2001 Citroen Picasso SX review from UK and Ireland

The head gasket went 2 weeks after the warranty ran out at 52,000 miles.

The clutch went at 70,000 miles.

Cd's get stuck often.

There is a problem with the electrics.

The boot won't open.

The power steering gets heavier as time goes on.

Thank goodness this isn't my car, but instead my sisters'. This thing has been in the garage so many times it's put me off Citroen's for life.

She had a Renault Megane for 3 years and it had never developed a problem, but with her second child on the way she decided she needed a bigger car. It was either the Scenic or Picasso; as the Picasso was cheaper she went for that.

The styling is good and it's comfortable to drive and be a passenger in, but the reliability is questionable.

Two weeks after the warranty ran out the head gasket went costing her £500. A year later the clutch went costing her £400; There have been other problems such as the brake lights stopped working for no apparent reason and occasionally the cd player wont play cd's. Also the boot takes some hard work to get into - often a few minutes of constant lifting before it will open!! It often takes a few attempts to start; when it came to having new discs and pads it seems that one of the rear brakes was stuck on due to inadequate brake fluid distribution.

We recently ran over a trainer that was in the middle of the road for some reason and it broke the heat shield on the exhaust!!!! I dont know why!

She took the car to Citroen to have it serviced and they charged £100 for the pleasure. They refused however to stamp the book as it turned out this service was in fact only an oil change and the proper service was £700.

This just worries you; how long will the car last? It's got 92000 miles on it; how many will it have left? We checked the trade in price and it currently stands at around the £1600 mark.

I like the car, but the build quality isn't great so I would just be wary.

Hope this helps.