3rd Jul 2008, 12:36

We have a three year old Pluriel. Until today its been largely fine. However on the Motorway at about 72mph suddenly the curved plastic aerodynamic trim panel to the windscreen pillar (passenger side) was sucked off the car. The 4 screwed tabs that retain it were snapped, and the lugs that fix through holes into the pillar itself pulled clean away. There is a visible flexible trim beneath this panel to the windscreen edge that has also disappeared. I am told by Citroen its approx £80 plus the costs of painting it and fitting it!

It now makes a howling wind noise at speeds as low as 20mph.

I think this can definitely be classed as a patent (concealed) defect. I would be interested in knowing if anyone else has had a similar experience. I will be threatening the vendor garage with trading standards.

10th Aug 2008, 14:01

I have had the same problems with my Citroen C3 soft top 2003. I have had this car for 18 months and had nothing but problem after problems with leaking on the passenger side. It's now leaking in from the drivers side, which has ruined the seats.

This car is dangerous. I've had many occasions when going around roundabouts where the car loses power and I may as well have come to a standstill.

My car has been returned 3 times, then I was promised the problems would be solved; if only that was true.

Again my car has got to go back. Citroen should have recalled these cars as it is quite obvious there is a manufacturers fault and a dangerous one at that.

I would never ever purchase ANY Citroen car again of any description; they are obviously dealers who cannot be trusted. We should all contact Watch Dog instead of complaining, and maybe then we might get something done about it, as it is quite clear Citroen does not care about its customers and the safety of its customers.

Do not buy a Citreon C3 Pluriel unless you have a death wish or you have loads of money to keep having it valeted and repaired.

13th Aug 2008, 18:37

Hello to you all.

I thought that I would join you in having a moan about my C3 Citroen Pluriel. Yep, my 53 plate has been very poorly too. Roof incontinence seems to be the problem, and I agree that instead of moaning about it we should join forces & make a stand. Maybe we should drive our C3s in convoy to bring attention to the obvious manufacturing faults.

Mine is going into the garage on Monday, however, I'm not quite sure how they are going to rectify the problem. Also, they I told me that because the car has already been in for a recall I may have to pay for the repair!

On a happier note I do like my Citroen, I find the seats very comfortable although they are now stained & look like I have become incontinent.

Here's hoping.

21st Aug 2008, 12:42

INCONTINENT ROOF.

Update on my previous posting.

Citroen Have REFUSED (surprise, surprise) to rectify their design fault on the basis that I am not the original owner. Maybe I'm missing something here but how does the number of owners effect the design fault?

I'm not really surprised at the response that I received, however I am disappointed. Especially when I explained that last weekend my 6 month old Grandson was rained on whilst in the passenger seat (in his child seat of course) Yuk. This fault is not only frustrating it is also dangerous, I have had water fall onto my face whilst driving!

I have sent an email to watchdog to see if they will help??

If you have had similar experience and want to get in touch you can email me @

unique-@tiscali.co.uk.

Here's hoping - again.

2nd Sep 2008, 18:04

Yes, just to echo the comments here - have a 2003 C3 Pluriel. I thought the vehicle cutting out whilst driving was just me going mad - but it has happened numerous occasions to me - you need to be quick to restart the ignition and clearly this is hugely dangerous.

Also - weak plastic fixtures which seem to crack in heat and sun have made most of the boot assembly fall to bits, handles are snapped, springs have fired off everywhere and essentially all that doesn't work any more.

Most annoying day to day is the roof assembly - I now have to wear ear plugs and an anorak when driving. The wind howl above very low speeds is ridiculous - it always was since buying it, but its gotten progressively worse now and I can see the same weak black plastic on one of the runners has cracked, so the wind is getting underneath and pulling up the roof.

As everyone says, Citroen don't seem to care. I have complained about the wind issue since owning it, but have been told that is what you get with a convertible. I think we've all figured out the correct response to this botched design which Citroen want to wash their hands of - never purchase anything from them again, and tell everyone you know how shoddy their manufacturing is.

14th Sep 2008, 14:19

Hello all, well I was thinking of getting a C3 Pluriel 53 plate, but now have been completely put off. So hopefully I've saved myself a lot of hassle. Does anyone recommend just the normal C3's?

Thanks.

28th Sep 2008, 15:04

Another disatisfied 2003 Citroen Pluriel owner.

One of the plastic 'trams' - a piece of black plastic 2cm x 2cm x 2cm cracked in the roof mechanism, because it was too weak and not correctly specified to be in sun (became brittle). As a consequence. the roof now doesn't close properly, meaning it leaks rain in and also billows up when driving at speed, meaning you have to wear ear plugs. Took it to my local Citroen dealer expecting just to have to get the broken tram replaced (looked like a 15 minute job).

Got told that I would need to have a whole new roof put in - inc. rear glass, tonneau, etc. the whole shebang) because simply replacing the tram was an ineffective fix. Got told by the mechanic (a Citroen employee) that they see C3 faulty roofs pretty much on a daily basis. He told me the new roof would cost me £2K + £500 min labour to install. Again, he said he would try to get the parts on goodwill, given it's an obvious design flaw, and absurd for a customer to have to spend £2k to replace a piece of plastic with a cost price of max £10. But Citroen said no after two weeks, claiming it was out of warranty. This is a car that's done 60k km since new, I've owned it since new and serviced it continually at Citroen dealerships.

Obviously I think Citroen have totally abused the customer / manufacturer relationship here. I'd never buy another one of their crap cars and I'm going to make sure I tell anyone who will listen about this incident.

Disgusting, shameful company. I hope the recession bites them hard for their disingenuous behaviour.