Well, bit of an eye opener today. BiL decided he wants a C2 hdi Design. But no dealers have any! They would need to be factory ordered and they were not prepared to negotiate on the price other than maybe throwing in some mats. They only offer 4 colours in this model, a solid yellow, a black (£200 extra) and 2 metallics £325 extra! Again they wouldn't budge.
As BiL would want a metallic, that was taking us up to £8500 for a new C2! Citroen are obviously controlling the market tightly here, he could get a C3 for cheaper, especially if he went for a 6 month old! In fact he could probably get a Picasso for not that far off the money!
So he is now having to have a rethink as to what other small compact diesels there are with similar performance, ins group and economy to the C2. I have narrowed it down to a Lupo or Yaris. These are both dearer but perhaps better chance of getting a used one within the price range!
Was really surprised about the dealer's lack of flexibility with trying to do a deal. The 3 dealers were the same which makes me think that the C2 is selling well, there are very few on the used circuit yet and basically they don't need to try to hard!
Back to the drawing board....
|
I would assume that dealers don't have any targets to meet and apparently January has been a great month. December was a really bad one and would have been a great time to buy.
I've always wondered why people think Citroen's are cheap, they seem very expensive to me considering the quality of the product. Cash back and no-vat are becoming old hat now, Citroen sales have fallen 10% in each of the last two years.
|
|
|
Alternatively carbrokeruk.com - deliberately not a link so as not to imply HJ's endorsement - has the 1.4 HDi Design for £7,714 (£6,693 for the 1.1) with metallic. (May be pre-registered and no free insurance, but a UK car).
www.ukcarsdirect.com - has it for £7,834 with metallic. UK main dealer supplied and not pre-registered. £1k less for the 1.1 petrol, but free insurance may again not be available.
|
C2 or a Yaris?
That's a no-brainer.
Yaris is well bolted together and will depreciate much less than the C2 and is unlikely to let you down - a much better buy in the long run!
|
Same question really,why would you want to spend your own hard earned to own a Citroen?
Friend of mine is a Citroen 'technician',runs a Primera,says it all really.
|
Citroen c2 is not a bad looking car!(very hansome when compared to a yaris)not sure about the drive and reliability but!!!
Think id rather have a jazz or polo if wanting a small car but the original question never asked for opinion on which make?
|
Think id rather have a jazz or polo if wanting a small car but the original question never asked for opinion on which make?
He did further down...
"So he is now having to have a rethink as to what other small compact diesels there are with similar performance, ins group and economy to the C2. I have narrowed it down to a Lupo or Yaris."
Hence I gave opinion on a Yaris vs. C2.
|
I hold my hands high and Stand corrected.
|
|
Thanks for those broker details, have posted a couple of queries to them and await their replies.
|
Bobby,
If he is considering a yaris now there is a special edition coming out shortly, can't remember the exact details off the top of my head but i'm fairly certain it was T3 with a few extra's thrown in but standard T3 price.
I'll have a look tomorrow at work and post the details up here for you.
Kev
|
Blue Haddock, please let me know the details. Basically he is looking at close on £8.5k to get a C2 in a metallic colour. For that money, he would prefer a Yaris (he has had a Toyota Picnic for 6 trouble free years) and he prefers the rear seat flexibility in a Yaris.
Just find it so strange to see the C2 being about £1k less than what he would pay for a new diesel Picasso!
|
"C2 or a Yaris?
That's a no-brainer."
No it ain't - people don't just buy cars for the characteristics of a Yaris - otherwise we would all have them.
"Same question really,why would you want to spend your own hard earned to own a Citroen?
Friend of mine is a Citroen 'technician',runs a Primera,says it all really."
Oh yeah?? And everybody who works for Ford, Rover, Toyota, Rolls Royce etc owns a car made by "their" company. Perhaps your guy doesn't like the looks of C5? Thinks the Primera is prettier? Perhaps his wife decided the car they would have? Perhaps he thinks that the Primera is a better car - so what? - good for him - I hope he enjoys it. Your guy's choice doesn't mean Cits are worse than Nissans (Did somebody mention the word Renault??).
