Citroen grand C4 picasso - reliable?

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Need an automatic 7 seater.

Errr I would only buy one under warranty. Ours had an engine failure that required a new engine three years after we bought it, fortunately just before the warranty ran out. Great car otherwise but that was pretty catastrophic.

Well the dealership do max 12 months warranty.

Everyone I speak to says don't get an XYZ, they're shite.

And between 6 different opinions there's nothing left.

Apparently ford galaxies have shite automatic gearboxes.
S Maxs have the same powershift gear box.

Vauxhall Zariras seem good but I just don't like them

I've had 2. Love them! Mine is an older version (08) but I've never had any major issues that I haven't caused myself

I've just been told the chassis are made for French roads which are much smoother so they can be bumpy.

Sounds daft to me but I am absolutely 100% clueless about cars

We had one for a company car 10 years ago when my daughter was born. It is singularly the worst car we have ever had - constantly going wrong and bits would just randomly fall off it (trimming etc). There is a reason they are cheap.

Was that from new? Or used

I have a 17 plate. Most reliable car I've ever had. I bought it at 6 months old, and have had it serviced by the same guy every year. Had never ever let me down. It's almost at 50k miles. I won't be replacing it for a few more years.
My previous car was a cmax and the eco boost engine blew up at 44k miles and 4 years old, and before then it had had loads of stuff wrong too. I didn't have much luck with cars until my c4 grand Picasso. I have had 4 cars before this all problematic.

From new i.e. completely failed three years after purchase. And it took ages to sort out too. It was a known fault with that model - petrol engine. But a massive pain to fix and meant we had a teeny courtesy car for ages.

For reliability you want Japanese or Korean cars, definitely not French or Italian

I have a 2016 auto one and I love it. Only had one minor thing go wrong on it last year. It's incredibly cheap tax (£40) and an efficient engine (1.2)
Now mines getting a bit older I'm starting to look around for a replacement but can't find anything I like as much!

I had an 08 back in 2010 and I still shudder about it. It was without doubt the absolute worst car ever. It was under warranty but that did not make a difference, it regularly lost power on the motorway and very suddenly, it was so dangerous. It was in and out of the garage. They kept telling us they couldn’t find a fault, reset the computer and sent us away. I had a diesel, we eventually changed the turbo but it still three up warning lights and eventually we had to get rid of it for safety reasons.

It had lots of room in it for our double pram, three children and dogs and was economical on fuel but it was a truly awful car and I put me off shit-reons for life.

Such mixed responses

😭

At 6k any car is going to be 2013 max

I'd keep looking. Ours is a great car, but is effectively on its third engine ( the second engine had the same fault as the first!). For that price I would search for a v elderly Touran or possibly S Max.

They are awful,I massively regret getting outs it's the most stupidly designed car ever,it's mad and yes costs alot to keep fixing.

Ironically 6k is a massive amount to us and has taken us a long time to save and it turns out it's f-all in reality 😭😂😂

It’s a real tough one this, a 7 seater auto for £6k. None of the options are particularly reliable ones, the Citroen is probably bottom of the pile. I think it’s likely to end up being luck of draw with whatever you go for.

6k is a lot of money it's just secondhand cars are really expensive now. We sold our knackered Golf to buy the Citroen, perfect service history etc. Only got £500. But the guy who bought it is still driving it. They last forever. Admittedly you prob don't want a diesel VW from 2013!

Sorry that doesn't help. It will be a gamble whatever you do. I wd ask locally who your best dealers are. We had one with a really good rep. Find the trustworthy guy, tell them what you need and be prepared to wait a bit but you might get a better car that way than looking online.

Is it 7 seats you need? Or to be able to fit 3 car seats on the back row?

I loved mine and it was reliable until it wasn't and everything started to go so I part exchanged it for a much more reliable Ford

I would not buy one dated 2013 esp not for 6k

Well, there's 4 kids. So we only need 6 seats but not many of those about.

Non of them use car seats.

Ah, I was going to suggest some alternatives that can get 3 across the back, so never mind!
There are a few 6 seater cars you could consider? Honda frv is one.

Think about leasing? We just signed on a Peugeot 5008 and it's going to cost us about €7k over the next 2 years and because it's under warranty, no worries about repairs, breakdowns etc. We know nothing about cars and don't have 20/30k to buy second hand outright. I feel like you can spend the same amount buying a second hand car plus paying repair/maintenance costs and it still only lasts a few years and you have to replace it. It probably does cost a bit more over say a ten year period to lease, but IMO it's worth it as it's less stressful plus you get to drive newer cars!

I’ve got a 13 plate one. I got it when it was a year old. It’s been absolutely fine over the last 9 years

We haven't the credit to do that unfortunately, hence taking the time to save the 6k as we just cannot get credit.