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Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - andrea cornwall

I have a 2006 Citroen C3 that I like very much - it's been brilliant since I bought it 5 years ago and needed no repairs until it broke down this week in France with a broken clutch. I'm being quoted 950 euros for the clutch to be repaired there, which is about £800. The car is only worth about £700, so the insurance won't cover recovering it to the UK. It ought to be a no-brainer to sc*** it but I am torn because it's been such a reliable little car and I'm sure it has a few years left in it. Any advice?

Edited by andrea cornwall on 10/07/2024 at 21:00

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - elekie&a/c doctor
Tricky one . Is there any exclusion on your policy that states they won’t recover if the repairs exceed the value of the car ??
Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - andrea cornwall

Yes there is - although I guess they'd need to establish its market value, I just put it into a website to see what it was valued at, so it might be worth a try.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - SLO76
Bit expensive for a clutch, but what other car can you buy for £800? You’ll need £3k upwards to get a viable replacement in todays market so if the wee car is otherwise good, get it repaired.
Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - Adampr

It does sound rather expensive, but I agree that it probably makes sense to repair it. You won't find a usable car for less in the current market.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - bathtub tom

Be careful about leaving it in France (if it's a UK registered car). You may be liable for all sorts of import duties!

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - andrea cornwall

thank you for that, I will look into it!

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - bazza

It makes sense to repair it I think. You should then get a few more years out of it with luck and sell it for a few hundred as it's already depreciated fully.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - Andrew-T

I'm being quoted 950 euros for the clutch to be repaired there, which is about £800. The car is only worth about £700, so the insurance won't cover recovering it to the UK. It ought to be a no-brainer to sc*** it but I am torn because it's been such a reliable little car and I'm sure it has a few years left in it. Any advice?

Try looking at it another way. If you had spent £150 each of those 5 years to keep it running you would probably have done it without thinking. When you pay that all at once it feels different, but hasn't cost any more overall. The car sounds like a good 'un, so it may be worth keeping it on the road ?

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - badbusdriver

Looked at prices on line and using a couple of random postcodes and a random reg number for a 2006 C3 petrol, the price coming up on a comparison website (for a "mobile" fitter) is £452. So it does seem rather expensive and I'm suspecting the price you have been quoted is not what a local resident would pay!

However, as annoying as that is, I'd also agree with the notion that having the clutch done is the best option. As has been said, buying a viable replacement in todays used car market is going to cost a lot more than £800. And if you were to buy another cheap car, it may turn out to be a wreck, so better the devil you know. Assuming yours is a petrol, they are simple cars with little to go wrong.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - John F

.... it's been such a reliable little car and I'm sure it has a few years left in it. Any advice?

Years or miles? Excepting collision, it's usually rust that limits the age and mechanical failure that limits the distance. How many miles has it done and how rusty underneath is it? A low mileage corrosion-free car should last longer than many humans (my 1980 TR7 at 73k miles is a sprightly 44 ;-). Also, is this a Citroen dealer quote? Perhaps there is a nearby cheaper indy who would do it for less on what should be an easy well known car to work on? I too would probably favour the repair option if the rest of the car is good. Any replacement car would almost certainly depreciate at more than £800 a year; this old C3 has virtually stopped depreciating.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - Gibbo_Wirral

Guessing its a dual mass flywheel clutch system if price is around £800?

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - andrea cornwall

thank you so much everyone. I forgot to mention, it has 50,000 miles on the clock, which is why I think of it as having life left in it still.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - Steveieb

Forgive me if this sounds obvious but I take it that by insurance you mean recovery to the UK by an organisation like the AA ?

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - andrea cornwall

yes, the RAC's overseas breakdown service

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - elekie&a/c doctor
Can’t see the point of having overseas cover if the RAC are not going to bring it home or contribute to the cost of repairs. Seems odd to me.

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 12/07/2024 at 09:29

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - John F

thank you so much everyone. I forgot to mention, it has 50,000 miles on the clock, which is why I think of it as having life left in it still.

Absolutely! If well maintained, another 50,000 miles should be easily expected. But clutch failure so soon suggests, ahem, a mechanically unsympathetic driving style.

www.phoenixtransmissionshop.com/tips-to-extend-the.../

An experienced competent driver should get over 100,000 miles out of a clutch. (Our old family car, a 1983 Passat GL5 estate, was traded in at 192,000 miles with its original clutch - although it did keep snapping its clutch cable every 35-40,000 miles - thanks to it having to adapt to the UK right hand drive position).

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - Andrew-T

<< A .. sympathetic .. driver should get over 100,000 miles out of a clutch. (Our old family car, a 1983 Passat GL5 estate, was traded in at 192,000 miles with its original clutch - although it did keep snapping its clutch cable every 35-40,000 miles. >>

Agreed. Over fifty years ago I sold a Morris 1100 estate to a friend, who took it to over 90K miles, still on its original clutch. In 60 years I have never had any clutch work done on any car - tho I must admit that none of them went beyond 100K.

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - andrea cornwall

Yes - I wondered about that too, no idea of the history of the vehicle but I'm definitely going to stop lending it to my ex-husband and daughter's boyfriend if I get it fixed as neither of them drive very well!

Citroen C3 - advice re old Citroen C3 - Steveieb

Morning Andrea,

Can you please expand on what the RAC have told you in their decision. This may alert our members to review their overseas breakdown cover and find a policy from a company like Brittania Rescue who may be more helpful in this situation.

Are you still stranded overseas or have you left the car where it broke down ?