The current / third generation Berlingo is pretty good. A better drive than the second gen ones (nearly as nice as the 1st gen ones)

I still get laughed at for having contributed unwisely to a “cars” conversation, contrasting the driving funness of the bacofoil 1st gen with the relative thirstiness of the more s(t)olid 2nd. Must learn to read the room, but clearly here are my peoples. I very much miss having a berlingo, and the ability to impulse buy the odd sofa.

The other parents mocked ours cause it’s ugly. Meanwhile on wet days when we land back at the car and we have the child and the pram* (in the car whole with no folding) before they have finished folding and dismantling their pram to get it in the boot they see why we have it…..

But can get into multistorys and don’t really have to worry much about rust….no brainer. Don’t give a shit what it looks like – it might as well be a washing machine to me.

*Or trailer or bike or any other large object.

I wonder if I could take it to a car audio place and they could dynamat it enough that it felt like being in a normal car?

Probably. I used some NOCO (Dynamat type stuff) in the back of my car to help with noise. It used to sound like a window was open. Much better now, the original soundproofing was ruined by damp.

Currently on the back doors of the work L2 Connect, I have some magnetic hi Viz stripe things and just those fitted make the rear doors thunk rather than clang when shutting.

Just adding some mass to the big flat panels makes a huge difference.

I’d second something like a Honda Stepwagon or Nissan Serena.
The Stepwagon from 2010 (ISH) onwards has rear seats that fold flat into the boot so it can take a huge amount of stuff.

Last weekend I got 2 bikes (front wheels off), a bouldering matt, 4 people and all their gear in, and the kit was barely above the top of the rear seats.

Nice place to be as well, and drives more like a car. CVT gearbox isn’t for everyone though.

wife doesn’t want to be seen dead in it.
How do I convince her?

Tinted windows

Wouldn’t that make it her hearse?

So, the plan for a cheap Berlingo/Partner is now more like a plan for a LWB Connect/Caddy.

I got a double mattress in my 2019 Standard length Berlingo 5 seater. Might not fit if you’re tall and need to front seats all the way back though.

Yeah, 1.97m tall here, so that may not work out, which is a shame as I wanted a relatively compact van. The longer ones are almost at the stage of just accepting life and buying another T5/Vivaro/etc.

The longer ones are almost at the stage of just accepting life and buying another T5/Vivaro/etc.

I was surprised to find just how big a footprint the XL Berlingo’s have. Compared to L1/SWB Transit Custom: only 22cm shorter, 16cm narrower and 14cm less tall. Knowing that made me realise the Transit Custom I have is still relatively compact.

Berlingo XL is still smaller than the mid/big SUVs like BMW X5s though.

And still shorter than a proper sized estate! My Superb is 4850mm. A full 8 seater MWB van MPV (Traveller) is only 4950mm.

And still shorter than a proper sized estate! My Superb is 4850mm

I didn’t expect that! That’s long indeed. 5339mm for my L2 Transit Custom. Unsure how long a standard car park space is, but shorter than a L2 Transit Custom…

Mrs a11y is showing interest in a Berlingo to replace her Qashqai (I married a good ‘un) but we don’t need two MPV-vans between us.

Get an EV version?

The EV Berlingo has a woeful range unless you’re doing local miles, realistically it’s got around 120 miles range at 60-70mph.

A small battery (45kwh usable) combined with the aerodynamics of a brick.

Dunno if anyone has mentioned, but I have a Mercedes Citan crewcab XLWB and it’s mint. Split folding rear seats which fold completely flat.

Fit 3 people and 3 fully built up 29ers with kit no problem. Works as a one person camper. Can fit loads of bikes in without wheels on when seats are up too.

Not to pricey too.

the citan is (afaik) a rebadged kangoo. doesn’t look like the kangoo is anything other than a van in the UK though

OP here, many thanks for your thoughts everyone. I’ve pushed the button on a 2nd hand 21 plate Berlingo Flair. This new 101bhp model feels very similar to the 113bhp that I’m trading in- but SO much more comfortable! The Flair spec seems to match the previous XTR plus a few new bits like rear camera for parking, lane recognition, cruise control but NO BLOODY CUP HOLDER. FFS, absolutely bleedin’ ridiculous.

WWSTW do? Any recommendations to keep my caffeine stable and accessible?

There seem to be loads of seat-covers and boot liners available. Previously I’ve gone down the budget line. The seatcovers seldom last long and are not particularly comfortable. I made the rear space liner from 4mm ruber sheeting cut to shape by yours truely. It has lasted over a decade and is still strong but doesn’t match the footprint of the new model. Bearing in mind that the new model has fold flat seats (yup, flat, level to the boot space) means that I won’t need to remove I’m after some kind of decent protection. Any ideas?

TIA

Camelback ?

Insulated Camelback?

I have an “insulated” hose for mine when snowboarding. It’s just a neoprene sleeve and a rubber cap fir the bight valve. It still manages to freeze if cold enough. I wear it under my jacket to help.

Sorry wildly off topic now. Thought it was an amusing option given this thread is in the bike forum. Don’t move it mods.

Just a quick update. I collected the car on Friday and drove home the long way through the Beacons. A mix of dual cariageways, A roads and tiny lanes, finishing with the Black Mountain road, so beloved by Top Gear fans. ‘Performance’ wise it is very similar to its 1.6HDI 113bhp predecessor, perhaps a bit mor sprightly if you use the 6 speed box freely. In 6th it purrs along nicely at 70mph but has no get up and go whatsoever. The motor gets a bit louder but that’s it.

