Nothing has gone wrong. Love this car.
I bought this car after a lot of internet research on car reviews and deals. The reviews upon this site (http://www.carsurvey.org) actually convinced my wife and I to buy a C4.
Looks: She stands out from the crowd that's for sure. We bought a Oriental Blue C4 Coupe with a glass roof. All windows had tinting for the Australian Sun. This car turns heads, that's for sure.
Interior: The interior is so comfortable, people comment upon the seats just looking at them, you don't slide around when driving in this car. The instrument panel on the steering wheel not moving didn't bother me one bit, I hardly noticed as most of the time I have my eyes on the road :-)
Driving: Handles real well on the road. Great turning ability, quick to take off when needed. The dashboard in the centre of the car is a real bonus and makes it easy to see your speed and information. This car does everything for you! At 10Khm the car locks the doors automatically. Even though I got the VTR I have automatic windscreen wipers depending upon the intensity of the rain. Automatic headlights switch on when needed (this is a headlight setting). Back windscreen wiper operates automatically when reversing in the rain. She tells me when how much weight is in the car so I can dip the headlights. There's heaps more. :-D.
Features: Compared to all of the other cars we reviewed through dealers online, the Citroen C4 provides much more options as 'standard' over other car manufacturers. You get more for paying less. In Australia, where the consumer is basically ripped off over everything, this was a BIG PLUS for Citroen.
Glass roof and Australian Sun: We had some debate upon this option and went for it. The Glass roof comes with shutters (blinds) that can be pulled from back and front to stop the sun coming in. What I discovered was that a glass roof does not hold the heat like a metal roof, and the car is actually cooler inside when parked with the shutters pulled across, unlike our old Mazda. If you are considering buying the Glass roof option and are not sure because you live in a hot climate, I can assure you that you will not regret it as your car will not be any hotter inside (with shutters pulled across) than any other car and you may experience a cooler interior like we did. Plus it is great to drive with the sky above your head.
Getting your dream car in Australia: When we decided upon the colour and options we wanted for our C4 we rang a few dealers within our area. One dealer tried to sell us what we didn't want and told us we couldn't get the car we wanted within Australia. The other dealer was much better at customer service and searched their databases for us and told us they couldn't find the car we wanted and we could order one. My wife got disheartened but we wrote directly to the importer in Sydney Australia, they got back to us in 30 minutes with the exact car we wanted at another dealer in our State, so we rang and ordered it. Moral of the story is....If you can not find exactly what you want, email the head office who's email address is on the www.Citroen.com.au website as they have a database listing ALL of the cars imported and they can probably find exactly what you need, plus they are not out to make a quick sale for a particular dealer, just a sale anywhere. :-)
I highly recommend the Citroen C4 to anyone wanting a stylish, well programmed, zippy, roomy car with panache.
Love this car!!!
Quick update.
As commented elsewhere there is a minor fault with the glovebox locking shut. Unlike the results of other owners where the dealer broke into the glovebox and said they had to wait for parts I advise that my dealer just "took the lid off" and realigned the lock. Glovebox is fixed.
Should you have a glovebox issue I suggest you ask them to "take the lid off" (whatever that means) and realign the glovebox lock. No need to break in.
Everything else still going fine. :-)
A close friend of mine recently purchased a Citroen C4 and I can't believe how much you get for your money. Compared to most other vehicles, the C4 is brilliant.
I heard a commercial on the radio last week advertising a car with 'front power windows as standard'. I just chuckled at the thought of such basic feature being highlighted as a major selling point - especially when comparing it to this Citroen, which is in the same price and size category as the car in the commercial.
Glad to hear you got what you wanted...it's good that so few people know about these little gems because it makes yours all the more exclusive.
Totally agree with the last comment. Car's brilliant. It's over 3500 Kilometres now.
The speedometer being in the middle of the dashboard is excellent. I find that I can still see the road quite clearly peripherally, as opposed to viewing a speedometer directly behind a steering wheel. Someone commented that they didn't like the feature, but it is also good for passengers to know what speed the car is doing. A responsible driver won't travel at a speed that is uncomfortable or life-threatening for their passengers.
Today I drove 150 Kms with the air conditioner going in 5th gear and she hardly used any fuel. My old car used to drink fuel like it was going out of fashion when the AC was on.
