ColinC1

Hi red bug and welcome to the forum. I have the 3 door vibe and I agree with everything you say regarding reliability, ease to drive, and yes it looks good. I get on average 58 MPH which is just as good as my prevous Smart Fortwo, plus I no longer get so many of those tailhuggers, who used to hound me in the Fortwo, trying to get by. I also agree trying to live without central locking is hopeless (kept leaving the car with the passenger door unlocked) so I similarly installed a remote keyfob operating system. I also fitted an aftermarket electric window kit as well, plus got a sunroof fitted. The only downside I have suffered from is leaking seals from the top of the two doors, drip, drip, drip,(quite a common problem on both 3 & 5 door). I realise now it is a poor design relying on only one soft seal trying to get enough pressure to counteract torential downpoors (thats when it don't work). After puting it in the garage twice where they fiddled around with it, saying all the doors are aligned ok, so it should work, they were wrong as the drips still came in :blink: The seal is far to soft, and there should have been one seal on the door and one on the body like most cars. I just gave up and now put a smear of silicone grease on the seals every 3 months, and it works a treat. No more wet carpets !

OK, will use lubricating oil, thanks :angry: Its a pity these hinges are not inside the tailgait like most other cars, rather than be exposed to the elements, like they are.

Don't know if you lot get this, but if you look at the plastic covered hinges, theres is a small hole in the side wall of the plastic cover where rain water gets in, and eventually the hinge squeaks. I have to use WD40 and spray in the hole until it stops squeaking, about once every four months. Any idea why this hole is needed, other than a usefull means of spraying WD40 in ?

You should start by checking some of the 107 websites for info on correct alloy sizes. I did a quick search on City Bug Alloys and came up with this... Q...Can i fit a 195/50/15, alloys/ tyre package to my 107 without any alterations anywhere,? there are some good prices at ...... A....They will fit with the correct pcd and offset, but you'd be better with 195/45 R15s tyre wise, as they are bang-on the correct rolling radius! QUESTION I WOULD ASK MYSELF: Is it a bit too late for you to change to the size stated ? (ie, possibly cheaper to renegociate to trade-in your nearly new alloys from where you bought them, rather than lifting your car higher via new suspension, which may affect the handling characteristic of the car ? )

I see yoo went to quik fit, why not try another branch? Tell them you hit an embankment and you are not happy with the suspension, get them to check it out (thats free, until work is needed). What about checking balence and tracking of the front wheels ? (that does cost money)

Likely just a clerical error, of 7k against 2k. At that mileage of 7k, you are not going to tell if the car has been clocked, especially with electronic odometers, as there is not enough wear on the car pedals, steering wheel, seat, tyres, etc. I assume being out a main dealer they should be trustworthy enough :rolleyes: As for the intermitent wipe, most people on other sites have only complained about why the top two inches are not wiped, causing most drivers to stoop a bit to see the cleared section in the rain. I read in an overseas 107 site a while back, someone had fitted a longer wiper (arm?).

If you do not have A/C like me, then... Carry two rags, one to clean outside windows, the other to do the inside of the windscreen and the inside side windows. At first all your going to get is cold air, turn your heat setting to full, set to windscreen position, and once the temp starts to come up turn the fan to the two speed setting or more. Make sure your side vents are angled towards the side windows. After your screen is clear, then return to the usual windscreen/floor setting, and turn back to normal fan speed. FINALLY... if you have excessive condensation in the cabin, have you checked to see if your carpets (and under them) are dry. If not, then you have a door leak problem, with rain water getting in, (this is quite common on C1, 107, Aygo, and needs to be returned to the dealer to look at the door seals).

Watched a program on the satalites TURBO channel today, on what value do you get out of a factory fitted music system. Cars reviewed from cheapest to dearest system, were C1, Focus, Lexus, Porshe, Rolls. Well the C1 being the cheapest was slagged off a bit for lack of bass, saying it was a bit tinny. But hey, what are you wanting for your money. I have found it OK, as I am not a great one for heavy bass music anyway, in fact I have added two Sony tweeters in my doors, to the standard two speakers setup. Focus was slightly better than the C1, but not by much. Lexus was best according to their 'music expert'. The Porshe was a let down copaired to its price, anyway, I think I would rather listen to the engine, he, he. The rolls music system was good, but cost 16K, which is almost three times the price of a C1. Well I ain't got that sort of money to burn just for my ears, so I am happy with the C1, and hey, we have money left over to buy an Ipod and stick it in the auxilary socket :)

