Faults:

The floor on the passenger side is wet, suggesting a leak of sorts. This happened me last year when I had a full service, and the garage told me that it was clogged up with leaves.

I had a service on 2nd October 2010, and now I notice the floor is wet again, after some rainy days. Is it a co-incidence that this happened again after a service? Or could it be clogged up again. Could something not have been put back properly I wonder?

General Comments:

Car is very comfortable.

No other complaints.

Faults:

Despite a lot of stick from friends about the lack of reliability of Citroens, I have had no problems with mine except general wear and tear (tyres, oil changes etc.).

Recently went in for a cambelt change at 51,000 miles, because I felt the need to be careful, but better to be safe than sorry.

General Comments:

INTERIOR:

The interior has a lot of gadgets, which are all relatively easy to use, and providing the interior is kept clean, signs of wear are minimal. The seats are comfortable, and I find there is sufficient space for even the tallest of drivers (I am 6ft 5"). The only criticism I have is that there is not a lot of room in the back for passengers, but I wanted a hot hatch, not a luxury saloon.

EXTERIOR:

It gets looks everywhere it goes, looks great in a variety of colours (mine is black, but I love the red too) and is a different take on the hot hatch which is something I loved. The spoiler looks great, and the VTS really does stand out. The only thing I disliked about the exterior was the alloys, which I have changed to OZ 18" wheels, which look great.

PERFORMANCE:

Now, the C4 VTS is not the fastest car around by any means, but it is great fun to drive everyday, with enough power when needed, but not too much. It will accelerate from 0-62 in 8.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 140mph, yet I have had 147 out of mine with only minor modifications. One quarrel I did have was with the speed of the gear change, which does seem a bit slow on the uptake, but it isn't unbearable.

The suspension is a godsend. The car sticks to the road like a go kart, and is brilliant through the corners, to the extent that I will keep up with Focus ST's down country lanes.

And if you're bothered about petrol, don't be. Even with my foot down, I still usually manage at least 25mpg.

OVERALL:

Originally I was looking at many of the hot hatches, Focus ST, Renault Megane, Clio 182 etc. But they all seemed too much for a day to day basis, and far more on insurance (I am only 21). By all means, if you want a heap load of power, go for something else, but if you want a brilliant everyday car, with that little wild streak, this is perfect. It's an absolute dream.

Faults:

Auto transmission is jerky and jumpy on downward gear changes.

Auto transmission completely replaced twice, but jerkiness remained.

Brake noise diagnosed wrongly as dust, later brakes replaced.

False warnings given often - ABS, Electronic Brake Distribution, ASR, Tyre Pressure, false warning of integral telephone not working.

Water leaked into foot-well from kinked air con pipe.

Fascia heater outlet only blowing cold - faulty sensor.

General Comments:

The local south-coast area Citroen dealership and Citroen UK HQ have told me in writing that the Automatic Transmission on this model is of such poor quality that I must expect (and accept) downward gear-changes (4th to 3rd, 3rd to 2nd) to be jumpy and jerky when slowing down by using reduced accelerator pressure.

Before telling me that, they had TWICE replaced the whole Automatic Transmission, the second time bringing one over to UK from France in case UK stock was defective.

Citroen sent a specialist engineer to inspect my car for the first time, nearly 7 months into the dispute, and he made adjustments to the computer controlling the gear-changes, but they made no difference.

Since failing to repair the jerkiness, and since failing to replace my car, when faced with the prospect of court action, the dealership started telling me it is due to my driving-style - using the throttle to control deceleration in traffic.

After more than 7 months, they have now refused to show me the engineer's report on my car, which suggests it contains unfavorable information. Instead they have agreed a cashless swap taking my 2005 (55) C4 Exclusive for a 2006 (06) C5 2.0 Diesel 6-speed Auto.

I wonder what they don't want me to find out about that gearbox?