Our Citroen Grand Picasso is up there. In theory it’s a great idea, a torquey diesel and a shed load of space make for the ideal cruising companion. However, Citroen have managed to completely ruin it.
Firstly, there’s the plastics. They detach at the slightest hint of disturbance and really aren’t up to the job. The rubber cover on the brake pedal lasted a week before it detached and stubbornly refused to stay reattached.
Then there’s the shitetronic gearbox. You could squeeze an ice-age in while it actually goes about the business of changing gear – badly. You can move a piece of flimsy plastic to turn it into a semi-auto and use the paddle shifters, which resemble rejects from a cracker toy production line. But I wouldn’t recommend that, as the experience is very depressing.
And the dashboard…why put a digital speedo in the middle of the dash, where you can’t see it unless you take your eyes off the road and divert them forty five degrees to your left? Hmm?
I remember Citroens being ace. Seriously, the DS is whacky and space age in a good way, the CX and Safari looked amazing and were a nice place to be in (my old man test drove one back in the 70s. Okay, it made us all sick but it was a lovely looking car). Even the old Xantia was wedgy and a nice drive, in spite of the fact that none of them seem to exist anymore.