Citroen Drivers Anonymous.

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 05 Jan 2010, 15:45

It seems whenever I tell anyone that I drive a Citroen their reply is almost exclusively:
"Eurgh, why would you want one of those?"
Even my little brother calls it a s**t

But the only reasons anyone can ever give me why Citroen are bad is:
"They're French, innit"
And "Plasticy and naff, all the electrics fail"

But my ZX has less nasty plastic bits in it than a lot of cars. And even my electric door mirror still works and it's only 5 years younger than me

(note: or at least it was working until that lorrey got in the way on the icy road)

And I know it's not exactly fast and it's not the prettiest car ever made. But it's comfortable, fun to drive, easy to fix and incredibly economic...and I like it

Seems to be so much of a stigma that goes with owning a French car nowdays. I even had a bit of an argument with someone who had just bought a Toyota Aygo, when I asked him why he didn't go with the cheaper C1 "because it's a Citroen" he replied.

At least there's places like FCF where we can band together and keep them going.

What makes you lot drive French cars?

-Alex

HDI · Unread post by **HDI** » 05 Jan 2010, 15:59

The word is , stigma !!

Skoda were once the butt of all car jokes , not so funny now though !!

Almost all cars have their detractors , Clarkson loathes Cavaliers and Vectra's , Fords are routinely knocked , then there is Jap crap , Yank -ank , Lotus - lots of trouble usually serious (thats actually true though !!) , etc , etc. Even the German brands are heavily criticised !! A female friend of mine had a real lust for an Audi TT when they first came out and I said they're all style over function and not as reliable as you are brainwashed into thinking they are , she called me something derogatory and went ahead anyway. Six months later she wished she'd listened ! She had so much trouble with it and the dealers attitude was deplorable ! Even Audi UK were -ankers about it !!
Citroens are disliked due to ignorance of their "funny" suspension , but as u say , French cars are just lumped under the "cuz it's French banner"

I can say from experience of running Citroens as company cars that they were the most trouble free of all the cars we had over the years. Worst were Mercs !!

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 05 Jan 2010, 16:16

Seems to be a general rule that old Citroens (especially diesels) seem to be rather bulletproof.

What I like most about the TD engines is that you can theoretically take the battery and alternator out...and you could still start it. (Provided you had a long steep hill and disabled the stop solenoid...)

Bugger the stigma, I would hate to see my Citroen go.

deian · Unread post by **deian** » 05 Jan 2010, 16:29

When I had my black XM a few months back, I was called batman at work!

And now I have my black Xantia, I am called batman again!

I like citroen cos they are different, but above all they work, ask any other manufacturer to do different and they buy the idea from some someone else (like rolls royce did with the hydropneumatic suspension). So they hydractive system can fail, spheres go flat etc, but dampers also wear down, springs can break (as it did on my dads 51 plate mondeo the other day), other than that they are faultless car the citroens, I've had, bmw's, fords, a vauxhall, a nissan, a vw, a volvo, and none of them are as good all round as the citroens are.

Sod the others, we know the secret don't we!

HDI · Unread post by **HDI** » 05 Jan 2010, 16:30

The stigma is a good thing , keeps the prices low

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 05 Jan 2010, 16:31

A woman at work was telling me how her 56 plate Toyota MR2 wouldn't start yesterday because the battery was dead, it having been stood over Christmas. I told her how the ZX started first time, despite the battery only just making it through last winter, having been stood over Christmas!

Must admit though, the green snow I've just cleared from where the Activa sits is a bit worrying...

People think of Citroens as being cheap and nasty, which is especially amusing when said person is a Peugeot fan.

James

Featch · Unread post by **Featch** » 05 Jan 2010, 16:52

HDI wrote:The stigma is a good thing , keeps the prices low

Exactly. Long may it continue..... so I can afford a C6

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 05 Jan 2010, 16:56

Keeps my insurance down too. I think there's a £300 difference between my car and the Pug 306 Dturbo..
WHY?
I don't care

Sid_the_Squid · Unread post by **Sid_the_Squid** » 05 Jan 2010, 17:03

Citroen suspension, can’t beat it

and the old diesel engines are good too, coincidentally for me the xantias have been incredibly reliable, as well as being cheap, lot of luxury for not much outlay. I also like the Xantia interior, and the XM not that I’ve ever owned an XM, but from pictures you can see it looks sooo cool

Featch · Unread post by **Featch** » 05 Jan 2010, 17:12

I bought my first ever Citroen in 1974, a 1972 GS Club Break, from a British Leyland dealer.
I don't remember just how little I paid but it was peanuts and the car was only 18 months old. The dealers parting words were; "You're welcome to it mate, we can't sell this foreign stuff" ..... On reflection, possibly the best car I ever had, it was a revelation, especially after a Maxi

deian · Unread post by **deian** » 05 Jan 2010, 17:37

And now the only thing you can get is foreign stuff!

But the xantias are amazing value for money, especially the V6, it's quite a step up from the 1.9td's or the 1.8 lx's but for not much more,

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 05 Jan 2010, 18:06

Someone said to me 'Why don't you get a new car on the scrappage scheme.'

My answer was that in the last 10 years we've purchased 3 Citroens for a total of £2450 and we still have 2 of them with full MOT's - so why would I be interested in paying the balance?

I'm very happy with 2 x ZX diesels - and even collected a Land Rover 2 litre short motor and a dismantled gearbox in my TD Aura Estate the other day! I can guarantee that was the fastest that engine had ever travelled!

deian · Unread post by **deian** » 05 Jan 2010, 18:16

There's that flaw with the scrapage scheme, yea so we get £2000 off the new car, usually that still means you need anther £4000+ to get a small car!

Pointless for me really.

Chlorate · Unread post by **Chlorate** » 05 Jan 2010, 18:17

I don't agree with the scrappage scheme...

Why on earth would I want to destroy a perfectly good car for £1000 off an £8000 new car?

Funnily enough I don't have £7000 to spend on a car that isn't going to be worth half as much next year that I can't service myself.

deian · Unread post by **deian** » 05 Jan 2010, 18:18

Oh and today... same idea with getting a new boiler.