Citroen C4 - Good choice for my first car?

stamina9008

Hi guys and gals, gonna be buying my first car and have £3000.

I need £1000 for insurance, so yep...£2000 for the car, oh, i should have just said that from the start..lol.

Anyway, i want RELIABILITY!

But i really like the styling of this car, it looks different from most coupes/hatchbacks on our british roads and i love the rear of it, even if it's french..lol.

Here an example.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403072331530/sort/default/usedcars/model/c4/page/1/quantity-of-doors/3/price-to/2500/body-type/coupe/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/citroen/radius/1501/fuel-type/diesel/postcode/bn19ga?logcode=p



My question is, how far could these cars go in terms of mileage before they meet the scrapyard, i mean...if i look after it and get it regularly serviced.
At £2000 most of them come in at the 100,000 mile mark and whats best, diesel or petrol?

People that know or have experience with this car please chip in.

Thanks.

jase1

They're not the most reliable model on the market but they're not a disaster either, and they're cheap so you'll get a newer car for the money you spend. And yes, they are quirky, which is a good thing

Would be looking petrol rather than diesel -- the 1.6HDi has more than its fair share of problems.

stamina9008

jase1 wrote: »

They're not the most reliable model on the market but they're not a disaster either, and they're cheap so you'll get a newer car for the money you spend. And yes, they are quirky, which is a good thing

Would be looking petrol rather than diesel -- the 1.6HDi has more than its fair share of problems.

Thanks for responding, its appreciated. Hopefully more will give their perspectives.
One question dude, with the petrol models, how far could they go in terms of mileage?

jase1

Any modern engine, petrol or diesel, is capable of over 200K if looked after (as long as it isn't too underpowered -- so a 1.6 or above is fine for a C4). It's the rest of the car you need to worry about TBH.

French engines don't usually give much trouble.

fivetide

As above. It is the electrics these days. All those lovely switches etc are another thing to go wrong.

You big question is what do you need the car to do?

Motorway miles, 1.6 will be good. Nipping round town? Perhaps something smaller that will get better mpg at low speed.

stamina9008

fivetide wrote: »

As above. It is the electrics these days. All those lovely switches etc are another thing to go wrong.

You big question is what do you need the car to do?

Motorway miles, 1.6 will be good. Nipping round town? Perhaps something smaller that will get better mpg at low speed.

Its gonna be used around town, not on long journeys often.

So, you think the 1.4 is a good choice? But isnt that too underpowered?

Im only going by what the other guy said.

motorguy

jase1 wrote: »

Any modern engine, petrol or diesel, is capable of over 200K if looked after (as long as it isn't too underpowered -- so a 1.6 or above is fine for a C4). It's the rest of the car you need to worry about TBH.

French engines don't usually give much trouble.

The 1.6HDI is a particularly bad engine, and could / will cost a lot to maintain to 200K.

If the O/P isnt doing big miles, i'd be looking at a 1.6 petrol.

jase1

stamina9008 wrote: »

Its gonna be used around town, not on long journeys often.

So, you think the 1.4 is a good choice? But isnt that too underpowered?

Im only going by what the other guy said.

Around town a 1.4 will be fine.

It's just that you were asking about how far these engines will go which I inferred to mean that you'd be covering a lot of miles.

If you are pootling about town that's one more reason not to buy a newer diesel really -- they don't like it, and there is the potential for trouble down the line.

1.4 on the motorway -- it'll do it without complaint, but I wouldn't expect 200K out of a 1.4 in a fairly heavy car.

stamina9008

jase1 wrote: »

Around town a 1.4 will be fine.

It's just that you were asking about how far these engines will go which I inferred to mean that you'd be covering a lot of miles.

If you are pootling about town that's one more reason not to buy a newer diesel really -- they don't like it, and there is the potential for trouble down the line.

1.4 on the motorway -- it'll do it without complaint, but I wouldn't expect 200K out of a 1.4 in a fairly heavy car.

Thanks, i think im gonna go for the middle ground and choose the 1.6 petrol. Thanks very much.

UncleZen

As a former C4 1.6hdi owner, I can honestly say that it was and still is the worst car I've ever owned.as a result I would never buy that brand again. And I wouldn't recommend one. If you want I will post all the problems I had. In summary I spent £2100 over 2 years on repairs.

jimjames

jase1 wrote: »

Any modern engine, petrol or diesel, is capable of over 200K if looked after (as long as it isn't too underpowered -- so a 1.6 or above is fine for a C4). It's the rest of the car you need to worry about TBH.

French engines don't usually give much trouble.

A friend had one.

Their comment was that they've never seen so many warning lights come on a dashboard for a car they've owned. Reliable in terms of engine not breaking down but plenty of electrical gremlins or things not working or showing as warnings that needed to be cleared.