To wish we didn't have to now compromise and also feel anxious about Citroens...

[Gentleness]

That has to be the weirdest AIBU title I've ever seen, but it does sum up my mindset on how frustrating our situation just became. I'm almost definitely over-reacting but I can't seem to process out the emotional, hormonal, on the edge of going back to the dr anyway about ADs for pre-natal depression rubbish. And I need to analyse calmly instead - so hopefully there'll be some wise, calming and kindly spoken words here.

We need to change our car. In less than a month, the list price for ours has gone down from £7k to £5800. I cannot believe it. It is really stressing me out as we now have to recalculate everything. Or borrow money, which I am set against. Even more irritating, we love the car and are only selling because we can't fit 3 car seats in the back: baby is due at Christmas. We have little cash available to top up beyond what we get for our car so yet again, the plans get revised downwards. We only run one car and as we do a fair amount of family visits etc over 150miles (one way), I really want something reliable and safe.

I know this is such a luxurious problem to have, but it's still depressing to keep scaling back from the plans we had. Last year, contemplating this change, we were thinking 3yr-old Seat Alhambra or VW Touran. Last month we were thinking of older options. Last week we narrowed down to Citroen Grand Picasso because of costs. And yesterday we were wondering about the Xsara or C4 Picassos, or a Berlingo, only if we couldn't find a Grand Picasso of a reliable range of mileage/age in our price range. Today, we are suddenly down to definitely a 5 seater. And me thinking that I can no longer even contemplate having a fourth child as we'd wanted to...

And Citroens scare me because of all the reliability horror stories and dealership horror stories. Anyone got any GOOD stories about buying from them? Or able to tell me whether to buy a Berlingo or one of the Picassos? I am so tired of spending time and stress on this now...

Do not get the c4 grand Picasso.

I had one earlier this year and had numerous problems. Dangerous ones.

It was bought directly from a main Citroen dealer who were beyond shocking tbh.

I agree with HGAFC. S Max are fab! I have had several citroens, they're not bad. TBH Id go for a Ford next time though. Citroens have lots of expensive bits, like the hydractive suspension, which although lovely can cost a lot to fix. Peugeots have the same engines as Cotroens apparently, Butstrangely, I dont like them. DP has had several as company cars, and they have all been dreadful! My old employer had a Galaxy S Max, it was the nicest car I have ever driven!

I have a Berlingo and it is a fab car. It has never let me down and is a real workhorse. It is also perfect for putting all the baby/toddler clobber in (boot is massive and the seats go down as well). The slidey doors are a massive help when in tight spaces and having to strap small children in the car. I love my Berlingo!

Lmao at Enormasnob! That post will have the OP gibbering

"We had a Citroen and it kilt us all and all our family, until we were dead!"

You are worrying about gubblins. With the greatest respect, you're heavily pg and worrying about small, quite insignificant being catastrophic. Which of course, it isn't. The baby will be born; you'll manage and you might even go on to have a 4th child despite what car you have.

I have nothing but positive things to say about Citroens. I love mine. I've had 3 since 2006 (by choice! Not because they're shit and have broken down). Get yourself the 5-seated Grand Picasso and stop flippin' worrying!

You are all right - I am overthinking and really it will all be fine! It's a car. I have settled down now. Thanks for the sanity injection.

Thanks too for all the helpful comments about cars that might suit. The kids are 3, 1.5 and babe, so we'll have 2 Group1 seats (both Kiddys) and 1 Group 0+ Britax seat. Any car without a full-size middle seat in the back won't work. In my pre-child ignorance I'd assumed ds1 would be roughly a normal size and would be able to be on a booster cushion by the time we ever had a third child, and didn't know the first thing about car-seat safety anyway. Ah well - steep learning curve this motherhood business...

Glad to hear positive things about Citroens too - heard too many stories more like ENormaSnob's and the Which reports reliability ratings are poor. I'm going to see if dh can be persuaded by the Berlingo - loved the height inside for buckling kids in and the sliding doors...

I've owned 2 Citreon Picassos - bought one 10 years ago and then replaced it with another one about 5 years ago.

I love them, think you get an awful lot of car for the money and I've never had any problems with reliability at all.

Good luck with deciding.

We currently have a citreon c8 and its been fine. Before that we had a volkswagon sharan which was also fine. We always get diesel cars. Both have fitted our five children and associated carseats fine :)

The c8 has sliding doors, they are fab! It us high up and easy to get kids in and out as well.

