Citroen Synergie 2000 8 Seater

[bumbleberry14]

Hiya,

I'm after some info about these older synergies - Do the rear sliding doors have a feature which means you have to tug on the handle a couple of times before the doors activate and slide open? I know this sounds ridiculous but the garage seem to think its normal, yet it can be 2, 3, 4 or 5 quick tugs before the doors open which leads me to believe its a load of tosh? They open fine from inside the vehicle and slide smoothly once open.. Also are the brakes supposed to be 'spongy' - again I've been told it's age related - I know it's an old vehicle but I'm 38 weeks pregnant and need a car big enough to fit my 4 kids in and is also safe.. it would be handy if the doors undo too

Would anyone be able to enlighten me?

Many thanks

Emma

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi Emma, welcome to the Forum.

The sliding doors are a known issue, which can be down to the runners being damaged causing the door to get stuck or only slide part of the way.

There car will be about 18 years old now, so you will have to expect some issues. The 2lt petrol will be about £500 a year to tax too. These are 7 seaters, not 8 AFAIK, but the seats can be removed quite easily if needed. Like any car a service history will be key and any history of repairs replacement parts will be key. If you haven't bought it yet, make sure on a car this old that you get an independent inspection, or a mechanic you may know, which may be worth it. Check for rust on the subframe and the sills. As far as safety goes, I believe it got a 3 star NCAP rating back in 1999. The vehicle chassis is shared with the Peogeut 806 and the Fiat Ulysses if I remember correctly. It was replaced. Y the Citroen C8 which may be worth a look too being a newer design. The C8 got a 5 star NCAP safety rating in 2003.

[bumbleberry14]

Thanks Marc,

The car is at my usual garage, he's helped us out loads with my very faulty 307 se sw -- I have no reason to mistrust him, however I know the car has needed a lot more doing to it to get it up and running than he anticipated -- as far as I know it came into him as a part-ex needing a new clutch and has been sat since last December - It's had a cambelt, cluth & cable, water pump, ball joint, MOT, some tyres, a couple of new door locks and various bulbs - I suspect its a case that doing much more to it will outweigh any small profit he might make from doing it all - it's cleaned up really well - its just with a huge belly in front of me I couldn't really test drive it properly - I have read that there is a rod in the sliding door which can be adjusted to make the mechanism engage properly, it's one of those silly issues which is likely to drive me bonkers over time

If we can recitfy the doors and make the brakes abit more responsive I'd be keener to go ahead and buy it.

Thanks again,
Emma

[Andy F]

Hi Emma, welcome to FCF.

Sounds like all the big jobs have been done! The Synergie is fairly simple compared to modern cars, so I would be confident it would be reliable, I think the later Euro Van 2 models (C8 807) weren't quite as reliable as the Synergie and 806. Certainly online reviews and my experience seem to reflect this.

Do the doors run the full length of their travel? in which case the runners are likely to be fine, the fact they operate fine from the inside suggests runners are in good order and the rod is perhaps slack/ bent to the exterior handle.

Being a 2000 model it wont attract the big tax bill (before March 2001 there were only two tax brackets smaller the 1549cc and bigger than 1549cc) the Synergie being a 2000cc model will be £235 per year.

8 seaters will have a bench for the third row instead of two individual chairs. It was available as an option on Synergie and C8 from the factory. I never did find one for my C8 when I had it, wish I had!
Can't comment on the brakes as it's been a long time since I have driven a Synergie.

Andy

[GiveMeABreak]

Just noticed the year of your Synergie Emma - so as Andy says reduced tax bill!

Here's a video review of the synergie (although a bit dated) which will give you the low down in a bit of the detail

[bumbleberry14]

Andy, Marc - thanks! I can see clearly that the doors open on the first tug as suspected -- I can at least have a fiddle with that and see if it can be improved - the doors do slide to the full length and are very smooth, they also open perfectly from inside the vehicle - at a push I could open them from behind the front door pillars and be done with it.

You guys are being very helpful, I really appreciate it - do you know if there are any known issues with the heating/windscreen clearing system - it didn't seem like much air was coming from the vents -- I remember my old 406 being good for clearing windows but the 307 is awful.

I think I need to go and attempt driving it again and take it on a straighter road so the brakes don't freak me out, pregnant and buying cars are not a great mix.

The garage owner said this was a nice version being the 8 seater, we are just weighing up its cost and anything it may cost in the future - it probably won't be big enough in the long-run - but in lack of any other options we either fix my 307 (again) and have no boot space with 7 seats in it, or buy the synergie and hope for the best while we keep looking for something bigger (is it swearing to mention vw's here?!)

The youtube review is handy, the double buggy will fit in the boot and the dog, just - and we may take one seat out and move an isofix seat to the middle position to give easier access to the back and a bit more space for gubbins..

Thanks again,
Emma

Edit: The stop light on the dash when the ignition is on doesn't appear to go off, I sat for nearly 2minutes waiting..

[Hell Razor5543]

I wonder if the pollen filter (if it has one) has clogged. I remember changing it on my first Xantia, and almost got pinned into my seat the first time I fired up the car, the air flow difference was that great!

[GiveMeABreak]

The good thing is the configurable seats Emma, so at least you can potch about til you get a suitable combo. On some vehicles the stop light will go out when the handbrake is release, but not sure on the Synergie. I do like the way the driver and passenger seats spin round to face the back.

I think the sensible thing is, allow some budget for future work just in case, and another test drive just to make sure you are happy. The air con may just need a recharge, check Kwik Fit or ATS as they generally won't charge if they can't make it cooler. Best of luck if you do go ahead with it.

[bumbleberry14]

I'll have a go with the handbrake idea thanks ~ The configurable seats are very good and the cap'n seats! The kids loved it - I can go and have another look armed with a bit more info

I'll inquire about the pollen filter too, I think if we do have it we'll stick it through a service anyway.

If anyone happens across a youtube vid for the door rods I'd be interested to see .

Thanks for all the help,
Emma

[Harlequin]

What spec is it? I owned a 1.9td SX for 4 years. Be careful of the big slide sun roof . The rubber perishes with age and unless it's lubricated the roof gets stuck on closing.

Also is it petrol or diesel?

[bumbleberry14]

Its a 1.9 TD SX 8 seat - feb 2000 diesel - its got a windy tilt/slide sunroof .

Emma

[Harlequin]

does it have front fog lights? the LX didn't , the SX did and the VSX has alloys.
The SX also has 2 sunroof - a tilt one above the driver and the large slide one above the middle row of seats.

as for the door - when mine did it , I cleaned the lock on the door part and liberally used some spray lubricant.

[Harlequin]

Jan 2000 onwards they introduced a 2 litre HDi , previously it was a 1.9TD engine

[demag]

I've just bought one this week. There was a known issue with the sliding door locks which I think can be repaired/adjusted. The brake pedal on mine is soft but it stops ok. Above the windscreen is the clock and an outline of the car. That shows if any doors are not shut correctly. My stop light was flashing and I noticed the tailgate was open.

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[Hell Razor5543]

I wonder if one or more dash lights have failed bulbs? That might help explain the STOP light, as the car would normally turn on another light, to let you know what is at fault. The car is trying to tell you, but the relevant bulb may have blown.