Citroen C4 Grand Picasso

[morlewil]

Have admitted defeat and am looking to purchase an MPV. I gather that this Citroen has won lots of awards but does anyone have any personal experience of this model - positives / negatives? Or does anyone have any recommendations of other MPV's they have owned. Any feedback much appreciated as it is quite an outlay and want to have as much information as possible.

Many thanks

[Salsaboy]

I have a friend who has a 2 year old one but even he admits that it is underpowered. He has the 1.6 diesel version. I had a Citroen C3 picasso which had the same engine and that went like a rocket so I presume it's down to the extra weight of the C4.

Apart from that the car is great. Like driving round in a greenhouse, there is so much glass in it. WIth the rear seats down you can get loads of stuff in and on a recent trip to the south of France he got a return of 51mpg overall.

French cars may be a bit boring but they have certainly improved over the last few years and the build quality is great.

[Izodia]

We bought one of these 2 years ago. (Mr Izodia is French after all....)

We opted for the 2.0 diesel over the 1.6 and are glad we did. 1.6 seemed like a small engine for a large car which is often full of people and stuff.

It is nice and roomy. It happily takes our family down to mid-south France a couple of times a year with all our gubbins. And yes, with the rear seats down you can fit a lot in (trips to tip, flatpack furniture etc). So it will be our family workhorse for a while yet.

Probably our main niggle is that somehow the petrol tank is a little small for the size of car. In all previous cars we've been able to get all the way to our French destination in one tank. This one needs a pitstop to refill.

Also to look out for, we suffered from a problem with the rear hydraulic suspension, although Citroen did pay 80% of the cost to repair.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/citroen/c4-picasso/87704/citroen-tackles-c4-picasso-suspension-issues

That all said, we're pretty happy. It's a comfortable family car at a reasonable price.

[johnie]

If you're buying new then drivethedeal has some good discounts.

https://www.drivethedeal.com/buy-a-new-car/CITROEN/GRAND%20C4%20PICASSO%20ESTATE/index.html

However there are some nicer cars in your budget. Get a price then click Other Cars in my Budget - you could get a VW Touran 2.0 diesel estate for less money.

Johnie

[Seabag]

I'd opt for the Touran anyday

Think German tech here

[Jeremy]

Suspect the 2l Touran will have a bit more grunt too (the idea of a 1.6 diesel Citroen going "like a rocket" did raise a smile..)

[morlewil]

Thanks all for your input - I've had a few VW's (looking to replace a passat estate currently) but have found running costs to be high. Will add the Touran to the test drive schedule!

[numbers]

blimey I'm really shocked at Salsaboy recommending a french car!

That aside, much as I adore France I'd never ever buy a Citroen. I'd love to recommend Skoda but the Roomster is so ugly. What about the Ford S-Max if you find VW too expensive to run?

[Salsaboy]

I know!!

My last 3 cars have been French, all bought new, all been excellent. I'm currently driving a Peugeot 2008 1,6 diesel and it's superb. Smooth, comfortable, amazingly fast when it needs to be with incredible acceleration and full of toys. Would recommend it highly.

I had a Ford S-max as a loan car a couple of years ago, drank diesel like it nothing else. Over the 6 weeks I had it it cost me an extra ?200 in fuel compared to the Citroen I had at the time.

[numbers]

I think Peugot must be better than Citroen! French cars are very comfortable I'll give them that. Interesting re fuel consumption if the Ford.

[DaveR]

Carrying on the French car theme, I am on my second Renault Scenic, and despite the reputation for unreliability, have had no problems at all. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, comfortable enough and plenty of space.

[????]

If pissing off the Guardianistas is importnat to you and money is no object you've got to go Range Rover/Land Rover

[morlewil]

That would be nice, but unfortunately not until those six numbers come up! Once again, thanks for the feedback everyone - very useful. Will need to book in some test drives. Another question for you all - previous test drives have always been far too short to form much of an impression - any suggestions for how you can negotiate a bit more time (if only an hour or so!). Thanks

[Jeremy]

Surely one hour would be a ridiculously long test drive! But maybe best to go for a test drive outside of London, where you've got a chance of actually driving it properly - ideally on an A road where you can get up to 60 or 70 mph

[Seabag]

As dull as they are, the Vauhall Zafira I hired was spot on

Add a "Kids on Board" sign in the back window and job done

[Salsaboy]

Just tell 'em that you want a long test drive. You're the customer, you're going to be spending a lot of money. It they don't like it, go somewhere else. And try and get a salesman who is a bit older. These young whippersnappers are all push push push.

morlewil Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> That would be nice, but unfortunately not until

> those six numbers come up! Once again, thanks for

> the feedback everyone - very useful. Will need to

> book in some test drives. Another question for you

> all - previous test drives have always been far

> too short to form much of an impression - any

> suggestions for how you can negotiate a bit more

> time (if only an hour or so!). Thanks