Citroën’s hydropneumatic suspension creates an almost unrivalled wafty, relaxing driving experience. Only trouble is, the cars that use it – such as the CX, BX and XM – aren’t the most approachable or mainstream choices. The Citroën Xantia brought the hydro-Citroën experience to a car ordinary and sensible enough for normal people and Joe absolutely loves it! Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Citroën Xantia prices

The Xantia was certainly a Citroën. Maybe not quite as unusual and distinctive as its larger XM stablemate, but it struck a balance that car always struggled to – it was both uniquely attractive and appealing to a wide audience. The more traditional Peugeot 406 would eventually steal its thunder in 1995, but nonetheless it would serve as Citroën’s volume seller for a good number of years. A volume that simply doesn’t remain today, numbers falling dramatically over the past two decades; a tenth seems to survive after each one. It’s curious that it can be easier to find a Citroën BX than a Xantia (and ZX).

Prices haven’t quite responded to the rarity yet. The range continues to be from £500-£2000 with very few diverging from this – only the worst condition cars or the high-tech Activas with a cult-following. It’s still quite possible to go out with a £1500 budget and get a nice condition car in turbodiesel, estate, VSX form, or whatever other specification you might want with only a little patience. It seems that the good ones are now refusing to quit, so it’s simply a matter of demand catching up rather than supply falling to even lower levels to precipitate value growth.

However, at the extreme end of the scale there does seem to be some movement. In line with the general trend of low mileage 1990s cars earning high values, as well as some hints of growing demand for the Activa as some kind of rediscovered motoring folklore, some Citroën Xantias can be seen at around £5000. High specification cars that are £1500 today could well be the £7000 ones like the BXs 5-10 years ahead.

Make sure you check out our guide to Citroën’s hydropneumatic suspension here.