Seeking advice re longevity of a Citroen Berlingo

guineapig

Hi,
I am a "mature" lady whose knowledge of cars extends only to getting in and driving it. I have an 11 yr old Citroen Berlingo with very low mileage (currently 28,746). I have the car serviced once a year. 
I was recently unable to drive for several weeks and the battery became flat. I had to call the AA and the upshot of that was that I opted to buy from them a new battery which they fitted for me. 
I took the opportunity to ask the AA man about the longevity prospects for this car which I love. He told me that Berlingos last "for ever". He looked something up and told me that Citroen advise that Berlingos at 10,000 miles or 10 years of age have the water pump and timing belt replaced. The bodywork seems to be in a good state apart from a little rust at the very front of the bonnet which the AA man did not think was much of an issue as regards longevity.
It passed it's last MOT (Feb 2025) but there was an advisory ("diesel fuel cooler hose loose in its bracket but not likely to become detached").
I have a good relationship with the guy who runs the garage where I take the car for its services - he once told me that I was asking for too expensive a service too frequently and suggested a lower level of service, so I trust him not to persuade me to have unnecessary work carried out.
It is due a service in September this year so I plan to ask for the MOT advisory to be addressed then. I might also ask for the garage's opinion re replacement of the timing belt and water pump, with a view to having that carried out at the same time.
The details of the car are:
Vehicle make    
CITROEN
Date of first registration
    December 2014
Year of manufacture
    2014
Cylinder capacity
    1560 cc
CO₂ emissions
    115 g/km
Fuel type
    DIESEL
Vehicle type approval
    M1
Wheelplan
    2 AXLE RIGID BODY
I would be grateful for any thoughts/comments from the knowledgeable people here, as regards the longevity of this Berlingo and re replacing the timing belt and water pump.
Thank you to anyone who has taken the trouble to read this rather lengthy post and especially for any help and advice.

born_again

In reality how long is a bit of string 🤷‍♀️

If it is serviced every year, then whoever is doing the service should be following the manufactures schedule. Which will state when things like belts etc need changing. 👍

fatbelly

If the belt needs replacing, then you should do it as the consequences of one failing is much more expensive.

You could get that rust treated. Ask what it's like underneath. I just had a 2012 car waxoyled - cost £200.

While they don't last forever, a Berlingo at that mileage and age is only halfway through its life if maintained. Nothing at that price point rides like a Berlingo and the interior space is huge. I can understand why you like it.

Ps. Having access to a smart charger is useful for looking after a battery. They are a small piece of kit so easily stored. I bought mine for £10 from a charity shop but they don't cost much more online. Having one might have avoided the AA and delayed needing a new battery. But you are lucky to get much more than 6 years from a battery. Was that the original one?

Mildly_Miffed

Proper maintenance to maximise longevity is MUCH more than just routine servicing, and very low mileage is often bad for cars, not good.

It's monitoring the condition of things, and addressing them before they're an issue. Take that fuel hose. I bet it's just a clip, but it might be a steel hose or bracket starting to rust. It's probably a quick and cheap job. But if it gets to the point that the cooler is damaged, you could be stuck roadside in a pool of diesel.

The 1.6HDi in your van has a reputation for engine damage from oil sludging - frequent oil changes with the right oil help, but there's also a need to check the injector clamps regularly for tightness, so there's no blowby. A diet of short trips won't help much, either. Does it have a DPF? Because at an average of 2k/year, you are almost certain to have issues unless you give it some good long trips occasionally, driving it reasonably hard to get the exhaust properly hot and allow it to regenerate.

As has been said - if you don't use it regularly, and you park it somewhere with access to electricity, get a battery charger.

CliveOfIndia

Like any car, how it has been cared for will have a major impact on the expected lifespan.  And things have moved on in terms of how long you expect a car to last.  When I was a kid, it was unusual to see a car with more than 100K miles on it, these days it's not unusual for a car to last well in excess of that.  The only downside with more modern cars is that there's an awful lot more electronic gadgetry to go wrong.

All that aside, with 28K on the clock it should have a lot of life left in it yet.  With very low mileage, and being a diesel, you MUST change the oil regularly, if you do nothing else.  If you have a local garage you trust, then they should be doing that anyway.

The timing belt - these need to be changed at a specific interval - x miles or y years, whichever comes first.  If, according to the manufacturer's schedule, yours is due to be changed, then get it done.  It's not a cheap job, but if it snaps then it usually completely wrecks the engine, meaning that the car is effectively written off.  So it really is false economy not to change it when it's due.

On most engines it's good practice to change the water pump at the same time.  One reason being, for both the belt and the pump, the parts are relatively cheap, but it involves a lot of labour - hence the high cost.  But since you have to dismantle pretty much the same chunk of gubbins to get to either one, it makes sense to change them both whilst you're in there.

TadleyBaggie

However short journeys and diesels don't mix, if a DPF is fitted.

Beeblebr0x

That "10,000 miles" in the OP's post must be a typo. It's probably 100,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first.

Ectophile

Definitely get the belt changed.  If the belt snaps while you're driving, it can turn a reliable old car into scrap in an instant.  The cost of buying a reconditioned engine, and then fitting it, is more than the car's worth.

On many cars, the water pump is driven by the belt.  If it's old then it could seize without warning.  If it seizes, it shreds the teeth off the belt, and again the car is scrap.  So it's very common to replace the water pump while the front of the engine has been taken off to do the belt.

Bonniepurple

OP, my husband bought a Peugeot Partner ( same as Berlingo) as a stopgap after his beloved Berlingo got written off. It’s a 2010 diesel and keeps going ( albeit with a new clutch last month). As long as it keeps going he’ll keep it. The on,y downside is that a 2010 diesel is Euro 5 and therefore he needs to avoid clean air zones.

I was gutted when I became unable to drive my Berlingo. It really was a perfect car but I can no longer drive a manual.

Mildly_Miffed

Ectophile said:

Definitely get the belt changed.

Good advice, except that engine doesn't have a cambelt...

(And it's the newer 1.5 that has the recall for the narrower chain - the 1.6 tends not to be an issue)

guineapig

Beeblebr0x said:

That "10,000 miles" in the OP's post must be a typo. It's probably 100,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first.

Sorry - yes, that should have read 100,000 miles!