2001 Citroen Picasso SX from UK and Ireland - Comments

I've just found this site and couldn't believe my luck!! I have just ordered my new diesel SX Picasso, I was told it will have to be made to order and will not arrive here until mid August. I was then told that I could collect it Sep 1st with the new plates!! Since then I've read a few contrasting stories, having never driven a diesel, we are starting to get cold feet!!! Feed back please.. what's the residual value like? Do they hold their price?

1. Car Reversing Aid.

Several after market units are available and all are easy to install. I have just transferred my Poron Mini 3 Unit from my previous car. The unit can be obtained from GAA (www.microsmith.co.uk).

2. Car Stereo.

Edworthy's (http://www.edworthys.co.uk/) also have adapters for Sony sytems. However, replacing the head unit will mean that the car display will no longer show radio information.

The speakers are very easy to replace, the grills pull off (from the top) and the speakers are held with 4 screws with t20 head (screw driver bits are easily obtained). The front speakers are 16.5 cm and any universal fit speaker of this size will do (eg Pioneer TS-G1745). The rear speakers are smaller but the baskets will accommodate the same size speaker as the front. The speaker plugs are easily removed to reveal spade plugs. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes per speaker.

Regards.

Tom.

In reply to CD's comment of 18th July, I also have the same problem with the roof aerial. I tried to get a shorter aerial but without success. I resorted to unscrewing and removing the aerial each time I put the Picasso in the garage. When doing this I noticed that the plastic end cap could be removed from the tip of the ariel. When this was removed I found that the ariel was made from an inner flexible fibreglass core shrouded with a ribbed plastic sleeve. The plastic sleeve has a spiral of wire moulded in. I reduced the length of the inner fibreglass core by cutting with a fine saw and then slid the plastic sleeve down slightly before finally refitting the plastic cap on the tip. I reduced the length in stages, checking for any effect on reception before proceeding further. I was concerned about this as I understand that the ariel is designed to be of a certain length, though in this case the length of the wire spiral was not being reduced. The total reduction in length I required was 1.5 inches, I can now enter my garage without the risk of the ariel catching on parts of the up and over door. If I had rendered the aerial ineffective by doing this a replacement would have cost me approximately £10.

RW / Picasso HDiSX.

Having now had my 1.8 SX for just over one week... I've now found out a few other idiosyncracies that you may be interested to read:-

1. First of all, I was wrong about the headlamp leveling control... it DOES affect the full beam lights as well - but can only be adjusted in the dipped position. ie if you rasie the lights when they are dipped, you will find that they have been raised in the full beam position as well! Citroen logic I suppose...!

2. If you have a factory fitted electric glass sun roof, the control is illuminated for 30 seconds after the ignition has been switched off (to presumably indicate that the control is still operative). A good idea - but why not the other electric window controls. The illumination for these goes off as soon as the ignition has been turned off.

3. The interior light cannot be switched on without the ignition on or in it's auxiliary mode. Very frustrating if you are loading equipment and don't want to leave the key in the ignition switch. I understand that this is intentional to stop the interior light being left on and running the battery down!

4. The reflection from the windscreen (as mentioned by a previous contributer) is appalling. This should not have been allowed to happen by Citroen and in my opinion is a major safety hazard.

5. The factory fitted satellite navigation (if you have it) is superb. But, having had the remote control changed, I find that you still cannot scroll right reliably when selecting a destination address. This is clearly a software fault and is not satisfactory for an item costing almost £1000.00 extra. Also the CD supplied with my system was two years out of date and I had to request a new one through Citroen. I'm worried now whether the whole system was supplied from old stock and whether a current one has better features. For example, there are some locations that are in the database, but that appear to be unknown if you try to input them as a destination. Also, there seems to be no way to store your current location as a memory location. This would be very useful if (for example) you found a new hotel/restaurant and didn't know its exact address, but would like to store it in memory in order that you can locate it 'next time'.

One further hint; although not stated in the instructions, the system will calculate a route far more quickly if the vehicle is moving.

6. Citroen say that the guarantee is invalid if the service intervals are not adhered to. But there is much confusion. The book refers to service intervals of 10,000 miles. The dealer told me 12,000 miles. The book refers to 6000 mile intervals and the service indicator on the instrument panel quotes something else!!! This is very confusing and I have written to Citroen for clarification.

In all other respects, I am still highly delighted with the vehicle.

Paul@jazzmusician.co.uk

Just been on the track with my 128hp/310nm Picasso HDi with 17 inch alloys. It was a great surprise. I raced against 9 other cars, both GTi's and normal Citroens and Peugeots. Guess what - I came second, just behind a 155hp Pug 106GTi :-) Even a Saxo VTS with 140hp couldn't follow the oilburner. The car's height wasn't a problem, not even in the slalom-competition. Its a VTS in disguise. See pictures at http://www.landberg.dk/Hi-speed%20træf%2002.htm

Thomas Landberg.

