Citroen C3 Picasso
Discussion
Further to my problems of my 3-series saloon and not enough room for camping with my 3 kids, even with a roof box, my thoughts have turned to the funky looking C3 Picasso as a cheap answer to the problem.
I know that it will be a sub standard ride compared to what I am used to but it seems to have space and roof rails thus the box can still be used.
Anyone own one?
Cheers.
I know that it will be a sub standard ride compared to what I am used to but it seems to have space and roof rails thus the box can still be used.
Anyone own one?
Cheers.
It's a Citroen that's going to cost 8 times what you current car is to buy. How's that a cheap solution?
Anyway, what you need is a Fiat Doblo like this:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
Ugly, fun to drive, hugely spacious, tough and 53mpg.
Anyway, what you need is a Fiat Doblo like this:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
Ugly, fun to drive, hugely spacious, tough and 53mpg.
Has it got a hook for your hangman's noose? You might as well hang yourself now that you've given up on life by thinking about buying a fecking picasso.
There's loads of decent sized estate cars out there, with shedloads more room, better to drive, won't fall to bits on you etc etc than any brat wagon / mum bus.
5 series touring, since you like BMs? Merc E class? Audi A6 avant? Alfa 156 sportswagon? Saab 9-5 estate? Passat estate? Octavia probably a bit small. Mondeo estate is pretty ok to drive and very big.
There's loads of decent sized estate cars out there, with shedloads more room, better to drive, won't fall to bits on you etc etc than any brat wagon / mum bus.
5 series touring, since you like BMs? Merc E class? Audi A6 avant? Alfa 156 sportswagon? Saab 9-5 estate? Passat estate? Octavia probably a bit small. Mondeo estate is pretty ok to drive and very big.
alfa pint said:
Has it got a hook for your hangman's noose? You might as well hang yourself now that you've given up on life by thinking about buying a fecking picasso.
There's loads of decent sized estate cars out there, with shedloads more room, better to drive, won't fall to bits on you etc etc than any brat wagon / mum bus.
5 series touring, since you like BMs? Merc E class? Audi A6 avant? Alfa 156 sportswagon? Saab 9-5 estate? Passat estate? Octavia probably a bit small. Mondeo estate is pretty ok to drive and very big.
Big is not a word used in the same sentence as 156 Sportwagon.There's loads of decent sized estate cars out there, with shedloads more room, better to drive, won't fall to bits on you etc etc than any brat wagon / mum bus.
5 series touring, since you like BMs? Merc E class? Audi A6 avant? Alfa 156 sportswagon? Saab 9-5 estate? Passat estate? Octavia probably a bit small. Mondeo estate is pretty ok to drive and very big.
The C3 Picasso is perfectly acceptable for what it is - its not an M5 Touring, but its not meant to be either. They are very spacious inside, well equipped and economical, while not actually being particularly big.
Thanks people 
I certainly would not buy one new and I did consider the 5 Touring but as with a lot of modern estates, in order to make 'em look sporty they have really compromised on the space in the back.
Just thought that the little Citroen might work without me going the small 4x4 route plus it looks big enough to chuck the kid's bikes and mine in the back.
Anyhow if anyone has actually owned one of these cars do let us know what you think.
Sorry for the use of the word "funky"
I certainly would not buy one new and I did consider the 5 Touring but as with a lot of modern estates, in order to make 'em look sporty they have really compromised on the space in the back.
Just thought that the little Citroen might work without me going the small 4x4 route plus it looks big enough to chuck the kid's bikes and mine in the back.
Anyhow if anyone has actually owned one of these cars do let us know what you think.
Sorry for the use of the word "funky"
I've just recently bought my first Citroen after years of owning german cars and I thought I would share my experience on this subject.
Over the past 10 years I have owned various VW passats, BMW Mini Cooper, E36 M3, VW Corrado VR6, Audi A4 2.6 Quattro, Skoda Octavia and a Porsche Boxster, all being second hand cars. I have to admit I was always a badge snob when buying cars and I would never in a million years think about buying a french car. This was probably all down to bad press and hear say from friends and others about reliability and depreciation.
In the last few years I have started taking a keen interest in citroen's since they started becoming very adventurous with their styling and design and being very generous with the standard equipment/toys you get even with the poverty models.
So I took the plunge and bought a 55 plate Citroen C4 1.6 HDi VTR+ in Wicked Red which I think is a really striking and smart colour which suits the car very well. I did a bit of research in regards with common problems to look for and what specs and models were available. The Citroen C4 forum was very helpful when it came to this. What I didn't realise was that the 1.6 HDi PSA engine is used in various other cars, some that I was quite surprised to find in. It is used in the BMW Mini, Various Ford cars including the Focus, Various Peugeot models, Mazda 2 and the Volvo S40 and V50.
