....." I know that Skidpan you are very impressed by your Skoda. But it's not the answer to every car choice conundrum! "

I don't imagine for one moment that skidpan will let the matter rest there .....

I did read that a petrol automatic is on the cards at some point in the (not too distant) future. But maybe we can't always believe everything we read, either here or elsewhere .... can we!!!

I was a tiny bit disappointed that the new incarnation has grown in size again. The very first Berlingo et al was compact (4135x1820) but roomy, and the next gen. got longer (4380x1810) and the latest one is 4403x1848 and would be a tight squeeze to get in and out of my garage. But there's nothing I can do about that.

It certainly has more storage compartments than a Superb - it's certainly taller and easier to get in and out of compared to a Superb and has a higher seating position compared to a Superb.

I have nothing against Superbs but, as has been said, just because you happen to drive one yourself doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Not sure i understand the term, 'expensive for a van', should a van be cheap?. A van earns its living, whereas most cars don't, so a van should surely be regarded with higher esteem, and a higher value placed on it?. A van based car is inherently going to be much more useful and versatile than a normal car, even one as big as a Superb. So i'm not sure why you think said car should be cheaper?. But as i said earlier, horses for courses, and i wouldn't imagine for one second you could see why a vehicle like that would be useful to some people, after all, that would neccessitate you looking at it from someone else's point of view. As for power and equipment, obviously this will come as a surprise, but not everyone feels the need to be constantly pampered (distracted?) by the latest (usually pointless) gadget, or feel they have to overtake anyone else going even slightly slower than themselves.

KB, yes, i too also have noticed and been disapointed by the increase in size, which isn't neccessary. Our old Partner Combi (yes, i know i said earlier it was a Berlingo Multispace, senior moment!) was a perfect size, but it seems that all cars are getting bigger for no real reason, especially in width, which is something of a bugbear of mind now that we live in a narrow Street. BTW, the 1st gen Berlingo/Partner was actually narrower than that,

www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot/cars/citro...F

I know that is the facelifted version, but the body was the same.

Edited by badbusdriver on 04/10/2018 at 11:56

I agree with Skidpan here that the list prices for these relatively simple van based cars are utterly daft.

Thanks for that, common sense as usual.

comparing a Berlingo MPV to a Skoda Superb is daft.

If you look at my first post I was not comparing a Berlingo with the Superb, I was actually suggesting, just as SLO now agrees, that the prices of these vehicles is daft. I was demonstrating how daft by using the Superb, a car I know well as a comparison.

I don't have any hatred of these vehicles, our neighbours at the last house had one and it was ideal for their 7 kids and 13 grand kids, god knows how many they have now, probably need a double decker. But 10 years ago they were good value.

A few figures:

08/58 The cheapest diesel Berlingo, a VT 1.6 HDI was £11335. Now the cheapest diesel Berlingo, a Feel HDI is £18850. That is an increase of £7515 or 66%.

08/58 The chepaset diesel Superb was the 1.9 TDI S at £15805. Now the cheapest diesel Superb is the 1.6 TDi CR S at £22130. That is an increase of £6325 or 40%.

Both are new models and both are almost certainly better equipped but the increase shows just how Citroen are having a laugh.

Factor in broker prices (Carfile as usual) the Citroen can be had for £15797, an increase of 39% over the 58 price. But the Superb can be had for £16359, an increase of just 3.5%.

So to repeat, I am not comparing the Berlingo and Superb but surely no one can argue that Citroens pricing policy has helped the Berlingo's reputation as a good value family car.

Don't forget that the incredibly spacious Dacia Logan can be had with the Turbo Petrol for £10095, £8495 with lower trim and no turbo.

Now that is good value and probably better built than a Citroen.

The Citroen / DS / Peugeot group build quality of vehicles is far superior to the Renault / Nissan / Dacia group vehicles

No idea about Renault group build quality but 230,000 miles in two Berlingos convinces me they're solidly built and durable.

There is a petrol 8 speed torque converter automatic that can be ordered now but they won’t be built until March 2019 for the UK market

That is not shown in the selectable configurations on the Citroen UK website, which seems to be a bit of a self inflicted wound if you are correct.

When a new model is introduced, often alongside run out deals on previous versions, pricing usually takes a while to settle down.

I need to explore towing weights for Rifter etc though I suspect they're no better than outgoing Berlingo which has a nasty gross train weight trap.

Bit of duplication - but in the current Honda CRV topic I just mentioned that the petrol auto is showing as available so thought it should maybe be included here too.

I was convinced I saw that the petrol auto was available but having gone back to the reviews I was reading yesterday I can see I was 100% wrong.

Apologies.