Nothing wrong with her so far. :-)
An update on the condition of my car.
So far she's (the car) has done 4300 Kms. I don't drive her much and this is over the course of a year. She is due for her first service in a week's time. She had the three month service where they do whatever.
The only problem she has is on three occasions over the last two months, the CD player got jumpy on a few songs. I'm guessing either the CD player lens needs cleaning or something. No big deal.
Needs tuning as slightly making adjustments with the clutch changing from first to second gear countering a slightly unsmooth change. Again this will be fixed in the service.
Have not had to top up:
Oil
Coolant
Brake fluid
Steering fluid.
During this time.
If you have to do handbrake starts (if anyone does those any more) then I found a slight creaking and squeaky sound whilst letting off the handbrake on starting up a hill. No big deal and to be expected.
I use the speed limiter all of the time so I don't have to worry about going over the speed limit and can concentrate more on driving and less on worrying about the speed.
Took her to Noosa a week ago. It was great having all the automatic operations kick in when it became overcast and pelted down with rain. Lights and windscreen wipers came on automatically and with the speed limiter, it was a dream to drive. Car does everything for you. :-)
I'll keep updates going over the life of the car.
Just had my 12 month service. I rang to book the service and was quoted $AUD 300.00 approx. Here are the results:
She (the car) went in at 4500kms.
Perform 12 month service, check over, road test and global test. All OK.
1 oil filter at $AUD 34.47.
Total for job = 143.72
GST at 10% (VAT in UK) = 14.37.
Total price of service = 158.10 (50%ish less than quoted).
Comments were: Check for campaigns.
Recommendations:
XYT Campaign needed.
Service spanner won't reset - requires BSI Download. (The service spanner is a little LCD icon that tells you when your next service is needed. I noticed this, but no big deal.)
After service drive: Runs as smooth as silk. I was surprised at how smooth she can run.
Note: They do not top up fluids, but only check they are okay. Next service is in a year's time. I bought some coolant from them, 2 litres coolant at $AUD 16.87.
Overall, very happy with the service and results.
Has anyone experienced problems with their automatic climate control? I have roughly 20,000 kilometers on my C4 VTS and the air conditioner has stopped working. I am interested in hearing from someone who has experienced this or any other problems.
Climate failing is an issue on the earlier ones it's a small fix dealer should be able to sort it fairly quick for you.
Its basically just a gear change in the unit.
Just today my air con stopped working as did the control on one of my windows!!! Booked it into the garage so it should be okay.
Regarding my comments on 14th Jan 2007, 21:02. I forgot, I checked the fluids when I got home. They did fill all the fluids after all. I reckon the rookie counter guy did not know what a service was all about. Oh well I now have more coolant. :-)
Car still going well, no problems as yet.
I am genuinely happy with the C4 we have.
I am looking for help with getting the instructions for clearing the water overflow/outlet for the air condtioning unit. It is blocked and water leaks into the passenger and driver side floor space. Has anyone done this themselves? How did you do it? Hoping someone can help.
May I just say thankyou, first of all, to the person who wrote this review, and kept updates of their experiences. For a prospective buyer like me, this is a veritable goldmine of information, and I hang on to every word, so thanks.
I'm looking at buying a second-hand VTS as my first car (I know, weird choice, but whatever), because they're fairly cheap (as all used Citroens are) and, as has already been noted, packed with features that would be impressive on a BMW costing $100,000. And I've kinda fallen in love with the design of the thing, both inside and out. My mum will probably have a heart attack, because it looks a bit too sporty for her (which will mean she'll think I'm a hoon, lol) but she'll get over it.
Really glad to hear about the glass roof - about half the C4 VTSes out there have the glass roof, which I know I'd absolutely looooove... but I had been reluctant because I thought it'd make the mostly black interior very hot. Glad to hear it doesn't, so I think I'll try to find one with the glass roof - such a novelty!
Do you find that the design of the rear end restricts your vision when in reverse? Even if it does, I'll probably still want my VTS, but I'm still interested to find out.
I'm a little worried that the electrics in the car (of which I understand there are a lot) may tend to fail a bit - this is a Citroen after all - and I'm intrigued that you have not had any such problems as yet. I'm pleasantly surprised - if you have had any electric problems, could you let me know in another of your comment posts? They really do help kids like me.
Now I've just got to find one at a good price!
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