View the unofficial dedicated interactive Picasso website:

CitroenPicasso.org.uk

I am about to purchase a 1.8 SX after having looked at various MPVs and estates. I have found this forum very useful in making my decision, however my only remaining concern is the robustness of the interior plastic trim such as tables, cup holders etc. Will it stand up to the rigours of family life?

The test drive vehicle in my local garage which doubles as one of the staff's family car had already broken trim around the base at the rear of the front seats!

Any comments please!

It is always surprising that a garage would let prospective customers view a demonstration model which is in poor condition.

You are not buying a VW of course, but the quality of trim and plastics is acceptable. On our HDi we have not experienced any problems with frail trim.

Unless you are getting a huge discount, why are you buying the 1.8 model? The new 110 bhp 1.6 engine is far superior. Go for the diesel too if you can afford the extra outlay, it will hold its value much better when you come to trade in. For instance, diesel engined Galaxy's, Sharan's and Alhambra's are highly sought after and as rare as hens teeth.

Kevin citroenpicasso.org.uk.

We bought our 1.8SX Picasso a month ago and a few days ago received a letter from Citroen UK with details of a recall! The instrument panel has to be replaced by a dealer. Apparently after a certain mileage the whole display goes blank :\

Paul, mail@paulmoss.com.

I have had my 1.6 LX since May. Although I am relatively pleased with it, I am still annoyed that the engine is still "pinking" now and then, even though it's been back to the dealer 3 times.

Also my steering wheel seems off centre when driving in a straight line. In my opinion this is leading to premature front tyre wear. My dealer says I might have hit a kerb hard. However I have had this problem since new. Has anyone else noticed these problems?

Tony.

Anyone else had the recall letter? We have not had one for our HDi as yet, will keep you posted.

With the 1.6LX not steering straight, it would take a severe knock to put the tracking out. Suggest you take the vehicle to a tyre specialist who has a computer/laser tracking machine to check alignment of the front wheels with the back ones. It is always possible that before you took delivery, the car was jacked up incorrectly and the body shell has twisted a la FIAT.

I guess your dealer has already established the tracking is OK?

Picasso service intervals clarified at:

citroenpicasso.org.uk.

Kevin.

Delighted with our Picasso 1.8 SLX, but two small points:

1. The shakedown service is scheduled for 1,000 - 1,500 miles. As we are taking the car to France I enquired about how vital that schedule is. No problem, I was told by the Dealer - some customers delay until 3,000 miles. However, a quick call to Citroen UK confirmed that failure to have the service during the recommended period would technically invalidate the warranty - not worth it when 3 years' cover is at stake.

2. Does anyone know how to shield the headlamp beam for driving on the right? The Halfords Headlamp Converter Kit (2 pieces of expensive sticky plastic, actually) does not have instructions for the Picasso and I can't find anything in the handbook.

John.

I was interested to read about instrument display problems. I've had my 1.8SX with the factory fitted satellite navigation for only two weeks. The display comprises of two separate panels (left and right). The left panel is fine and just about bright enough to be viewed in strong sunlight.

However the right panel is just about unreadable in strong sunlight. Given that these cars are designed to be used in hotter countries than the UK (!), this is most disappointing. I don't know whether the right panel is different on cars not fitted with sat. nav. or whether it is the same panel just displaying different information. The problems noticed so far with this display panel are:-

1. It is impossible to read on a bright day.

2. The background has an orange tint which spoils its appearance (and in reducing the contrast ratio, adds to the difficulty in reading it).

3. Sometimes a small area of the display fades. This seems to happen mainly on a hot day (in fact the surface of the panel feels very hot - even on a cool evening. This may be normal).

4. Resulting from the problems above, the left and right display panels don't match. This looks very unprofessional for a car manufacturer that has put so much emphasis on its 'high-tech' digital display.

I didn't know about the display recall, but clearly there is a problem (in my case with the right hand panel).

This is very disappointing. Other cars with electronic display panels do not have this problem and I feel that Citroen should address this as a matter of urgency (before I ask for my money back!!!). The fact that Citroen do not provide a display brightness control with the lights off (ie for daylight driving) signifies that the display is probably working flat out. Come on Citroen, there is better display technology around than this.

Paul@jazzmusician.co.uk

The steering wheel seems off centre - I was specially warned to check the steering wheel centre position when buying a new Picasso -- means this problem isn't rare or an exception.

Regards,

Neeme.

Reading the above comment about the display panel for the sat/nav, I would like to add that I purchased a one year old 1.8 SX with sat/nav, and certainly have not had any problems re the display. ie both sides are of equal brightness and I have no trouble seeing it in bright light, nor have I noticed any orange tinge.

I would take it straight back,

M.D.