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I thought I'd just like to say that the Peugeot 206cc that we bought after getting our money back from the Pluriel has been trouble free after two and a half years and just over twenty thousand miles. No lock ins, no boot randomly locking itself, the alarm doesn't go off randomly, the doors fit, it doesn't leak, bits of dashboard aren't hanging off and you can put the roof up and down, something that never worked on the Pluriel. The dealer, Blacklers in Torquay, couldn't be better, they answer the phones, you can speak to them, they don't run and hide, and I'm sure if I wrote them a letter they would reply to it instead of ignoring it! I still like the Pluriel and with some of the current second-hand prices I could be tempted with a basic model.............cheap enough and with no fancy extras might be worth it....

Yes that's it. I had so many problems with the car that we had our money back and we bought a 206CC which has been trouble-free. I sold the gear-stick on ebay. I bought it on ebay and I made a profit. It did look smart, it just didn't fit properly. It is quite expensive so maybe the garage will show you one fitted.

The 206cc doesn't have a spare wheel and has the squirty aerosols but if you have to use them you have to change the tyre......... I wasn't happy about not having a spare wheel but my wife said there is no way she'd change a wheel or even know how to do it, and I guess she's not alone. I put an electric pump in the boot as the most likely scenario is a flat caused by a nail when you get back to the car in the car-park and a pump-up is sufficient to get to a garage or get you home. I certainly wouldn't go without comprehensive breakdown cover; if you're over 50 like me, comprehensive european cover from Saga is £85.

Since I started off this topic! Just to say I bought a 206cc 1.6 Allure, nearly a year ago and have not regretted it. We had some torrential rain in the first week and the roof leaked (not again I thought!) but the Dealer had it in for 2 days and it's been no trouble since, and we've had some pretty heavy rain! No other problems and we've done nearly 10k miles. My wife did start the engine while the roof was in mid travel and it just stayed there but there's a comprehensive description of how to close it manually in the handbook and it wasn't a problem; once it was shut it knew where it was and has been fine since. A quick rub round with some rubber lubricant on the window rubbers once a month cures any rattles, although I've not really had any. I'd certainly have another, probably the diesel.

Having owned a 206cc for nearly a year now we've had no problems whatsoever with it apart from a leak in the first week quickly fixed by the dealer, Blacklers of Torquay, and considering the downpours we've had he did a good job! I do miss the Pluriel with the random lock-ins, the boot that refuses to open, the random car-alarms, the doors that don't shut, the roof that won't go back and the dealer that doesn't care.......... All I've had is a year of care-free open top motoring with a roof that can be closed with the touch of a button if it rains..............I agree about the leather seats though, not something I would have wanted but they are standard fitment, not so bad when you can close the roof so easily. Oh, and I was told recently that the dealer now has a sign up saying that if you aren't totally happy with your new car within 30 days you can have your money back (as opposed to the nearly a year that it took me) so maybe I did achieve something!

Jenny, The recovery driver locked in the vehicle is a gift for the newspaper, they will bite your hands off for it. All documented with witnesses.......wow!

I am indeed the expert on being locked inside your car !!! You could (almost) always open the window and open it from outside as I ably demonstrated on Westcountry News.................(top item!!! pace of life is slower in the westcountry) It did speed up Citroen and they fitted new software a few weeks later which cured it; not as far as I know a recall, only if you complain. That was back in July so probably standard by now; affects C3s and C5s with the alarm. When I started one cold morning the clock reset so they fitted a bigger battery. They never fixed the alarm going off randomly. We now have a 206cc, the cheapest 1.6 Allure, no fancy gizmos but it comes with pearlescent paint, white leather seats and alloy wheels AND the roof goes up and down, something I was never able to do with the Pluriel. Had to put £1000 to the money we had back on our Pluriel 1.6 senso with air-con. Yes, we did look at the Tigra Twin-top but my wife cosidered it ugly and we have squeezed 4 adults into the 206cc!!!! (not recommended) This is our first Peugeot; we've had different Citroens over the last 20 years or so.......and one month on no problems........

