Citroen C3 Aircross

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JaxonsReality
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Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by JaxonsReality »

Hi all, I'm looking at buying a Citroen C3 Aircross 2018 but when I checked it's MOT history it failed (!?) it's first MOT with brake issues all round including rear discs that were so worn they were 'Weakened'.

This car supposedly only has 18k miles so brakes wearing out this quick is alarming imo :shock:

First question:
Any thoughts why a low mileage car would fail so badly on its first MOT with worn out brakes?

Second question:
Is there anyway to check the validity of the mileage of a vehicle under/just over 3 years old? (as obviously MOT tests will not have mileage history upto this point).

Any help greatly appreciated :wink:
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Hi, and :welc: to the forum.

It depends on how the vehicle is driven as to how the brakes wear. If a driver is the sort of person to brake at the last moment than the brakes will wear out quickly. If, however, the driver is much more careful (such as braking with plenty of time) the brakes will not be worn down so hard.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by wheeler »

JaxonsReality wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 22:41 First question:
Any thoughts why a low mileage car would fail so badly on its first MOT with worn out brakes?
In a previous life maybe is has been a rental car??

As for the mileage, theres no way to really confirm is genuine. Most people that would clock the car would do it just before servicing or MOT to make it really hard to detect.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by JaxonsReality »

Thanks for the welcome :)
If buying a performance car, you'd expect the brakes to wear out within 18k but with a slow commuter car like this I would've expected 35k no?
Also, the speedo change is a possibility since electronic units are doomed to fail.
I did have an issue with a new shape Scenic I once owned which had a replacement - I found that out from the Renault dealer.
Also noticed while looking that another C3 Aircross on eBay had had two (?!) new speedo's.
I'll try and find out if the car has receipts at least for any work carried out.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by Paul-R »

You can't always trust what the MOT inspector puts down either.

My brother once had a whole list of advisories on his Renault Clio, one of which was leaking power steering. Except it doesn't have power steering!

More recently, my daughter's car had an advisory in January of "Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened all". Strange that, because 12 months ago the car had new brake discs and pads all round. Even stranger, I recently cleaned the surface rust off the discs after it had been standing for several months and there was no trace of any wear, pitting or scoring.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by wheeler »

JaxonsReality wrote: 05 Apr 2021, 10:19 Also, the speedo change is a possibility since electronic units are doomed to fail.
If the speedo head is changed for a new one it would retain the original mileage reading of the car, the milage is also stored in the BSI unit so if one or the other is replaced for a new one it will always retain the original mileage, both the BSI unit & speedo head would need to both be changed for new units at the exact same time (highly unlikely) for it to be reset back to zero.
The senic instrument panels are a really common failure & they do reset to zero when replaced. If this is done by a renault dealer they normally stamp the service book to record the change.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by GiveMeABreak »

JaxonsReality wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 22:41 Hi all, I'm looking at buying a Citroen C3 Aircross 2018 but when I checked it's MOT history it failed (!?) it's first MOT with brake issues all round including rear discs that were so worn they were 'Weakened'.

This car supposedly only has 18k miles so brakes wearing out this quick is alarming imo :shock:

First question:
Any thoughts why a low mileage car would fail so badly on its first MOT with worn out brakes?
I think you are probably expecting too much. Discs can go in far less time than this - it all depends on weather conditions - and where and how it is being driven (harsh braking etc.). If it was regularly driven through flooded areas or roads then of course they are going to last less longer - especially if in an area where a lot of salt is put on the roads in winter.

But the car is 3 years old - so you have the age-related conditions to consider too. If the car has been sitting a lot, it doesn't take more than a week for the rust to start get a hold.

I had my rears discs on all my C5s replaced at far less than 35k to be honest (20k or less in some cases). The C3 Aircross is a great car IMO - but I am biased of course having just bought one at Christmas. :)
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by JaxonsReality »

After having a physical look at some C3's, I can see that the rear discs are super thin anyway - 9mm new and wear limit is 8mm.
So they certainly weren't built to last!! :lol:
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by Fixitchap »

Does anybody know what the he'll these buttons do?
Does anybody know what the he'll these buttons do?
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by GiveMeABreak »

I suggest you have a read of your owner's manual for a more detailed explanation.

The are special operational modes of the Automatic Gearbox. The 'S' is for a sportier mode (gear changes are longer apart) and the * is a snow programme mode to help with slippery surfaces.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by Fixitchap »

Thank you, they don't seem to do anything though, and when I press them there is no acknowledgement from the car displays.
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Re: Citroen C3 Aircross

Post by GiveMeABreak »

You won't notice anything with the snow programme because the road isn't covered in snow or ice. In this mode the system dampens the power transmitted from the gearbox to the wheels to help prevent wheel spins - but there will be a difference in Sport Mode. The system monitors your driving and adapts the gear changes accordingly - it does this by allowing the engine to run at a higher RPM before gear changes. But if you are only driving 'normally' then it may not make much difference as the systems knows this from all the sensors (Accelerator / Wheel speed sensors etc).
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