Replacing Car Advice (Citroen C4 HDI 1.6 Diesel 08)

throughtheblue

Last January me and my girlfriend were given a free Citroen C4 1.6 diesel 08 (80k miles) from a family member that couldn't use it due to emission changes. Our previous car had been recently scrapped, but we live in a city so weren't overly reliant on it. We very much welcomed a free car, but the catch was that the body was in very poor condition - a lot of dents and scratches, and a few quirks like the central locking not working.

Whilst living in the city, with plenty of public transport we've been content just using it a few days a week to go to work, or a 50 minute trip out on the weekend knowing we're not overly reliant on it. We've had it for 8 months, and in that time it's done 2k miles, just needing a new battery and thermostat replacing.

We are soon to be moving to the countryside, with limited public transport and we'd be much more reliant on the car. Because of the condition and lack of enthusiasm for the car, my partner wants to replace it. I had a budget of about £7k for an approved used car from a main dealer with mileage under 40k, but after searching I think my expectations are off. One problem, is that due to the physical condition I don't think the trade in value would be good at all, otherwise we could push budget to £8k+.

On average, the car would need to do between 80-150 miles per week, so not a huge amount. It's done 80k diesel, but is 14 years old so I imagine it would be a good idea to change the cambelt. I think it needs wheel realignment as well, and if we were to keep it a service. I'm away from home atm, so unsure on it's service history.

- Does anyone have any experience of these cars? Is it worth trying to keep it until used car prices come down? 80 - 150 miles per week doesn't seem a lot to me, so hopefully it would manage it.

Grumpy_chap

The Citroen owes you nothing. 
They are reliable diesel engines.  
Electronics are prone to gremlins, but so what?
The £7k budget would be a similar car 2012 - 2015 in today's market.
Why not keep the Citroen and run it into the ground?

throughtheblue

Grumpy_chap said:

The Citroen owes you nothing. 
They are reliable diesel engines.  
Electronics are prone to gremlins, but so what?
The £7k budget would be a similar car 2012 - 2015 in today's market.
Why not keep the Citroen and run it into the ground?

That was our plan whilst living in the city and only relying on it mainly for leisure. 
If we had problems with  it in new location it would cause a big inconvenience, but I guess that is cars in general.
I think the condition of the body might be misleading us. 

Grumpy_chap

Ignore the bodywork.
Ignore the electronic gremlins that are common on Citroens.
The actual engine is bullet proof.  You may get EGR / DPF problems.
When it becomes unreliable, ditch it.
Keep the £7k available and get what you can get when the Citroen dies.  You will have something in the week.  Worst case is hiring a car for that week.

throughtheblue

Grumpy_chap said:

Ignore the bodywork.
Ignore the electronic gremlins that are common on Citroens.
The actual engine is bullet proof.  You may get EGR / DPF problems.
When it becomes unreliable, ditch it.
Keep the £7k available and get what you can get when the Citroen dies.  You will have something in the week.  Worst case is hiring a car for that week.

Thanks. 
What are your thoughts on the cam belt replacement?

fatbelly

If I was trying to get value for 7k, I'd be looking at a Nissan Pulsar or Ford Focus or Vauxhall Astra, something like 2015 and 50k miles.

All a bit smaller than your citroen.

Similar price/age/mileage for a car I've had happily in the past with a surprisingly big boot - Skoda Fabia Estate

Grumpy_chap

throughtheblue said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Ignore the bodywork.
Ignore the electronic gremlins that are common on Citroens.
The actual engine is bullet proof.  You may get EGR / DPF problems.
When it becomes unreliable, ditch it.
Keep the £7k available and get what you can get when the Citroen dies.  You will have something in the week.  Worst case is hiring a car for that week.

Thanks. 
What are your thoughts on the cam belt replacement?

Do it.
That's the one maintenance task that can result in complete engine failure if skipped and the belt fails.

throughtheblue

Grumpy_chap said:

throughtheblue said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Ignore the bodywork.
Ignore the electronic gremlins that are common on Citroens.
The actual engine is bullet proof.  You may get EGR / DPF problems.
When it becomes unreliable, ditch it.
Keep the £7k available and get what you can get when the Citroen dies.  You will have something in the week.  Worst case is hiring a car for that week.

Thanks. 
What are your thoughts on the cam belt replacement?

Do it.
That's the one maintenance task that can result in complete engine failure if skipped and the belt fails.

Thanks again. 
Would it help if we started using a dpf cleaning additive? Most commutes would be 15 miles or a 30 mile round trip, so would it help if we took it on a longer motorway drive once every two weeks?

Bigwheels1111

Does your car have a Dpf, DPFs became standard in 2009.
Cam belt and pump and keep it until it goes bang.
From £450 at Citroen 
https://www.charterscitroen.com/offers/citroen-fixed-price-timing-belt-kits-399/

throughtheblue

Bigwheels1111 said:

Does your car have a Dpf, DPFs became standard in 2009.
Cam belt and pump and keep it until it goes bang.
From £450 at Citroen 
https://www.charterscitroen.com/offers/citroen-fixed-price-timing-belt-kits-399/

It might not then. It's a 2008 C4 HDI - currently it's only my partner that drives it, but now I'll be driving it when we move I'm trying to familiarise myself more. 

maxmycardagain

Insurance, road tax, upkeep (even minimal) vs how many annual miles?