2002 Citroen C3 Exclusive from UK and Ireland - Comments

1st Dec 2002 - Giles Henry-Stogdon (hereafter referred to as GHS) takes delivery of his C3 at Citroen Yser, in Brussels.

20th Dec 2002 - back in the UK, there is an engine fault after 1000 miles - GHS calls Citroen Assist Belux who refers him to Citroen Assist UK. Citroen Assist UK refuse to recover vehicle or provide a courtesy vehicle.

23rd Dec 2002 - GHS makes first of over 50 calls to Citroen UK. They inform him that he needs to register the car with Citroen UK.

23rd Dec 2002 - Citroen Assist Europe arrange to recover the vehicle. The wrong type of pick-up arrives. GHS drives vehicle to W Shirley in Croydon. The vehicle breaks down once on the way. After a rest at side of the road, it limps to the dealership in the end.

24th Dec 2002 - The Lexia system shows various faults in the engine.

2nd Jan 2003 - The technician reports a failed injection pump. The part is put on back order.

3rd Jan 2003 - in one of many calls to Brussels, GHS is told that Citroen Belux will not provide any help, and that the purchaser is not guaranteed satisfaction from Citroen Europe. However, he explains that I should expect at least the same level of service from Citroen UK!

3rd Jan 2003 - the vehicle is registered with Citroen UK. W Shirley provides a courtesy car (Renault Clio). Christmas was ruined, but at least GHS and his family now have the use of a Renault Clio with a petrol engine- and it works.

17th Jan 2003 - The fuel pump part arrives. The faulty part is replaced, but there are further faults that are difficult to identify. The technician is sent away on a course and asks lots of questions. On the Citroen course, attended by the technician, there was talk of a general problem with the quality of the injector rails. It turns out 2 injector rails are faulty. The parts go on back order.

During the month of January, GHS makes a series of calls to Citroen UK in an effort to find out why there is such a delay with the parts.

Sometime in Feb 2003 - 12 injector rails arrive in UK, but fail to reach W. Shirley in Croydon. They are distributed elsewhere.

27th Feb 2003 - Brussels state that there are no problems reported on the thousands of C3s they has sold. The high demand for the injector rails tells another story.

27th Feb 2003 - 15 more injector rails arrive in the UK, but are held up in Coventry.

February has been another month of lengthy phone calls to Citroen UK, Citroen Yser in Bruxelles, and Finally, Citroen Europe in Paris. No one can tell GHS the reason for the hold up with the injector rails. Citroen UK blames the suppliers. Citroen Europe blames the manufacturers. Nobody admits there might be a general problem with the C3 injection system.

3rd March 2003 - GHS contacts Citroen UK and eventually gets to speak to the UK Customer Relations Manager, who promises to make sure the injector rails reach W. Shirley this time.

6th March 2003 - The parts arrive at W Shirley. All four injector rails are replaced. The vehicle appears to run correctly in two, short road tests.

7th March 2003 - As a gesture, Customer Relations in Slough offers that Citroen pay for all regular services of the vehicle under warranty. It has to be said that the warranty may not have long to run by the time GHS gets the C3 back.

8th Mar 2003 - GHS picks up the vehicle from Croydon. He drives it home. On the way to the shop with his wife, the vehicle shows an engine fault again. GHS drives the vehicle (limping horribly) back to W. Shirley. This is one and a half hours after the vehicle left the garage.

March 13th 2003. The vehicle has been in working order for 19 days, plus one and a half hours. It has been under repair for 80 days. W Shirley in Croydon have done everything possible, but they see no way forward.

March the 14 2003. GHS calls Citroen and speaks to another representative. He says Citroen UK will advise W. Shirley on some more tests to run on the C3. He tells me that Citroen UK will then uplift the car to their own centre in Slough if this yields no results. He insists that Citroen will be able to correct the fault. Failing this, they will speak to Citroen Belux about a refund or replacement.

17th March 2003. W. Shirley say they have ordered a new manifold (inlet?). There seems to be a problem with a fluctuating manifold inlet.

