USED BUYER'S GUIDE Citroen C5 X

FROM £13,500 Big French cars have never been sales hits in the UK and the C5 X is no exception. But we're big fans of the Citroen, which offers a lot of car for a modest outlay

- By Richard Dredge

FRENCH car makers don't have a great track record of selling large cars in the UK. The Peugeot 605 and 607, DS5, Citroen C6, Renault Avantime and Vel Satis all failed to deliver, and it's always been the same. So when Citroen announced in 2021 that its C5 X was set to come to the UK, there were some who wondered why.

But there were also those who cheered, because this was a car that had a foot in three segments: saloon, estate and SUV. Citroen marketed the C5 X as a model with “audacity combined with innovation for a serene touring experience”, but buyers weren't impressed and they largely stayed away – across the whole of Europe, not just the UK.

HISTORY

THE C5 X went on sale in the UK in July 2022, having been unveiled more than a year before. There were three powerplants initially available, including two petrol engines. These were the familiar 1.2-litre three-cylinder PureTech 130 unit, and the 1.6-litre four-cylinder PureTech 180. Alongside these was a plugin hybrid, which combined the PureTech 180 engine with an electric motor to give up to 222bhp. The plugin hybrid had a 12.4kWh battery which gave up to 37 miles of electric motoring; software updates in November 2022 raised this to 39 miles.

A refresh in February 2023 brought infotainment system improvements, a contrasting roof option, faster wireless phone charging and, for Shine Plus editions, updated driver-assistance systems. At first there were Sense Plus, Shine and Shine Plus trim levels, but from August 2023 these were changed to You, Plus and Max; within a month the Hypnos had been added at the top of the range. Citroen axed the C5 X in May 2025.

WHICH SHOULD I BUY?