ColinC1

Mine is actually very rattle free and this is a year and a half later. Only rattles I have had, is the one mentioned above, (spare roof antenna found) Rear seatbelts latches where bolted to the body, (solution mentioned above) Rear window rattle from hinges, just needed WD40. That been it, fortunately, and all solvable by a bit of DIY :angry:

For the last two weeks the car has been rattling with a metalic sound in the cabin, near the back seat/boot area. I know it was not the rear seat belt locking latches, as this is a common fault on city bugs, because i had already fixed them, a number of months back. All you have to do is unbolt the seatbelt latches from the cars body, insert a rubber washer between body and the metal washer on the latch fixing,thus stopping the metal washer rattling off the car bodywork, and rebolt the latch back on. Anyway I searched the boot for this noise, nothing was loose, then I decided after a lot of searching to stick my hand under the rear seat, its a tight squeeze, and lo and behold I pulled out a loose roof antenna :angry: It seems that when C1's arrive from the factory, the wheel trims and roof antenna are added at the dealership, and for some reason they never found this antenna, and they must has got another one for my car. Anyway, rattle sorted, so remember, if you get a rattle back there, you may have a spare antenna under your rear seat, he, he ?

Soundproofing, where :rolleyes: This car has a total lack of soundproofing, try feeling under the carpets. Have you ever heard the noise of a stone hitting the underside of the car. A stone in tin rattling around, comes to mind ;) PS.. If you still do not feel happy with the car as it is, then you can go to most car part outlets (except halfords who nowadays usually have nothing pratical in) and buy rolls of car insulation, which you cut to suit, and fit it under the cabins carpet areas, cabins front bulkhead, and in the boot area.

Hi and welcome to the site. It takes a while to get used to the one wiper up front, but it works well. As for replacement, well I have never thought about it, I will have to go out tomorrow and take a look when it is daylight. Mind you it should be a number of years from new, before it would need replaced.

I would agree with you as I had a look at an 08 model in the showroom and the seal are just the same as my year and a half old model. So, I think I will still be keeping to my silicon grease method as mentioned in a previous message in this thread :D Anyway BarbsC1, glad to hear you are happy with the car, they are good cars as long as you can keep them dry :huh:

CENTRAL LOCKING I got my set on Ebay for around £20. As said in the above message, an electrical supply is not that easy to find in the C1 as the dash is very diifficult to get behind. I took my supply direct ftom the battery through a suitable fuse, then in through the bulkhead to a cental looking control box (that came with the kit) located behind the glove compartment. To get the door cards off, read my writeup on previous thread below.... http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citro...?showtopic=4449 You do not need to make holes through from car to doors as they are there already, with rubber bungs. Just slit the bungs open slightly with a stanley knife, and put your cable harness (wrapped in black tape or protective plastic sleeve through it). The solinoid fit easily below the manual plastic pull rod, that come through the door card. The only difficulty I had, was once the door cards were back in place and I tried the central locking, the plastic pull rods got caught up with friction, going up and down through the hole in the door card. I enlarged the hole a bit in each door card and it then worked fine.

Yes you will need new tyres if you bigger than the 14"rim. Do not limit yourself to the C1 alloys, as both the 107 and Aygo have their own designs. have a look. Watch if you go for the 17" alloys, some tyre/ 17 alloy combinations tend to ground on the underside of the wheel arch when you are heavily loaded or go over a bump. Finally, a low cost option is the Aygo 'Alloy look' wheel trims, rather than alloys. Good luck .

I fitted a central locking kit from E-Bay, at a cost of approx £20, comes with two remote control keyfobs. Quite straight forward to fit. The hardest job was the removal of the door cards, as there was no write-up for it. I ran the constant electrical supply required from the battery, suitably fused, and fitted the central locking unit behind the dash on the passengers side. So heres the writeup for door card removal, that I made... http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citro...?showtopic=4449

Oh I did not notice that :blink: And I was all set to talk about the reliability of a C1 ;)

A bit dissapointed that this week, in a car magazine report on top 100 reliable cars, it did not mention the City Bugs at all :blink: They took details from owners of cars and asked them many questions on reliabilty and the C1, Aygo and 107 were not in there. Why ?

