raveydavey

Good stuff - but how do I lock the tailgate? I can't see any obvious manual override like there are on the doors? 2003/03 C3 1.4HDi Desire - it's done the "refuse to lock" a few times and it seems linked to the steering lock not engaging when I remove the key, but every so often engaging the steering lock has no effect. I've just spent 30 minutes messing about, trying the spare etc, before giving up and using the above tip to lock the doors but can't find anyway to lock the tailgate. The car is parked on the street so I was on the verge of calling the AA, when I tried the remote and it worked - I've left it locked now and will check it in the morning - I might be off to the garage on my way to work...

No problem. I hope I didn't put too much of a downer on things, but Citroen Customer Service are shockingly bad. I too am generally very pleased with my C3, but Customer Services and the way I've been treated by them and some of their dealers are the reason that I will never buy another Citroen. Sadly the posts on here suggect that I'm far from alone in this. For a company that claims to want to take on the big German marques with the C5 and C6 they have an awful lot to learn.

Does your car have a full Citroen service history? If so, try Citroen Customer Services for a goodwill claim. There is no way it is acceptable for a gearbox to fail at that age / mileage and for the dealer to be unable to provide a specific diagnosis of the fault. Be warned though that Citroen Customer service are notoriously reluctant to pay for anything and are generally useless. They may well take all your details and promise to phone you back, but then won't. This may happen repeatedly before they eventually give you incorrect information and refuse to pay for it. But then again you may buck the trend of most on here and get them to pay for it. It has to happen eventually. If you get nowhere there the other option is Trading Standard / Consumer Direct - or one of the consumer columns in the press, or the Consumers Association, if you're a member (although I guess you're not as you probably wouldn't be posting on here if you were...)

Several people have reported problems since changing the audio unit in their car, so unless you're sure what you're doing, or have the funds to pay for the dealer to sort it out, you might want to think again. The easiest way to play MP3's (assuming you have an MP3 player), is to buy one of the little transmitter kits that connect to your MP3 player and transmit a signal on an unused FM frequency that you can just tune your car stereo into. They cost between £10 and £20 and I know a couple of people who use them nearly all the time, without any problems.

Does anyone else have the same problem as me with the black lower front bumper spoiler on their C3 (the "rubbery" bit below the front bumper). It seems set too low and is forever catching the ramp / floor in multi-storey car parks, or scraping over kerbs if I park the car nose in to a space. Now it sounds terrible inside the car when it does it, but it seems to be taking this punishment with little signs of any damage. I'm also well aware of it now so try to avoid impacting it, or at least keep my speed as low as possible coming down car park ramps and the like. PS - just in case anyone was wondering, the ride height is normal and not adjusted in any way, the car is running on standard wheels / tyres and I've had both front springs replaced already.

£61? That seems expensive, my last new Michelin cost me £44 about 3 months ago. Still, it depends what others are quoting locally. Have you tried ATS?

Always good to get local recommendation. I've found that no-one though can beat Costco, if you have one near you. They have a Michelin tyre centre attached to their warehouses and I've not been able to beat their prices. The mileage I do makes it worth keeping to Michelin, plus they were OE fitment on my C3 anyway. You probably could get cheaper tyres, made from recycled goodness knows what, but the saying "buy cheap buy twice" applies.

My C3 has just had it's 75k service and one of the advisory notes was that the exhasut is corroded, although still currently intact and serviceable. As you'll see from my sig, the car is a 2003(03) HDi 8v. Now, having thought it might be an idea to plan ahead for once in my life, I priced up a new OE exhaust, just to get an idea of cost. I nearly fell off my chair when I found out that the exhaust is nearly £300+vat for both sections, with another £300+vat on top of that if it needs a new cat! £600+vat (and fitting!) seems a bit bloody steep if you'll pardon my French. That sort of money sees you into the realms of getting a custom stainless steel system made up, doesn't it? Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations where to get a good quality cheaper replacement? Anyone else had to replace an exhaust yet? Cheers

You are right, there are now 50 groups although confusingly some insurers are still using the old 20 group ratings at the moment. It seems that almost everything has been moved "up", which no doubt means insurers will be able to charge more...I've heard a rumour that turbo diesels are also being moved up due to the "surge of mid range torque" - not entirely sure what that means but there you go.

As it's a 2006 car, it should still be covered under the 3 year warranty? If so, get it booked into the dealer and (politely) don't take no for an answer until it's sorted.

22,000 miles seems low, but it does depend on your driving style and the journeys you make. My 5-year old C3 has just had it's 3rd set of front pads at 76k, with the disks (I'm on the second set) reportedly still having plenty of wear in them, but I do a lot of my mileage on the motorway, so use the brakes a lot less than someone who is round town all the time.

One thing you might want to check (if the heated rear window switch is lighting up, but the window isn't clearing) is that the connector on the nearside of the glass is still in plcae. Mine mysteriously broke off all by itself when the car was with a dealer for some rectification work*, and the only cure is a new rear screen. * the dealer, of course, knew nothing about this, much like they didn't know who'd broken the lugs off the engine cover, attempted to glue it back together, and finally held it in place with a cable tie.

As someone who occasionally has this problem, here is the way I've found to resolve it. When you park up, listen for the "click" as the little cover over the ignition barrel aperture slides back into place when you remove the ignition key. You'll find that you won't be able to engage the steering lock, no matter how much you twirl the wheel. I've discovered on my C3 that if this doesn't happen the car will not lock. If the central locking won't work, put the ignition key back in, start the engine and rev it 2-3000rpm in neutral for a minute or so. (If a HDi like mine then let the revs settle for 30 seconds or so). Switch off and remove the key. This time you should here the click. The locking should then work. I've heard that if the click doesn't happen then the steering lock doesn't engage, which confuses the BSI which then won't let you lock the car. This may not be the technically recommended way to do things, but seems to work for me and saves messing about under the bonnet. It has only happened a handful of times, but it's usually at the most inopportune time.

Sadly your experience of the dealer and customer services is far from unique and much as I love my C3 is one of the main reasons I won't be buying another.

One of the things to consider with air-conditioning, is that the oil that lubricates the system is suspended within the refridgerant gas. Therefore if you don't use the air-con, the system doesn't get lubricated and consequently can fail when it is switched on, as the moving parts have seized up. I'm fairly sure that there is something in the handbook about ensuring that you run the air-con for a minimum of 10-15 minutes at leats once a month, year round. I've had problems with the a/c on my C3 (also now 5 years old, but at 76k) but this was due to the pipework failing and allowing the gas to escape on two seperate occassions. Citroen have now modified that "dodgy" part and things have been OK since, touch wood. Sorry thats not much help to you in this instance, but you might want to try an independant Peagueot / Citroen specialist or an independant automotive a/c specialist and try sourcing the parts from somewhere like GSF (German Swedish and French) who seem to be in most major towns now. They can often supply genuine parts at less than the dealer, or obtain suitable non-OE parts at a fraction of the cost.