Citroen Picasso

[screenman]

User, you may have found the same with any make they were driving. We are of course talking extremes with those sort of vehicle that are driven 24 hours per day, often without due care.

Bit cheeky but what do you drive?

 

[tyred]

I honestly do believe French cars have an unjustified reputation. I have owned quite a few Peugeots and have always found them very reliable and very fuel efficient. I know plenty of others who've had them as well. They are also extremely rust resistant, far more so than VWs, BMWs, Fords, Opels or Mercs.

That Picasso model has the same running gear as the Peugeot 306 (AFAIK) which shouldn't give too many problems apart from maybe the odd suspension bushing here or there. These are generally cheap and easy to replace. Be very wary of thumps and clunks from the back when test driving. Rear trailling arm bearings can go and can be tricky to sort out but it's much rarer than the "anti-French" make out.

If you're buying a HDI, servicing is key. They don't like neglect.

 

[Hicky]

My old man has had two and has no mechanical sympathy, they have never missed a beat, I've drove it numerous times apart from the armrest being in the way of the gearshifting(poor design) they are great for the price.....a guy I work with has had his from new(05 reg) and had to replace an injector.....that is it!

As has been said....if it has a DPF, walk away they are a nightmare, I have one on my 407 diesel.....expensive job to refill the eylos(addative) tank and if the DPF has to be changed/exchanged unless you have a decent mechanic.
Depending how long you are keeping the car you can have it removed however that may effect resale and possibly MOT in the future depending on the emmissions and possible changes.

 

[RaRa]

My mum has had two diesel Picasso's in the last 8 years and she swears by them. She regularly loads up 6 dogs and bounces down tracks in the New Forest with hers and has never had any problems. It also beats my Honda Civic for mpg effiicency by miles.

 

[asterix]

Don't know about Picassos, but I wouldn't buy another Renault Scenic due to electrical faults that no garage were able to cure.
RaRa is your Civic a diesel? I get just over 40mpg out of an '04 petrol 1.6l which admittedly is not fantastic by modern standards.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Can you not manage with an estate car? If I was looking for another car I reckon that it would be an Skoda Octavia TDI estate, probably a slightly older model with the 1.9 PD engine fitted and without a DPF if one was available with a reasonable mileage (very hard to find). But I guess the Citroen is probably fine. When some tosser swapped lanes and wrote my Civic off I was forced to buy a Focus 1.8 TDCI estate as I needed a car quickly and I could not find an Octavia with a reasonably low mileage. After reading about them I was terrified that something would go wrong as apparently they have a bad name for injector faults/Dual Mass Flywheel problems and various other electrical crap going wrong. So far it has mainly been fine, had the odd ocassion when the engine mangement was light was on but just reset it using a hand held reader and it has been fine. It does however suffer slightly from rust considering it is supposed to be galvanised. I also have an older petrol Focus that I was given and that has no rust whatsoever. Ford's like french cars are usually a great drive for what they are, but the ford's I have owned are not a patch on the excellent 90's designed Japanese cars that I have owned (Nissan, Honda). You probably read more about issues with Ford's and French cars as they are very popular. Same with Vauxhaul's too, having said that my mother has an 09 reg Corsa and the build quality/faults that it has had has been pretty poor.

I am not really into cars much anymore at all now. But looking at what most of the taxi's are around here and looking at Ebay at Octavia TDI's and the massive mileages that most of them have is a good enough indication that they must be a decent car.

 

[RaRa]

RaRa is your Civic a diesel? I get just over 40mpg out of an '04 petrol 1.6l which admittedly is not fantastic by modern standards.

Ours is a Petrol 1.6l which in the 5 years we've had it has done less than 6000 miles and averages at 35mpg over this time. It does tend to only go on shortish journeys to the shops etc as I mostly cycle everywhere else so maybe if we did longer motorway driving it would come out better.

 

[LosingFocus]

Lets be honest, it's pretty 'king hard to buy a proper lemon from one of the major brands now isnt it? Gone are the days of the death trap Metro, the rusty Fiesta, the unstable Frontera... The majority of cars now are safe, reliable for normal use, spacious and fuel efficient. When buying second hand, you obviously have to consider what kind of care and previous driving the vehicle has had, but still...

 

[Over The Hill]

I would say have a look at a Peugeot 307 or 308 SW. (Take care as they also did Estate variants which were the same outside but different inside. The SW has three movable rear seats). It will give a good 50mpg (our hatch does 55mpg) in diesel variant and is fairly tall - sort of half way between estate and mpv and so should do all you want of the Picasso but may score more on comfort and versatility.

 

[Nihal]

Hmmm...Lisa,did you take advice from this thread
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/sl...ed-to-the-going-car-free-thread.105251/:blink:
I know it about GOING car free,but the advice they gave was hilarious

 

[marshmella]

Picasso owner for 5 yrs, 05 plate no worries so far, great for lugging stuff around in with all the seat configurations, mines only got 36000 on the clock seeing as i cycle commute these days.

 

[Lisa21]

More great advice from everyone,, thanks guys!!
I have got an estate at the mo, an Astra, and its been a really good car. I really like the Picasso looks, and the interior, im not 100% certain its what ill get but its looking that way.

Oh and ND....... Cheeky sod!!!!!xx

 

[NotthatJasonKenny]

What kind of budget do you have Lisa? A lot depends on how old a car you will be looking for? In my job I get to sign off a lot of bills for cars being made roadworthy and I can vouch for Peugeot/Citroen being in the 'good but be careful' camp and I agree with a previous poster avoid Renaults, everyone we have sold has cost me a fortune to get ready for customers, so much so that unless they are in amazing condition with brilliant history and low miles I send them to auction!

If you are looking in the £5k region picassos are a 'fair' bet but I would keep to one around £7k and if your budget will stretch to £10k, look for a 10 plate Peugeot 3008, it's the best car they have ever made.

 

[Berties]

we have had a couple of renault scenics both petrol and diesel no problems at all the scenic deisel service was all i ever did with it,the petrol ignition coils under warranty(known fault) Peugeot make sure warranty is sound can be plagued with electrics,ecu went on my 3008 but a damm good motor

 

[Lisa21]

What kind of budget do you have Lisa? A lot depends on how old a car you will be looking for? In my job I get to sign off a lot of bills for cars being made roadworthy and I can vouch for Peugeot/Citroen being in the 'good but be careful' camp and I agree with a previous poster avoid Renaults, everyone we have sold has cost me a fortune to get ready for customers, so much so that unless they are in amazing condition with brilliant history and low miles I send them to auction!

If you are looking in the £5k region picassos are a 'fair' bet but I would keep to one around £7k and if your budget will stretch to £10k, look for a 10 plate Peugeot 3008, it's the best car they have ever made.

Hmm... comfortably im looking at about 4k. And to hopefully trade in mine too although I know ill probably only get about 500 knocked off for it.