Brad's Citroen C4

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Very Tall Brad
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Post by Very Tall Brad » Mon Nov 30, 2009 4:55 pm

The EGS (Automated manual gearbox system, like DSG on VW/Audi) has never really worked 100%.

My pigeon French has helped me to seek out a French website where owners can have a moan about their cars. The EGS system comes in for quite a slagging from a lot of owners.

Our car is awaiting an engineer report to see what is wrong and see what Cit UK will do about it as somedays it's undriveable.
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Post by Very Tall Brad » Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:10 pm

Coincidental to my post regarding the service and attention at Lexus, I have had the C4 back into the dealership again this week.

This is the 11th time in three years for the transmission fault which causes the car to shudder and kangaroo on moving away.

The dealer forgeot I was booked in.
The dealer forgot my name (I see him once a month!!)
The dealer forgot to reserve a courtesy car.
The dealer got me a courtesy car but forgot to get an auto which is all I can really drive and I my wife will drive.
The dealer forgot to order the parts.
Citroen UK sent the wrong parts.

Still with me...?

Car collected, all fixed and, I must admit, nicely cleaned. I drove home.

On the way, the dealer rang me to say could I pop back as I hadn't signed the warranty work sheet and they also still had my alloy centre caps.

I went back.

I met a lovely girl in the waiting area who was very upset - her 207CC had suffered brake failure after driving it away from the dealership just before I returned. The technician came out to console her and amditted there was air in the brake system and apologised.

Two people waiting in the queue started letting off steam - they weren't happy.

I started to realise they were used to this sort of a day as they handed me the centre caps (for ME to replace) and my locking wheel key - which they also still had.

And you know what...I never did sign that form.

The young lady and I left together and she told me her dad wouldn't be happy.

Joy oh joy.

By the way, the car is much better. In fact it is transformed, very smooth. Just can't get reverse now. Or the radio on (code lost when they disconnected battery, I guess) and all the settings are different - it has lots of gizmos...letter to Citroen UK sent today.

And that's the difference I was getting at between a 'regular' dealer and a Lexus dealer.
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Post by Lord Sterling » Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:57 pm

Very Tall Brad wrote:...And that's the difference I was getting at between a 'regular' dealer and a Lexus dealer...
Thats what I was getting at on the Lexus thread.

Hope the car was fixed, properly. I have been in this car before and I have to say I really liked it.

Seems pretty hit and miss with Citroens. I know someone that has a smaller C4 and has had no end of problems with it, but then someone else has had one and never had any problems with it.

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Post by ash » Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:40 pm

I much prefer the C4 picasso to the C4 grand picasso. We had a new C4 Picasso diesel in spain in the summer of 2008. I really quite liked it. Only things where the electric handbrake diddnt always do as it was told, the suspension was very 'spongey' - it reminded me of my 1996 rover 214i I had at the time which had worn shocks....as it would 'bob' up and down when the car came to a stop, just like my old clapped out rover did. I no the Citroen was a big heavy car, but IMO the 'pogo' effect was quite poor and shouldnt happen. The other thing was I felt that in years to come, it would be really ropey - this is something both me and my dad agreed on. Also you have to wonder the longetivity and reliability of all the electrics/gadgets once the car gets older.

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Post by Very Tall Brad » Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:22 am

Looking back over the past three years, the car has been very reliable and nothing has broken or failed. The only problems centre around the quality of Citroen dealers and the efficiency of the C4 automated manual gearbox system (EGS).

The EGS is controlled by computers and the car has had 12 software upgrades in it's 37 months. It's also had an new actuator which is the mechanical part that physically shifts the gears. Finally, a Citroen technician diagnosed the need for a new clutch, new gearbox, new flywheel and other mechanical parts. This little lot resulted in two more days off the road.

True to form, the dealer cocked up and the car, whilst better, was still juddery - but at least it was driveable. So I drove it to France in August, left it with a french Citroen dealer who fiddled with it and charged me just 30 Euros. That was 3500 miles ago and the car is fab.

What a shame that we have dealerships here in the UK who still fail so miserably time after time and that I have once again had to take my car abroad for fettling like I did with the C6, Vel Satis and my XM many moons ago. Shite.
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Post by Nuts4my827 » Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:22 pm

Very Tall Brad wrote: What a shame that we have dealerships here in the UK who still fail so miserably time after time and that I have once again had to take my car abroad for fettling like I did with the C6, Vel Satis and my XM many moons ago. Shite.

Sense a theme there?

Tis a pity only the french can fix french cars. I used to have a BX 16Valve with a Turbo Diesel engine, and took it to a local citroen guy to fix. He was french, and actually recommended to me by a mechanic at the Citroen dealers in Croydon!!
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Post by threelitre » Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:24 pm

We recently had a C4 Picasso (short) 1.6HDi as a rental car for a family trip over roughly 2000kms. I was mainly impressed with the car - a nice place to be and considering we ordered 'Golf-sized' it was a positive surprise when this turns up to carry a family of 4.

Good points: trying to be comfortable instead of sporty, very quiet, good size.

But there have been a couple of downsides. The front axle rumbled quite a lot over some sharp irregularities, like something was loose (car had about 10k kms). The soft suspension was a good try, but left something desired in execution: On the motorway it seemd roll even if the road was flat, not really giving confidence. On a mountain pass it was best used slow - but I was fine with that. The worst bit was the steering - it was very light and very direct, giving hardly any feel, but making smooth cornering difficult when first using this car. It also reacted to small irregularities on the road, a bit like older FWD cars did tramline on acceleration. I first thought is was Karin's driving that lead to the car sway and slinger along the motorway (exaggerated somewhat), but later found that even when letting the steering wheel go that the car would slightly follow irregularities which would translate into body roll - and the steering reaction seemed to amplify this body roll. I also found the front compartment quite cramped regarding passenger legroom - the dashboard is always very close and it's bulk seriously robbing room.