By the sound of your problem, are you not sure its not just the gearstick linkages out of alignment, before you go buying a clutch. A worn clutch means its will slip and judder on takeoff, and also not transmit so well (slippage/judder) while moving along and changing any gear. It should not just affect just a few gears as they say. If you do need to change the clutch.... I personaly would not tackle a job like that anymore (my last attempt years ago on a Toyota, took me one weeks work, it was not worth the hastle), I would shop around for a reputable garage and get a better price (with a one year guarentee).

The most recent cheapest deal I have seen from a Citroen dealer for the C1 Vibe 3 door in a solid colour (red, yellow) is £5800. If you want it in black then thats another £350 option. So your talking £6150. Is your online discount better ? Anyway, if you have no trade-in to bother about, then i would go for the cheapest quote. NOTE: Another thing to consider.... You never seem to get any cheap deals on servicing at the dealers for the city bugs (C1, Aygo or 107), because it is quite costly over 3 years for all three makes. First year is £170, 2nd year will be around £230, so that is £400 costs to cover the 3 years warrenty. A lot of new cars now come with a zero payment or one prce payment (usually £100) to get the 3 years servicing for the warrenty, but unfortunately it ain't city bugs.

I agree with all you say, it is a very modern looking car that runs well, and if you need a newer economy car, its the one to go for :angry: As for the negative stuff, well most people are going to write about their faults to get answers from other C1 owners, who have most likely encontered similar problems. That is the nature of car forums.

This is news about new modifed door seals from france. Is there going to be a recall on this for all C1's ? I have my seals coated in silicon grease because I no longer trust them. i am going to talk to my dealer next time I am in.

You can get some really bad salesmen out there with absolutely no tack, but still win out. (I sometimes wonder how they get the job). My Citroen salesman who sold me my C1 was like that, I am sure he was the son of the garage owner, as he was very arrogent, even to the extent that he would rush on ahead to show me a C1 and leave me trailing behind, and his reason he said was that I walked far too slow. I was about to leave, knowing this guy would give me very little for my trade-in, but luckly for me he said that an experienced middle-aged valuation salesman would come out and price my car. I was offered a very good trade-in price, he must have needed the sale, so I stuck with this arrogent young saleman, till the deal was done, but he still never gave me the car matts that were promised, but not in writing (thinks....next time, put it in writing). Even now over a year later when I go in for parts, I shout over to him at his desk 'wheres my matts' He walks away wilth a red face, he he, I love it :angry:

I think it is just down to luck if you get a dry car, because these seals are so hit and miss. My car is a 65 plate, so its a year and a half old. I got the first drips after 2 months old and took it back, they twiddled with the door seals under warrenty, it was ok for another 2 months, then it started dripping again, back carpets soaked. The second fix lasted 1 month with new replaced seals, but it soon started dripping only when stationary in torrential downpours, which I spotted because I was in the car at the time. I decided Citroen could not sort the problem as the seals just do not exert enough pressure to maintain a waterproof seal, so I now use the silicon grease to guarentee that no drips get through, no matter the weather, and it works. The engine bays tend to get soaked as well, as the rubber seal pressure against the bonnet is hopeless, so again I use the silicon grease there. I just do not trust these seals :angry:

I feel sorry for you, a lot of us have been through the same proccess, with drips and wet carpets, and wet engine compartments. (me included). Window seals are not usually the problem, its normally the door seals themselves. The C1 is a great car let down by crappy rubber seals on the doors and engine compartment, it is an inherant fault, but citroen like many other makes, still look at each car as a one off problem with the seals, instead of giving in, and redesigning them with a general recall to solve it, once and for all. You are only lucky if you get a constant dry car. PROBLEM There is only one door seal instead of two, (most newer cars use two), the big problem is that the seal is far too soft, so you can never get enough compression, especially on rain downpours. THEIR SOLUTION Pull door in to increase pressure by re-aligning lock catch, also re-align doors, muck about with alighment of seals, and if need be replace seals..... it works for a while, but eventually the drips start again. MY SOLUTION, (that has worked for me) http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/greatchi/car.jpg Coat the door seals that are on the car body with a smear of silicon grease (not vasaline as that is petroleum based and will rot rubber seals). Only coat the seal above your head as you go in and also part way down each of the sides, this stops the drips when the doors are closed, but must be reapplied every four months. Do this also with the strip of rubber seal in the engine compartment, to stop drips getting on engine, battery and engine bay electrics. I know its not a great solution but it works, and we will never get a solution to the seals from citroen, so at least I know my carpets will remain dry, and the engine will not suffer from dampness :( PS....I use a tube of RS components silicon grease (see website), but you can get any make from plumbers merchant stores.

Quite a few learner cars use City bugs ( C!, peug 107, and Aygo ), so you could have a lesson or two :) (all city bugs have same mechanical parts) More constuctively, If you have a local friendly dealer, they will give you a longer test drive, (thats what I did). Its not at though its an automatic that need a long time to decide. Once you get the feel of the japanese gearbox with the light clutch and japanese engine, power steering, thats it. As for price, usually Citroen do the cheapest deals on the C1, compaired to the 107 and the Aygo, with the lowest new price I have seen at £5800, thats for the C1 Vibe. I have had mine for one and a half years now and its very reliable. Only problem has been my door seals leaking (sorted now), but its quite a common problem.

Interesting, I did not know about it being a problem, but its a good solution. I always have mine on the 1st speed, unless a dimisting session is required. My only dissapointment with the ventalation system is that the base model Vibe (thats my model) does not come with the recirculation lever, so I get fumes from the lorries in front of me :huh:

Just wait till you try using a tyre pressure gauge on the valves with the trims on :) It don't work :) A cheaper option than alloys would be to buy the better looking 'Alloy look' wheel trims of the Aygo, you can get a tyre pressure gauge to fit between the spokes OK.

Remember you are not limited to just Citroen optional extras. There are many parts from the AYGO and Peug 107 that fit the C1. TAILGATE SPOILER I have seen two types of rear spoiler on these three makes of city bugs. AYGO do a rear spoiler that is bolted into the roof, and I have seen another type that seems to be fixed to the rear hinges (manufaturer unknown). SIDE PROTECTION I never liked the thin side strips of the C1 rythm and the 107, so I opted for the AYGO side protecton kit for my 2 door C1 vibe, as it does not come with any side strips. 2 door Aygo side strips, costs around £65 from Toyota parts dept, and just stick on. Very easy to fit, and to me looks far better than what Citroen or Pueg offer :rolleyes: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/greatchi/PICT0027.jpg http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/greatchi/PICT0024.jpg

And don't forget the RHD passenger glove compartment lid to finish off the dash... £30. It only take a few minutes to fit, but makes a big difference to the cabin. It should have come as standard with the car, but it was not. Misserable sods :rolleyes:

On another note I have noticed when turning left on junctions that I get a chinky rattle coming from the front wheel Yeh, its a rare occurance, but I actually got this today in a supermarket car park, was doing a tight turning circle anticlockwise, ie, turning leftwards, and got that chinky ratlle for a split second. The sound is from the front pads, I assume sometimes there must be just enough slack between pad and disk, or pad and holder, to make a slight noise. Once you hit the brakes it will tighten the gap up. (PS.... i suppose it can make the noise going hard left or right )

Yeh, when a stone hits underneath its makes one massive bang, and thats due to a lack of thick tar underseal, like most other cars. Another cutback for an economy car :huh:

I like the suspension, had no problems with it, feels fine, not to hard or soft. I would check all your tyre pressures, should be 32PSI all round for the standard tyre. You will likely have to take your wheel trims off to get at the air valve (stupid design of trim). In fact I have owned my C1 now for a year and a half and the air pressure has never went down in any tyre, amazing :rolleyes: