Marc's X7, C3 Aircross, Rants, Raves & Everything Else

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks for putting that up Mick - I will check the link as soon as I can - just had to put an additive replacement guide up for another member.

[mickthemaverick]

Marc, Sorry to say I put the wrong link up!! That one for carmatsonlineuk was the place I returned some to because they were too thin, the place I got them from was:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-C3-A ... 1284894919

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok, clocked that. They look very similar to some of the others - I'll have a squiz tomorrow.

[RichardW]

I've got grip control on my 3008 - not had much reason to use it - almost no snow last winter, and no going out this winter! However, on one day where it was a bit slippy it did seem to work - it just kept going whereas I would have expected to struggle without.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes looking forward to testing that out Richard.

Seems good enough for the Italian Alps:



A good test is at time index 08:18 in the video where he tests starting off without the snow mode on where is swerves and struggles a bit, and then at 08:32 where he switches it on. I like the reversing up the ice covered hill at 09:52 - there's no way my C5 could of done that.

Crikey those Italians can't half waffle!

[GiveMeABreak]

The next thing I've done is to get a Screen Protector for the Connected Nav touchscreen.

Before I bought the one below, initially ignoring it because of the model, I bought a cheap one from some vendor for a 9.7" tablet - that was a waste of time as it was far larger and was larger than the described diagonal size to also cover the other area of a tablet! So watch out for those.

There are very few of these about and I wanted a tempered glass one. So I did a bit of research and compared part numbers with the latest standard C3 and the touchscreens have the same part number. As it happens there are plenty of these about for latest C3, so I took a punt on one of these:

These are made in Germany and was here within a week.

Bought from Amazon. This one is a little reflective it may seem from the pictures, however driving out and about today whilst going for a mountain walk we actually had some sun, and it didn't affect the display at all. There is a Matte version too, so that should be even less reflective.

This offers 9H hardness and is very flexible to put on.

Don't use any alcohol or solvent to clean the screen first - I just used some reading glasses cleaner that doesn't contain any of these as you don't want to take off any of the screen coating.

I also made sure there was little to no floating dust about in the car (as best you can) and used a few credit cards to gently smooth out the the air as it went on a little at a time. So I just gradually peeled the backing a little at a time as I flattened it on with the cards. Took less than a minute. I do have about a 1mm gap on the left but can live with that. I just didn't want to risk misaligning it. If I need to replace it in future with the Matte version, I'll maybe leave a little extra space on the right.

Link here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... UTF8&psc=1

[GiveMeABreak]

So many of you know my ranting about the abysmal state of the roads where I am, well yesterday whilst out for the weekly shop, I noticed a nice little crack in the windscreen on the driver’s right side. This soon turned into a 10” crack by the time we got home .

Then began the long saga of phone calls, being on hold and not being very happy. It turns out that when I finally got through, they needed my car into one of their centres to undertake the ADAS calibration. The issue is that the windscreen repair place was about 75 miles away and a one and a half hour drive away.

At the time I was more concerned about driving the car that distance and the crack widening, apart from potentially being in breach of section 40 of the Road Traffic Regs.

My insurance company uses National Windscreens which I hadn’t seen to many good reviews about...

So just to see how much the job would cost privately I decided to get a quote from Autoglass. They initially gave me the incorrect information, saying my car didn’t need calibration and gave me a price of £455. So looking at the official documentation in front of me that states the calibration is essential if replacing the camera or windscreen, we had an argument about that, and after 20 minutes of putting me on hold and checking info, she admitted they were wrong and that my vehicle did need this.

She then said, wait for it, “the good news is that the price includes the calibration...” and before I could say anything she started recalculating the price... “...so that will £750 all in to fit and calibrate”.

Well scrub that, so did some research and it seems I can drive the car as long as my field of vision is not obstructed and on the way for a repair. So booked that in and of course, the windscreen is on back order so won't be in for a week or 2.... That means a whole day allocated for this, a 3 hour min. round driving trip and a 2 hour wait whilst there.

My lesson here is when checking for insurance next year, I will be seeing who they contract windscreen work to. Autoglass although expensive privately, has a centre much nearer to me, so will be looking for a company that contracts with them.

My insurance company wouldn’t compromise when I suggested they come out and do the windscreen using their mobile service, then I could get the calibration done at my dealer and reclaim the costs from them!

So if anyone has any ADAS systems in their car (Collision Alert, Autonomous Braking, Lane Departure Warning, Speed Sign recognition, Active cruise etc.) it might be worth checking out who does the windscreen replacements and where their nearest centre is to you....

For now it will be an opportunity to give the other C3 a run until we get the repair done on the Aircross

[CitroJim]

Gosh The potentially hidden costs of running one of these modern wonder-boxes is horrifying...

I think I'll stick to my cars from the last century!

[GiveMeABreak]

Indeed Jim - that's 'progress' for you! No doubt I shall be reporting back after the entire stress-inducing episode has been completed in a weeks' time.

[mickthemaverick]

That is, to me, a ludicrous cost for a cracked windscreen when you consider that I bought the C5 I have just sold for £550, spent £283 on maintenance and repairs over a two year period while travelling 17000 ish miles and sold it for £750 despite the screen issue, it is easy to see why I am with Jim!! Plus I suspect my C5 Exclusive SE 2.2 HDi was a more comfortable and competent performer than the vast majority of modern cars!! Having said that the replacement Subaru has everything the C5 had except the ride of course, and is equally capable but then it is only 3 years younger!!

[GiveMeABreak]

It's the way it's all going unfortunately - you'll be hard-pressed to find a new car without some sort of driver aids - and of course these will ultimately filter down over the years onto the second /third hand market.

I think back now at the launch of the C5 MK I when I had mine and when rain sensitive wipers and auto lighting were all new and not on many other popular makes at the time and the auto windows opening and closing and all that - which cars don't have that now? (Apart from Jim's Saxo maybe )

[CitroJim]

which cars don't have that now? (Apart from Jim's Saxo maybe )

All my Saxo has is electric windows and central locking - by key!

Daffodil does not even have that... And nor does daughter Robyn's C1 - possibly the last ever truly basic and simple, straightforward car...

I often think there's a gap in the market for truly basic cars - they seem entirely extinct now.

[white exec]

IIRC, I think around the time of C5 launch, customers were handed a form at the time of their first Service, on which they could tick which of the automatic features they wanted switched off . . .

BX is nicely manual for most things: central locking by key, windey-windey-windows at the back (but one-touch/electric at the front), driver's door mirror by mechanical lever (electric on other side).

More toys, more to go wrong!

[NewcastleFalcon]

In the thread "Philosophy and Cars" kicked off by Richard C and generating a few interesting contributions, Jim mentioned the simplicity of the generation of the C1 which he had, as being one of the last of the simple cars.

While the newer generation of C1 has moved on, I found it amusing that on the Citroen website at the time, certain features were highlighted. Check out Number 1.....



Maybe the C1 does retain its sense of simplicity with number one of its highlighted features being a puncture repair kit

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

In the thread "Philosophy and Cars" kicked off by Richard C and generating a few interesting contributions, Jim mentioned the simplicity of the generation of the C1 which he had, as being one of the last of the simple cars.

While the newer generation of C1 has moved on, I found it amusing that on the Citroen website at the time, certain features were highlighted. Check out Number 1.....



Maybe the C1 does retain its sense of simplicity with number one of its highlighted features being a puncture repair kit

Regards Neil

My bike has one of those!!!