Citreon C8-good 7 seater??

twinmumagain

We currently have a Ford Galaxy which I love and we want to upgrade and the C8 is a lot cheaper second hand(have a 5k budget).
I dont have prams anymore so only really need boot space for holidays and days out(I shop when kids at school).
Is this a good economical car? Currently looking at a 2.0 Diesel.
Are they any other 7 seaters to look out for? I dont fancy a zafira as they look a bit too small and we always need all 7 seats(4 still in car seats-high back boosters).

jog

Hi,

We've got a 2.2hdi Peugeot 807 which is basically the same car as the C8, although a different engine to the one you're thinking of.

Good points: I love the sliding doors - absolutely brilliant, especially in tight car parks.

Lots of space inside the cabin

It drives really nicely.

Bad points: Not as economical as it appears on paper. A lot of my driving is around town and country roads, occasional motorway, according to the trip computer I get about 29 - 30mpg.

Seems to eat front tyres, definitely gets through front tyres more quickly then our old Galaxy.

We have now had the car for 4 years it was a 9 month old ex-demo car when we brought it and we have had lots of niggling things go wrong with it.
The plastic trim and fittings are really bad, lots of things break really easily.

The engine has a fan that comes on occasionally and won't turn off, had various garages look at it, no one has been able to figure out what is wrong and therfore fix it, although one did find a wire in the engine compartment, which if we tweak it the fan goes off again - I kid you not!

The electrics are dodgy, the electric wing mirrors will turn themselves in when you are driving along for no reason, the electric windows are temperamental with when they will work.

On three occasions when we have left the car locked and all doors closed we have come back to it to find that the car is unlocked and one of the sliding rear doors has opened.

We've had garages look at it all, but get told the electrics are well known for problems!

On a good day when everything is working well it's a lovely car to drive and very spacious, however on a bad day it's a complete pain and I simply don't trust the car anymore we are hoping to change it later this year when we can afford to.


Have you looked at the Kia Sedona? When we bought the 807 it was that or the Sedona at the time as we really wanted the sliding doors, at the time the 'new' style Sedona was still a bit too expensive for us so we ended up going for the 807. It's interesting to see that there are a lot more cars coming out with the sliding doors now. That is definitely a feature I'll miss when we do sell the 807.

Jog

winnie81

We have a Chrysler G.Voyager and love it! Gets our 4 high backed boosters/dogs/luggage etc in fantastic would highly recommend it. The 3 DVD screens keep kids very happy when away and never had another 7 seater to compare it but when we were looking nothing beat it

Rolandtheroadie

Another vote for the grand voyager.
Get a high spec diesel, make sure the gearbox works as it should (they can crunch/be difficult to get into gears if the gear box oils not been changed regularly) and preferrably FSH with evidence of the cam belt having been done.

Edit to say ebay item number 270716125559 would be worth a look.

funkycoldribena

Stick with the Galaxy or buy a newer one.

bigjl

To reiterate what has been said buy others, buy another Galaxy, or an ex Addison Lee Sharon, they sell a 3 yr old with around 100k on the clock, fully serviced well maintained, with a auto box and usually in very clean body condition and interior normally very clean and tidy. All this for around £6000-6500.

Some of the drivers wanted to keep their Sharons instead of the new Galaxy as they were a bit better on squirt, but his is apparently solved with the new model this year.

Addison Lee have pwned and sold on probably 10000 of these, all Black, all well serviced in their own VW approved workshop.

Just search "addison lee car sales" in Google.

If I needed a MPV for personal or work use that is where I would go, most end up being used as minicabs again, proving how good aproduct it is and how well looked after they are, but choose carefully, some may get hammered, just choose the best, they are all the same price.

There is a good reason why the Citreon and Peugeot/Fiat MPV's are cheaper, they aren't as good.

The Voyager is not in the same league as a Galaxy or Sharon, they are nice to be in, and where popular with the chauffeur fleets, but proved expensive to run, and poor on fuel compared to the Sharons and Galaxy.

The Voyager is not as nice to drive as the Galaxy etc, but that is my opinion only, though we used to use Galaxys's for high speed driver training in the LAS, they are as close to a car as you will get within the full sized used MPV market.

But when it copmes to value the ex Addison Lee cars take some beating.

hudgebadger

Hi

I fill a 7 seater with the family 1 baby seat and 4 high back boosters.

I did have an Espace which seated everyone very comfortably and was a very plush ride which we all enjoyed, but I had nothing but problems with it, and when it went wrong it was very expensive to repair. Also because it is almost entirely electronic, (Windows, Handbrake, Aircon, Speedo etc. etc) when something does go wrong it needs to be “plugged” in at a garage to be diagnosed.

In the short time that I owned it I replaced bearings in the gearbox, Alternator, ABS system pump (Sorry for the vagueness as I am not to technically minded with car bits) rear brakes (discs and pads) and well as rear shocks.

After non stop problems with the Espace, I traded it in for a Seat Alhambra.

The Alhambra is not as smooth as the Espace, but it is cheaper on the insurance, cheaper to fill up and also less in road tax. That said, there is a squeeze to get between the two seats in the boot, and the middle seat belt is located in the ceiling.
Apart form that I can’t fault it.

I hope that helps you and adds some more cars for you to look at

Chris

HardWorker2010_2

Just as general principle,

French Car = Bottom of the league on reliabilty.

Say no more.

hudgebadger

HardWorker2010 wrote: »

Just as general principle,

French Car = Bottom of the league on reliabilty.

Say no more.

I am afraid it is true and I learnt the hardway

If I had a choice next time between a Renault and a donkey I would be converting my garage tout suite

Chris