And your continual snipes at the unreliability of Citroens, Mr Lucas, could be countered by the fact that I (a big survey this, your bloke and me) have owned them for 18 years and have yet to have a breakdown. Judging from your comments, I surmise that you have never owned, and will never own, a Citroen. (Or perhaps yopu had a bad 'un years ago - wouldn't happen with a Ford would it?
Anyway, my son has a C2 HDi and loves it. Nothing wrong so far so just as good as a Yaris (so far).
P.S. Clakson went overboard on the C4 yesterday in a certain paper, and I seem to remember he did the same about the Berlingo (!). C2 is also on the TopGear "cool cars" board as pretty cool.
Bobby G - hope your BiL finds the car he wants - C2 or Yaris it's up to him!
|
Dammit HJ, I was counting on you not to read "the opposition"!! Apart from that sentence rest of his account was pretty good though wasn't it?? And I can only go on personal experience - our Citroens have been excellent so far. What I don't like is people running down cars on hearsay or "what so and so said". You obviously hear from hundreds of people about their cars and have good reasons for saying that "Toyotas are reliable" or "Citroens are unreliable" but there are so many who say "ooh that suspension, it's so complicated it must be unreliable" but it's been used since 1956 DS. Our 2 BX's had nothing go wrong with the suspension except spheres (same as shocks wearing out?) and an "octopus" I replaced myself. They did a combined 310,000 miles. First Xantia had 2 front spheres in 90k. Second Xantia HDi has had a valve thing at the back go - cost about £150 inc vat and labour and new LHM. Other than that it's been timing belts when required, a water pump (done as precaution with the belt), pads, discs when needed and a couple of sets of glowplugs in over 400k of Citroen motoring. The XUD and HDi engines have (so far) remained untouched apart from these things - not even a new injector.That includes, by the way, a lot of caravan towing all over Europe as far as Greece.
As my wife said recently "I like those new C4 things - do they have the funny suspension?" When I said no, she replied that she wouldn't have one then but would wait until the C5 looked a bit better!!
Now, I'm not trying to convert anyone to Cits. Please continue to enjoy your Mondeos, Vectras, Carinas, bloomin' great 4x4s or little C2s and Yarii(?). I might even forgive someone for having a beige and booted Focus! but let's not castigate Citroens and Renault for unreliability or Toyotas for being boring without having experience of them or at least having input from a lot of users like HJ does!!
Choose between Yaris and C2? - well, I'd have a C2 'cos I think they look much better - but that's a purely personal opinion. I also like Everard's Tiger bitter and can't stand Marston's Pedigree - does anyone care??
|
I also like Everard's Tiger bitter and can'tstand Marston's Pedigree - does anyone care??
I'm defiantely a Pedigree man - but working 100yds from the brewery and having the factory shop as my local offy does sway things a little. (not that i'd ever think of drinking and driving - back onto motoring!)
|
Trouble with Pedigree is that I need an EGR thingy (motoring?) otherwise it's the spare room for me!!
|
|
Don't get that when drinking it local to brewery - must get shaken up when being transported (motoring!)
|
Gotta say there is a lot of pro yaris and japanese cars on these boards(oww but the cars are soooo reliable)do get fed up with it being said so often though.One more rant,why is it when you see comments on bmw cars that if you dont own one there naff cars?
|
|
A yaris may be the most reliable thing on the road, but boy is it ugly, I mean serious ugly specially in that disgusting lilac colour
|
Almost as ugly as teh Focus in that disgusting gold colour.
--
Adam
|
god the yaris is ugly but!!!i cant find words to describe the yaris verso?how can somebody put that into production!
|
Easy - was the Renault 4 pretty? Nope, but it did its job and the Yaris Verso does its very well.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
|
You'll be pleased to know then that as far as i know there won't be a yaris verso when the new yaris is launched early next year.
They may not be a looker but i do get quite a few (normally older) people trading in a verso for another virtually identical but newer verso
|
|
can't say i've seen a lilac one and i've seen quite a few!
|
|
To go back to the original question... is there an uglier colour combination than a lilac C2 with orange seats?
|
Probably not, but a Yaris in Severn (Cowclap) Green comes close!!
|
|
I don' think the Yaris is designed to suit your taste RF, many people including myself think Renault make ugly cars and can't understand why anyone would want one (that and the poor ratings in vitually every survey).
|
|
No C2s? The C3 is a much better buy IMHO. C2 courtesy car replaced my C3 hdi 16v when it was serviced. No comparison. The C3 knocks the socks off the C2 in all aspects. Definetly worth considering.
|
>why is it when you see comments on bmw cars that if you dont own one there naff cars?
Maybe, just maybe, because the people who think they are naff decided not to buy one because they think they are naff.
|
I have bought and sold plenty of Citroens over the years,my wife was unfortunate to get a brand new Xantia TD in 1996 as a co car and by and large,in my opinion they are not very well put together cars that tend to suffer from many,often small annoying faults that can spoil the ownership experience.
I was talking to my Citroen friend yesterday,no chance of a demo in C5 at his place,their 2 cars have been off the road for nearly 3 weeks with running probs that between the dealer and Cit UK they have not been able to solve. He does think that the Picasso is ok,because it's 'cheap and cheerful'.Would he buy one?'No,they are just too fragile'.
Its a good thing that we still buy Citroens,creates a lot of work in the UK,keeping them on the road.
|
You seem to hear some polarised opinions about Citroens, people either love then or hate them.
My late father in law ran citroens for more than 20 years with nothing other than servicing costs. My son has now taken over his last one, a 1997 Xantia petrol which has done 63000 miles, so far seems OK build quality OK drives nicely.
I will probably look at a Citroen as one of several options when I change at the end of this year.
You pays your money and takes your choice.
|
|
On a personal level, I had 2 ZX diesels and loved them both. I think the Saxo is a small tinny car, but I have had one now for 5 years , 2nd hand, its got 80000 miles on it and is still giving me 63mpg every week. Totally reliable with only normal servicing items.
|
Just thought I would update this thread with the outcome. If you remember, my BiL was looking for a cheap C2 diesel then looked at Yaris, then wasn't convinced if he needed diesel at all.
I received lots of good advice over the course of the thread.
Well today he passed by a Renault garage, saw a Modus and took a look. test drove the dci 65 but didn't think it was strong enough. I phoned the dealer who I have dealt with over the years and, to cut a long story short, BiL is now the proud owner of a pre registered Modus 1.5 dci80 Priviledge with various option packs included.
List price would be £14425, he has bought it, with 6 miles on the clock, for £9988! Registered 31 jan.
From going from looking at a base C2 and, in his own words, "just wanting a a small economical car to get from A to B", he has now bought one with all the toys!!
Och well, certainly got a good deal I think!
Incidentally, I have now bought, or being involved in buying, approx 9 cars from this salesman. It is so good to be able to phone up, get his best price over the phone and do a deal there and then! None of this " come into see us and we will take some details and see what we can do!
|
I personally think citroen have had their fare share of reliabilty problems, but has HJ himself suggests i think the C2 isnt that bad considering C3's keep breaking down or have software problems etc.. The saxo however is something else, my m8 brought a t-reg from the main dealer in High Wycombe. Hes just under 6 foot tall & says the driving position is a bit uncomfortable (but then you've only got to see what HJ says in his breakdown bit!) It runs really rough starting from cold in cold mornings & 1 of the front speakers dont work! what can i say about that! Put it this way Bobby its a good job its not a saxo!! ;)
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
|
I like Citroens. The Xantia we have now has 165k on it and still never lets us down despite being 11 years old this year. Brilliant car.
I will be genuinelly sad to see it traded in on Saturday.
|
|
|
|
|
