access.

Regarding the gearbox, if it is the same Asin Warner unit as the C6, Avantime and Volvo (I also have a C70 with this box) then doing at least three flushes when you get the car and then once a year would be my advice. This has seen me have absolutely no issues with the gearbox over three cars with high-ish miles and a driving style that definitely uses the entire rev range quite often!

[xantia_v6]

The Xantia V6 was made with the option of Activa suspension, but no RHD V6 cars were built as Activas. I believe that there were about 2000 V6 Activas built in LHD. There are now about 10 RHD V6 Activas that have been converted by replacing the TCT engine with the V6.

The Xantia used the ZF 4HP20 transmission, not the AM6, also the Xantia uses a single coil pack, not i coil per plug. I would not worry about the coils, they don't fail very often (I have never actually had one fail in over 15 years).

The transmission is a concern, some believe that regular fluid changes can prolong the life of the transmission, but I am sceptical, as a fluid change does not remove the debris from the filter. If you are equipped to pull the engine and do a preventative filter change, all would be good.

Rust on a Xantia is usually confined to the sills just ahead of the rear wheel arch and the rear door-shut just above that.

The Xantia V6 is an excellent car, and the value of good examples has risen sharply in France.

if the rust is not too serious, I would consider a Xantia V6 as being worth a punt, but I would probably try to acquire a spare transmission in anticipation. My current Xantia has only done 45,000 miles, and only does a few hundred each year, so I am not too concerned.

[jamescarruthers]

Oops, my experience of the engine is not so relavent, sorry! Hope you enjoy your car if you buy it though: a V6 Xantia wafting along sounds great. Best of luck

[rutter123]

The coil packs on my previous v6 had developed some cracks in the housing causing sparks tracking and misfire above 5000rpm, cured with replacement Renault units at a hefty price, I think the exhaust system came from a couple of different suppliers after a long Internet search.

[Jaba]

Cliff have you ever owned a Xantia before? If not get a drive in one and make sure it suits you. I say this because back in the 90s I moved on from a BX to a Xantia but I could not get comfortable in it because the seat just did not suit me as there was insufficient thigh support and I got a lot of backache too. I thought they were great cars nevertheless and I was very disappointed to have to revert to my old BX.
I stress this is just how I felt at the time and nobody else I have spoken to had the same experience.

As far as this potential acquisition goes if you are paying hundreds not thousands for it then there is nothing to lose really so go for it. Maybe a C6 v6 might appeal too.

[xantia_v6]

The Xantia exclusive seats are fully adjustable electric with adjustable tilting and height of the base and adjustable lumbar and mid-back support. It is rare to find someone who cannot get comfortable. If car has had a very large previous driver, the seat foam seems to remember their shape and can be a bit harder to get comfortable in.

After-market coil packs are available for about £50.

[rutter123]

Hi John yes owned Xantia a v6 and 1.8 had no probs with seat position or support, I had a long chat with the vendor and seems he's a regular on FCF and on here, certainly knows his Citroens.
Never really been a fan of the c6. doesn't appear to be many v6 left and this one not my choice of colour but few and far between now.

[Jaba]

Hi John yes owned Xantia a v6 and 1.8 had no probs with seat position or support, I had a long chat with the vendor and seems he's a regular on FCF and on here, certainly knows his Citroens.
Never really been a fan of the c6. doesn't appear to be many v6 left and this one not my choice of colour but few and far between now.

No, nor me, the C6 is just too much of a sleek limo for my taste impressive though it is. I think they are a money pit for some too.
Sounds like the Xantia for you then. A gearbox swap does not seem too much of a problem if needed in the future.

[xantia_v6]

I just had a look on C&C, and although I don't have personal knowledge of that specific example, it was one of the market evaluation cars that had a different trim specification than the production cars that became available in August 1997. I think that it is now the only surviving P reg example.

[rutter123]

It is one of 3 v6's with consecutive reg no's originally purchased for a specific reason to be a demonstrator or something like that, the other 2 are long dead, it has half leather/suede interior, and yes it could poss be the oldest v6 survivor 06/97
Unfortunately it's not the colour I want nor the mileage