Over the past few weeks I've asked for experiences of various cars as we struggled to find a perfect replacement for our completely reliable Xsara TD of 3.5yrs. Here's the feedback on what we bought.
Astra, Focus, C4, Fiesta, Fabia, Corsa, C3 etc were all considered... as were similar size Japanese and Korean cars. Looked from 2005 at oldest up to new with scrappage. Scrappage looked attractive but the value examples were often on the the cheaper petrol models so by the time you'd gone for a decent spec diesel the price to change had risen.
Used cars we looked at had anything between 12k and 72k recorded. The more we looked the more we became attracted to the supermini size for the hope of 60+mpg and a £35 VED rate.
After test drives and extensive searching up to a radius of 60mls we chose a 2006 C3 1.4HDi with 22k recorded as the most suitable for SWMBO. The fact that we had owned Citroens on and off for 30+yrs was obviously a factor but we wanted the best car for our needs and the C3 came out tops on merit. Bought from the local Citroen dealers in the end... mainly for the assurance of a genuine car well prepped and warranty free of get out clauses.
Edited by M.M on 01/12/2009 at 09:58
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Will the Xsara be up for sale? I know you posted a list of potentailwork/faults recently but cannot find it.
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Thanks for asking but we have decided to trade in the Xsara just to make it an easy swap on the day. Just for interest it now shows 148k and needs timing belt, brake fluid/coolant changes and an all filters service plus a pair of front tyres soon. All routine work as far as it goes but we have run it to the perfect point from our point of view to move on. They're giving us £450 which as far as I'm concerned is just a nominal sum towards the deal and doesn't represent the Xsaras value one way or another.
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If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay? Presumably a cheap to run car like that in good nick isn't cheap?
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I rather not say exactly how much the C3 will cost.
But you are right they are not cheap. They are selling very quickly too from the main dealers. I think I commented on another thread I used the online Citroen used car locator (which lists every used car across the UK) this weekend and then phoned yesterday after all the cars of interest. Every single one had sold already.
As a price example though Motorpoint could have sourced a black 2007 C3 HDi 1.4 with just 12k recorded for £6600.
Our car was broadly in the same price range but obviously a year older with an extra 10k. For me this was the best deal far preferring to deal with Citroen... at least the free mats will be genuine Citroen fitted ones!
An example of their relative high prices is another Citroen dealer has just phoned with a 2006 C3 HDi 1.6 for £6000... but it's done 72K! Ours has cost very little more than that for 50k less.
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I rather not say exactly how much the C3 will cost.
Understandable - thanks for the info though.
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I'm curious to know why you like Citroen so much, or do you prefer all French cars? Having only owned Japanese or the odd Ford, I seem to have this inherent distrust of French reliability and quality. Am I mistaken?
Compo
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I too have owned a string of Citroens, but never a Ford or any Japanese car. Haven't avoided them per se - they just haven't floated my boat. I was tempted by an S-Max recently but I demand my cars have a spare wheel, so that ruled it out!
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Compo. For us this time the C3 won entirely on merit against the alternatives.... I would never blindly follow a make if it was going to be a bad experience. It is true we favour Citroens though. The roll call so far is... GS, GSA, DS, two CXs, four BXs, ZX, Xsara, two Xantias.
With the exception of the CXs which I tried to run in my early 20s with DIY maintenance they have been no trouble really. Several have gone to 150,000 miles, one to 229,000 and another 249,000 miles.
My cousins have just put a Xantia in for scrappage that they've had since new in 1996... it's been amazingly reliable. My uncle is on his second C3 HDi having bought the first back when they were introduced. Only routine servicing plus a couple of warranty recalls have been needed.
The outgoing Xsara has been a great car for the past 3.5yrs and 70,000mls or so.
So accepting I have no doubts about reliability once a particular Citroen model appeals there is no reason not to choose it.
However I would never advise anyone to buy a Citroen against their wishes... it would probably prove troublesome. Each to his own.
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Interesting, isn't it - there are a lot of happy Citroen owners on this forum, some of whom have had several and / or done big mileages in them. Yet there are far fewer Peugeot or Renault fans, which is odd in the case of Peugeot given that most have the same mechanicals as Citroens.
Maybe the quirkiness of some Citroens makes them lovable and ensures that any failings are forgiven? There was a time (1980s and early 1990s) when Peugeot could do no wrong, and millions loved their 205s, 306s and 405s.
I think that there are often cycles of what one might call good and bad 'form' which both manufacturers and service providers can go through - like Vauxhall at the time of the Cavalier Mark 2, Audi in the 1990s, and Skoda during the current decade. Tne trick is to stay on top of the cycle - 'at 12 o'clock' - which Ford, BMW and VW are quite good at.
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>>>Maybe the quirkiness of some Citroens makes them lovable and ensures that any failings are forgiven?
>>>cycles of what one might call good and bad 'form' which both manufacturers and service providers can go through
I think the quirkiness issue was true in the past when you consider 2CV, GS and similar models. When it comes to the DS and CX though their staggering design and abilities were way in front of quirks when offsetting challenging maintenance needs. Sadly all models just mentioned tended to rust in the tradition of a typical 60/70s car.
The BX followed and pointed the way forward with near total rust resistance, strong engines and that superb ride. Brilliant diesel engines in these models had a lot to do with the average person's acceptance of diesel for the family car.
By the time of ZX and Xantia they were built as well or better than anything in their class.... and often overall a better choice if folks could only lose their concerns over Citroen weirdness from the 2CV days.
Citroen seem to be selling their smaller to mid range cars well these days but now all cars are packed with electronics I see the old Citroen quality doubts creeping in again with some folks... as in can Citroen really do electronics?
Our C3 has a lot of systems for a basic small car so we will have first hand experience... good or bad.
You are right that Ford, VW and BMW have managed to maintain a high profile throughtout the years. In Ford's case they have been lucky with loyal followers despite several below par and rust prone models outselling better cars of other makes. BMW buyers (and those that aspire to buy them) are loyal too... why not... they make good cars. VW were way ahead of the opposition in build quality during the 70s but by the time the ZX came out it was probably a better car than the Golf of the day.... still VW's reputation remained. Now though I see that VW status slipping in some quarters as folks realise that current cars are much more of a level playing field between makes than in the 60s and 70s.
Edited by M.M on 02/12/2009 at 09:44
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Just an update now we have the car. It was slow to arrive as we put a deposit on an ex-motability one as it came off fleet and it took a couple of weeks to arrive at the dealers. This was, as I understand it, a selected car from the motability fleet suitable for main dealer sale. I inspected on the day it arrived and it it's truly as new inside and out.... apart from both front wheeltrims scuffed up... parking by feel I guess. Anyway with these replaced, a set of tailored Citroen mats, prep, valet, new VED, service etc it was handed over in top order. Well done Citroen at Peterborough.
It's *only* a basic Desire model but with ABS, aircon, elec windows/mirrors, trip computer, CD, etc there's plenty for a small family car. First car we've had with auto locking which seems a bit weird.
The drive is as good as expected for a small car. Better ride and refinement than many in its class with a nice feeling of room due to the *bubble* shape around the windscreen which gives space around the head/shoulder area. Only the 70hp engine but it goes fine for this class of car. Digital consumption meter so far indicates an average of 60mpg should be easily bettered.
With its light weight and narrow tyres much better in snow than the Mondeo too.
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I used a 2004 C3 1.4 HDI as a knock-about car for a year until recently. It was fine - better than I expected - and reliable. Everything worked and went on working. It wouldn't maintain the legal limit (130kph/80mph) on the undulations of the autoroute though. I would have thought your expectation of 60mpg+ is probably realistic. I was always surprised at how economical it was.
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You would be right I expect on long motorway inclines. We very much chose the car for our particular use. 90% running around the flat fens locally and 10% travelling to relatives in slightly more hilly country but with no motorways so only 60mph roads.
My uncle who had a 2002 model went for the 1.4HDi 16v which was 92hp... and when he changed it in 2008 chose the 1.6HDi which I think is also 92hp. I'm sure they pull a bit better at speed.
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