C4 Picasso faulty box

[DeadonArrival]

Hello, I bought a used car from a private person on Monday, registered it on Tuesday and got new tires the following day because the old summer tires were expired. Unfortunately, since the car was deregistered, there was only one test drive around the corner possible, where it was parked. The journey to the ATU to buy tires was 2x1.5km.

The next day was the first longer ride (approx. 30km). It was no longer possible to drive back from the parking lot because the car displayed an error message indicating gearbox faulty and active energy saving (I’m from Germany so I hope the error messages are correct translated). The car won’t start, just a beep and the error message. It also stuck on A1. You have to manual lose the break. So you can just listening music with this cat by now..

We had the ADAC (something like roadside rescue cover) tow it to the nearest car repair shop, which couldn't do anything, so we had to arrange for it to be transported to a Citroën repair shop. The check will be examined there next week.

The seller denies knowing about the damage, we did a short test drive (2 minutes) and he drove it too (wasn't it deregistered?). Since the date on the car said 2007, I wanted to know what it was all about. He said he changed the battery. People in the repair shop were surprised because it was rusty. The seller said he hadn't installed a new one.

I don’t know what we can expect from Citroen, maybe you have suggestions.

[GiveMeABreak]

First thing I would check is the car battery condition. If the battery is weak it will start interfering with the correct operation of the electronics - which require certain voltages to operate properly.

Hopefully your mechanics will be able to provide a diagnostic for you.

[DeadonArrival]

The ADAC guy had a booster to the battery and nothing changed. He told us, with this booster, he can start a truck.

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok so if you are taking it to a Citroen dealer (not sure if this is what you meant) they will undertake a thorough diagnostic on it and advise. If you are not taking it to Citroen, then it needs a proper diagnostic using Lexia / Diagbox, then pop any codes you get from the scan up here with your VIN.

[DeadonArrival]

Yeah, so Citroën should be what I meant. I m wondering what we have to pay just for checking what’s wrong.

[GiveMeABreak]

In the UK, they have a fixed price of £120 for up to 1 hour of diagnostics, so I suspect it will be an equivalent amount.