My C4 Picasso was bought from a Citroen main dealer as a 4-mth-old used demonstrator with 2000 miles on the clock. I was able to add Citroen backup to the level of the Hyundai 5-year deal. The main pros of the car are its stylish looks (it turns heads), and fuel economy of which I am pleased. The 1.6 diesel engine should be reliable as it is used in so many other makes of cars. A 60mpg ave is based on a 64 mile daily run of 16 miles in London and 8 miles country roads against the rush hour, with 40 motorway miles, not in boy-racer style. Handling is good and the turning circle, very good. Space in the rear with seats up or down is good, and the screen navigation features are impressive.

The cons are the same screen navigation which can make you take your eyes off the road. Riding high in this car, which is why people would buy it, is annoyingly obstructed by the sliding sun visor which will rub against your head. Forget the seat massage function – not worth the extra money. A real gripe with this car is that the driver’s seat quickly becomes very uncomfortable. After 4000 miles the driver seat sinks causing the hard plastics underneath and around the seat to bite into your thighs – it is ridiculous to have to buy a wedge cushion for a car under one year old. The manual gearbox and gear shift is below par: clunky/notchy – unforgiveable in a car of this supposed quality.

Electrics problems (a Citroen issue) have not arisen in the last 4 months since I’ve had the vehicle, but as I was buying the car, another buyer of the same model (900 miles on clock), was bringing his back as the all the electronic gubbins had gone down. This car will depreciate by thousands after the first year, and then flatten out, so it’s probably better to buy a year-old car with some of the warrantee left over, and a wedge cushion. I have mixed feelings about this car.

Edited by Avant on 02/11/2014 at 15:32