The comfort is so much better than previously. I’m 6’2″ and whilst I could fit the previous car I often took my shoes off for longer drives. Not so now 🙂 Upholstery is plusher too. Infotainment (a concept new to me) works a treat but I need to find a way to connect AndroidAuto wirelessly not via a USB cable. Rear seats fold almost flat into the floor to leave a not quite level rear space for the bikes. The footprint of this area is very nearly identical in space and size to it’s predecessor- I put the custom rubber mat from the 14 model in to fit and it is perfect apart from being a tad short by 10cm or so. I’d reuse it were it not for the holes in it for the seat fittings of the 14 model. New 3mm rubber sheet is on order, I’ll use the old one as a template.

Having spent a fair wodge of cash I’ve decided to speculate to accumulate (or something like that) and invested in a custom bootliner in fetching orange from Hatchbags to protect the back of the car.

All in all I’m well chuffed with the vehicle. But it really, really needs a coffee cup holder. If only I’d kept the centre console from the previous car, it fits apparently.

Don’t think you can do Android Auto wirelessly…don’t think Apple Carplay can’t be done wirelessly either…at least either have only ever worked plugged in for me.

Blimey, I hope not. Seems daft to have all that tech talking betwee themselves via copper when they have much greater capabilities. Buggeration.

You can get a “dongle” that plugs into the usb in the car, and then talks wirelessly to your phone for CarPlay. I presume you can get an android equivalent

Wireless android auto has to be built into the car for it to work natively.

As above, you can get dongles to allow wireless connection but then you lose the ability to charge whilst driving, unless you have a wireless charging pad.

Thanks folks, I’ll look into it, First world probs though when all is said and done.

Can anything out-Berlingo a Berlingo?

I had a lift in a Logy last week. I reckon that would be closer to a Mk1 or 2 Berlingo than a mk3 Berlingo now.

Sadly not available in the UK.

You can get a “dongle” that plugs into the usb in the car, and then talks wirelessly to your phone for CarPlay. I presume you can get an android equivalent.

Looks like it

Though if you’re worried about charging I’d have to ask why wireless is an issue.

[Responsible adult]

Why would you need your phone wireless whilst driving?

[/Responsible adult]

Plug phone in,

Chuck it in the tray.

Setup the satnav / playlist on the car’s screen,

Arrive at destination with a fully charged phone having not killed anyone.

Distracted driver who killed cyclist convicted – BikeRadar

Anyone retrofitted cruise control into their Berlingo,

I’m sure it’s possible from looking at some forums but difficult to know . Suppose I could ask a garage

2012 Berlingo btw

Anyone retrofitted cruise control into their Berlingo,

I’m sure it’s possible from looking at some forums but difficult to know . Suppose I could ask a garage

2012 Berlingo btw

On the older ones it could be simply a case of installing the stalk and telling the ECU that it was installed.

But it was inconsistent whether al the other gubbins was there as well like the clutch switch, extra brake switch, lights on the dash, etc.  Oddly mine had all the switches in the pedals, but lacked the light on the dash.

@tabletop2 – it’s something I had wanted to do with our old one but never got round to it. I wish I’d had it for trips abroad where you sit at 130kph for hours on end.

This is all what I have read about getting it fitted. You need the control stalk which sits on the opposite side from the stereo controls in the same position. The wiring should be there for it so it’s just a case of fitting it and plugging it in. You then need to get someone, probably a Citroen dealer, to enable it using their electronic wizardry, I believe they charge around £150 to do that.

You then need to get someone, probably a Citroen dealer, to enable it using their electronic wizardry, I believe they charge around £150 to do that.

A proper OBD tool can be had for less and allows you to do a lot more. Either that or hit up a forum or Facebook group and see if there’s someone local who can do it for beer money.

In all honesty I wouldn’t recommend anyone buys lexia etc to save cash unless they are willing to put in time to learn. It’s not intuitive.

If you have anything that’s not ancient they have the plugs and lights already in.

I retrofitted to mine it was a cert the gubbins were there on a b9

this^ – you need Lexia to get into the brains on a PSA vehicle not just any old OBD2 reader. For most people there’s little point going to whole hog for a single time use. Especially when someone that knows exactly what they are doing can have it done quicker and not break anything else in the process.

My friend did it on his. Hooky Lexia setup off eBay, didn’t seem terribly difficult. Plus, has earnt him beer every time mine throws a fault code and I need to borrow it to check. It’s useful to have, though sometimes it doesn’t tell you any more than a generic OBD2.

My Doblo was fantastic when it worked properly.

Unfortunately, that was a rare occurance.
The brakes, suspension etc on the car version were just not up to the job, the interior disintegrated around us and it soiled itself terminally at just over 100,000 miles.
Front suspension replaced twice, three sets of discs and pads, new injectors and a buggered dpf before the turbo let go.

If the Japanese or Koreans made something similar, just as ugly and widely available I’d have one tomorrow.

Yeah as I said they may be better off asking someone local to do it. I assumed it would be comparable to ForScan in terms of difficulty but I’ve never used Lexia so there you go.

Hooky Lexia setup off eBay

What I do know though is that not all Lexia clones are created equally, you need one with the proper optocouplers and chipset if you want it to play nice with anything newer than ~15 years old. Maybe older.

I got mine done…got the stalk cheap – £15 from the fan club forum…installed the stalk and took it to a local indy Piggy specialist who activated it. The stalk I have is cruise and limiter but only got wiring for cruise…which suits me.
However my parking sensors have a fault and it isn’t the fuse so suspect I may need to see about replacing the 4 sensors in bumper and hope that does the trick.

My 19 year old Pug Partner/Blingo passed its MOT today, needed the rear brakes rebuilding (shoes/drums/cylinders and brake hoses) @ ~£200 so another year of cheap motoring.

I got mine to 174K before I traded it in two years ago, just checked and it’s now on 190K with new owner. Not ULEZ compliant – so had to go.