XM'S are not for the faint hearted
A well sorted V6 XM is a delight to
drive. The 2.1 td is as good a diesel engine ever made. Xantia V6 with Hydractive are superbly balanced. Xantia Activa is a one off car in a class of it's own. Even C5 HDI can give amazing use. Guy with taxi fleet of four uses them to 350k miles then gets new ones. They need spannering and diagnostic tool.
Early XM was rushed with new technology. Oh no! this car has computers? Now every car on the road has at least 3 and some have 20.
The list of great French cars goes on. 504 2cv Renault 4. The modern stuff? Challenging! New Laguna is a lovely estate. The latest of the turbo diesels (170bhp) are trouble free mostly........more mpg than a Jazz? Lots of French to stay away from. Yet some people have had good use even from those cars.
Lots of trouble with mk 2 scenic and well documented. That being said, what a practical and fun car if you get a good one OR a cheap one and fix up. Clio 1.5 dci. Not a bad car at all. I know guys who have put 200k on them. C4 vtr.........goes and handles well.
French are piled high and sold cheap. There are gems in there. 407 v6 coupe.......gorgeous Pinfarina styling.
Lots of jealousy on the French. Not by us Scots but mostly an English thing. Their car industry is still home owned mainly. They rode out a change and a demise that British couldn't.
How come Land Rover had massive following for years and kept selling? Not because of reliabilty. Or build quality. There are more things to a marque than that. People buy into many things. We are complex creatures..........well you can't deny that women are.