15th Dec 2008, 16:52

Read all of the above with interest, as I am looking for a small economical car.

Previously I have owned four 100cc three cylinder Suzuki Swifts. I covered 60 to 70 thousand miles in each of them and even towed a small caravan with the last one. I had no trouble whatsoever with any of them. Obviously this could not have been the same three cylinder engine.

Suzuki are bringing out a new three cylinder 100cc engined Alto in March 2009. Maybe I will wait until then, as I do a high mileage and would want a car with long term reliability.

1st Jan 2009, 17:37

Piston Slap from cold? Are you sure it's not the timing chain rattling? The two are easily confused, and the timing chain rattle is normal on these engines from a cold start. It is slightly disconcerting if you're used to cars with cambelts instead of chains, but on a positive note, you're not having to incur the expense of a periodical belt change.

Door seals were a problem on some cars, but changes at the factory rectified this, and the small number of cars affected should now have had their door seals replaced under warranty.

2nd Apr 2009, 06:04

I've got an '08 plate 107 which I bought new in May '08. No problems whatsoever. The first service is almost due and the main dealers want between £135 and £175 for it. I could do it myself for £24.50 as mine's the Urban Lite (same as C1 Vibe) model and the first service is only an oil & filter change + general inspection. Am taking it to my local garage who are going to service it for £60 all in, and will complete my pre-prepared checklist (from the service book) to keep the warranty intact. They are such simple cars that any garage can do just as good a job as the dealers, so why pay over the odds? My Peugeot service book states that 10W-40 Semi-Symthetic or 5W-40 Fully Synthetic oil is reccommended, and the local main dealer told me they use the Semi. I've never had a problem with the car, but if I end up with any leaks, I'm told that they are usually fixed with replacement door seals that cures the problem for good. Great little cars and I think mine will be a keeper.

26th Jul 2010, 04:19

I have owned my Citroen C1 Rhythm from new. We bought it in March 2008 and today, July 2010 it's approaching its 40,000 mile service.

Touch wood, I have not had a single problem to date. Other than the 10,000 service intervals, the only thing I have replaced is the front tyres.

I do a 100 mile round trip to work every day and for now it copes fine. Yes, I get the chain making a slight noise when cold (which you can only hear, just) but after 2 minutes that goes away.

I took my wife and two dogs up to the Isle Of Skye in it from Essex. 600 miles each way, we covered 1600 miles in a week, and despite the lack of boot space, we had no problems fitting everything inside and I can confirm myself and my wife, who was 5 months pregnant at the time, arrived relaxed and no back/bum pains at all!

I would recommend the C1/107/Aygo to anyone. Cheap as chips!

17th Aug 2010, 10:29

I have read on many of the car review websites that the Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 107 all suffer from leaking door seals that allow a lot of water into the car, can any owners confirm this and state what age of Citroen C1 suffers from this?

I have also read that the clutch has a design fault too and it can go wrong or wear very frequently - costing a lot of money to correct. Again, can owners confirm this?

Thanks.

2nd Oct 2010, 12:07

I have got a Citroen C1. Got it from new, and now it's less than a year old, and the car has ended up puddled with rain after having the seals replaced twice in the past two weeks, including modified seals. You would have expected it to be waterproof, but I am sure that the problem has occurred again, so I am actually begging for it to rain, but my advice is don't get one.

5th Feb 2012, 03:25

Citroen C1 2008..

We bought the car with 13000 miles on, and at 19500 it needed a new clutch. I have since fitted a Borg and Beck clutch kit.

We also get rain in the boot area bottom left hand side. I have been on the C1 owners club site, and read some of the comments on this matter, saying water gets in through the back light cluster, and to remove these and re-seal with new sealant. Not had chance to do this to-date, due to bad weather.

Apart from that, it runs well, is extremely economical and fairly comfortable for a small car. But what is baffling is... I take it through the car wash and NO water in the boot, however it can be parked out overnight on my drive and it rains, and water in boot re-appears; unexplained mystery.

That said, the water getting into the car issue alone would stop me from buying another one.

6th Feb 2012, 19:01

I have owned my diesel C1 for just over 5 years, and have done 104k plus in it..

It has been "caned" on the motorways and German autobahns, and I have to say, the engine has held up very well, no oil burning or anything evident, no problems whatsoever..

I fitted alloy wheels on it a year or two ago, to improve the road holding, but they do bring the economy and top speed down slightly.. The former is something that I can forgive, as it still does well over 50 mpg when driven "normally", but the lower top speed sometimes makes me fret a bit..

The brakes were binding for a while, and had to be cleaned out a few times, but the worst fault with the car has been the leaking into the rear passenger footwell when it rains..

Clutch has held up very well, even though I don't always change gear in a "clutch friendly" manner..

For what it is, it's been a great car.. The things I don't like about it would not stop me from buying another one.. It's a small car, and a cheap car.. The boot size is very small, driver's seat needs to be pushed forward when you have passengers in the back, child seat, etc.. (For folks over 6ft. driving..).. Storage areas in the car could be better, and the rear seats don't stow very well compared to competitive cars..

16th Mar 2012, 03:02

I have noise on the front driver's side that sounds like metal on metal. Any clues, nothing found in the garage, but it is getting louder.