1.6 16v VTi Exclusive 5dr Hatchback

Nice features but let down by build quality and electrical problems

I've create a site detailing this review and the review of the DS3 i bought at www.c***pycitroen.co.uk

It took 13 weeks , from ordering the car on 29th Dec 2009, to the car arriving at the dealership. The dealers kept on extending the delivery date when they originally promised for early feb. Some of this was caused by the heavy show showers across Europe in Feb 2010. Original sales person resigned while the car was on order the new guy (Kevin) did a good job of keeping me on the road and I was impressed with the level of help and service he gave..... First loan car (Citroen Xsara) the clutch went with lots of nasty clutch smells.. the second loan car was a Picasso and the third loan car was the demo i originally test drove.

The car has been on the road for 4 weeks now and has 1100 miles (600 on a run to swindon, cardiff, tenby, cardiff, portsmouth, brighton then back to north kent - the rest town use).... and sofar there has been a number of problems..

1) Passenger side door kick plate comes off every time someone get in.
2) Drivers side door kick plate has come off twice.
3) Bluetooth refused to work until battery disconnect and re-connected - has happend twice
4) Engine refuses to stop for up to 20 seconds after key removed from ignition.
5) Engine dies when clutch depressed fully and in gear and you blip the throttle *** the clutch is fully depressed and not released when this happens!***
6) Trim under steering wheel comes off and wont go back on and stay on.
7) Auto Central locking usually locks the doors when car goes over 6mph but on a number of occasions the auto locking didnt kick in until 50mph. it has also unlocked doors over 30mph.
8) Heavy clunking from passenger side suspension over speed humps.

All of these electrical faults are intermittent and not reproducable on demand so no doubt i'll be going back and forth to the dealer..

I gather from the dealer there are some recalls pending on new C3s something to do with the driveshafts. My car is already being checked..

The service department at the Citroen dealer (Craford Motors, Crayford, Kent) refused to give me a loan car when i turned up for the warranty work because I had not brought my paper part of my drivers licence - however there was a copy on file with the sales department in the next building - i managed to pursuade the sales team to give the service department a copy (3 week old copy) and got the loan car. it seems the service department dont talk to the rest of the dealership...

As you can gather from this review i've not been impressed with this car. Its the first new car i've bought and i've been disapointed with the whole package.

The 1.6 VTi petrol engine is snail like compared to the old citron saxo vtr 1.6 engine and the power delivery of the engine only happens at the extreme end of the rev counter - nothing happens below 4500 rpm. By that time you are changing gears rapidly. The 1.4 vti demonstration car and loan car are noticably torquier at lower rpm than the 1.6 vti.

The gadgets and features are good and the zenith windscreen is a really nice on a sunny day but the handling, performance and build quality are just simply not up to the standards of other manufacturers i've looked at while choosing a new car....

Disapointed with the quality of this brand new car so far.. let see what happens after the warranty work...

Update 13 May 2010
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Car still at dealers for the warranty work - 4 days so far. The service department called up on 11th to say that my car was part of the recall on the driveshaft and they were awaiting delivery of the parts. Told the dealer about the real difference between the drivability between the 1.4 (better) and the 1.6(worse). He said that he would check for any software updated...

Update 14 May 2010
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I had not heard from the service department as my loan car was supposed to be back on thursday and i had not had a call from them. I went over to the dealership by motorbike on my way home on Friday night. They had just finished with my car and they had replaced the O/s drive shaft , fixed the trim problems but could not find any other faults. This probably means that i'll be going back and forth to the service department each time the car decides to die at the lights (or about to pull away from my drive... or trying to park it in a super market etc..etc) or the central locking unlocks or lock at any speed it likes.. Picking the car up today(15th)... let see how long it takes for the car to do something the manual dosent describe!

Update 15 May 2010
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Went back to the dealers today. On examination of the car there was a "scratch" on a door. I saw it, the service manager saw it. the scratch looked and felt like a scratch..I was not best please and excalated it up the dealership. Turned out it was a bug that had hit the door and made a mark. The service manager and sales guy gave the car a clean and got rid of the "scratch". Apologised to all concerned as i had got very angry.....Driveshaft replaced under recall, trim sorted, I had fitted mudflaps which were going to be £75 but the sales/service department didnt charge.

Hopefully wont be going back to the service department and all will be well.

Update 26 May 2010
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Tonight I was going round a roundabout and had just pointed the car to an exit and the engine died. Coasted to the side of the road on the exit. Tried starting the car but just occasional click from under the dashboard. The LCD information display showed "Economy mode active" and all the electrics except the instrumentation lights dead. Called recovery company who plugged a diagnostic computer in and could not get a signal from the on-board computer. They have recovered the car back to outside of the dealership and dropped me home. Going round there early tomorrow to drop keys off..... very fed up! 1700 miles on the clock and its just been one problem after another.

see following videos (sorry for upside down videos!)
http://www.rm-services.co.uk/c31.wmv
http://www.rm-services.co.uk/c32.wmv
http://www.rm-services.co.uk/c33.wmv


Update 27th May 2010
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Got a phone call from the service centre at the dealers early afternoon and it seems that the car stopped due to a fault with the fuse box in the engine compartment. This *may* have been the cause of all the electrical problems. I arranged to go into the delaership to discuss the matter..

