Citroën C5 Saloon (08 on) - Review

Review by Dan Harrison on
Last Updated: 27 November 2008
This handsome C5 is a vast improvement on the last car to wear the badge. It's far more sophisticated with a high quality interior, a sharper exterior design and much better build quality. Another change is that this car is a saloon, whereas the old car was a hatchback. It means that it has a more upmarket image, though at the price of practicality. Although this is an all new car, it still carries over some of the old C5's core strengths: excellent diesel engines, good levels of equipment and excellent comfort. Crucially, it's now good enough to be a realistic alternative to models like the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia.
4 out of 5

Other Citroën reviews

4 out of 5

Running costs

Citroen was once known for massive discounts and cashback incentives. Thankfully that's a thing of the past - it drove down values and left owners of the previous C5 with cars that were worth less than they expected when they came to sell. Predicted residuals are better on this car - more on a par with the Ford Mondeo. The diesels all return decent fuel consumption figures, parts are cheap and it's reasonably priced to service.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,461 - £1,980 *

Diesel

£1,034 - £1,942 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

Every 20,000 miles (12,500 for the 1.6HDi).

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£30.00 - £270.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

4 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
    117
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
    223
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

Fuel economy is good across the range and the diesels particularly impress. The CO2 output is also good for a car of this size. The C5 will also run on biodiesel (diesel derived from plants - which is becoming increasingly popular on forecourts). It's a greener alternative to conventional diesel and helps to future-proof the car. The best model is the 1.6HDi which emits 140g/km of CO2 and returns 50mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2