I am at last persuaded by my 15-year-old and 7-year-old sons that my trusty 1996 Synergie should be consigned to history at 115K miles, and replaced with a C8 2.2 HDi 6-speed. Having driven one recently, I am sorely tempted. Anyone think any different? Those of you who want to slag off the car just because it's a) a Citroen, b) French, c) a people carrier, go and polish your prejudices on another thread.
The people at the local dealer are so easy to deal with, but elder son did his work experience there recently - could he be on commission?
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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We have a C8 2.2HDi on our fleet at work. Its used a pool car most of the time so nobody is really accountable for looking after it. Its a nice smooth car to drive, it handles reasonably car-like for an MPV and theres plenty of room in it - we have put 6 adults in it on several occasions (ours is the Exclusive CC version). Its an 03 plate and its done about 30k to date. Nothing major has ever gone wrong with it, although the keyfob was replaced at one stage as it stopped working.
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This car was on our shortlist and we almost bought one until SWMBO demanded a completely different type of car, but that's another story..
I did a lot of research. Given the deals Citroen are offering it's a great buy. A colleague has one, and like Quinny has nothing but praise for it. The only criticism I would have is that the 2.0 diesel was a bit gutless on an auto box. Go for the 2.2HDI manual.
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This may not be a very significant point, but I spent half of last month in France and they appear to have shifted in volume over there! In a short space of time they are all over the place. Many were without the third row of seats and seem to be being used as transport of choice in lieu of a traditional saloon/estate. There must be good reasons why they have sold so well!
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Thanks for your replies, good people.
HJ - it won't be an automatic; let's hope it was a one-off.
Longdriver - a Galaxy was removed from my short list in 1994 when I had a high mileage Citroen XM to trade in. The local Ford dealer guffawed and offered me a derisory figure. It was almost as if he didn't want my business. Guess what? He didn't get it then and he won't get it now.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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I didn't say "Get a Galaxy from a Ford dealer".
Citroen XMs are somewhat of a love-em-or-hate-em car anyway!
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PS, you did well to try and buy a Galaxy in 1994, as they weren't introduced until mid-1995 :op
(tongue in cheek of course!)
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If you're anti-Ford, try the Seat Alhambra which is a Galaxy in drag. The C8 seems OK and if you are happy with dealer from experience with a Synergie, then I suppose that would be a reasonable way to go. But have you thought about "the daddy" of them all, and tried the latest Espace?
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If we're being pedantic, which we're probably not, the Galaxy was previewed in the motorshows ten years ago on the basis that Ford may as well show something as, at the time, it had nothing to compete in the MPV market. I'm sure you could also go to your Ford dealer and at least get information on them.
Actually it doesn't feel like a basically ten year old design, so they must have been doing something right.
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IMHO the Galaxy is still up there with the front-runners of the MPV world, even though it's only got less than a year to go before it ceases to exist in it's bi/tri-partate Ford/VW/SEAT form.
It's not just me either - unless I'm mistaken, it still currently outsells all other full-size MPVs.
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The "facelift" of the Galaxy and its sisters in 2000 was much more than just new lights and dashboard. Much of the car was changed under the skin (as well as the skin itself) and it is quite surprising just how many bits have been upgraded during unannounced minor upgrades since 2000. Depending on which magazines you read, the Galaxy still rides and handles better than some of the newer MPVs even if some, like the C8 appear to offer more interior space. I'm not keen on the central instrument dials though, but I would suggest that you try the Espace - which has much slimmer windscreen pillars that really give a better, safer view to the front and front sides. I reckon that the C8's front pillars are even thicker than those of the Galaxy.
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PS, you did well to try and buy a Galaxy in 1994, as they weren't introduced until mid-1995 :op (tongue in cheek of course!)
Ooops! At my age evidently memory is such a fragile thing!
Recalculation with Mrs H's assistance shows the date of Galaxy rejection to be 1997. Apologies.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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The Fiat Uylsse is of the same family of the Cit and Pug, all have the same body and transmission but with different refinements to interiors.
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There is also a Super luxes model badged as a Lancia in mainland Europe
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