New member here, Australia-based owner of a 2014 DS3 (1.6 auto), bought from its original owner about a year ago at around 80,000kms, and before that a 2007 C3… and my parents had a DS23 when I was a kid in the 80s!
Perhaps the reason I haven’t joined this forum before is that my Citroens have always been completely trouble-free, however recently the DS3’s infotainment/telematics system has died and solutions from professionals have not been forthcoming so I’d be interested to know what other people have done about this. (My car has the larger screen, GPS-equipped system that I believe was introduced around 2014).
Essentially the problem is that the system doesn’t seem to boot up properly. It sometimes flashes up with the introductory “Citroen” screen, but then blacks out after a while and starts again a little bit later. Sometimes the radio will come on for a while and then off again unexpectedly – and sometimes it stays on even after the engine is shut off. None of the buttons work at all.
When it’s attempting to boot up I can hear a noise a bit like a fan, or an old-school hard drive spooling up, but then it stops again…
Perhaps one thing to note is that this problem started not long after I had taken the car on a long drive on a bumpy gravel road, so I wonder whether this might have dislodged something.
The only solution my local Citroen centre can propose is to replace the entire telematics unit/circuit boards (RT6 unit – 1612414180), at a cost of close to AU$3500 (about £1800) for the part alone, which I’m not too keen on – but then it seems that local stereo places don’t have a specified aftermarket option either.
It’s also been suggested that the SD card could be corrupted – but apparently these are no longer available, at least for the Australian market!
And there weren’t many DS3s sold in Australia – especially the later models with the large screen type of infotainment, so finding one from a wreck could be tricky…
So anyway, nice to meet you and grateful for any advice!... stick to classics maybe?
Stephen F.