21st of March 2003. I call Citroen UK and speak to someone. He doesn't like my turn and threatens to terminate call. Later I speak to the previous contact. When I point out the ridiculous nature of the situation, he tells me "this line of conversation isn't getting us anywhere". I'm beginning to wonder if this is some kind of training research project for the technician.

23rd March 2003. My car has been W. Shirley's for three months today.

26th March 2003. Spoken to Citroen UK. They tell me my previous contact will get back to me.

27th of March 2003. I call Citroen twice this morning. I am told that my contact has called W. Shirley's and is waiting for them to get back to him. I call W. Shirley, and they tell me they have received no calls from Citroen UK. I call Citroen UK again, and point out the lie. My contact tells me that the Slough workshop is full up with "various" cars. He will not tell me how long these vehicles have been there. I suggest that I come down to Citroen UK in Slough to find out how long the various vehicles have been in their workshop. He tells me that he will call W. Shirley's. I call Citroen UK again and speak to the Customer Relations Secretary. She tells me the UK Customer Relations Manager will call me back at work.

29th March 2003. I call W. Shirley in Croydon. They tell me that someone is coming to uplift the car on Monday, but they will not take it to Slough. Citroen UK will take my car to another dealership. Another training opportunity perhaps? I would like to know why my C3 is not been taken to Citroen UK in Slough as promised.

30th of March the 2003. I put together a website with details of Citroen UK's customer service. I publish it to my virgin.net freespace: http://freespace.virgin.net/citroen.c3

1. I believe it is reasonable to expect a product to fulfil the purpose for which it is purchased. A car, for example, should transport its passengers from A to B and back again for a reasonable amount of time. Nineteen and a half days is not a reasonable amount of time. My C3 does not transport anyone from A to B, or from B to A! It is hard to believe I laid out third of my annual income on a product that has given me nothing but grief.

2. We no longer have any faith in the product we have been sold. My wife now refuses to get back in the C3, as it has broken down, en route, the last two times she stepped into it.

3. The costs and inconvenience to all concerned have been enormous. The warranty bill for Citroen so far is £1400, plus car hire for 8 weeks. GHS has lost out on two and a half months of road tax and green flag cover while the C3 languishes at the dealer's. I am currently driving over 2000 miles per month, so increase in fuel costs are considerable with the Clio. Mr Henry-Stogdon has spent hours of time and money in phone calls to Citroen. The whole situation has been extremely stressful for both Mr Henry-Stogdon and his family... and it's not over yet. A lot of my valuable time has been wasted on trying to sort out problems that it is not his place to sort out.

4. It is appreciated that Citroen UK is paying for a hire vehicle whilst the parts are on order. However, if I had wanted to, I could have bought a Renault Clio, rather than a top of the range C3. I would have paid less money for it. I wanted an economical, roomy, diesel-powered vehicle, made by Citroen that would belong to me. I did not want a less economical, pokey, petrol-powered vehicle, manufactured by Renault that does not belong to me.

5. I think it is also reasonable that someone in your company takes responsibility for this mess. Everyone has been very sympathetic, but this does not solve the problem. It is not my job to cajole and pester your staff into taking care of their customers. It should also not be up to me to make up for the shortfalls in communication across the various departments and sectors of the Citroen Group.

6. I would like Citroen (UK, Belux, or Europe - you choose!) to provide me with a new C3 1.4 Hdi V16 Exclusive - in proper working order.

7. Alternatively, I want my money returned to me... all of it. I do not want to pay VAT or TVA for a car I have never really owned, and that has spent 80% of its short life in the repair workshop.

You should check the delivery papers carefully, perhaps you got a CITRON by mistake.

I have a C3 1.6 petrol (exclusive senso drive) ; your comments are OK. The car is funny, but this is all. It has many technical problems, including also different noises. In addition, the technical assistance from Citroen dealer has in Romania the same "quality" like in UK. According to my experience (I have also a Renault Laguna, etc.) the technical assistance for Citroen is one of the worst in the industry in Romania. I 'll never buy again a Citroen, even if some fancy features are attractive. It is better to look for similar features in more expensive cars to avoid frequent technical problems and the spending of time.

I have owned a C3 diesel elegance for 6 months and covered a little over 5000 miles which have included numerous journeys to France and Ireland. Throughout, it has been totally reliable and averaged 60 plus miles to the gallon.

Otherowners that I meet are equally delighted.

Citroen don't seem to be able to maintain any kind of consistency with their vehicles - they're either decently put together and relatively reliable, or complete dogs! How come the Japanese can pioneer a system like Total Quality Management, but when a European company tries the same they make a pigs ear of it?

We purchased a Citroen C3 1.4SX in March 2003 and apart from the first service we have not been back to the dealer. It is a pleasure to drive in all conditions. My son and his wife also own the same model and apart from one small problem (software upgrade needed) they have had no problems either. A splendid little car.

I purchased a Citroen C3 1.4 Desire in March 2003 and interestingly, it recently suffered a 'limping' problem. I too had to return the car to the dealership for an injection pump problem. I asked the service centre if this was a common fault for this type of vehicle, and of course, was told it wasn't...it obviously IS some form of design problem if others are experiencing something similar. Happily, I am 'road perfect'...for the moment.

I have a C3 SX on a 52plate I'm sick of the car I feel really cheated by it. it has been in three times for the engine. The power steering, air conditioning, brakes and lots of rattles and bangs.

I have found that my Hastings branch have not been very helpful, I have asked them to take the car back, but they only offered me half what I payed for it and that was only if I brought one of there cars what a laugh.

Well I'm not laughing any more the car is yet again in for three days. I say to friends I have a friday five oclock car, I have to say this or I would be in tears.

I have a C3 SX on a 52 plate I'm sick of the car I feel really cheated by it. it has been in three times for the engine. The power steering, air conditioning, brakes and lots of rattles and bangs.

I have found that my local dealer is not been very helpful, I have asked them to take the car back, but they only offered me half what I paid for it, and that was only if I bought one of their cars; what a laugh.

Well I'm not laughing any more; the car is yet again in for three days. I say to friends I have a friday five o'clock car. I have to say this or I would be in tears.

So GHS bought a lemon C3. My wife and I bought a lemon Toyota Camry in Australia 2 yrs ago. The first engine lasted 100, yes one hundred, km, several weeks and several unroadworthy loan cars from the dealer later, the second engine lasted about 40km before making similar unacceptable noises to the first one. The panels didn't fit and it never stopped rattling. We demanded our money back after a few days and were offered about two thirds of what we paid. It was humiliating and embarassing and frustrating.

This was the third new car I have ever picked up. The first was a 93 Peugeot 106 (14000km, no faults except when I caught a piece of trim on the footwell with my foot and it came off) and a 97 Nissan QX (brilliant, literally faultless over 60000km, and we still miss it).

The problems with the Camry had less to do with the car than with the manufacturer and dealer. The engine, panel fit and rattles could have been fixed, but neither the dealer nor company were interested in bringing their product up to the standard I presumed and expected after my personal experience of the 2 cars listed above, plus a multitude of 2nd hand vehicles, none of which gave half as much trouble as the Toyota.Oh, and did I mention I spent years as a mechanic...but I draw the line at opening the bonnet of a car I own that is covered by warranty.

The solution is at the bottom end of the car market. I could buy a new car if I wanted to, but after the Toyota experience (the slogan was "Oh, what a feeling" in Australia) I will never buy a new car again. I have bought cars from 2nd hand dealers in Australia and had good deals and found them willing to fix faults, no problems. Here in England, its even easier. Our wheels the last few months has been a fun, but thirsty old BMW 7 Series (net cost £200). We've now got an old Citroen AX, cost £200. From the sublime to the ridiculous, but I can afford to walk away if it fails.

And tip two - the best made vehicles ever were Japanese built models by Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Toyota (yes, even Toyota despite the above) from the late 80s to the mid 90s. Anything later, from almost any manufacturer seems to be less reliable - lately they've been making them too cheap and the electronics are too complex.

We purchased a c3 1.4LX in May 2004 from a dealer in the Scottish Borders. The past two weeks have been an utter waste of purchasing a car, as at least every other day the engine management light is staying on, on returning the car to the garage for the 4th time this month I am told 2 reasons reason 1 is female driving reason 2 computer can't find anything, so apparently there is no fault with car (what are mechanics for if a computer supposedly can find every fault.)

From 1 really disgruntled C3 owner.

I have owned a C3 HDi Exclusive for two years and 18,000 miles. It was purchased new in June 2002 and has performed without fault ever since. We have just returned from our latest journey to Sweden in the little C3. This year, we covered about 700Kms on Swedish "B" roads - clay and gravel road surfaces - without any faults or rattles occurring. The fast overland journey along the E4 from Esbjerg to Jonkoping via the belt bridges was carried out quickly and in comfort thanks to the cruise control and the climate control. The 8V diesel engine returns a steady 65+ mpg and seems to use no oil between services. My only "niggle" concerns the alloy wheel/tyres combination which thumps and crashes on any lateral road imperfection. I continue to be amazed at the awful stories people keep telling about their C3 experiences - can this really be the same car that I have found so reliable, economical and trouble free?

I have a C3 HDI which has been a perfect car... until today.

It's an 03 plate and has done 26000 miles, but has been serviced at all the correct intervals.

Today when driving home the engine management light came on and white/blue smoke poured from the exhaust, I also had to call the fire brigade as smoke started pouring from the engine.

The cars now been recovered to a less than enthusiastic dealer who stated "Can't really take any more in at the moment as were busy until the 20th of September, we'll see what we can do".

We have 2 C3's and we really love them, I just hope that Citroen UK treat us right or they will be the last Citroens we ever buy.

I have a 52 reg Feb 03 Citroen C3 1.4i SX Auto Tuscan Blue. It has been a nightmare. When the Car was two weeks old the Drivers Electric Window switch broke.

Aug 03 The engine cut out when I was coming down a hill with no breaks or power steering. Lucky escape. Took it to Dealer computer finds no faults.

Oct 03 15,000 miles needed new brake pads.

Dec 03 20,000 miles Service. Needed a new Third Stop light bulb.

Jan 04 The fuse kept on blowing for the windscreen washers.

Feb 04 Driver's Window switch broke again.

Mar 04 Automatic gear box kept going into snow mode. Took to the dealer. It needed a small new part because oil had started leaking in to the gear box.

Apr 04 Needed a new RDS Stereo Radio CD Player.

May 04 It wouldn't go over 8mph.

Nov 04 The gear box was slipping so I phoned the dealer on 22/11/04 to book the car in. Oh we are fully booked for 2 weeks, but it sounds like your Automatic Gear Box needs replacing so can you stop driving it and get the RAC to tow it in. I said no because I need a car and whats the point of you having it if it will be just stuck on the forecourt. So I phoned them on 29/12/04 by this time the gear box is going into snow mode all the time and it will no longer go up hills. The Dealer said oh we are fully booked for 3 weeks. I said look I have given you a chance to book me in. He said Oh I see what I can do. He said I can get you booked in on the 18/1/05. I said right how long will I be without a car. He said about a week. I was not happy, but I just wanted it done. So in the mean time you never guess what? My Drivers window switch had broke again no surprise. The car finally went in on 18/1/05 and I had it back on 21/1/05 but it also needed 2 shock absorders. Well I got the car untill 24/2/06 so lets see what this last year will bring.

I have a 03 registered C3 SX HDI. It's 21 months old and has done around 33,500 miles. It's been fine, until Friday when it refused to start having only been driven 90 minutes earlier. Recovery failed to get the car restarted, so it is now at a Citroen UK dealer awaiting diagnostics.

It is the first thing I've had go wrong with the car and I like the car. I hope that it will be back on the road shortly.

I have a Citroen C3 1.4 HDI (92Hp) which diesel engine became very noisy when going from idle to normal rolling speed and difficult to start in the morning. Apparently the problem are the injectors that start leaking pressure and some type of valve in the engine head. It happened frequently to other engines like mine as I discovered.

Citroen in Portugal kept silent about this and the car went through several routine inspections without mechanics saying anything about it. I finally decided to search for the reason, but by then the car was out of the warranty.

I would like to know if anyone had a C3 with the same problem.