C8... yay or nay!

[Hydractiv3]

I am sort of in a conundrum. Looking for a no-compromises family hauler and although aesthetically the C8 would not be my first choice, I would easily grow fond of it.

That being said the car is a 2.2 diesel (recently fitted, maybe due to a snapped belt?) and never having owned a diesel car I do know their maintenance is much higher cost than a gasoline car. It is now about 116.000km, the rest of the car, I bet, much higher.

Overall the car looks well taken care of, interiors are not leather but seats all look to be in good condition as well as the rest of it but I am sure up close some wear and tear will definitely be there.

Sliding doors are a huge bonus but horror stories about mal functioning ones and high cost of replacement electrical motors do scare me.

All and all... what should I prepare for maintenance wise?

Thanks in advance

[Jay-Bruce]

How big is the family? Reason I ask is that the third generation C5 is a genuinely strikingly handsome car, comfortably hosts a typical family, and in tourer (estate) form has a huge boot capacity, can be had with a wider choice of engines, and gucci options such as panoramic glass roof, hydractive suspension etc.

[GiveMeABreak]

The C8 is getting on now and although popular, you may want to look for a C4 Picasso / Grand Picasso. Part supplies are going to be easier to get hold of for the Picassos over the C8.

[jscadden]

I recently had a C8 2.0Hdi. Most comfortable car I ever had apart from a Rover 3 litre back in the day. ACC was brilliant and had many features ahead of it's time. The problem I had was the gearbox. Had to be replaced a couple of months after I bought it and played up again shortly after! For the last couple of years, I had to put it into third gear to drive and manually change up to fourth. I could use Drive when cruising on the motorway but had to change to third if I dropped below about 30.

When I selected third to pull away, it would do so in second and then go up to third. Somewhat complicated but it lasted for quite a while.

Had a problem when I drove through London one day and the gearbox overheated. Lost forward drive for a while. Had to reverse out of trouble till it cooled down. Got black gunge in the cooling system after that, which choked it up! That was the end of that.

We had some fun in it. Went to Disneyland Paris and other places. Miss it somewhat but got an Xsara now. The C8 held 100 litres and cost a small fortune to fill and had to do so frequently. The Xsara is much cheaper to fill and generally lasts me a fortnight or so.

Great car but its manufacturing run finished a long time ago so I wouldn't risk another one!

[Richard_C]

I did like the look of the C8, and one day when I was in the dealership for parts (then a great local family firm, no more) I mentioned to the service manager that I was thinking of replacing the Synergie with one. The look he gave me and the comment (something like "are you ....... sure?") was one reason I didn't change. I heard tales of C8 electric sliding door failures, especially if parked on slopes, and the restyle at the front compromised engine accessibility. I guess that all got ironed out with time.

Most C8s (and Synergies) were diesels, too old to be Euro 6, so if you drive into greater London ULEZ zone, Birmingham and likely many other cities soon you will pick up hefty charges. A couple of time a year maybe fine, but if its regular it mounts up. London os £12.50 a day, Birmingham £8.

The earlier Synergie is a much simpler beast, most had XUD engine, manual sliding doors, immense space. I had one for 18 years, only got rid because my wife was finding the clutch very heavy (arthritis in ankle). Very little went wrong in those 18 years. Although its older than the C8 spares might be easier, there was a myriad of vans, cars and suchlike using mostly the same components. But - any Synergie will be almost 20 years old now so a risk.