I need to replace my ford Fusion granny wagon with something equally uncool but practical with a bigger boot.

The c3 picasso ticks all boxes and is cheap enough second hand.

Are the petrol versions really bad to drive. Do the washer bottles actually explode and soak the fuse boxes?

Any help appreciated.

Mark

Stumpy01 is your man here.

I think the jist of it was a no from him on the petrol

*I like Citroen’s and Peugeot and am on my third long term partner or Berlingo diesel.

No experience with a c3 though.

I’ve a 12 plate 1.6 petrol.

No problems at all for the 5 years I’ve had it. I’ve got to replace the gaiter on the gear stick mind…

It’s a dull drive and a bit wallowing in bends but that said it’s not intended to be anything different.

On the plus side there’s loads of space in it, kit spec is good. I’ve had 3 up with bikes in before, though this is pre LLS, not sure I’d manage it now.

10 years and 90k on a 1.6HDI here. Just regular cheap servicing and a new eolys fluid bladder (£300) as it wee’d on the floor. Exhaust rubber hangers break off but can be replaced with clamp on parts if you catch early enough.

Spacious and comfy. Centre instrument cluster rattles and looks a major faff to strip out / fix. Tailgate gas struts are weak. Rear centre seat only wide enough for kids or you are sat on the buckles.

trail_rat
Member
Stumpy01 is your man here.

LOL!

Funnily enough I don’t endorse the C3 Picasso. Well, strictly speaking I like the car per se, it’s just the reliability of our one has been horrendous.
We bought a 59 plate 1.6VTi Exclusiv in Jan 2016 after we decided that my indestructible Ibiza was not large enough for a young family. We bought it with ~30k miles on it & it’s now got a smidge over 70k miles.

Off the top of my head in 4.5yrs of ownership the things that have gone wrong include:

– fuel sender unit dead which we found out about on the A14 slip road 20 mins after picking the car up. Richard Sanders were diabolical at sorting this out & it took them 3 attempts to resolve. The first two attempts I told them would not have cured it (when they told what they’d done to repair, but they said I had to ‘just see how I got on’).
– random fuses blowing for the front 12v socket
– high oil use – we have to top it up every 750 miles but according to Citroen & the manual that is normal
– passenger door lock replaced as it failed
– anti-pollution fault fixed with the replacement of a sensor that controlled emissions (can’t remember what).
– anti-pollution fault again (last month) fixed by replacing one of the camshaft sensors
– sticking thermostat valve that causes lumpy running when cold in the winter – couldn’t be arsed to fix
– washer pump failed

It’s also had new droplinks, trackrod ends, new discs & pads on the front, new rear exhaust section as it was blowing (perhaps fair enough, although the indestructible Ibiza was still on it’s original exhaust at 274k miles)

The 1.6 is adequate, but I suspect the diesels might be better. You have to really rev it to get the car moving & it’s quite thrashy. Fuel economy is mid 30s – even on a long motorway run we don’t see 40mpg. Perhaps not surprising as it’s such a slab at the front.

Good things – it’s small, has loads of space inside and there is clever use of the space. Ours has a folding passenger seat so you can get really long bits of timber etc. into it, the rear seats fold completely flat with the pull of a lever & the rear bench also slides back & forth so you can increase rear legroom at the expense of boot space. It also has underfloor cubby holes in the back & a split boot floor so you can either have a flat floor, or a dropped floor with more space for large items .
It comes with decent kit – we went for the top model which has climate, electric everything you really need (too old for Android Auto or Apple Carplay though – maybe that’s changed), fancy wheels (which maybe make the ride a bit jittery) and a panoramic sunroof which is nice but is it manually operated & the blind is a long way back to reach from the front when your kid decides the sun is in her eyes.

Anyway – would I recommend one. From a practicality point of view – yes. From a reliability point of view – hell, no!

Anyway – it will soon be no more! This afternoon I am picking up a Seat Leon ST FR 2 litre TDi and the C3 Picasso is getting used as trade-in. Woop! Can’t wait….

PS – I cannot reiterate how bad Richard Sanders in Northampton were at customer service.

Cheers for sharing your experiences. I might start looking at other boxy boring cars. I want something reliable, my leaking fusion had a habit of stopping in heavy rain and I don’t want that again

Didn’t Clarkson do a review on the new show

I bought an ex-demo 1.6 auto exclusive with all the toys in 2012 and ran it until last year – it did have a funny turn after I managed to flatten the battery and needed to go to the dealer to be ‘reset’, otherwise OK.

We had a 1.6 diesel c3 for a bit, 09 plate I think.

I liked the car. Good driving position, engine was decent, internal space was very usable (with the seats down it was van-like).

Minor niggles were that it was very plasticy inside, and the gearbox was really vague.

Main issue was that it kept dying: it’d go “ping!” and flash up an ECU warning, then turn off the engine. This happened multiple times on the motorway, which wasn’t much fun. We eventually got it sorted by replacing the fuse box, but never really trusted it. Oh, and the exhaust was knackered by the time it was 5 years old or so.

So. Good car in a lot of ways, but you have to hope you get a reliable one!

it did have a funny turn after I managed to flatten the battery and needed to go to the dealer to be ‘reset’, otherwise OK.

That’s actually a design feature on Mercedes cars…
In my experience, anyway, working with them. Ok, we get a lot of Mercs come through, and the majority seem fine, but we’ve had three basically bricked after a flat battery, and they had to be dragged onto a transporter and taken away, which I’ve never seen with any other car that’s come through work, and we have lots!
About 3500 at full capacity, and it’s getting on that way now, with quite a few flat batteries after sitting for weeks. I think I’ve had to start four this afternoon alone.
Most cars can be reset using our tech bloke’s magic box, but the Mercs systems can only be dealt with by Mercedes; handy if you’re out in the middle of nowhere with a flat battery, it’s dark, and raining…
And don’t get me started* on Kia Vengas!
*pun intended.

As above – diesel exhaust isn’t “knackered” after 5 years – you just need to fix it when you first hear a rattle…….

From other comments makes note to pre-emptively investigate washer bottle and fuse box 🙂

If you’re looking for something boxy and practical, may I thoroughly recommend you do not buy a renault scenic.
Comfy, good to drive for a box, major mechanical bits dull but reliable, stupendous stereo system.
But dear god, the suspension and brakes.
Oh, fuel consumption has went from poor to catastrophic, i think a brake caliper is binding, get it replaced..
Get it replaced, wait a month and repeat ad infinitum.
You can substitute brakes with suspension parts if you like.
There’s. just. Always. Something. Needs. Doing.
It was like that from 47k miles onwards, on a main dealer bought, fully serviced (by a proper mechanic) one previous owner car, that had an easy 30 mile drive to work up a quiet motorway.
My wife’s Renault clio is only slightly better.
I think the french business model is to make a brand new car cheaper than a used one.
Avoid.