Having the VTR+ model it comes with all the toys which you would struggle to find in a BMW or Merc of this price. It has Auto lights + Wipers, Auto dim mirror, Guide me home lights, Automatic Air freshener (nice touch), A fixed centre hub steering wheel, Citroen claim the wheel allows a more successful deployment of the airbag and a greater number of supplimentary controls (stereo, cruise control, general navigation buttons) to be within easier reach of the driver. Also grouped around the wheel is the rev counter and the auxiliary light bar. As above it has cruise control but also a speed limiter which comes in useful when driving through roadworks with average speed cameras. The centre mounted lcd translucent display looks cool and displays the speedo and various other things including cruise and speed limiter setting. Below the centre air vents there is another display which shows warning messages, trip computer, radio and vehicle menu which the driver can access either via the steering wheel buttons or the menu button on the radio head unit. You can adjust various things from the guide me home lights to the automatic door locking feature when you drive off. Another nice feature is not only will it tell you on the centre dash if the driver or passenger is not wearing their seatbelt but also if the rear passengers are not wearing them. You can also at the touch of a button activate the child locks instead of going round each door and flicking the button. It's those little nice touches that I give credit to Citroen.
The party piece of the car is the engine, it really is a peach of an engine. Only being a 1.6 it develops 110 BHP which is plenty quick in todays traffic. Where it matters is low down torque it really pulls well. There is also a 2.0 HDi available which develops 138 BHP and has a 6 speed gearbox but from all the reviews and forum searches I read most people recommend the 1.6 HDI as it falls in to a lower CO2 bracked (£90 a year to tax). It is also very quiet and refined, I would go as fas as to say you really have to concentrate to realise you are in a diesel car even at idle. Coming from VAG engines which are very agricultural in sound even when warm, this is such a surprise. Currently I am averaging about 60.2 mpg which I am very pleased with. My last car which was an 06 plate Octavia was full of squeeks, rattles and dreadful wind noise above 60mph, the Citroen has none of these even though it is a year older. So far I have owned it for 2 months which is a very short time, but so far it has been fantastic, obviously time will tell but looking at the car and all the service documents and receipts it has been lovingly cared for by its previous owner.
All in all I have completely changed my opinion about french cars, and reading the other day in Autocar about the all new Peugeot 508 which looks absolutely stunning, they gave it 4/5 stars which is an excellent award from them. So the people on here who are slating the Citroen because it is French and it will be plagued with electrical gremlins and be unreliable, unless you have ever owned or driven one maybe reserve your judgement.
Over the past 10 years I have owned various VW passats, BMW Mini Cooper, E36 M3, VW Corrado VR6, Audi A4 2.6 Quattro, Skoda Octavia and a Porsche Boxster, all being second hand cars. I have to admit I was always a badge snob when buying cars and I would never in a million years think about buying a french car. This was probably all down to bad press and hear say from friends and others about reliability and depreciation.
In the last few years I have started taking a keen interest in citroen's since they started becoming very adventurous with their styling and design and being very generous with the standard equipment/toys you get even with the poverty models.
So I took the plunge and bought a 55 plate Citroen C4 1.6 HDi VTR+ in Wicked Red which I think is a really striking and smart colour which suits the car very well. I did a bit of research in regards with common problems to look for and what specs and models were available. The Citroen C4 forum was very helpful when it came to this. What I didn't realise was that the 1.6 HDi PSA engine is used in various other cars, some that I was quite surprised to find in. It is used in the BMW Mini, Various Ford cars including the Focus, Various Peugeot models, Mazda 2 and the Volvo S40 and V50.
Having the VTR+ model it comes with all the toys which you would struggle to find in a BMW or Merc of this price. It has Auto lights + Wipers, Auto dim mirror, Guide me home lights, Automatic Air freshener (nice touch), A fixed centre hub steering wheel, Citroen claim the wheel allows a more successful deployment of the airbag and a greater number of supplimentary controls (stereo, cruise control, general navigation buttons) to be within easier reach of the driver. Also grouped around the wheel is the rev counter and the auxiliary light bar. As above it has cruise control but also a speed limiter which comes in useful when driving through roadworks with average speed cameras. The centre mounted lcd translucent display looks cool and displays the speedo and various other things including cruise and speed limiter setting. Below the centre air vents there is another display which shows warning messages, trip computer, radio and vehicle menu which the driver can access either via the steering wheel buttons or the menu button on the radio head unit. You can adjust various things from the guide me home lights to the automatic door locking feature when you drive off. Another nice feature is not only will it tell you on the centre dash if the driver or passenger is not wearing their seatbelt but also if the rear passengers are not wearing them. You can also at the touch of a button activate the child locks instead of going round each door and flicking the button. It's those little nice touches that I give credit to Citroen.