My Dealer couldn't wait to get the cheque into my hand. It was the Dealer who wrote the cheque, I think all Citroen UK did was to tell them to sort it. Try a bit of publicity; worked for me. Nice picture of you sitting in the car with your wellies on and a sou'wester on your head should do it!

As I said my Dealer didn't reply to letters. phone calls or personal visits. I hand-delivered letters quoting the law but to no avail. I'm a Which? subscriber so you can use their legal service (£9.95 every 3 months I think) for telephone advice. Maybe I was unlucky but when you can't discuss the problem with anyone it gets very difficult!

Slightly different scenario to yours. The newspaper interviewed my neighbours about the alarm going off constantly and then asked the Dealer to comment. The Dealer phoned me offering a cheque immediately if I stopped the article. It took a day or two to organise as it was our only car but I got the full purchase price I paid in November, around £13k. I didn't ask for compensation, considering the wicked depreciation. The car is on their forecourt at just over £10k (losing £3k in 9 months) We did like it a lot. On the occassions they loaned us a car we took down the top and it was great fun (we were unable to do this on ours as the back window never, ever went back into place!!!) We've been looking at the Peugeot 206cc which suffers hardly any depreciation and although they've had problems and unhappy owners it hasn't unduly affected second-hand prices. Hard to see how Citroen got it so wrong, maybe something in the way they deal with problems? The Pluriel should have been a car in demand that held it's price. My 18 year love-affair with Citroens has now ended.

I would agree with all that Ian has said; I took photographs and documented everything. The problem with engaging a solicitor and taking it to court is that you are not automatically awarded the legal costs. I also found Trading Standards unwilling to get involved as were the credit card company. The Dealer did not reply to letters and would not discuss the matter, Citroen UK refered me back to the Dealer. The Dealer had ISO9000 accreditation for customer service but they didn't seem to follow the complaints procedure in the statement on their showroom wall. My only choice was to discuss it in the media and you will need documentary proof as they will put it through their legal people. I was told that just threatening them with the media would have been enough...........it wasn't. They didn't like it though!!!!!!!

We loved ours and it was such a shame that it had so many problems that we had our money back after 10 months. I agree there are a lot about but that may be because of the low price rather than whether they have problems or not. You may be willing to forgive the poor quality at the lower price. I was a bit tempted by this one on ebay though......at that price I could have foregone the warranty and the hassle with a main dealer and had any problems fixed by an independent. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...=ADME:B:WN:UK:1

Now that my Dealer has refunded my money for my 1.6 Sensodrive with air-con what should I buy? I've looked at a Peugeot 206cc but I've been told some real horror stories about leaking roofs; although I'm not sure if it only applies to the earliest cars. I also looked at the Renault (Rubbish) Megane coupe-cabriolet, more expensive and larger. Delivery looks like 3 -6 months but is it too early to know about any problems. Maybe I should wait for the Ford and Nissan "tin-tops"? Any comments?

Thanks for the vote for Howards. Several people recommended them to me. We loved our Pluriel but our neighbours were keeping a log of the times that the alarm went off, 9 times in one week! The dealer has given us our money back and we visited Howards to look at a Peugeot 206cc.

There is a software update which solves it (and "corrects some other problems", although I've never found out what they were) After my "lock-in" appearance on Westcountry TV it focussed Citroen's mind, before that I was treated a bit like I was making it up (a bit like some of my existing problems). I've had the software over 2 months and the boot hasn't locked itself and refused to open and I've not been locked in. Apparently it isn't a recall so there is no record on the fuse-box cover. I never had a proper reason as to why my car constantly locked me in, although I know people who've been locked in the ordinary C3 and in the C5. Probably should be a recall, it's pretty frightening when you get locked in; the lady I know who was locked in her C5 was absolutely terrified. Probably Citroen quietly update it at a service or when you complain you've been locked in! With 20k service intervals who wants to wait to be locked in? :o