Carole_Heard

Thanks, I'll try the "feeling the pipe" test. Garage says they used diagnostics and did temperature tests, but I don't believe them. Also said the thermostat is mechanical. Not sure if I believe that either because the spares I've searched for are electrically operated (car has aircon/climate control). I'm minded just to take it to my local place and have the thermostat and sensors changed. Do you have a reference for the recall?

I have a 2013 C3 Picasso Exclusive with the 1.6VTi 120 engine and EGS6 gearbox. Recently, I've noticed the cabin heating is....pathetic..... with lukewarm air coming from the vents with the knob set to "Hi" , the blue engine temperature warning lamp takes about 8 times as far to go out as it used to (12miles as opposed to 1.5) and the Mpg figure has dropped from a lousy 43mpg to a catastrophic 38mpg. I believe the engine is not getting to the correct temperature and the engine is running rich as a result, the cabin heater isn't being fed with water hot enough. This suggests a problem with the thermostat. I've had the car back to Quest Motors at Maldon, twice, but they've reported NFF. There was a row. What problem would give a correct diagnostic reading but result in low engine temperature? Anyone?

I've just bought a C3 Picasso having had 2 Yaris (Yaroos?) since 2000, doing over 350,000 miles. Frankly, the C3 will have to do well to beat the Yarises (Yarii?) on reliability. In all that time, I had one breakdown, a coilpack, costing £135 to replace. I have mixed feelings having done 3,000 miles in the C3 over 4 weeks. Lots of gizmos, but how long will they hold up? I've already had the car back under warranty due to a lighting software issue (unresolved and continuing). I tried to buy a touch-up stick for the colour "Ink", and apparently Citroen haven't got round to making one yet. Toyota supply touch-up paint with the car. The front seat storage is pathetic compared to the Yaris especially as the dashboard is big enough to play table tennis on. The glove-box is not really big enough to hold a single pair of gloves! The tiptronic style auto box is pedestrian in its gear changes, but smartens up using the flappy paddles. The engine sounds like a tractor first thing in the morning until the hydraulic tappets, or whatever, get their morning oil. I've got low-profile tyres that look cool, but adversely affect the handling. The suspension doesn't compensate for the reduced compliance and the tyres patter on bumpy corners. I've had the car sliding sideways, in the dry, on quite slow corners. The bluetooth seems as strange as my husband's Citroen Nemo's. It has unwritten rules as to how to connect my phone and I have to connect it, wait for it to dump the phone, then connect again. Every time! However, I do like the C3 styling a lot and particularly the digital dash. I think Toyota made a bad move going back to dials and I really don't like the look of the modern Toyotas.

I have a nearly new C3 Picasso Exclusive EGS6 model with everything except the Myway as extras. I spotted a problem with the fog lights. When the side lights are on, the fog lights respond to the fog light switch. When the headlights are on, either activated manually or using the auto setting, the driver's side fog light is on permanently and only the passenger side lamp responds to the switch. When the fog lights are switched to off and then the headlights are turned off, the driver foglight remains on for a second, then turns off under control. I took the vehicle in to Toomeys Basildon and tried to demonstrate the problem. The lights worked properly. I realised that I had only ever seen this problem at night, because that's when I want headlights (!) so waited for it to go dark and the problem re-appeared. It seems to be associated with the light sensor and is therefore a software problem. Anyone else seen this, or has my car become possessed?

I recently had a dreadful buzzing sound from the car. It was the road noise causing the foldable interior rearview mirror to vibrate in its casing. It sounded like a trapped wasp!