Citroen C4 - Good choice for my first car?

parking_question_chap

Citroen and reliability, not words I normally put together.

I would look for a Jap car, they date really quickly but last forever.

F1F93

Honda Jazz? Should be able to get one for 2 grand. Perfect city car. Surprisingly spacious too, and will be a lot more reliable than a s*hitroen!

I'd avoid the 1.2 (less powerful than the 1.4 and not much difference in economy), the S spec is slightly basic but SE and above are well specced, and there are enough 1.4 SEs that this shouldnt be a problem .

patman99

The 1.6Hdi engine is not that bad. if it was, then Ford, BMW & Volvo would not fit them to their cars.

Electrics - BMWs have more issues than Citreons. My friend just had to pay out £500 to get some wiring fixed in his BMW after the boot hinge chaffed through it and caused a short.

bigjl

We looked at a C4 when we bought the Clio back in 09.

C4 had a nicer interior and was comfy.

But i wanted a diesel. Non dpf on 56plate Clios.

French cars are no more or less reliable than anything else these days.

But electrics are a weakspot.

But get a fairly basic spec and you should be fine.

My minimum would be aircon, central locking and electric windows in the front.

And i would avoid a Citroen automatic.

My sister had a C4 Grand Picasso. Ex motability and it was fine. Only reason she got rid was fuel consumption. So she bought my dads Qhasqui (spelling??) As he was giving up driving. It had low miles and was a 1.5dci so cheaper to run.

She had had no issues with the Qumquat either.

bigjl

patman99 wrote: »

The 1.6Hdi engine is not that bad. if it was, then Ford, BMW & Volvo would not fit them to their cars.

Electrics - BMWs have more issues than Citreons. My friend just had to pay out £500 to get some wiring fixed in his BMW after the boot hinge chaffed through it and caused a short.

No i can assure you the 1.6HDi is one of the most fragile diesel engines on the market.

And has given trouble in Volvos and Fords, biggest issue is turbo failure.

They need very strict maintenance. Wth top spec oil. I would risk one if it was cheap as it is a nice engine until it goee wrong.

The 1.4 HDi is also a bit fragile. But most of the problems on that engine have relatively cheap fixes to cure the issue. Again the 1.4hdi was a nice smooth little engine.

I would run one but do interim oil changes at half oci to ensure the engine has the best chance of longevity.

The 2.0 diesel engine is much better than the 1.6 and 1.4 and is very well regarded in the trade.

Don't know which BMWs the 1.6hdi is fitted to so can't comment.

But Ford and Volvo don't use the engine it was a joint development and a lot of the 1.6 engines were made in Dagenham. Volvo apparently manufactured their own 1.6 diesel engines but i have no details on that.

wba31

For your first car you want to be able to see out the thing when parking etc, i had a 307 and when it wasn't in the garage (brand new - ha!) visibility in it was horrendous...

I second the shout for a Jazz, or a maybe a Yaris? My missus bought a Jazz as her first car and she LOVES it

mattyprice4004

patman99 wrote: »

The 1.6Hdi engine is not that bad. if it was, then Ford, BMW & Volvo would not fit them to their cars.

Electrics - BMWs have more issues than Citreons. My friend just had to pay out £500 to get some wiring fixed in his BMW after the boot hinge chaffed through it and caused a short.

The 1.6 HDi engine is absolute garbage, and will require a daft amount of work to get it to 200K - you'll spend more on repairing it than you would on fuel for a petrol engine.

As for your second point, that's just nonsense. You can pull a random 'example' of any event from the air, it doesn't mean it's indicative of the brand - BMWs rarely suffer any major electric issues, whereas Citroen chose to make their electrical systems from dreams and wishes. The amount of times family members have had issues with their Citroen cars (engine and electrical) is ridiculous.

BMW actually know how to make a car, Citroen, just cobble plastic, metal and wires together and hope for the best :rotfl:

stamina9008

Thanks for replying guys, but, Honda Jazz..?

Lol really?

I want reliability, yes, but they look like mobility cars..

UncleZen

Honestly mate you'd be far better of with a jazz

patman99

It is known throughout the trade that BMWs from 2006/7 are fitted with the self-contained hydraulic power steering systems and these are prone to failure (just like the Fiat).

At the end of the day, it is all down to how well the car is serviced.
I could buy a Volvo V70 and run it for 5 years without servicing it & only carrying-out repairs required for the MOT. Would it reach 200k miles ?. I doubt it.

Renault Clio's had an awful reputation for electrics and leaky sunrooves. however, my dad purchased a '96 model with just 26k on the clock. He purchased it in 2004 and sold it with 60k on the clock last year. Never had a problem with it.

When I look back at all the cars I have had, the most reliable (so far) is a high-miles Citreon Xantia 1.9 TD. Had it 4 years & only got shot of it when the clutch started to slip and the cheapest quote I could find was £795 ex-VAT. 2 days after selling it, I bumped into a fellow Scouter who told me he would have done it for £500 all-in.
The Xantia was so reliable because it was an ex-hire car and had been maticulously serviced and I kept this up.

On the other hand, the most unreliable was a Citreon BX 1.6 petrol. It cost more to keep on the road in the 18 months I had it than it cost to buy. I got to know my local independent Citreon garage very well indeed.