I purchased a c3 desire back in November 2005 and have had nothing but
problems to include :-

Cutting out when turning right
Unable to obtain first gear
Suction marks on the front and back windscreens which were eventually
replaced.
Various product recalls
High pressure leak on the engine
Engine mount failed and the engine dropped out while driving
Rattle from engine bay which turned out to be the air con pipe which had
come away from its holder
Gear linkage has been replaced.
Creaking from the passenger side of the car
Faulty suspension mount on the passenger side.

Has anyone else experienced any of the above problems or where a dealership
is not prepared to fix your car?
Each time the car goes back which has been at least 12 times since I have
owned it they wont give me a hire car due to being 20, nor compensate me for
finding alternative car hire. I have contacted Citroen Head office in Slough
and found them to be very unprofessional and incompetent. Each time just
telling me to refer it back to the dealership for repair. Any suggestions on
how to get this resolved?

Many Thanks

On Sun, 28 Jan 2007 13:33:36 GMT, Steve wrote:

Yes, with Citroen dealerships which all suck, mightily. We had a succession
of Citroens as second or third cars because I like the quirky nature of
them. However I soon formed the opinion that I loved the cars but hated the
dealers. Over a time I tried almost every dealer in Surrey and Hampshire
disappointed by every one. Even if I took in a car with no problems they
would balls it up during the first service. One used to adjust the clutch
so that it was impossible to disengage it even with the pedal buried into
the carpet. I could drive it perfectly well going to the workshop and could
barely get the thing to change gear when leaving. Every time I challenged
them they replied that "it was adjusted to the specification." Which was
balls.

With S/H cars I found an excellent independent mechanic in Liss, Hampshire
so if that's any use I'll pass on details. For new cars, I found that
turning into Mr Angry in the shop worked wonders. Particularly if you
choose to yell your complaint about what utter useless articles they are at
a time when they are trying to sell a car to punters.

Steve wrote:

<Snip standard tale of French car ownership>

Sell it. Vow never to buy anything French again unless it comes in a
bottle :-)

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

Thanks for that, well mine is off back into the garage again tomorrow to
have this creaking noise so say looked at / fixed, its only just had a new
suspension mount fitted on Friday to cure the problem.

I know what you mean about leaving the dealers, I had a mechanic sat in my
car telling me it was my driving that was the cause of the gear selection,
that was until I tried to park the car and it refused to go into first gear
so forced it and then was unable to pull it out....

I have gone down the route as you say of being the angry customer. I work in
customer services and the only way to get something resolved is to shout and
keep shouting until it gets done - wonder how much longer it will take, the
MD has already warned the "front line" as he put it I will be returning the
car mid Monday! I have also been interview live on air for BBC Radio
Bristol's consumer program regarding the issues.

Something I have just found after spending 3 hours surfing the net is that
Citroen use a plastic Gearbox selector which warps when it gets hot - think
I might look into this one. Have pasted the link below -
http://www.citroenpicasso.org.uk/cit...?showtopic=960




"Steve Firth" <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote

"Steve" <s_oshea8 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

for work that was never done according to another dealership and Trading
Standards. Lookers would not give me the name of a managing director so I
spent a few hours on the phone finding out for myself.
The manager of Masterfit passed the complaint down to the garage manager
instead of investigating. He admitted there were problems and had put new
managers in place. They never kept many parts in stock either so you
couldn't just drive in without appointment. My car went in for a service
and MOT and come out with back brakes that didn't work after unauthorised
work, the brake fluid had never been changed, tensioners/rollers/water pump
were not done at the same time as the cambelt, oil overfilled by 1 litre,
oil filter not changed, fuel filter never changed, air filter still filthy !
The list went on. I got the 12month MOT despite the car having a snapped
rear spring and broken shock absorber. VOSA didn't want to know and Trading
Standards said they had lots of complaints but not enough to prosecute.
They would only do so if there was an accident. They sent a few cars in all
labelled up but were warned not to pursue cases against certain companies.

The reason parts were charged for and never replaced in my opinion is that
one of the mechanics has the same model and age of car!

My complaint and press coverage never did a thing so I stood outside the
dealership and asked people if they wanted a leaflet. The management went
wild and called the police, but they couldn't do anything as I wasn't on
their property and wasn't causing any obstruction.
I even put a poster in my windows and parked it outside their garage at
various times.

Garages know what they can get away with and if you have ever worked in one
you will know exactly how people are ripped off to make a profit. If you're
a manager you will know people are forced to sell and find things that do
not need doing.

Complaining doesn't get you far sometimes.

I would certainly never buy another car from Lookers or use Masterfit due to
the bad experience with them.

Steve Firth (%steve%@malloc.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Not all.
Just most.

On 28 Jan, 15:11, Chris Whelan <cawhe... (AT) prejudicentlworld (DOT) com> wrote:
I've heard the same about SEAT, good cars crap dealerships however I
am lucky that my local SEAT dealer is a relatively new SEAT franchise,
previously Rover and I found lots of good reviews about them online
from when they were Rover, and so far I've only had good experiences
with them with my car.

It's worth searching around online to see if you can find a forum for
citroens where people have recommended dealers/garages. I found a good
forum for this kind of SEAT information so there's probably one for
Citroen too..

Good luck, I'm sorry you've had so much headache with your new car it
was stories like yours (posted on parkers etc) that nearly put me off
buying my Ibiza, so it's not just citroens that can be badly put
together - perhaps it's a friday afternoon car and this probably
applies to most brands and depends on the strength of QC. So far I've
had hardly any problems with my ibiza (bought nearly new), except
those caused by the dealer I bought it from! Suffice to say this is
not the dealer I now use!!

On Jan 30, 2:10 pm, "Loony" <carmen.shepp... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
I've had such poor service from BMW dealers that it makes me feel sick
just thinking about it. People tend to think that main dealers are
somehow better than the backstreet barrys but they're a *franchise*
and you have little come-back on the actual manufacturer.