2006 Citroen C3 Pluriel 1600 Sensodrive from UK and Ireland - Comments

A funky little car that takes a little getting used to.

The Sensodrive transmission is a little strange. It needs to be kept in mind that this is basically a manual gearbox equipped with electrically controlled shift and clutch mechanisms, rather than a conventional automatic gearbox. This means that power to the engine is cut while the mechanism declutches and changes gear, causing a marked lurching sensation.

Despite the 1600 cc 16 valve engine capable of 110 BHP, my previous car, a 1100 cc Fiat Punto with exzctly half the power output, felt faster.

I have a C4 at present which I am very happy with and have always maintained that Citroen have some of the best designs about. However, I was wondering if anyone can give a more detailed review on the pluriel as it is a car that I have always been curious about. It looks good, but I was wondering what if any problems there are in changing the roof and if it is a design of car that you may start to tire of after a year or so if you weren't in the habit of changing cars regularly like some. Its just that its such a different car and I have not seen many about and wondered what anyone thought.

I've had the Pluriel now for about six months, and so far I'm liking it more and more. The roof is extremely well insulated, and noise levels are comparable to a regular hard-top.

As regards complete conversion of the car to fully open "cabriolet" mode, there's no doubt that this is a bit of a hassle. I've done it five or six times now, and I've had to refer to the instructions on each occasion. Basically, it involves opening the boot lid, removing the boot floor (which lifts out by two handles quite easily) removing any luggage present in the boot, retracting the roof right back till its concertina-ed over the rear window, pressing a concealed release button which allows the rearwindow/folded roof to be lifted upwards onto a hinge mechanism, swinging the whole window/roof "casette" down into the empty boot, replacing the boot floor, winding down all the windows, releasing the front and rear fixing levers for the side arches, lifting off the side arches (heavy!) and storing them somewhere safe without bashing them, fitting the plastic covers for holes where the side arches used to be on either side of the boot and locking them in place with the rear side arch locking levers, folding the rear seats forward, engaging the plastic boot cover front swivels, closing the boot lid, folding the rear seats back upright again --- and "Bob's your uncle", it's done in a mere 15 minutes! (I'm sure someone will write in to say that they can do the whole thing in ninety seconds. It might form the basis for an interesting competition for the Pluriel Users Group). Actually, that whole process I find relatively straightforward, but it's the reassembly that always seems to catch me out - just when it's starting to rain! As you can see, it's not something you'd want to do every day, although there is a neatly fitting tonneau which can be stretched over the open cabin if you fear it might rain overnight and can't be bothered to reassemble the roof, particulary with the prospect of having to reverse the process again the following morning. I've probably made it sound a lot worse than it actually is, but I won't deny that there's a lot of faffing around involved.

Having said that, the car is absolutely beautiful with the hood folded away and the side windows down. I've had lots of people admiring it! The fact that the central window pillars retract along with the rear windows means that you are left with a proper cabriolet that looks great, and feels fantastic to drive. Taking away those side arches really makes all the difference to the feel of the car.

The Sensodrive gearbox still feels weird, and has some nasty habits which Citroen need to address (yes - even on the more recent production models). The problem seems to be that being based on a manual gearbox (with electric clutch and gearshift), the computer has to cut power to the engine while changing gear (just as the driver of a regular manual gearbox would do). The electric shift mechanism is rather slow, however, which causes a weird lurching sensation before power is eventually restored after the gearchange. The worst aspect of this is experienced when you slow down to a crawl (say, as you approach a roundabout or a 90 degree turn) and then reapply the power in order to pull away quickly again. The gearbox responds by changing down a gear, with the inevitable loss of power as it performs the shift. This results in nothing happening for a couple of seconds after you press the accelerator! Frightening if you're trying to speed away into a small gap in the oncoming traffic! It's just plain weird! Interestingly, passengers don't seem to notice the lurching during gear changes because it just feels to them like a rather slow manual gearchange. It's only the driver that notices the power being cut. The first few times that I drove the car, I kept thinking momentarily that the engine had died on me each time it changed gear!

