Faults:

18k. Air conditioner drain hose not fitted properly resulting in wet carpets on the LHS.

21k. CD stacker replaced under warranty - discs would not eject.

40k. Transmission oil leak, apparently from breather outlet. Has not reoccurred since.

40k. Broken upper brake light wire in rear hatch loom.

50k. Door sill rubber seal lifting on rear LHS door - a common problem apparently.

56k. New front oxygen sensor ($A160 aftermarket cf genuine part $A600).

64k. Replaced broken section of wiring in rear hatch loom (systemic fault).

76k. Slight coolant leak from O ring on heater matrix - replaced.

87k. Replaced plastic cogs on heater control (systemic fault).

88k. Oil leak from oil heater/cooler unit.

91k. Engine hesitation when cold. Cured by fitting a new engine coolant temperature sensor. This seems to be a common problem. It seems the car has been running rich because of this and the catalytic converter may have over-heated as a result - we now have a depollution warning. I am ignoring this for the moment as a new converter is probably going to be required and it does not affect the efficiency of the engine.

General Comments:

Things I like:

Imaginative design inside and out.

Drives nicely, large easily read digital speedo, instrument readout not affected by height adjustment of steering wheel, speed limiter, boot divider, long-lasting comfortable cloth seats, tiptronic auto transmission, transmission lock in 2 to 4th gears, useful engine braking. Musical warning chimes.

Things I don't like:

17” tyres make for harsh ride on sharp bumps.

The transmission would benefit from having 5 speeds on the auto, and gear changes are occasionally harsh. However, it has lasted for 96k km without major problems, which you can't say for some modern autos.

The light tapping noise from the charcoal canister purge valve at the front RHS can be mistaken for an engine noise.

A flare of light from RHS headlight.

Weak wiring for rear hatch.

Has always used a small amount of coolant.

High price of genuine parts.

The French make it hard to plug in a generic OBD2 reader - it requires considerable force to actually get the plug onto the socket. Once on it works OK.

Faults:

The vehicle had been leaking fuel from the injectors onto the engine block since new. I have the best Citroen mechanic in the region, who immediately diagnosed the cause of the persistent fuel smell in the cabin was the injector fuel leak. A solid block of carbon had built up around one of the injectors. A harsh solvent and days later the only repair was to clean the top of the cylinders and tighten the injector. The cause was basically poor build quality control.

The mechanism to replace the bulbs is simple and simply diabolical. The instruction manual is rubbish. Only YouTube helped. The short story is you need to perform a squeeze operation whilst looking through a little hole using a mirror. The designer should be sent back to school. Best option is to drive straight to your Citroen mechanic and have them do the repair.

Driver's seat has a small tear, and padding is coming out in small bits.

Anti-pollution device malfunctions under hard acceleration and then limits your revs to 2000 for a while. The issue is avoided if you drive very sedately all the time and/or accelerate smoothly. No one has been able to give a good diagnosis so far.

General Comments:

I actually really like the Citroen C4 HDi. It is very economical. On highways driving we have travelled 1200kms on 60L.

It is quick, pretty smooth, predictable, handles well, and has been a good vehicle.

The version I have is with a glass roof, which is fun at night.

Like the steering wheel with the stationary middle part and the level of standards you get with this car. It is a value for money vehicle.

I would purchase another Citroen; maybe the DS3.