eastg Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Seriously considering trading in my VW Polo (which I hate) and buying a 1.4 Citroen C4. Went to Citroen dealer today and he is offering me one for £8644. Is this a good price? It would be £8644 minus £5000 trade in for my Polo = £3644. I was going to wait until August time as the garages will be desperate to get rid of stock in time for the new registrations - does that seem sensible? The other thing is - I'm a bit put off by horrendous tales of bad MPG with the Citroen C4. Quote
wozza Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Looks like an ok deal. MPG isnt an issue so much on the 1.4 its rather economical unless as ciaran found out you go out driving it hard with the aircon on then obviously the mpg is gonna suffer. I mean the 180bhp vts still gets nearly 30mpg so shouldnt worry about that. Mines got 29.3 since owning the car over nearly 8000 miles. But mines the 1.6 which is the odd one of the engines its a bit of a guzzler for what it is but its also still fairly tight and new so mpg wont be great. Some people stillget brilliant mpg from it though im putting it down to it being new. And the fact i have a heavy right foot at times. Quote
Ciaran2903 Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 I cant comment on the price as not too "in the Know" on deals that may be out there. The other thing is - I'm a bit put off by horrendous tales of bad MPG with the Citroen C4. Where have you heard these tales?? I happen to be "the one" that managed to get 26 odd MPG from the 1.4, but it is a one off for me. Havent heard any other similar stories though. It is going up though, nothing to worry about! I was getting 33-35 MPG no matter what driving conditions: Motorway, in town, country roads, ect, ect. I have heard of a C4 1.4 (5 Door) getting 40 MPG, the driver did say that he was a VERY economical driver though! Still have the same amount of looks/stares/points/compliments/ooooo's and aaaahhhhhh's ect ect! Quote
pork_pie Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 "Seriously considering trading in my VW Polo (which I hate) and buying a 1.4 Citroen C4. Went to Citroen dealer today and he is offering me one for £8644. Is this a good price? It would be £8644 minus £5000 trade in for my Polo = £3644." How old is your Polo? Whats wrong with it? If you are buying a 1.4, make sure it aint a VT trim as it lacks chilled air and alloys. Go for the VTR spec as a bare minimum. "I was going to wait until August time as the garages will be desperate to get rid of stock in time for the new registrations - does that seem sensible?" Not true - in August the demand for new cars, as in any period before a reg change (Feb too), is always high so garages are not really in a position to give the best value for your part ex nor give the largest discounts. It's the doldrum period between the reg changes ie May-June and Nov-Dec which is the best time to buy. In these periods when sales are not too high and dealers are pressured to sell their cars at a slight loss to meet their monthly targets. If I were you. I'd get cracking and sign on the dotted like before the end of this (not next) month when the dealer has to meet its targets! "The other thing is - I'm a bit put off by horrendous tales of bad MPG with the Citroen C4" Nah man as the fellas posted, MPG's is not really an issue. Citroens are one of the most fuel effecient cars due to their low weight and advanced engines especially the diesels. A lot of these posters have had their cars for a few months - Wozzas had his for 9 months. What most of these fellas have in common is that none (I could be wrong) of them have done enough miles to have their first service. Petrolheads - 20,000 miles and 12,500 for oil burners. In other words, the engines are still being run in and MPG is never too great in them situations. Furthermore the summers been a bit toasty so air con units have been employed. THe fuel penalty is only 3-5% which incendentally is less than driving with windows down so the tree hugging fraternity can kiss my ass with their claims. Agree with Wozza - he should know, his right foot is rather heavy and for him to concede he does that "at times" rather than "continuously" is moving in the right direction. lol Alright mate?! lol Quote
Ciaran2903 Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 I agree about the spec! I think he wants a 5 door though, so it would be a "sx" as the one to go for?? Not too sure though. DONT GET THE BOTTOM SPEC!!! Quote
pork_pie Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 Looking at the prices even after the cashbacks, sounds like the originator of this post has been offered a VT/LX. Avoid!!! Such a choice will haunt the owner. An SX costs more than £8644. Quote
