Citroen Grand C4 Picasso road test reports and car reviews

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso Automatic 2009

I got my new motability car last November 2008 it ran for about 1 month then came up with the problem of losing power and system failure showing on the screen. The car could not go any further. It went into the dealer to be fixed then 2 days after I got it back again the same happened, system failure, stopped dead. This went on for 8 months giving it chance again and again as it fully suited my disabled needs. Motability terminated the car after another 5 breakdowns within 6 weeks and I had to order another car which I did in October 2009, had to wait ’til Thursday, 28th Jan to pick it up, which I was really looking forward to, great off we go! I got an 8th of a mile out of the dealership when guess what? Yip, I broken down. I tried to restart the engine - nothing, it was showing gear box failure on the screen, which I recorded for motability to see. It would not go into any gear at all, actually it would not start. So, I called the dealer (an 8th of a mile away) and was told "call the RAC"! super, great service, thanks. So after sitting for 4 hours waiting for RAC for him to tell me he could not tow it as he did not know what gear it was in, then waiting for tow truck to put it on the back, it was then taken back to dealer. Next day the dealer was full of apologies, it was just "confused" what! Yes, I had confused it by asking it go go somewhere lol. OK, so got the call to pick it up this morning, down we go all excited, got the car, got my husband to follow me for a bit to see everything ok. Stopped about 2 miles away to go into Tesco, put it into reverse, whoops no not into reverse, did not like that, it froze, it would not go into any gear at all, auto, neutral, manual or reverse. So I turned it off and then back on again, it would not even start, "gearbox failure" on the screen. Are you all remembering this car has not done 5 miles yet? So, its now lying in Tesco’s car park in Edinburgh I have come home and called RAC left the keys with Tesco customer care (who care more than Citreon do) and I give up! Is it me? Am I just unlucky? No more, I have written a letter to motability terminating the agreement due to mechanical breakdown. I am so upset by this happening, am I alone in this?

Responses to this review

It is so nice to know I am not alone. I have just replaced my C4 Grand with a Ford S Max for very similar reasons. It will be 3 years old in April and it has had 2 new gear boxes, (and we are still geting warning errors), 2 serious errors with the handbrake, the car takes it’s self out of gear regularly or won’t go into gear, we have had a new back windscreen as they found a fault in the way it was fitted and plastic interior of the car has fallen off twice , the whole of the back of the car has had to be re-sealed and the glove boxes replaced are amongst some of the larger faults. Oh and be aware the boot lock is a faulty design and have had to have it replaced twice, apparently this is a common fault. The battery un-charges itself and their solution to this was to unplug it every night!!!! whilst I have found Woking Citroen wonderful to deal with (I am on first name terms with them) it is a pile of junk metal! Good luck! - Louise Howe from Surrey

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 1.6HDi VTR+ egs 2007

Just a load of junk, I’m so glad it will be going in September. I have had most of the faults noted by other unfortunate owners. I think it’s a S**troen built by robots. It should be driven by a crash test dummy into a wall, at speed and recycled into a decent car.

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso C4 Picasso BTR 2007

Excellent car. 1.6HDi zippy and economical - even with 4 adults, 2 top boxes and filled for camping. Covered 25000 miles so far and no faults / unexecpcted visits to garages. Everything works as advertisd and no rattles anywhere. Towed my trailer tent for 500miles - excellent - better than my C5. Worthy upgrade to our Xsara Picasso (and that’s been VERY impressive @ 106,000 on 2 exhausts and original clutch). I know you can get lemons - but everyone else I know who has one of these has loved them.

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 2007

Where do I begin? It’s a pile of rubbish, we have had nothing but trouble with this car. When pulling out on to a roundabout, this is in automatic mode, it hesitates and loses power, which has nearly caused an accident several times. As you pull away at a junction it has no power and it can’t make its mind up what gear it should be in. The engine is constantly revving so the petrol usage is very high. We have had it back to the gargage several times, they can’t find anything wrong with it but they keep downloading new software. We are getting rid of it in June as it’s a mobility car thank god we didn’t actually waste our own money on this pile of rubbish.

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 2009

Everything you need in a MPV comfortable, smooth, excellent gearbox, I cannot see any problem with it. Spacious, far better than my last car, a zafira, which I must admit I rated pretty highly. Both cars a big in improvement on the Merc 160c that I ran before these two. Well done Citreon.

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 2006

There are inherent faults with this car. The petrol cap not opening from inside the car is one. The brakes have gone on at traffic lights and I have been unable to free them for some time, to include turning off the engine and re-starting. The automatic clutch judders badly, especially when cold. If you stop and park for a bit, all the electrics go off, to include the radio/cd etc. The ride is not brilliant on country roads. It is a heavy car and the suspension is not what we used to expect from Citroen. Having said all that, the car has all the thing that you and your wife and your children and grandma could ask for. Loads of space. All the equipment you could want. It is great on motorways and wide roads. It is high, so you can step in and out without changing levels. It has class and it is good to look at. I wish someone at Citroen could sort out the faults, because it has so much going for it on the plus side. And, yes, I’m going to buy another before long, although I’m going for the full auto this time. Hopefully no more juddery starts in the morning!

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 1.6 hdi 2007

First of all, not England, Portugal. I used to be a Portuguese C4 grand Picasso owner, used to, because the C4 was completely destroyed in a terrible accident, unfortunately involving my 2 young children. The electric brake failed, and the van fell into a 20 meter ravine, smashing onto the road. My children, aged 3 and 6 years old suffered multiple fractures, but thank God they are alive, even if the hospital visits are becoming a regular routine, either for physiotherapy or plastic surgery. Few days after the accident, Citroen France, sent an expert to Portugal in order to do an inspection to the car to find out what happened, the accident was on the 15th March, we still don´t know nothing, we still haven´t received any reply from them. Is it possible that these type of cars received 5 stars EuroNcap, and then almost kill my children? I have pictures that I can share, just post me a request with email address.

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 2.0 HDI Exclusive 2007

Well here we go again, after the C4’s last trip to the garage and some new servos to repair the gear box things have got worse. Hand brake that doesn’t release, severe judder on pulling away from junctions when cold, crap acceleration, carpets and arm rests that look as though they belong in a 300,000 mile car not a 30,000 mile car and today to top it off complete brake failure on the trip to the office. I can’t find reference to the brake failure on any forums but I suggest that it felt as though the servo had failed, it felt like pushing onto a hard bit of wood not a progressive travel and feel, oh and it didn’t stop either!!! This is truly the worst car I have ever had the misfortune to drive and believe me there was some rubbish about in the 1970s. Does anyone make a decent reliable large people carrier with 7 seats plus boot space for a wheel chair and a pushchair and shopping for a family of 7? If so let me know because Mr Citroen can have this heap of junk back.

Responses to this review

I agree heartily with your comments!! This car has to be the worst car we have ever had (on motability scheme). The build quality is garbage. We are start ing our final 12months with this car, thank God. We have driven just over 28,000miles - certainly not carefree, troublefree miles either: Handbrake releasing itself Mirror lenses not remaining stuck in their housing Handbrake faulty warning light coming on at 70mph esp faulty light coming on at 70mph dashboard information disappearing at random Door trims coming loose Rear passenger seats folding on own accord Locks on gloveboxes not holding closed Remote door locks replaced Over the 24month period we have been ’using’ this heap - its been in the service bay of our local Citroen main dealer for around 6 weeks in total. This is the last Citroen we will ever have - Joe Jones from Lancashire

I agree with the both of you. I have had this car for 2+ years on mobility and what a load of s*#t it has been. The dealers have had it more than i have. Its been on the back of an RAC truck more than the road itself. Went in for a service and came back with more faults then it went in with.The hand brake kept coming on as I was driving which was quite scary as another car could of easily crashed in to my behind. Rear seats broke twice. First time they fixed it but took them 7 weeks now the other one broke they’r saying it’s neglect an won’t sort it. Jet washers broke twice. Boot wouldn’t shut or lock that been fixed twice. petrol door wont open without pulling it open. Reving loudly and preformance really sluggish but when it went in then said it was nothing. The latest was a frozen pump so they said, which they say made the engine go bang and they were trying to bill me for at more than 3 grand, what a joke. Now it turned out after more investigation it was the head an not my fault and they have had it now a whole 4 weeks and not even started it. I have never driven such a heap of junk. I would never touch another Citreon. I went fot this car as we are a family of 6 and needed a boot space for a wheel chair and double buggy. Luckily this car goes back in a few months and I will be buying my own car after this. looking at a Toyota Previa, they seem a safer option - Stressed Out from England

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 1.8 VTR 2008

First the good news: We have the vehicle on a 2 year lease and it is going back in January 2010. The bad news? Everything else. I cannot be positive about this car, however much I try. Lots of other options on the market, I wish I had looked at more before ordering.