I'm another belingo fan- it has three full size back seats, has great big boot, and with the sliding doors is so good for dealing with strapping in children, or using the back seat for changing babies etc.
The seats can also be taken out so it can convert to a van for more workhorse duties like an ikea trip or a visit to the tip.
I love it!

We had a Xsara Picasso and a C4 Grand Picasso.

Of the two I preferred the Xsara Picasso, because the seats were comfier, it was better finished, had more gadgets and was nippier. But we never had any mechanical problems with either of them.

It wouldn't matter what cat you chose, you will always find someone with a horror story or 3!

Another vote for the Berlingo. Dh has one, bought new three years ago, and has Never Ever had a problem with it. Runs well, easy to maintain, versatile, can take the entire back seat out which is handy for filling it with fishing gear. And I'm pretty sure it comes in a seven seat version.

Yabu...

Really if this is the sum of your worries thank your lucky stars.

Mt Darl cous has four kids and has just been made redundant from his job as disabled support worker.

So guess what? He has sold car and they manage by walking a bus. Having 4 children is feasible with no car never mind a perfectly serviceable one..

Keep the five seater, one adult takes all kids in car. Other takes public transport.

Or buy a cheaper and older six seater.

We've just got a berlingo. It is wonderful. By far the biggest 5 seater we could get for the money.

We got an 09 xtr one with 22000 for £8100. With warranty etc. And we're in a place where cars are expensive.

You can get a 7 seater Berlingo, my FiL has just got one :)

We had a peugeot 7 seater, can't remember what it was now. Dp sold it a few months ago. The seats were all separate so could easily fit 3 car seats in the back. When we moved we took all the seats out and even managed to get our sofa in it!

I'm still bloody angry dp sold it

We've had our 08 Xsara Picasso for 3.5 years now and I love it. Definitely try and get a diesel if you can, the 1.6 engine is the best and most economical.

I've had quite a few cars over the years and I'm not parting with the Picasso until it dies. The space in it is brilliant, loads of wee cubby holes and you can remove all of the back seats - we've done this when visiting Ikea!

Our business meeting done. We're restored to calm and proportion and going for a Berlingo.

That decision made, dh is now questioning whether my researched "fix" of using the Britax BabySafe isofix base with support leg in the car will be safe. These stupid underfloor storage compartments! As I understand it, you can remove the cover, and extend the leg. Or Citroen may provide a foam spacer to pack in there so we can use the support as normal. I'll phone them tomorrow about that...

To be fair, we'd have this problem in any of the Citroen range, which strikes me as plain ridiculous. And something else to spend time on instead of the fun important stuff.

Thanks everyone again.

We had a Xsara Picasso for many years and I loved it. It was light, spacious, nippy and reliable and I cried my eyes out when we had to sell it on. I really like Citroen cars and my Picasso was the best, it really was.

We had a Citroen C5 and had no end of expense trouble with one of the filters in the exhaust. Has to be replaced every 50,000 miles, which costs £500 to replace, and every year needs 5 litres of ELOI fluid poured into it at £35 per litre. Don't do it and the filter goes.

We had it three years and it went over 50,000 - so we spent £1025 in three years on "maintenance" of this one part. Badly designed part.

We now have a Mazda 5 and love it. Particularly the sliding doors!

I've got a 2002 reg Citroen zsara Picasso diesel.

It's fab. I love it. Never been a day of trouble! I acquired it in 2007 with a full service/maintenance history (and I knew the other owner).

It's had a new exhaust, a new clutch and nothing else beyond the general service/maintenance stuff.

I've never heard any bad things about them IRL. I love it and when it's time for the old girl to meet her maker, I shall be getting another.

Rowan I must be really dense today. I don't understand why your cousin losing their job and having to sell their car means that the OP is BU for having her own concerns in her own life. Are they linked?

OP, I know you've made your choice now, but I couldn't let this thread go without showing support for my Bear.

I have a C4 Grand Picasso 2008 just upgraded from a Xsara Picasso 2002 that I had for 4 years. Both done long continental trips as well as running around town and no problems with either. Oodles of space, well designed, value for money and no complaints from me. Currrent diesel C4 significantly more economic to run.

DH has had two C5 tourers over the last few years. He does loads of miles and has loved both cars. Nothing has ever gone wrong with either of them.

Ford Galaxy, really old but really reliable. We used it for three years in Switzerland and it coped really well with the snow.
DH had a Berlingo. He loved it and was hoping to get another in Malaysia. Sadly, they are ridiculously expensive so we have a Proton.

had four Citroens in the last 20 years. Never had a problem with any of them, very economical to run.