Stuey Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 pork pie is right on all counts!! I have the 1.4 VTR and it has everything i could want spec wise. As for the MPG problems...mine gets about 470-500 miles from 60 litres of petrol, someone else do the maths but that is only 100 less than the 1.6 diesel 307 I had for a month or so. On the motorway it will happily cruise at 75 doing 33MPG I personally think that is friggin awesome Quote
pork_pie Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 Cheers fella. THe VTR/SX spec is a sensible no nonsense trim with all the necessary bits without it being basic. Chilled air, alloys, foggies, CD player, leather wheel and cruise control....... You are getting about 36-38 mpg which ain't bad considering the engine is still very tight. Ooer That will improve as the car gets properly run in and perhaps you will get more than the 44mpg overall it says on the tin. The 1.4 is quite unique as maximum torque occurs just after 3000rpm and 113 mph is no mean feat Regards Porkpie Quote
lab44 Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 An SX / VTR will cost you around £12000 I think thought you could probably knock a grand off that. What Car have a target price of £10,973 for the SX 5 door. You should easily be able to achieve that if you ask around - my 1.6 VTR coupe cost £11k inc metallic paint from a main dealer (you might be able to undercut that on the net or pre-reg). Though I must say 8.5k for the VT trim seems cheap - is that new? Quote
wozza Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 You can pick up brand new VTR+ spec's on the net for £11k just depends where you look and where you buy form jamjar had some really good deals at one point. Quote
Stuey Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 I did consider buying off the net as the deals where really rather good but you are stuck with spec instead of being able to tick option boxes, spoiler etc. Also main dealers will buy back cars bought from them at near as damn it market value if you ask nicely....service tends to be better too according to a friend who has cars off the net and from dealers, they tend to be a bit prissy when they are dealing with jobs on cars they didnt actually make any money on... Quote
wozza Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 Can spec up the car on jamjar im pretty sure... Quote
Stuey Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 didnt know that. I thought they had what they had and that was it... right i'm off to drive Aston Martins around Bruntingthorpe proving ground 2 mile straight baby!! 180mph here I come. I will post pics and a report on Monday. Quote
Mat Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 When i bought mine, i printed out the quotes from interent sites to haggle with the dealer. In the end i got a dealer's deal, but at internet price. After all, the site i was looking at (can't remember what site now, sorry) bascially acts as middle man. They agree to sell x cars for Citroen. So you pay the website, and then go to your local dealer to order the car, the website sorting out the money. Quote
lab44 Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 I think most the dealers on the internet will allow you to change the spec - I know some you can do online but I'm sure the others will if you phone them up. For example drivethedeal.com allow you to do this online. The only option seems difficult to get is the spoiler which isnt listed as an official Citroen option but can be added as an option at your dealer (I had one added on a VTR). Remember too you get 0% finance at the dealer (not sure if you can get it at an online supermarket). Best thing to do is get a few quotes off the net, take them down the dealer and see what deal they can do based on your quotes. I got £1000 off doing this (they couldnt match it but did come reasonably close). Marc Quote
Mat Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 Be sure to work out if 0% finance is actually going to save you money. I paid less for a deal with 5% APR (and at the end of my 3 years will still have saved), than i could get the car if i waited for the 0% deals the next month. Quote
Ciaran2903 Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 alot of people have been saying things like MPG and performace ect ect will get better when the engine is "run in". Obviously i am familiar with the "running in" process, but at what mileage will the "running in" period be finished? Quote
wozza Posted July 22, 2006 Posted July 22, 2006 It all depends but usually around 10,000+ you start to see a noticable gain in MPG etc and it'll continue going up for a short while more. Engine will also feel better and pull harder as its worn in more. And most of the people who drive more performance orientated cars and those that build them all seem to have one thing to say though about a new engine...Drive it hard from new will result in a more powerful engine at the end. Quote
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