Your thoughts on Citreon Pluriel C3 Automatic

kupus

Hi guys,
I am a bit of a lurker here on boards looking for advice on what possible problems I can find with a 2004 Citroen Pluriel C3, 1.6 automatic.

Ok quick story the missus and I are looking for a 2nd hand car, and we found this one, she likes it, I like it and it's a good price from a private seller.
We live in the Mediterranean so it will come in handy from Apr to Oct!!! Ordinarily I wouldn't dream of buying this car in Ireland with the Irish climate.


Anyway I've read all the reviews on this that I could find and really its just 50-50. some liking it, some not. Handling seems to be average. Possible leaks in older models etc, not too fast, cheap plastics quirky looks....

I drove it yesterday for around 15 minutes, and one of the reviewers (5th Gear on five) mentioned the automatic gears were lurchy and yes it was when I put it into full automatic mode, but on semi mode I think its called it was fine....

The problem I had is... when I went to go faster it started to make a high pitched whistle from somewhere I cant say for certain it came from the engine or the roof or underneath the car as it was very faint. It was the kind of whistle you make between your teeth and not the full on type of wolf whistle---if that makes sense. It stopped as soon as I put my foot on the break, but started again as I was going from around the 30kph to 60 mph mark, and died out again as I slowed down.
This only happened twice so.....Does this mean a BIG problem or am I been too cautious?

Basically I'm looking for advice on this car and what can anyone else provide on eg...
the auto gearbox, can it blow up easy, will it be expensive to fix,
Thanks for your input and I promise to upload a beautiful picture of a renault 5 GT turbo and also an opel kadett mark one in great condition that was at the car fair yesterday!!!

Also anybody got anything to say about Suzuki Ignis 1.3 2004, It also looked a decent car but I did not get to drive it.

Owen

Quite possibly the stupidest car ever invented. It has a soft top which retracts along the roof pillars that are the size of skis and run from the A pillars right the way to the boot. If you want to make it a full convertible, you clip off this pillars, and then you have ... no roof at all. So if it rains, you're sh*t out of luck. Citroen's answer at the time was that you could carry the roof rails with you - except there's nowhere to stow them in the car, so you end up having them stuck up in the air like you're carrying lengths of timber.

Add in an uninspiring engine, chassis, dreadful interior space, and a tiny boot and you're left with a car you'll never be able to sell again. Seriously. You'd have a better chance of getting rid of AIDS.

bladebrew

how many of these did they sell in ireland its the first time i have ever heard of it,
there is 1 for sale on carzone, and they even say in the ad it sat in a showroom for 2 years!

kupus

Add in an uninspiring engine, chassis, dreadful interior space, and a tiny boot and you're left with a car you'll never be able to sell again.

The things you mention I dont really care for and dont bother me,
as for the rain, put it this way, it rained twice in 3 months during summer, and as for selling it again no it will be a keeper if it runs good.

What Im looking for is... are they a piece of $h1t in disguise or will it last a long time, is it reliable, are costs expensive if gearbox goes, engine goes, stuff like that

Fishtits

Nothing wrong with the Citroen in your context.

Could you per chance clarify what advice you are actually after?

You mention several cars in the same breath...

PS, nice location

kupus

Fishtits wrote: »

Could you per chance clarify what advice you are actually after?
You mention several cars in the same breath...
PS, nice location

I am drowning in a pool of clio, punto and 206 cars where I am at the moment, so in my haste to have something completely different than what is the norm here, am I looking at this car with rose tinted glasses?
one other possible car is the suzuki ignis 1.3 that I know nothing about.

The Kadett and the 5 GT turbo I took pictures of and will upload so people can enjoy cos I know I did,

bladebrew

very difficult for anyone to give you an idea of costs when they dont even know what country you are in:)

my money is on ireland

Owen

kupus wrote: »

The things you mention I dont really care for and dont bother me, as for the rain, put it this way, it rained twice in 3 months during summer, and as for selling it again no it will be a keeper if it runs good.

It rained a lot more than that. I can only work when the weather is dry, and this year nearly closed my business down for good. It was one of the wettest summer's I've worked through, one of the wettest years!

The things I've mentioned are the basics in buying a good car, you shouldn't be ignoring them. Not only is the normal C3 Pluriel a terrible car, an automatic one will be even more odd and even harder to sell. I know you say you'll keep it, but we all say that, and even if the car is perfect when you buy it, if the roof develops a leak, or something more serious breaks, you will lose every cent you put into it.

If you ask for advice on the car, you'll get it. But it's a bit strange to ask for advice on the car and then not take the advice. I've driven one for a few hours around Barcelona, and thought it was really one of the worst I've ever driven. We even gave it a nickname - the Citroen Pleuresy.

[EDIT] - Nevermind about the Irish weather bit, just spotted you're in the Mediterannian.

fran38

Afaik, Plurials are discontinued. Poor take up maybe. I have a c3 sensodrive tiptronic. have it for three years, no troubles. then all of a sudden, one day i turn on the engine, the car wont drive!! sfter three diagnostics, and three different opinions as to what could be the matter, im still in the dark. i was told it could be the fusebox or then again the ecu. could cost 300e or a grand. my advice?, stay well clear of citroens..

kupus

crossed wires owen
i though you meant uninspiring engine as in messi put in an uninspired performance but will be ok for the next game type of comment, as I've gotten older Ive slowed down so I dont need a fast engine. It still wont make be stop looking at an Alfa Romero 166 2.4 JTD hmmmm but I cant afford it simple

dreadful interior........ well I thought it was ok to me, and the boot seems adequate for winter shopping as it will be a pick up or a convertable for 6-7 months of the year lol

kupus

but what you said about the roof, point taken, I now can see that these type of things are expensive and probably more than the car itself....
also what fran38 said about automatic hmm not a good endorsement for citroen...

kupus

heres a link to pictures for anyone unfamilair to this car,
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/citroen/c3-pluriel/convertible-2003/gallery/

and honest Johns review http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/citroen/c3-pluriel-2003/?section=bad

Thinking more and more to take a pass on this, it looks nice but if
1 the roof goes
2 the automatic goes

Ahhh I dont know......

Owen

Seems you already have your mind made up to buy one IMHO.

kupus

No Im walking away,
the seller said there was one owner --that was a lie.
He also said he was not a mechanic and doesn't sell cars, --- one quick google later produced 5 cars he has sold in the past two years that google knows about.

So if he lied about these things what else has he lied about?
I hate walking away as its a beautiful car but I dont want to be left holding a 5K piece of ****....
there's too much suspicious with this purchase, and in my experience if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then its a duck.

thanks for the help guys, looks like im getting a punto, clio or a fabio cos thats all thats here really,

I'll leave a link with the equivalent of adverts.ie that Im using here so if you want to be astounded by the price of cars here you go........http://bit.ly/ug4VRF
.....its set for price range 4k-5k, and year 2004-2009 its pretty self explained and you can use google translate if needed.

Im even thinking of just buying a 500euro merc bmw or audi when I go home drive it back here and sell it for parts might make a killing on it!!!

166man

Citroen C3 Pluriel as well as the Rover 45 are possibly my least favourite car's of this decade. No offence to the OP just nothing going for the Citroen in my opinion. Much the same with the Rover except that's cheap.

I would struggle to understand paying 5k for one when there are so many better cars out there.

the culture of deference

Try one of these