Just like most cars you have to demist, either with a cloth, or set the blower to window and turn up the fan speed for a while. The back windows demister works a treat. In fact there is more problem with dirt all year, as the vertical tailgate sucks dirt in. The heater takes a while to heat up, but that is standard with most cars. No problems at all with the engine, but if you leave the car unused for a while, you do get noises from the front brake pads, till the surface rust on the discs get scraped off with movement. (quite common now on all cars, due to non-asbestos linnings) In fact my sister has a smart car (Forwo) and the brakes get totally stuck with this surface rust if you leave the car for three days unused. The other day I had to high rev it and throw it in gear till it broke free :angry: At least we do not get that.

I like buying new, as I find older cars start acting up and can cost as much in the long run. My last small car got to four year old and a supension spring burst on it, so it would have been £450 to repair, so I traded it like it was, for a C1 as I liked the modern look of it. The advantage to me was that I only had to splash out £6k (minus the trade-in value of my old car) for a new car with a 3 year warrenty, gives piece of mind. plus the fact that the engine and gearbox is of Japanese reliability, so that swayed me towards a city bug. Now it is over one year old and 8k miles under its belt, I have been very happy with it :angry:

The static is not getting away from the car body to earth. I had this problem on a ford capri years ago and it was horrible. Solution (although a bit unsightly) You need to get down to Halfords or any car parts retailer and buy a 'static discharge strap' The strap is screw fixed to the underside of the cars metal and hangs down to earth as it touches the road when stationary, it lifts up off the road with wind flow. They recommend fitting it at the back, but it is a bit unsightly there as people see it. I fitted mine a bit futher in, and was hidden by the back wheel. No problems after that.

If your car is not fitted as standard with a sat nav system, why not just go for a portable unit with a dash mount kit. I bought a TomTom unit and it is very accurate and was under £170. I use it in both my cars.

You can't see the quaint little village for the revenue collecting mega carpark :lol:

Was on holiday and decided to go up to the Lake District last week. I am not a believer in pay parking, never was, so instead of going into a village to park and pay,instead I went outside the village to a grazing area where other cars parked off road, on the verge. Imagine my horror when I went off road, and bang , what was that :o I looked under the car, and due to the car floor being so low to the uneven ground, I ended up using the car as a scoup, taking a mass of muddy hillside now stuck underneath. I forgot how low this car is to the ground :) So its a warning to us all, but at least I did not hit rock, and I got off lightly PS... I read in the lake district local paper when I was there, that parking in the lakes is now so expensive that it is puting off tourists from stopping in certain towns and villages, and is affecting shop owners profits. Ambleside being a good example of this. What makes matters worse now is that councils have decided to stop people like me getting any free parking (who were willing to walk half a mile in to town), by putting yellow lines everywhere, and even charging for parking areas that are away in the wilderness. Total greed I call it. No wonder people now go abroad on holiday, rather than the UK.

As you say the car is on a budget, no matter the model, and this includes Aygo and 107. There are items cut out of the car for cost cutting , which really are a bit mean. Passenger courtesy light door switch as you mentioned (some owners have bought a passenger door switch and ran an electrical wire across from door to door under the carpet, fitted in parallel). Glove box lid needed to finish the dash is missing (optional cost at £30). Front seats (2 door model) do not memorise position when letting rear passengers in (this is a pain). No engine temperature reading (argh, never been without one before), no rev counter (not standard on most models). Total lack of insulation under the carpets (but is a good thing if you get the dreaded door leaks). Absolutely no thick underseal layer, as any stones on the road, ping the underside of your car making one giant banging sound in a tin can :o Yet we do get weird things like low fuel buzzer, and drivers seatbelt reminder going beep beep BEEP. BUT... even after all this lack of creature comforts, we still love our city bugs :) PS... CLUTCH.. Nice and light action, not had any noise on the move or stationary over the past year I have owned the car. Have you taken your car back to the dealer yet ?