Arrived at the dealership in the afternoon and spoke with the sales manager at the dealership and he said that he had spoken to a customer support person at Citroen UK. Their recomendations were to replace the fuse box and test the car. Problem is it would take between 7 and 14 days for the part to arrive.

After a length conversation with the sales manager which included a conversation about rejecting the car (i had all the paperwork and spare keys ready with me) I spoke with my partner and we have decided to accept the car on a warranty repair and try the car for a week afterwards. If there was any other faults within that week I would automatically reject the car as not fit for purpose. Also suggested to the sales manager that I trade the car back in but it seems the repair work needs to be carried out and i would lose a shed load of money...

It also seems (from the sales manager) that the dealers are not responsible for the car and act like middle men between myself and Citroen UK. As the contract of sale is between myself and Crayford Citroen I simply dont believe this.... I was also told by the dealer that citroen will offer compensation if I accept the repair if i reject the car then that offer is retracted... is this Citroen UK or the dealer offering here to keep me quiet?

So the car will be at the dealers for another 7 to 14 days (that makes 14 days out of 55 days i've owned the vehicle) while I have another loan car (the 5th one this year).


Update 7th June 2010
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I took the loan car back on the 30th May as we didnt need it. Used my 21 year old VW golf GTi for the week (after replacing the power steering rack and pump with second hand units at the weekend). Today I got a call from Colin the sales manager to say that the car was ready after having the fuse box replaced and was tested thursday and friday. Car has done 130 miles during its time with the dealer.. Picked it up this afternoon during my work lunch break. Car seems to be working. Colin said that Citroen UK will be contacting me by letter regarding the situation.

12th June 2010
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Letter came from Citroen UK offering compensation for the issues i've had with the car.... Its a Virgin Experience pack where you can choose from about 10 things to do. The problem is I work for a travel and tourism company that procued these pack and I know the unit cost of them. It was a nice gesture but quite simply not appropaite considering the amount of grief I've had.

19th June 2010
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After a week of driving around the car broke down again on Saturday. Same issues of just clicking from under the dash and "Economy Mode" on the status panel.

On saturday drove the car from home @ blackfen to Charlton to get dog food, Bluewater to change mobile phone and then back to the big Tesco superpmarket at Sidcup. Pulled up switched off, went shopping, came back - loaded up the car with shopping, got in and click.click.click... Phoned the AA and the dealership. Colin at the dealership guided me thru pushing the fuses under the bonnet to see if they were loose. When the car wouldnt start he said get the AA to bring the car straight back to them. Both myself and my partner was not amused ...... Dealers were aplogetic and offered me the same demo car i'd had before - the 6th loan car i have had sunce January). With all of the shopping I had no choice but to accept the loan car. I've been loathed to accept it as there is a £1000 excess and I don't want the responsibility (i'd rather use my 21 year old VW golf gti) but this time I had to take the car with £150 of shopping in tow.

21st June 2010
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I was in the area of the dealership buying a kitchen appliance and stopped at the dealership to give them my new mobile phone number. Colin said that the engineer had swapped out the fuzebox with another car and the electric windows started to work... but the car would not start. On both breakdowns when the car has stopped the windows still worked for 20 minutes and after that only electrics working were the information panel and the instrumentation. This seems to indicate a cabling fault somewhere in the car.


25th June 2010
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After leaving a voicemail with the dealership Colin called me back to let me know that they will be replacing parts of the engine wiring loom - the part that connects to the ECU - which they think is defective. They will be road testing the car for 48 hours after the repair. From what Colin said on the phone they have not been able to start the car since the breakdown. I've tried calling Gavin @ Citroen UK to find out what is going on as well. left voice mail messages. Not sure when the car will be ready.

Update 25 June 2010
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After a very terse converstion with Gavin at Citroen UK and a converstion with my partner I have finally decided to officially rejected the car back to the dealers requesting a replacement vehicle. Gavin bounced me back to the dealers telling me that its their problem and Citroen Uk would advise Crayford *not* reject the vehicle. After two major breakdowns and numerous electrical problems I lost my patience with both Citroen UK and Crayford Citroen as neither of them seem to want to take responsibility for the quality of the car I purchased.

It was funny but Gavin protested that they were not given a chance to repair the vehicle (eh? its been with the dealers three times for a period of 20 days!) and he said the dealership is soley responsible for the rejection - In complete contrast to Crayford Citroen stance which is Citroen Uk are responsible for rejecting the vehicle and the quality of said vehicle.

On a small note I was actually suprised and grateful to Colin at the dealership who let me continue to use the loan car. My Mk2 VW Golf GTI still needs some power steering work as the replacement rack wasnot much better than the old one. Pressing the Golf it into service would probably result in the rack destroying itself.

Maybe this whole sticky situation will be resolved when those concerned start to realise that all I want is a reliable working car that I have faith in that i can drive it around without worring that the car will dump me somewhere..is that too much to ask? Is that what all new car buying customers really want?


2nd July 2010
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Dealer phoned up yesterday stating that Citroen UK have asked the dealer to get the loan car back from me as they were "unhappy with me driving around in their products" - their words not mine!. Went down there to discuss and essentially they backed me into a corner of only giving me back trade price for the car or rejecting car and Citroen *might* stump up the extra costs of the replacement. This would have be a long and expensive rejection. Really fed up now and had to accepted the repair. Dealer and Citroen UK just seem to be unhelpful and not interested. Dropped the loan car back and collected my car.

12 July 2010
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Car would not start on my drive. Same issues as before. Also passenger side door kick plate came off again. As it happened at home I got the multimeter out and checked all the fuses. Fuse 1 on the engine fuse box (20amp) was blown. I nicked a 10 amp fuse from my motorcycle (as they are the same mini fuses) and put it in the car. It started. In the evening I went to the dealership to let them know that the car refused to start and the fuse had blown. As the 10amp fuse has got the car moving Kevin in sales said that somone would be round to pick the car up.

It has come the stage where i've actually purchased a second hand Peugeot 206 to travel to work as I have no confidence in the brand new car I purchased 3 months ago. My VW Golf is legally off the road and far too old to do the commute (it is up for sale at the moment) so the only option I had was to invest £2000 in another car to have reliable transport.


13th July 2010
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Two service engineers from the dealership came round to pick up the car. they said to my partner this is the only C3 in the country with issues. They replaced my 10amp fuse with a 15 amp and drove the car away.

14th July 2010
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Had a look at the manual for the car and looked at description of the fuse (Fuse 1) that had blown. it said that is was "Engine relay and Cooling fan relay".

Looking back at each breakdown the car has either been in traffic or just come off the motorway

1st time - was in traffic before breakdown at Danson park
2nd time - had just come off the motorway and into the Tesco Car Park
3rd Time - the night before parking it up I had done the A20 - M25 (traffic @ 5:30pm) and the A2

Is it possible that when the cooling fan kicks in it damages the fuse?

I used to have a Renault 11 which when I first bought the car it only drove three miles due to the radiator leaking. When it got hot the fan kicked in and because the fan was seized after being laid up for 2 years the fan started smoke and burn. The relay melted and so did the wiring - it was only the fuse blowing that stopped it from getting worse.

On that car the cooling fan fuse was a separate fuse. On the C3 its on the same "engine relay" fuse - *according to the manual*. Is it possible the cooling fan or the relay is faulty and is pulling too many amps thru the relay and blowing it - stopping the engine?

Sent an email to the dealers outlining the above..


15th July 2010
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We have movement from the dealers and Citroen UK. it seems the dealers are not going to try to fix the car now and have re-sent the original rejection request to Citroen UK. Colin the sales manager said that he had spoken to Gavin@Citroen and considering the issues there is a stong possibility that the car will be rejected and a new car supplied - tho this is not a definate answer. So the two options are - reject the car and get a new one - or - trade the car in against another car with similar miles and spec. I've rated the dealers another point 'cause they are starting to help now rather then try to wash their hands of the situation .

19th July 2010
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Dealers said they would call me either friday or monday to let me know what is going on. They didnt call so i popped in as I was dropping off one of my co-workers just off the one-way system in crayford. It seems that the rejection is due to go through and Kevin suggested I think about what the next car will be. I'm probably going for the Citroen DS3 - partly because my partner prefers it and also i've been told i'd become single again if I picked a C4 or C3 - Infact i've been told i'll have no private parts left if I picked a C3. So its a DS3 then.

10th August 2010
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Citroen UK refused to reject car stating that bigger fuses should be put in the car. The dealer has also refused to reject. It left me with the decision to trade the existing car in for another car or sell the car at even more of a loss.

I decided to trade the car in and pay the extra to upgrade to a DS3 Dstyle 120 VTI. it seems that I've got to pay thousand more to extracate myself from a situation caused by bad build quality issues of Citroen products. My solicitor said that it would cost about the same in legal fees so if i've got to spend money lets get something out of it at the end.

Very disapointed with Citroen UK. As soon as I get the new DS3 I will be complaining to Citroen head office in Paris and also Citroen UK directly.
New DS3 will arrive in October.

6th October 2010
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Waiting for the dealership to transfer private registration to new VIN number of new car. DS3 should be here sometime this month. In the past two months i've been in and out of 3 loan cars currently got a Citroen C1 courtesy car - driving it is a guaranteed way of getting a migrane..


graham@rm-services.co.uk

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