Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes?

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 08:05
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - Woodfern01

Looking at a 2010 Grand C4 Picasso which I'm seriously considering buying.

Did a check on it and there is a mileage discrepancy from its RMI record, where it went backwards from 25k to 19k miles.

However, on the entry before that, it seems to have jumped from 18k to 25k miles in one day!:

18/03/2013 20,214 MOT

06/03/2013 19,141 (Reduced -6,228 miles) Mileage issue RMI MIL'GE

17/12/2012 25,369 RMI MIL'GE

17/12/2012 18,369 BVRLA

06/12/2012 18,030 BVRLA/RMI MIL'GE

24/01/2012 11,212 BVRLA/RMI MIL'GE

I'm thinking the 18k reading from Dec 2012 is the correct one, in which case it went up by some 800 miles by the following March, which seems more plausible.

Do they tend to make errors like this, or should I be concerned?

Edited by Woodfern01 on 08/08/2023 at 08:06

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 09:00
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - badbusdriver

There may well be some rational explanation for it, but it would certainly put me off. Well that and the fact that a 13 year old Citroen is unlikely to prove a trouble free buy!.

Obviously any 13 year old car is going to come with a certain amount of risk, but a C4 Picasso more than most. Most common engines are 1.6 petrol and diesel. The petrol engine is the notorious PSA/BMW "Prince" engine and should really be avoided full stop. The diesel does have a reputation, but reliability does seem to hinge on diligent servicing and the fact that it is critical the correct oil spec is used. Not easy to find out on a car of that age.

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 09:17
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - badbusdriver

Looking at cars of a similar type but safer bets from a reliability point of view, you should really ignore diesel. It is easy to focus only on mpg when thinking of running costs, but there is more to it than that. A diesel of that sort of age is going to be a fairly complex modern one which, should something go wrong, could easily write the car off.

I'd recommend looking at the following petrol engined options, Ford C-Max (not the 1.0 Ecoboost), Toyota Verso, Mazda 5 and Vauxhall Zafira.

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 10:32
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - Woodfern01

Thanks. As it turns out, it has no service history anyway so obviously a no-go.

Would your comment apply to all diesels of that sort of age? Seen a low-mileage S-max 1.8 TDCi which looks in good nick and from a quick google they seem to have a better rep than Citroen's HDI

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 10:58
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - badbusdriver

Thanks. As it turns out, it has no service history anyway so obviously a no-go.

Would your comment apply to all diesels of that sort of age? Seen a low-mileage S-max 1.8 TDCi which looks in good nick and from a quick google they seem to have a better rep than Citroen's HDI

As a general rule, a diesel of this age wouldn't really be recommended. There is a point where the money saved in mpg outweighs the extra servicing costs of a diesel, but that is usually considered about 15k+ per annum.

I actually had a Ford Transit Connect with that engine and over the course of 8 year, had no mechanical issues outwith normal servicing costs. But when I came to replace it, I would definitely have gone for a petrol engined alternative if there were more available. As it is, I went for a VW Caddy with the 2.0 non turbo diesel, because it was one of the "least risky" diesel options (Citroen Berling or Peugeot partner with the non turbo 1.9 diesel would have probably been better!).

Buying a used car, especially at 10+ years old, is always going to be a risk. It is up to you how much of a risk you want to take (and of course you may get lucky). But if you want that risk to be as small as it can be then the best option is to go with a n/a petrol engine in a car known to be reliable anyway.

Going back to the S-Max, I believe the 2.0 diesel is considered more reliable overall and of course it does have that bit more power and torque for what is a big and heavy car.

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 09:22
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - elekie&a/c doctor
On a 13 year old car , does it actually matter . How many miles has it done now ? Most C 4 models of this age have wrecked interiors due to the type of usage.
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Tue 8 Aug 2023 09:35
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - Andrew-T

Whatever the reason for this quirk, it happened 10 years ago, and presumably the record since then looks OK ? Not worth worrying about if that is the case.

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 10:01
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - pd

This is almost certainly due to mistyping many years ago. Or something simple like a mileage shouted across an office and misheard. It happens a lot.

In any case, as others have suggested, it makes absolutely no difference to the value of a 2010 C4 Picasso. All you should be concerned about is whether the car works or not at the moment.

I really wouldn't be too hung up about whether it is diesel or petrol - really all that matters is whether it has any major faults. If you get two years out of it you are winning. If you get 6 months out of it you probably still haven't done too badly.

Most of them will have the 1.6 diesel at that age. If the turbo isn't whistling, it isn't leaking much oil, the anti-pollution message isn't on and it doesn't go into limp mode when you boot it you might get a few decent miles out of it yet.

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Tue 8 Aug 2023 11:58
Citroen C4 Picasso - RMI Mileage discrepancy - do they make mistakes? - elekie&a/c doctor
The 1.8 Diesel engine is the old lynx 8 valve unit , derived from the Ford escort of the 80s . It’s an old plodder of a power train but generally reliable because of its simplicity. The the only thing to watch is that it’s likely to have a wet cambelt system , which needs to be checked for replacement intervals.
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