Here is how you remove your door card, in case you are going to fit central locking solinoids, or electric windows motors, or door speakers, or whatever :rolleyes: Follow the numbers 1 to 4 on the picture.... http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/greatchi/PICT0016.jpg 1... remove window handle by putting in a small flat screwdriver in to prise open a gap between handle and card, then use another small screwdriver to pull the circlip out. The handle , nylon washer and circlip will then be freed. 2... Remove silver cover over the door handle, by putting you fingernails in the side and prise off, you then see two screws (phillips type), undo them and also the screw (phillips type) that you always see just in front of it. 3.. This plastic spacer, which is to create a space for your fingers behind the door handle, will now come free. 4... To prise off the door card, you insert your fingers at a corner and try to pull gently off round the perimeter, take care lifting the door card over the door lock peg, that protrudes through the door card at the top. If you find it difficult to start removing the door card by hand, then take a small flat screwdriver and a rag to protect the car metal, and insert screwdriver between the door card and rag and prise a gap, then use your hand for the rest. WARNING... be carefull removing the door card as the white clips holding the door card to the door can break if pulled to hard, requiring some new clips. Also some clips will likely stay on the door, can be removed with plyers. Thats it folks, to put back on is the reverse procedure, cheers Colin.

Glad your questions are sorted out :P As for the glovebox, a lot of UK dealers do not know that the RHD glove box lid is available for the C1, I used to have the part number, but unfortunately I do not know what I did with it. It is just under £30, and takes just a couple of screw to fit it in place. Best bet, is to phone some other local Ciroen dealers near you, and get them to find the part number, and order it in. Took me 3 days to get it on back order, and quarter of an hour to fit it :rolleyes:

OK. I understand now. I have seen some earlier C1's without a Vibe or Rythme badge, I do not know why. I got mine with 'Vibe' on it, without asking, so maybe its just a random thing on the production line, its no big deal :rolleyes: As for the tailgate, Just a though, is yours the rythme with cenrtal locking and boot release? Vibe does not come with that. I have never been in a rythme, I assume your remote key fob opens the boot?, if so, maybe thats all you have, Another rythme owner can answer that one.

Do you mean you do not get the silver citroen badge at the front, thats crazy, maybe they do not want anyone to know its a citroen :rolleyes: If so, why not buy a Toyota one and stick it on, in spite :P As for the rear tailgate lock, a key hole should be central, just under the tailgate glass, as there is no remote pull from the cabin. If there is not a rear lock there, then I assume they have put a remote lever pull via a cable in the cabin, check your manual and cabin, around the drivers seat for a lever ???

I agree Martin, that £1000 more for the next model up, just to get electric windows and central locking, was asking a lot :P Even with my DIY approach, it cost me £100 (elect windows) + £20 (central locking) + £20 (tweeters) + say around £20 for finishing bits and peices, that came to £160 total. For someone to do the above work for you, they would likely want hundreds of pounds on top of that for the hours of labour needed, making it not cost effective. Mind you the central locking job is straight forward, but as you say if you are not into DIY, then you should just get the glove box lid :)

And I hope you do not get any :unsure: GLOVEBOX The glove box is easy, its just a couple of screws to fit it, 15 mins max. REMOTE CENTRAL LOCKING KIT (complete kit of parts, with two remote key fobs) Got it on Ebay at under £20, remove door cards, fit an electrical solinoid and pull rod to each door. The doors already have cutouts in the metal and rubber bungs suitable for the wiring harness (supplied with the kit). run wiring from a small control box located under the dash (supplied) out to each solinoid. Wire direct from the battery properly fused (fuses supplied). You also have to wire up indication to the flashers. Straight forward job takes a day to install. ELECTRIC WINDOW KIT (again a complete kit of parts, make: COLIBRE) http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/greatchi/PICT0006-1.jpg Photo shows driver/passenger window switches and Sony Xplode tweeter speaker to hide winding handle hole. Passenger door (not shown), has one switch for its window. Got it again on Ebay at just under £100, it has to be a gearbox chain driven type motors for smoothness, these take a lot less current and a bit more expensive than the old 'direct fixing to spindle' type. But its worth it, as they are like factory fit in operation. (the window motor is actually located behind the door card at approximately the bottom right hand corner of the photo, with a long chain drive mechanism up to the handle spindle). Again door cards off, fit the motors and window switches on the doors, fit the adaptor for the C1 winding handle spindle to motor, run the wiring to the window switches and motors. Get a supply so it only operates when the car is running. As its quite lacking in space for the wiring and motor within the wierd shaped door card, takes quite a number of days to complete, it is not an easy job unless your used to DIY. Note: all the above has to be done with suitably rated cable, and correct fusing. PS.. If anyone wants to know how to remove the door card, here it is... http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citro...st=0#entry24492

Here is a cheap and cheerfull solution to the above to save you hunting in the dark, and costs one pound for two lights :blink: These are bought from the nationwide chain of 'pound shops', the item is called 'Toolbox - 2 automatic cabinet lights', coloured in white only. http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/greatchi/PICT2.jpg photo not to scale, actual size 50mm x 40mm x 14mm high They are battery operated (supplied) , self adhesive fixing, and have an on/off button, it also has a magnet (self adhesive) which switches off the light within 8mm of the light. I have fitted one in my glove box with the magnet on the hinged section. And fitted one in the back of the boot with magnet on the tailgate. They give off a good light as there is two bulbs in a fitting, i do not know how long the batteries will last.

