Citroen C3, how reliable?

tiredandemotional_2

Hi everyone, i've been browsing the threads for a while and this is my 1st post so be gentle. [/FONT
I have a Citroen C3 registered Sept 03, I bought it at 6months old with 8,000 miles on clock. It has warranty until Sept 06.
Since January this year it has been nothing but trouble, I now Know the local recovery driver by name! I have had a new throttle housing, a new fuel injector, new coil and spark plugs and this week a new catalytic converter!
I am planning on getting rid before the warranty runs out, BUT would like to get the most I can for this car as was planning on it lasting me a long time.
Really don't feel I can sell it privately as it is such a liability, but want to maximise the amount I get in part exchange which prob means another C3.
Am I just unlucky or are there a lot of reliability issues with the C3.
Any opinions gratefully received.
Thank you

Dodgybloke

According to the reliabilty index, citroen overall are fairly poor. Check out the following link:

http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/man_index_2.html?searchtype=relindex&apc=3128339010848601#

The C3 isn't in the list of cars covered, but the reliabilty index has proved fairly accurate in my opinion.

Hope this helps.

Troubleatmill_2

its French.

French cars do not have a great reliability record.
Citreon especially so.

http://www.whatcar.com/NonCar/1345545551.jpg

http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=217350&EL=3142808



Oh - and I have owned 3 French cars in my time ( 1 Renault, 2 Citreon) - never again.

If you want to stand a better chance with reliability - fork out for Japanese - or interestingly - Skoda.


Good luck with whatever car you choose to buy.

plane_boy2000

I also had a low opinion, but decided to get a citroen picasso and have had 3 years / 42K of trouble free motoring, but have to admit that I did just part ex it as I was still nervous about the out of warranty experience. Not sure why people like peugeot so much as they are very similar cars, but because they cost more people appera to think the quality is better even though they are all made from the same parts by PSA group. I think the problem with citroen is that they rush products to the market, so if you get anothe c3 its likely to have been improved from yours, plus as you say you will get more for it, but take it to anothe dealer as yours will know about all the problems!

Louisa_Jane_2

I've had my Picasso from new for 5 years and it's never gone wrong - it's been a fantastic car!

Exemplar

C3 is nothing but trouble, we took one in here as a part ex, it was less than a year old, was worth less than 50% of new value and we tried to move it on to Citroen dealers who told us that they would not even consider buying it! in fact one Citroen dealer laughed at us!

MrSmartprice

I have had a Berlingo for over 4 years and never had any problems. In that time I have only had to replace bits that normally wear out, namely 2 tyres, 1 set of brake pads and one exhaust. I have previously had a BX and a Xantia with no problems. F-i-L liked my Berlingo so much he went out and bought a new one and is made up with it.

OH has a C2 which is fine, although too new to report on reliability. She has previously owned a Saxo without any problems. Some friends are Citroen freaks too. He has a C4, having previously owned a C5 and a Xsara. His wife has just bought her second C3, this time with the stop-start option. Likewise their cars have all been trouble free.

So between us all we've had about 10 Citroens and been pleased with them all. Not one has ever been any trouble. So I just don't accept that they are unreliable cars, having had a fair sized sample to consider. And I know what my next car will be.....

tiredandemotional_2

Thanks very much for your opinions, at the moment since replacement of catalytic converter it seems to be running ok, I made a 2 hour trip to Birmingham over weekend and it went ok. I have 6 months to decide what to do before warranty runs out, other half is not keen to change it, he has an R reg subaru with 160000 on the clock which needs changing 1st.
I think we will hang on for a few more months.
I have only put 6 months tax on though!!!