11th Jun 2001, 05:58

Some great comments above, very tempted to buy one now.

Any comments on whether to go for 1.6 or 1.8?

Also what is it like if you go for the base model, without the air conditioning - does it turn into a greenhouse on wheels?

Mark.

15th Jun 2001, 18:00

I bought a Picasso Plus in April 01. You really have to go for digital air con otherwise you will be tuning in the dials forever. I have only found two small faults 1) The front air grilles above the dash reflect back onto the windscreen. 2) The front seat belt buckles are razor sharp. This is the best car I have ever owned, only problem now is getting it back from my wife.

16th Jun 2001, 04:15

Interested to read your comments about the rear seat. I've ordered a Picasso - but not yet received it.

Did you say that the rear centre seat fully reclines? I didn't realise that. Presumably you have to remove the rear parcel shelf to allow this? Do the other rear seats fully recline also?

Also, as I've ordered a glass sliding sun roof, can anyone tell me how large it is in comparison to saloon-type car sun roofs - and whether it has a 'forward-tilt' mode or is it just a straight rear slider?

Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site. It's a great discussion forum.

17th Jun 2001, 09:45

Oooh I am so excited, we have just ordered our 1.8 Sx Picasso. Hopefully it should arrive soon.

We were going through the usual deliberations of Estate vs compact MPV and if so would it be the Zafira, Scenic or Picasso.

I have to admit, I was pretty sold on the Scenic but when looking at the Picasso today I changed my mind. Both me and my husband agreed - must be a first!

I am so relieved to come home and read these reviews as it is obvious we have made the right choice.

We have specified the glass sunroof, but I am now really concerned that this may have been the wrong decision. Is it really that juddery?

Thanks for all your comments - very helpful!

18th Jun 2001, 09:39

I have recently purchased a HDi Sx version and have been very surprised how good it is. I have had 3 BX's and 2 Xantia's and was a little dubious at going back to coil springs but now I find I had no need to worry. I am more than pleased with the mpg - my best to date being an actual 56.5mpg against an indicated 64.2. This was measured over 622miles of fairly gentle motoring. The rolling average over 2500 miles in 2wks - I normally do 35,000 miles / year - which includes a high speed motorway driving,is 51 mpg.

My biggest complaint is the design fault regarding the dash brilliance. If you wind down the brilliance level for night driving then when you switch on the headlights during the day, due to bad weather, then the dash is unreadable. You have to wind the light level back up again. This could be easily solved by software in the controller that could check the time of day and decide if high dash brilliance is required. I know that this would not be a perfect solution but it could be done without having to resort to photo cells. Maybe Citroen could perform a down load next time it goes in for service.

My other concern is that my wife likes to drive it!!

Vic.

18th Jun 2001, 14:47

Hi everyone.

Yes, it's me again with the Glacier Blue HDi who wrote the original review. My name is Kevin. Can't match the MPG of previous contributors with our turbo diesel. However it would be interesting to see what MPG the petrol owned Picasso's are averaging.

Regarding the extra initial purchase price of the HDi, yes it will take a long time to recover at the pumps. You eventually forget the shock of lashing out all that extra money for the HDi when you write the cheque at the dealership. It is at every fill-up that you notice the difference, and that experience goes on a long time. We do not get less than 500 miles from every tankful.

We did own a 1998 FIAT Brava 1.4s. It was relatively cheap to buy, but only averaged an appalling 28 MPG. It seemed that I was forever putting petrol in it.

One important factor for choosing the turbo-diesel is that it will hold its value better.

As for the fabric sunroof... no wind noise below 105 mph, but it gets a little drafty for rear seat passengers when it is fully open on speeds over 60 mph.

As for security, well not many Piccaso's have been used as getaway cars or for ram-raiding shops. We did not choose the alloy wheels option, and just as well; my wife has managed to scrape all four of the plastic wheel trims!

Cheers, Kevin.

19th Jun 2001, 02:25

Hi, It's me , Vic again.

Just an update on the mpg figures. I made a mistake -- it is actually a lot better than I thought. My error was to include the initial fill into my total fuel used. I have actually used 199.62 ltrs (43.92 galls) to cover 2516 miles giving an impressive 57.28 mpg. I guess that the large discrepancy between the indicated mpg and actual reported earlier must have been to incomplete filling of the tank at the start of the calculation period . I must admit that the majority of this has been very gentle driving whilst running the car in but the last 260 miles was at high speed along the motorways, I have not tried putting my foot down yet but no doubt that will come. However being higher allows you to see the road ahead much easier and so enable you to anticipate hold ups thus avoiding the use of the brakes which are the real fuel users.

My one regret is that I did not order the automatic air con. My Xantia's had this option and I now realise how useful it was , never having to adjust the fan or temperature settings. As they say you don't appreciate something until it no longer there .

On a lighter side we purchased the official car mats -- very nice, with the embroidered Xsara logo -- so nice in fact we have now bought some more mats to protect the mats we bought to protect the original carpets.

Vic.

19th Jun 2001, 14:29

I have just put my deposit down on a diesel Picasso and found these reviews after the event. I was a little apprehensive and bought the car out of gut feeling after being fairly sold on a Scenic. I often carry large loads ; drum kit, and a touring exhibition. I did a size test on the two with some of my clobber and the Picasso won. It drives well and I have found the comments here really useful. I get mine in a few days so I'll come back to the site. I'm replacing a Peugeot 405 estate. It's interesting to read what people had previously. RB.