I feel that the C4 could be an excellent motorway cruiser, if the ride and handling would be improved. So it seems twitchy on the motorway, not relaxed as it should be. As it was quite good otherwise, I'd be into a difficult decision in case a new car would be needed.

It made our 416 Tourer feel very small (well, low) and old after changing back. But the Tourer drives much better on the motorway and uses hardly more petrol than the C4 used Diesel when driven across France.

Regards,

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Post by Very Tall Brad » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:14 pm

The transmission has failed again. This is it's 15th visit to the dealer sinve 2007. The ACTUATOR which is the mechanism that moves the manual gearbox automatically (like in a DSG) has failed and bits of metal have found their way into the gearbox.

On top of this, it also needs a new outside temp gauge and something in the wiring to do with control of emissions. Add to this the leaky boot and sat nav which has never worked at all and windows that go up and down in jerks (sounds like an 800) and radios that need retuning every time you get in the car and parking sensors that turn themselves off and fuel filler flaps that stick and wheel nut covers that warp in the heat and pop off and cost £28 each to replace and tyres that last a long weekend and tracking that goes off faster than Jordan's pants in a nightclub Ladies and and and...time to buy a Ford, I think.

This weeks bill so far is £1400 and car is still in bits at the Citroen dealer.

I have had the car from new, had it serviced on the dot, looked after it and covered a massive 28,000 miles. It is proving to be one of the most expensive and time consuming cars I have ever run as a daily car which is an amazing fact when you see what else has drained our pockets over the years. I still think my best all rounder was my Rover 114GSi16v (1990 to 1995). RIP.
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Post by Richard C » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:16 pm

Do you have your eye on something as a replacement?
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Post by Lord Sterling » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:43 pm

Sorry to hear about that Brad, I've been in the Citroen and found it pretty impressive. However, I do find new cars to be packed too much full of sensors/electronic "management" systems and the like which break/fail all to easily due to the fact that manufacturers often have these components made on the cheap.

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Post by Very Tall Brad » Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:46 pm

Richard C wrote:Do you have your eye on something as a replacement?
Probably a Lexus RX. Something that will WORK!
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Post by BennyVitesse » Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:47 pm

No chance of Citreon UK doing the decent thing and buying this back off you for a fair price?

A distant relative of mine bought a C4 last year, she wanted an auto and was told they didn't do autos anymore, and that if she wanted a diesel she would have to have the conventional manual and that was that, despite the fact Citreon were one of the first with diesel autos back in the 80s and 90s. Seems like shes had a lucky escape! They also lied to her about being able to have a towbar straight away, took them 6 months to get the plans off PSA to know how to fit one!
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Post by ash » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:58 pm

Very Tall Brad wrote:The transmission has failed again. This is it's 15th visit to the dealer sinve 2007. The ACTUATOR which is the mechanism that moves the manual gearbox automatically (like in a DSG) has failed and bits of metal have found their way into the gearbox.

On top of this, it also needs a new outside temp gauge and something in the wiring to do with control of emissions. Add to this the leaky boot and sat nav which has never worked at all and windows that go up and down in jerks (sounds like an 800) and radios that need retuning every time you get in the car and parking sensors that turn themselves off and fuel filler flaps that stick and wheel nut covers that warp in the heat and pop off and cost £28 each to replace and tyres that last a long weekend and tracking that goes off faster than Jordan's pants in a nightclub Ladies and and and...time to buy a Ford, I think.

This weeks bill so far is £1400 and car is still in bits at the Citroen dealer.

I have had the car from new, had it serviced on the dot, looked after it and covered a massive 28,000 miles. It is proving to be one of the most expensive and time consuming cars I have ever run as a daily car which is an amazing fact when you see what else has drained our pockets over the years. I still think my best all rounder was my Rover 114GSi16v (1990 to 1995). RIP.
Exactly what I thought would happen to these Citroens as they get older. Said it back in 2008 when we had our C4 Picasso in Spain.

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Post by Very Tall Brad » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:37 pm

This car is still off the road at the dealer "awaiting parts from France"... this is the third week. I have a C3 VTR+ as a courtesy car. There is more room in a Morris Minor. It is both cheap and wheezy. No fun at all, as some smaller cars can be. It feels like a £6000 car, not a £14000 car.

Ah well...

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Post by Very Tall Brad » Thu Feb 17, 2011 7:32 pm

Tomorrow will be the start of the 6th week that the C4 has 'rested' at the dealers.

I drove by last night and saw that they were no longer keeping it in the workshop, nor in their car park, not even in the street where the garage is. It was parked 300 yards away on the main road (legally) under a street lamp and is covered in shite.

I have been past again this morning and taken a picture and emailed it to Citroen Customer Relations.

I have also sent it to Lexus Customer Relations and to my friends at Honda H.O. in Swindon for a laff.

They can get some marketing mileage out of this one, I am sure.

If it is not back by tomorrow evening, repaired and clean then I will cause them untold embarassment in the Press.

In total, since buying it new in Sept 2007, it has been off the road 101 days, received two new flywheels, 11 software upgrades, one new clutch, one new gearbox, two replacement alloy wheel centres, two temperature sensors, numerous headlamp bulbs as they keep popping and repairs to leaks around the rear doors and hatch - twice.

Don't buy Citroen - when they go wrong, the dealers haven't got a clue.

Brad
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