Citroen C3 buying advice - 1.4i or 1.4HDI?

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Post by Peter.N. »

Citroenmad wrote:No your right, you have to view or you might miss out on a good car.

Ive had that with an Xm too, estate as well. I drove to kent, about 350 miles from here, with the view to bringing back what was described as a very nice Xm estate 2.0 16v auto. It was an awful awful car. I had booked a hotel for the night, but seeing as though i had already wasted most of the day going to view it and it being rubbish, not wanting to waste the next day driving home i cancelled the hotel and drove the 350 miles back home in one go. 700miles to view a car was a lot, ill not be doing that again in a hurry!

Still, you have to do these things dont you :lol:
If you want to get the right car you do :D
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Post by Sl4yer »

Done a deal on a 1.6HDi this evening. Should get it on Saturday. VERY diesely at idle / low speed, but the economy and tax really clinched it for me. Just got to find a (hopefully) good home for the ZX now... :cry:

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Post by Citroenmad »

hmm, a 1.6HDi, never given them much thought really. What did you think to the engine apart from the noise?

What spec have you gone for?
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Post by Sl4yer »

It's an Exclusive. Very nippy - similar performance to the ZX, although it won't be as much fun (or probably as reliable!).

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Post by Citroenmad »

Very nice spec the Exclusive. Its shame they didnt make it with the smaller engines. The 1.6HDi is the best engine in the Exclusive, the 1.4HDi 16v is hopeless.

AC is the only thing our C3 needs to have, other than that im not too borthered. Desire spec is what we have been looking at.

Its a shame Citroens engines and electrics arnt as bomb proof as they were in the 90s, though they do offer more economy, performance and gizmos.
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Post by Sl4yer »

Picked up the car today, and am very impressed so far. It's a good motorway cruiser, and all the toys work! Hopefully it will stay that way... 8-)

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Post by Citroenmad »

Very good, glad your happy with it :)

We're not in a great hurry, but if the right one comes along we shall have it.

Did you look at any other small cars other than the C3, James?
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Post by Sl4yer »

Citroenmad wrote:Did you look at any other small cars other than the C3, James?
Ha ha! Anything shiny really! :wink:

She was set on an Audi A2, and I was trying to steer her towards an A-Class Merc since the A2s are now all getting on and overpriced. After reading reports on the expensive issues with the A-Class, I rapidly went off the idea. I suggested a C3, not expecting a great response, but she really liked the ones we saw. She's chuffed to bits with the one we've bought. The Bluetooth phone is especially popular!

I Lexia'd it earlier, and am a little bit wary that I've found why it was such good value. It's showing a permanent fault of no current to the glowplugs. :shock: The fault cleared, and I'll have to see if it returns. Shouldn't be too difficult to sort (I'd guess!) and it would have to be REALLY cold for a DI engine not to start at all.

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Post by Citroenmad »

Oh yes, i remember the thread about when you said about wanting an A2. Good cars but not really value for money in my opinion.

I think we shall have a look around at some other cars too, before settling on one. C3 is the favourite at the moment though.
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Post by meexi »

James?
It's showing a permanent fault of no current to the glowplugs. James
Mines has that fault all the time i keep clearing it it always starts (touch wood)

only problem i have found is that my 1.4 hdi 16v has blown the flexi bit on the exhaust and i cannot get a replacement as tha car was only in production for two years before being replaced with the 1.6 hdi 16v
2004 C3 XTR HDI 16V 92bhp
2004 Xsara Picasso Exclusive HDI 16V 110bhp
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Post by Sl4yer »

That's good to hear! (That it always starts, not that it's got the fault... :wink: ).

Thanks,

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Post by bencowell »

Chris,

I've driven the 1.1, 1.4, 1.4HDI, 1.4HDI 92 and 1.6 HDI 90.

The 1.4 petrol is an old engine that has stood the test of time and can be traced back to the ZX. It is smooth enough and would be my choice for a 5k a year car.

If you were doing more miles or a lot of motorway, I'd say the 1.6 HDI.

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Post by Citroenmad »

Yes i think the 1.4i would be ample for what it will be used for.

We are also considering a C4 5 door too, though need to have a better look at those. Probably a petrol agian but not sure abuot that one.

It will be my mums daily car, at the moment we all use her car when she doesnt have it as its so small its really easy to nip around town in. A bigger car would be much more use for her though.

The Seat she has at the moment was my second car, its an 03 reg 1.0 Arosa S. When i got something else i didnt want to part with it and it became my mums car. So it wasnt her choice of car but she has grown to like it. But she wants a change now and is wanting something with air con and a boot.

Fuel economy isnt a worry as the mileage will be low anyway. She used to have a V8 Ranger Rover which did 10MPG round the town, so anything is better than that :lol: Followed by a Renault RX4 2.0 - 20mpg in the town, and the Xm auto and Xantia Activa - again 20MPG around town. The Scenic II 1.9Dci didnt seem to like being confined to the town, it would start to run rough, so i think petrols would maybe be better.

There are no major problems reported with C3s in this thread, which is good! I know the 1.4HDi 16v is a little iffy but apart from that they seem pretty good.
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Post by danielsydney »

I have a 1.4 auto here in Australia.Apart from the failing Sagem injectors it has been totally reliable.
C3 Automatic.
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Post by Citroenmad »

Yes that does seem an odd feature, for the windscreen washers to ruin the injectors.

We are still no further forward with getting a C3. I think the spec we would go for would be the 1.4i petrol in Desire spec, around 06-07 in year. These seem the most popular and easy to find spec and all have air con, which is a must.

However, we have another car in mind .... we have narrowed the choice down to two cars, the Citroen C3 and Renault Modus.

We all like the Modus, i think its a great looking little car, though it does offer more space than its size would suggest and they are something a little bit different, which is always nice.

We had one on loan from Renault a few years ago while our ScenicII was in for something or other. It was the basic, lowest powered DCi model but it was great. I even had 80MPG from it on one trip. The interior space was great and i found it very comfortable and refined. I prefered it to our DCi Scenic at the time.

So one of those is on the cards at the moment, as well as the C3, just depends what turns up.

Though i think it will be a petrol Modus, the 1.4 does plenty to the gallon and they are less complex than the DCi engines.

Though finding a Modus with air conditioning doesnt seem all too easy. Even the Dynamique was not standard with AC, it was optional on Expression and above. WHich is dissapointing as it does rather limit a search to ones which have optional AC fitted. Privelige does have AC but they are not easy to find either.

So it would have to be a 1.4 Expression or Dynamique with optional AC around 06 onwards. They are around but will have to travel to get the right one.

We know a good renault specialist so im going to ask to see what they think to the MOdus and what problems to look out for.

There seems to be one or two people on here with a Modus, if you read this, what do you think to them?
Chris
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