The party piece of the car is the engine, it really is a peach of an engine. Only being a 1.6 it develops 110 BHP which is plenty quick in todays traffic. Where it matters is low down torque it really pulls well. There is also a 2.0 HDi available which develops 138 BHP and has a 6 speed gearbox but from all the reviews and forum searches I read most people recommend the 1.6 HDI as it falls in to a lower CO2 bracked (£90 a year to tax). It is also very quiet and refined, I would go as fas as to say you really have to concentrate to realise you are in a diesel car even at idle. Coming from VAG engines which are very agricultural in sound even when warm, this is such a surprise. Currently I am averaging about 60.2 mpg which I am very pleased with. My last car which was an 06 plate Octavia was full of squeeks, rattles and dreadful wind noise above 60mph, the Citroen has none of these even though it is a year older. So far I have owned it for 2 months which is a very short time, but so far it has been fantastic, obviously time will tell but looking at the car and all the service documents and receipts it has been lovingly cared for by its previous owner.
All in all I have completely changed my opinion about french cars, and reading the other day in Autocar about the all new Peugeot 508 which looks absolutely stunning, they gave it 4/5 stars which is an excellent award from them. So the people on here who are slating the Citroen because it is French and it will be plagued with electrical gremlins and be unreliable, unless you have ever owned or driven one maybe reserve your judgement.
No problems with rust today. I didnt pay very much money for mine and I can only describe the condition as mint. There isn't a mark on the body work, ive seen 1 year old cars in worse condition. The mileage when i bought it was 44000 which is below average, the interior is immaculate again not a mark. I was surprised with the quality of the plastics. I was expecting cheap nasty plastics but i would say the opposite, on par with the plastics used on my octavia which is from the vag group. I wouldn't rule out the citroen at the end of the day it will be you owning and drving the car every day despite what I or others say so the only way to find out is go and have a look at one and test drive it.
Am sure you don't need lots of people telling you about different cars
But
Ford S-Max is a great useful vehicle - plenty of space in boot even with 3 kids in back, space for friends/grandparents if you need to, easy to drive progressively, handles pretty well, comfortable on long trips, enough poke to overtake, etc. If you can stretch to one, it's, for my money, the best family car around. Estates are great but the extra height of the S-Max makes putting smaller kids in and out easier, and gives more space under raised boot for keeping dry on days out.
Just my 2p. There'll be others along with other suggestions shortly :-)
But
Ford S-Max is a great useful vehicle - plenty of space in boot even with 3 kids in back, space for friends/grandparents if you need to, easy to drive progressively, handles pretty well, comfortable on long trips, enough poke to overtake, etc. If you can stretch to one, it's, for my money, the best family car around. Estates are great but the extra height of the S-Max makes putting smaller kids in and out easier, and gives more space under raised boot for keeping dry on days out.
Just my 2p. There'll be others along with other suggestions shortly :-)
money aside I think these looks quite nice, especially in CLEAN AND SHINY black.
sometimes hatfeul driving characteristics are tolerable when you are just travelling with the family, just trying to get somehwere rather than having a hoon-fest; save that for when you're paying more attention!
sometimes hatfeul driving characteristics are tolerable when you are just travelling with the family, just trying to get somehwere rather than having a hoon-fest; save that for when you're paying more attention!
Let's put Citroen ridicule to one side for a second. The C3 Picasso is a perfectly capable car. Loads of space with a clever seating arrangement, comfortable, refined, well equipped for the money and actually fairly pleasant to drive (nasty, fluffy steering aside). The looks are an acquired taste, but they're quirky, and that used to be Citroen's USP. I'm glad they're finding some character again.
robsco said:
Let's put Citroen ridicule to one side for a second. The C3 Picasso is a perfectly capable car. Loads of space with a clever seating arrangement, comfortable, refined, well equipped for the money and actually fairly pleasant to drive (nasty, fluffy steering aside). The looks are an acquired taste, but they're quirky, and that used to be Citroen's USP. I'm glad they're finding some character again.
For the money you can have a Berlingo, that is more practical, more spacious and isn't trying too hard to be cool. Chrisw666 said:
For the money you can have a Berlingo, that is more practical, more spacious and isn't trying too hard to be cool.
Not as good to drive, but granted that won't be the top of the list if you're looking for this sort of car. I'm not sure the C3 Picasso is aching to be cool, its just something a little different.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff