First impressions of the C5

[FarmerPug]

theres hardly any c5s here in ni either, i guess none have filtered out of the fleets yet as all our cars do here.

[STALLED]

They are popular in France and the Netherlands - infact, I have never seen so many Citroens in Amsterdam - even the old stuff, inclusive of CX's and DS's!

Drive a CX - such an awesome car!

[sirwiggum]

They are popular in France and the Netherlands - infact, I have never seen so many Citroens in Amsterdam - even the old stuff, inclusive of CX's and DS's!

Drive a CX - such an awesome car!

Andre Citroen himself was dutch was he not?
I believe he picked his surname when moving to France, to sound less Dutch. Based it on the word for 'Lemon' (seriously! and I'm a Citroen fan!).

[FarmerPug]

du citron sil vous plait

[STALLED]

They are popular in France and the Netherlands - infact, I have never seen so many Citroens in Amsterdam - even the old stuff, inclusive of CX's and DS's!

Drive a CX - such an awesome car!

Andre Citroen himself was dutch was he not?
I believe he picked his surname when moving to France, to sound less Dutch. Based it on the word for 'Lemon' (seriously! and I'm a Citroen fan!).

Ja - he was Dutch.

More points if someone can explain the Citroen logo!

[puggy]

it represents gear teeth which is how Andre Citroen made his fortune
when supplying war materials to the french government .

how many points do i get

[STALLED]

it represents gear teeth which is how Andre Citroen made his fortune
when supplying war materials to the french government .

how many points do i get

Correct! Have a CX as a prize.

*Drools*

[puggy]

Mmmmmmmmmm !! have i got to collect or will you deliver ?

[FarmerPug]

thats a cx gti
they did a model called the prestige, in long wheelbase them things were really big

[sirwiggum]

Seen a few of the new C5s about NI.
Not as many as if it had been badged with rings or a propeller, so the sheep would flock to them in their droves because the German-marketing-pays-for-your-advertising-media told them to. (Just look at the lead stories for the latest Auto Express newsletter for an example. They obsess over some 1 series and the interesting stuff like the Mugen CRZ and the Toyota FR86 is near the bottom of the email).

My old Xantia was the one on the left:

[FarmerPug]

thats a series 1 cx nice car, it had the bathroom scales style speedo.

about the sheep flocking to german cars, i appreciate an audi or a merc, or a bmw (only back before bangel) is a luxury car if trimmed correctly. But what is vw in the whole program, i dont really view them as a prestige brand they are just as mainstream as ford, toyota or vauxhall. there is nothing at all special that makes me want a vw.

[ToddM]

Them big Citroens.. They have something special about them!

[sirwiggum]

thats a series 1 cx nice car, it had the bathroom scales style speedo.

Yea it does, and the indicators on a rocker switch.
Few of us took it up the North Coast. Ended up getting soaked sitting in the back as the window seal wasn't great. No rear seatbelts either
Fantasticly comfortable though, and real 70s grooved fabric seats. Great comedy horn too for bringing a smile to pedestrians faces

about the sheep flocking to german cars, i appreciate an audi or a merc, or a bmw (only back before bangel) is a luxury car if trimmed correctly. But what is vw in the whole program, i dont really view them as a prestige brand they are just as mainstream as ford, toyota or vauxhall. there is nothing at all special that makes me want a vw.

A Merc S class of any vintage has the waftability factor of a Jag.
But don't see the appeal in buying a tiny overpriced BMW hatchback (based on stolen plans for the Rover 45 replacement I might add..), then driving like an idiot.
Used to like Audis as the German equivalent to Citroen, but not in the last 10 years or so.

VW is an example of the German marketing machine in full swing. They started off with fairly simple products (such as the aircooled beetle) and got a reputation for reliability. They then built on this, despite their products probably being as averagely reliable as anything else in the market (compare for example a '96 Golf with rust and a whining gearbox with a '96 ZX or 306 that hasn't been felt-specced).
The media played along, knowing who was paying for the adverts (ever notice how prominent VW, BMW etc. ads in car mags are?) and even the public were psychologically induced to believing that their German hatchback was the best thing since sliced bread, despite having the same number of issues as any other car. This is reflected in JD Power surveys, which are a con because they are subjective not objective.
The Germans just upped and upped their prices to get people into the mindset that they were 'premium' products (as many other brands do - Apple for example. Started off building intuitive and graphical personal computers, now make fashion items).
With the takeover of Rover they cherry picked the profitable (and knowledgebase useful) items and threw the rest on the scrapheap, singlehandedly destroying the British car industry.

[FarmerPug]

this reliability of vw is twaddle a honda civic is much more reliable in the jd power survey and a nicer
car.

[sirwiggum]

I do wonder though how objective these things are.

Skodas do better than VWs though, but use a lot of the parts bin and engines.
So perhaps do Skoda drivers feel less aggrieved when something goes wrong, because they know they've got a bargain VW?
Do taxi drivers give better ratings than, perhaps, slightly more picky business/consumer users that Skoda and VW would respectively market to?

Do Honda drivers give good ratings because of the perception of reliability? And, when something goes wrong, the good service they get from dealers (in my brief experience of a Honda dealer)?

Rover 75s did well in the latest survey. Could this be due to the "underdog" factor? A sense of Loyalty to a car cut off in it's prime?
The fact that the sterotypical owner of a Rover 75 is likely to overlook a lot of foibles, since the 75 is a world away from an Austin Maxi in terms of reliability? And the driving they do do is wafting about to the shop / church and back?

Would be interested to see the Warranty Direct list, and how this compares against JD Power.