The quality of the C2, C3 & C4 covers are far superior than the C1. (dont know about the other Citroen models as I have never been in them) I suppose being an economy car we have to accept this compromise in quality. I have mentioned elsewhere on site, that if you do unfortunately tug the seat, try not to snap a thread. If you sit on the seat for a while it stretches and pulls the tug back into the weive, (if you are lucky) :unsure:

Here is my report, which any Citroen dealer will not show you, but may be usefull to potential future owners of the C1 or one of the other city bugs, 107 and Aygo. Well I bought the base C1 Vibe, as it was a reasonable price, (at the time about £700 cheaper than the 107 or Aygo), looked modern, had four seats, and had the japanese engine and gearbox of the Aygo for reliability. POSITIVE Well one year in, and I would say the car runs a treat. The three cylinder engine is very smooth and the gear changes very nice with a light clutch. I have never felt the engine stall, or judder, and always ticks over smoothly in neutral. Only place where you feel the lack of Horse power is on a steep hill, but it gets up in a lower gear OK. I feel the car is very reliable as it must have good quality control which watches over the city bugs, as its the same production line as the Toyota Aygo. The car itself is very modern, and with the electric power steering, its easy to drive, the brakes are good as well. I liked the cheeky headlights and very modern taillight design, compaired to the other city bugs.( just a personal thing, other drivers may prefer the other city bug looks ) Road Tax is cheap at £35 for the year, and insurance is group 1 for my car, which is very reasonable. I would recommend the car, as a very good economy vehicle, and it does around 58MPG. SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE The city bug designers have designed it on a budget, so they are mean with a few items. There is no passenger door light switch, the passenger seat on the two door model does not memorise the setting, so it needs reset every time someone goes in the back. Its a pain. On my model the Vibe, there is no central locking, or electric windows. I had to remedy this with aftermarket items from Ebay , as I found out I could not live without either. 1st sevice to retain warranty is very costly at around £160. Oh, and you DO have to buy the optional RHD glove compartment hinged cover at £30, to finish the dash off, its a must ! NEGATIVE The cloth seat trim on all the city bugs is rather soft weive cloth, and can tug or pull very easily. Some cars get leaky seals on the doors in torential rain conditions, hence wet carpets, its a very common complant, these seals do need a re-design but as usual the dealers are not interested, and try to sort out each car on a one to one basis. I gave up on mine after the seals were looked at twice by the dealer, and just put silicon grease on the seals and they are now waterproof. Engine bay seal to bonnet, same problem, water gets on the engine, battery and electrics, silicone grease sorts this on the seal. Had some tailgate noise from hinges, some grease sorted this. CONCLUSION Its a good car, and for that kind of money, can't argue to much about some of the negatives. Seems very reliable so far, and if you want a new car, then you should have a test drive of the C1. WOULD I BUY ANOTHER? Yes if it had leather seats :unsure:

Hi Sarahlou, and welcome to the club. It was me that started the thread about the poor seat trim, but its not just ours but all three makes of city bug that have this soft cloth in all or part of the seat. The car itself is a good car, and nice & easy to drive, so enjoy it :unsure: As for my damaged (pulled and tugged) passenger seat cloth, as usual I got nowhere with the Citroen dealer, as they say it is fit for purpose and i have owned the car for one year, and thats time enough to damage it, they say. Total Rubbish ! Once car dealers get your money, they just dont give a toss. The only thing in the cloths favour is that a tug can eventually correct itself as someone sits on the seat the cloth stretches and pulls it back to normal (hopefully). I am just accepting the car seats as is, as the above effect has now made it look better than it was,(maybe they got a 20 stone mechanic to sit on it and stretch it to the limit). I never fit seat covers, as I intend to get my moneys worth out the car. As for seat covers, you could check the internet and Halfords, to see if you can get some to fit.