Other niggles are:

the tiny boot-space when the car is in it's regular (hood-up) configuration,

the CD player which always returns to track 1 when you switch off the engine,

the flimsy rear hatch/window, which is made out of some kind of bendy polythene similar to my black plastic rubbish bin.

Enough moaning, however! I still love the car and all it's weirdness, and I suspect only the most straightlaced of new owners will be able to resist it's charms. It's huge fun to drive, and perfectly practical as an everyday car.

I have been driving the Citroen pluriel for about 4 months now. I did a lot of research on the car and was aware of the most common complaint of the car losing power between gearshifts - so as annoying as it is, I put up with it because I liked the look of the car. Unfortunately I have had to take the car back to the dealer twice in its short life span, and I am about to take it back again.

The first problems were that the car got confused about whether it was in manual or auto - ie I had the gear stick in manual, but on the dash screen it showed I was in second gear auto, and when I put it in auto, it showed that it was in manual. Another time I had been driving the car for about 20 minutes and then was idling for about 10 minutes when the screen flashed that the engine was overheating, and to turn the engine off, which I quickly did.

Both times the car was returned for the service, the service people could not find any problems with the car. Now the car has decided that it doesn't want to start. Four times today it refused to start up, with the last time taking a good five minutes trying.

I love the look of the car - can't fault it. Mechanically, I have had more problems than a new car should give me. I have had 3 Toyota's in the past, with not one complaint. I will never buy a Citroen again - no matter how good it looks.

I cannot open my Pluriel as the central locking has locked me out - have tried the spare key all to no avail and there is no manual lock on my model to override this fault. A totally useless car if you cannot get into it - Citroen have been most unhelpful as I have now had it for a a year and a half and say I have to drive it to them to have this fault repaired, but cannot get into car to drive it there - totally inflexible on this despite it is still under manufacturers warranty until November this year.

I have had my pluriel for 3 years now and it has been perfect, untill last week. It has suddenly taken to stopping in traffic and not restarting VERY VERY SCARY!! It has been towed 4 times this week and everytime the dealers looked at it no fault is too be found. But yet the car does it again? Can anyone maybe tell me if this is something they have come accross,what the fault is, so I can get my car back on the road as all this aside I love this car.

We bought a Citroen Pluriel a couple of months ago. It had only 850 miles on clock so new and under warranty. We have had to take it back to the dealer 3 times now because of water leaking into boot. This was noted the first time when we had left the car in an airport car park for a week with an overnight bag in the boot, only to return to a very wet bag and clothing. Has anyone else had similar problem. The car is due to go back again next week and although we have been pleased in every other respect, this is unacceptable and the last chance to remedy, but would be interested to know if this is a design fault.

HELP!!!

I have now had my 53 plate Pluriel since March and all was going fine until about 4 weeks ago.

Firstly I was driving down the road and my dash flashed up that the gearbox had gone into snow mode before switching off completely in the middle of the road. I was towed into Citroen and told that basically the gear box had told itself it wasn't a gear box and that it just needed reprogramming. No problem at £140.

Two weeks after this I was then driving down a dual carriage way in the fast lane approaching a roundabout when I took my foot off the accelerator nothing happen I carried on going. Luckily I managed to get on the grass verge avoiding the queue of traffic. The AA came out and I was told he had switched the fault off and that I would be safe to drive on. Cautiously I finished my journey.

The next day the throttle switched itself off completely.

I had it looked at and the throttle potentiometer changed.

(I did find out that some of the Pluriels had been recalled for a fault with the throttle, but mine was not one of the number recalled). So far though I have had no further problems with the throttle.

Yesterday however I had just stopped at some traffic lights off the M40 when my gearbox decided to show the snow sign again and switch off.

Has anybody else experienced this fault and has any idea what it could be. My car has been plugged in and no faults are being shown.

Thank you.

When I have read the manual about the sensodrive it can be reset by holding the brake on for 30 seconds or more or until a gear has been selected.

Mind you, I have got the problem where the snowflake won't even bloody come on if adherance is lost, & you know what Citroen told me, "Citroen do put features in the manual which is for future use", ehhhh???

I've learned some things from reading this site. My Pluriel bought from Citroen West London in summer 2005 and now out of warranty has had gearbox problems ever since I bought it. I took it back a couple of months after purchase because the gear change was so rough I was worried would damage the transmission. They downloaded new software which improved it hugely. It still changes gear far too slowly and I suspect it always will - that's just a function of the mechanical design. Somehow the gearbox feels like Citroen's new graduate intake designed it as a training project.

It's always occasionally put itself into snow mode (I didn't realise that's what it was until reading this site). Returning home to London from the Cotswolds this evening it got worse and worse as I went round Chiswick roundabout in heavy traffic. By the time I reached home it wouldn't engage gear at all. I'll try the 30 seconds on the footbrake next time, though I doubt that will please other road users.

It's obviously a common problem. What are Citroen doing about it???

Other than that I've not had many problems. Recently the gearbox has become reluctant to change from 3rd to 4th and I note someone else also mentioned that. The speed warning system (the one that bleeps when you exceed a preset speed) got stuck and bleeped whenever I moved off from rest. I've had several Citroens in the past. Although this is not a particularly well built car and not as pleasant to drive as my Toyota Yaris, I like its quirkiness. It's cheap, fun open air motoring.

Can you drive a Citroen Pluriel with a senso drive gearbox, on a driving licence for only automatics?

Thank you, Thomas Jervis.

The only part that matters is a clutch pedal - if a vehicle does not have a clutch pedal, it is classed as automatic, even if you can select the gears.

I am on my 2nd SensoDrive Citroen. My 1st was an 2005 05 Reg C3 1.6i 16v Exclusive SensoDrive and I now have an 2008 08 Reg C2 1.6i 16v VTR SensoDive and both cars have been brilliant.

I love the SensoDrive and wouldn't want to go back to a fully Automatic Transmission car unless I had no choice.

How ever my brothers 2006 55 Reg C3 1.6i 16v Exclusive SensoDrive (Restyle) has been a nightmare since week one.

I have owned and driven many Citroen models from the '60s and '70s and been very happy with them.

My 18 month old C3 Pluriel is a car that I have become distinctly ambivalent about. I really do love the open-air experience, but the standard of engineering leaves a lot to be desired.

The worst failing is that damn gearbox. The manufacturers would have been much better advised to use a standard manual gearbox (or even a more traditional automatic). The software governing that "sensodrive" system is a pain in the ass at best and downright dangerous at worst. It is very unnerving to be left stranded in the middle in an intersection with a 65-ton truck bearing down on you, while you have your foot down on the accelerator and the car waiting around praying to Mecca or something.

In fully-automatic mode, the gearbox is incapable of making rational selections when under any kind of load; if I am going up even the slightest incline and I need to overtake or keep up with surrounding traffic, the system will usually insist in slugging through at least 2 (very slow) gear changes before arriving at a final decision. Plenty of time to get cleaned up by surrounding traffic.

So I now tend to only use the manual-select gearbox mode. Unfortunately, this has its own gotcha: there is a tendency for it to disengage the clutch when changing up from 2nd to 3rd or from 3rd to 4th. Apart from being quite seriously embarrassing, this also dangerous. The service agents refuse to admit any fault.

Setting transmission issues aside, I have now discovered a serious issue with the brakes. There is a judder/shimmy effect coming from the front brakes when applied at high (90kph+) speed, apparently due to distorted discs. Given that (a) the car has only done 32000 km and (b) I am not a driver given to overloading brake systems, I find it unacceptable that this situation should require replacement (at my expense) of the discs rather than machining. The tolerances Citroen has applied represent an over-zealous effort at trimming costs.

The roof has taken quite a lot of getting used to. The basic motor-driven winding back of the flexible part works well, and the back windscreen is easily flipped under the boot compartment.

Getting the roof back up again is a different matter. I have evolved a technique of latching the back windscreen back up one corner at a time, since (a) it won't work any other way and (b) the service agents yet again refuse to admit that there is any fault.

All in all, this is very much a fun car but with such serious engineering deficiencies that I believe this will be the last Citroen I will ever own.