Should I buy a diesel Citroen Xsara Picasso?

[Tortoise1000]

My mechanic is recommending a second-hand Citroen Xsara Picasso Desire 92, March 2007, 1560cc, 50 000 miles, £2,500. I asked him to keep an eye out for something suitable, and this has come up, nice motor he has looked after from new from one of his other customers. It seems to fit the bill of my requirements. But it is a diesel.

I know nothing of diesels, but arent 'they supposed to be bad these days? Is it a bad idea to buy one, in case of punitive future tax rates or something? The mechanic doesn't seem to think it a problem. ( But then his knowledge is so far beyond mine I don't always grasp what he is telling me.) I haven't a clue about these things, I'd really appreciate any advice.

T

[Fairleas]

I wouldn't buy a Citroen anything.

[foundone]

I wouldn't buy a Citroen anything.

Ditto. They are cheap to buy as you can pick up preregistered cars at massive discounts but my 7 year old one became uneconomic to repair as the engine management system failed. Apparently the various sensors start failing after 5 years and garages start replacing 'failed' components reported by the diagnostic system when the problem is just a failed sensor.

[jackdaww]

simple answer--

1. not citroen - below average reliability and more.

2. not diesel - noisy /smelly / NOX and particulate pollution is killing people NOW .

3. ignore salesman/mechanic -- DYOR.

suggest -

buy honda / nissan / toyota for reliable second hand .

honda jazz is good.

buy automatic unless you particularly want a clutch and waggle stick to play with .

[baldchap]

Sorry , but as above;
pro's : nil
con's: diesel, citroen, and a Picasso.

[bungeejumper]

Yes, the tide is turning against diesels in general. And especially against cars of that vintage, which will (probably) have been old-fashioned turbo diesels like my old Passat (also a 2007 model.) Simple, reliable, but yes, they did kick out the fumes. Big cities don't like them and may even ban them one day.

FWIW, Peugeot/Citroen's turbo diesels were better than many - the original Ford TDCI diesel engine was also basically a Peugeot with a badge on it. My daughter's Pug 106 diesel clocked up nearly 200,000 miles without even a clutch replacement. Pug/Cit gearboxes were strong, if a bit clunky. But dodgy electrics could always be a worry. As it happened, my 1995 Xantia was one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned, and I had it 11 years. You never can tell.

So, three questions. Are you likely to want to spend much time in a city; are you likely to be doing a lot of short distances (in which case avoid diesels); and do you really need that type of body format? If the latter, a Nissan Qashqai might suit you better. If not, plenty of good suggestions already offered. Jazz/Yaris, and don't forget the Fiesta - cheap and surprisingly spacious since about 2009.

BJ

[melonfool]

Hey, come on now. GBP 2500? If it only lasts 12 months it is still a decent buy. Definitely go for it. Known history is extremely important at these bargain basement prices. Buy it, run it for a year. If you get another year out of it, bonus. Rinse and repeat etc....

But....'known history' - with an ulterior motive perhaps?? Not sure I'd ask a guy who fixes cars for a living which is the best car - the best car will be the one he's never seen!

Mel

[bungeejumper]

But....'known history' - with an ulterior motive perhaps?? Not sure I'd ask a guy who fixes cars for a living which is the best car - the best car will be the one he's never seen!

Well maybe, but the bit about "nice motor he has looked after from new from one of his other customers" does carry a certain amount of weight with me. A small garage won't normally try to shaft you on that point, because the odds are that the buyer will be a local. And a bad local rep can be hard to shift.....

BJ

[redsturgeon]

Hey, come on now. GBP 2500? If it only lasts 12 months it is still a decent buy. Definitely go for it. Known history is extremely important at these bargain basement prices. Buy it, run it for a year. If you get another year out of it, bonus. Rinse and repeat etc....

£2500 for a year's use of a ten year old car? That's over £200 per month for that price you could lease a brand new car of the same standard. A Fiesta can be leased for four years at just over £150 a month if you drive fewer than 10,000 miles a year.

John

[redsturgeon]

And a bad local rep can be hard to shift.....

BJ

Almost as hard as a 10 year old Citreon Picasso

John

[jackdaww]

And a bad local rep can be hard to shift.....

BJ

Almost as hard as a 10 year old Citreon Picasso

John

[Tortoise1000]

This is all very helpful, thank you. I trust the mechanic, he is self employed and relies on his good reputation.

I do want a car with this kind of body. As regards the shape and size and features, it's perfect.

Yes my mileage is low, I mostly just potter about locally. That was something I had not considered with a diesel. Good point.

T

[Slarti]

Another no vote here because Citroen and diesel.

Citroen bad reliability rep.

Diesel, take a bet the government starts to put road tax up for them sooner rather than later and unless you are doing long runs, diesels are usually not happy.

You could get a Toyota Auris (similar size) petrol, of that age for for the same sort of money which would cost you less in maintenance.

Slarti

[gryffron]

my mileage is low, I mostly just potter about locally.

Another good reason to avoid the diesel. Low mileage diesel = high service costs and a clogged up engine with even worse nasty emissions.

FWIW, I wouldn't touch a Citroen either.

Gryff

[BT63]

Hey, come on now. GBP 2500? If it only lasts 12 months it is still a decent buy. Definitely go for it. Known history is extremely important at these bargain basement prices. Buy it, run it for a year. If you get another year out of it, bonus. Rinse and repeat etc....

£2500 for a year's use of a ten year old car? That's over £200 per month for that price you could lease a brand new car of the same standard. A Fiesta can be leased for four years at just over £150 a month if you drive fewer than 10,000 miles a year.

John

I agree £2500/yr is expensive motoring.
I consider cars to have a most likely lifespan of about 12yrs before the risk of big bills and MoT fails starts to increase.
So for 12yrs at £2500/yr I would be no worse off if I bought a brand new car for £30k, or a one-year-old car for £27.5k, or a two-year-old car for £25k.
You can get a lot of two-year-old car for £25k. Indeed you can get a very respectable two-year-old car for half that money. During a quick look on Autotrader I found numerous Picasso or Grand Picasso C4 or C3 under two years old for under £13k.

I also think the best balance of price, running costs and reliability are for cars bought at 1-2yrs old (already suffered big depreciation but still under warranty) and sold at 10-12yrs old (two or three years before they get sent to the scrapyard).

[midnightcatprowl]

my mileage is low, I mostly just potter about locally. That was something I had not considered with a diesel. Good point.

Because I was running a business until relatively recently I still drive a modern Vauxhall diesel van which is about four and a half years old. I haven't parted with it yet because I still need from time to time the ability to carry a bigger load than you'd normally get into a small car, but that need is ever diminishing. Apart from the general pollution, as others have mentioned, diesels have poor fuel economy until they've gone at least five miles so they are very expensive to run if you mainly just potter locally. The other big issue is that unless you do regularly take them for at least 20 to 30 miles and go somewhere you can drive them relatively hard and fast - not stop start slow town motoring - they essentially silt up (sorry that is not the technical name for it but gives you the general idea) and you end up with huge repair bills. I actually really like my van to drive but at present most weeks I have to deliberately take it for a couple of longer drives whether or not I actually want to go somewhere other than local and whether or not it is a good use of fuel. It is a silly relationship to be in with a vehicle and one I'm planning to get out of in the near future! Some weeks it works out okay as there are actually other than local places I want to go to but there are times when I really am driving for the sake of driving and to me driving is something you do for a reason not as an activity for its own sake.

[Fairleas]

I would buy a diesel.

[BT63]

I would buy a diesel.

So would I, if it was likely to be used the way diesels were designed to be used. It's a case of selecting the appropriate tool (fuel) for the job.

One of our household's cars is diesel and it gets driven the way diesels were meant to be driven: 20k miles per year of long, fast, non-stop journeys.

Our other two cars are petrol and they only do around 5k miles each of mixed driving, often in town.

[Tortoise1000]

Thank you so much for all the input. Pity we dont have reccing any more, I would have liked to thank you individually. I have turned the car down.

T

[jackdaww]

Thank you so much for all the input. Pity we dont have reccing any more, I would have liked to thank you individually. I have turned the car down.

T

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good decision !!!!!!!!!!!!