Citreon c1.

[Bradders59]

Just bought one.

07 plate. 84000 miles. 12 months MOT. Cost = a bag of sand.

Now you can all tell me how awful they are and how Ive made a terrible mistake.

Or tell me what to look out for and keep an eye on ?

[loserone]

You should px it for an LS400.

[New POD]

@MikeR

[wuvvum]

Cracking little cars.  Love my 107 - it was a fair bit cheaper than yours but then it's done more miles.  They can rust underneath but mechanically they're pretty bullet proof as long as you keep an eye on the oil level.  Clutches can be a weak point though - make sure there's a little bit of play in the pedal at the top of its travel, if the cable is too tight it wears the mechanism out in fairly short order.  Adjustment is under the bonnet and fairly straightforward.

[RoverFolkUs]

Check the rear brake pipes, the one inch going from the body to the union at the beam which they decided to leave unprotected 🤷

As above, keep an eye on the oil level, they will consume a bit as age/mileage increases. Keep an eye on the clutch adjustment. 

They can and do rot out, so it's worth treating any surface corrosion you may find especially along the sills

They can burn the valves out, causing blue smoke, but the timing chain is generally bulletproof

I seem to disproportionally have to do a lot of rear wheel bearings on them compared to other cars so bear that in mind if you notice a wheel bearing noise, they're pretty prone to it. 

Hardy little cars, I'm personally not a fan but I can see why people like them

@St.Jude of this parish has owned one from new (I think? 🤔) So should be able to give a pretty good run down 

[MikeR]

keep an eye on the oil , they do use it and its a small sump !!

watch the clutch adj , and keep an eye on the paintwork and rust ..  can let in water around the arse end which can be fixed

handles like a go kart

[RoverFolkUs]

Oh, check if it's got a recall outstanding for the rear windows which have a habit of falling out on the earlier ones. Main stealer will sort it FoC

[wuvvum]

13 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Check the rear brake pipes, the one inch going from the body to the union at the beam which they decided to leave unprotected 🤷

 

Ah yes, good point.  Otherwise you'll find yourself having to replace both front to rear brake pipes for the MOT.  Ask me how I know.

[Broadsword]

I've had a few and they are usually pretty handy things, I think they are brilliant little cars. Above is a buyer's guide type thing I did on the last one I had which was from this parish funnily enough. I learnt from this one to pay attention to the fuel sender unit. They can have weird fuel leaks there. On this one it leaked like a bastard depending on the angle the car was pointing at. Crazy thing was that the culprit was the return line had just slightly uncliped from the union. I pushed it home and the problem was fixed. If you sit hard on the back seat you can bash the fuel lines out of the sender it appears. 

[Bradders59]

Breathing a sigh of relief here.  MOT has no advisories, but I noticed on the MOT history there had been advisories for brake pipes, so will check.

I was slightly concerned that it had some free play on the clutch pedal, but it seems like thats a good thing. 

Planning an oil & filter change very soon, but will check oil level in the morning.

Then drive it until weather gets better and give it a good check over top/ bottom/ underneath.....

Actually, its a bit damp inside, so may need to check for water leaks into the cabin asap. 

[reb]

Back when I worked at Numbertile Roundbread we had one of these as a company car (basically for drivers to use when their own car FTPd) and it was fucking hilarious to drive, and surprisingly brisk. I once took it on a run out into the country, flinging it about like I'd stolen it, looked down at the speedo and saw an indicated 80! Oops! I didn't think I was pushing it that hard, and it certainly didn't feel it!

[camryv6]

46 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Oh, check if it's got a recall outstanding for the rear windows which have a habit of falling out on the earlier ones. Main stealer will sort it FoC

That is just the 5 doors and doesn't affect the 3 doors, it is the two rear side window that come unbonded off the hinges

[RoverFolkUs]

13 minutes ago, camryv6 said:

That is just the 5 doors and doesn't affect the 3 doors, it is the two rear side window that come unbonded off the hinges

Yes, I've seen a few. On further thought it's always been a 5 door. 

Again; never paid attention to it, can you not "open" the rear windows on a 3 door then?

[camryv6]

2 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Yes, I've seen a few. On further thought it's always been a 5 door. 

Again; never paid attention to it, can you not "open" the rear windows on a 3 door then?

Don't know i own a five door 😂

[Stanky]

There is only one known issue with them, which manifests as restricted power in certain conditions. Luckily, an inventive aftermarket supplier has found a simple solution to the issue

https://www.tegiwaeuro.com/tts-performance-rotrex-supercharger-kit-citroen-c1.html

 

[reb]

10 minutes ago, Stanky said:

There is only one known issue with them, which manifests as restricted power in certain conditions. Luckily, an inventive aftermarket supplier has found a simple solution to the issue

https://www.tegiwaeuro.com/tts-performance-rotrex-supercharger-kit-citroen-c1.html

 

I am taking notes.

[St.Jude]

My time to shine, thanks @RoverFolkUs

The two most major things that go wrong is the clutch and the catalytic converter cracking. These are the two biggest bills I’ve had in 13 years and 94,230 miles of ownership.

I had the thicker clutch, it did 60,000 miles. It’s on its second, and it’s done 34,000 and I don’t think it’ll see 40,000 as I don’t think it was replaced like for like. 

The catalytic converter is a manicat, and I’ve had 3 on it in 13 years. The weld where the cat joins the manifold cracks and over time it splits. Why? Well I know on my car there is a bracket that hold the middle of the cat to the engine block. Mine didn’t have that to begin with, it’s only on the third cat did I realise it should’ve had one, so mine now has one as the 3rd cat had it. The 2nd cat was a 3rd party one that robbed the car of power, it’s woeful. Don’t buy it from ECP. If your car splits, weld it up. That’s all that goes wrong in them, a weld fixes it. Bear in mind the head bolts aren’t meant to be loosened and tightened this much, so may break. Mine did. RTV sealant fixed it. Did that in April last year, and because my Land Cruiser being a useless piece of shit, I’ve done a lot of miles in the 107 and it’s been great. Problem solved.

Water ingress is a bitch. I thought I sorted mine, I haven’t. And it’s no fun when it’s this cold and the frost on the inside of the car is thicker than the outside. Issue on the 107/C1 is high level lights, rear lights, and getting to this age, door seals. Door seals are sorted with and extra bead of a D rubber strip (way cheaper than replacement seals) and you can get light gaskets  from eBay for a few quid. 

Engine uses oil. It’s chain driven, so it does require regular services and make sure the oil is topped up. I don’t do this, I forget, I know I am awful. I thought I had a chain rattle recently, but it’s just the exhaust. So it’s grand. £40 does a full service, which I do every year as it seems silly not to.

It’s on its 3rd battery. Costs £40. Ish.

Keep the revs above 3,000rpm, and you won’t bog down. It likes to be driven hard, well I like to drive it hard, and it rewards you with a fun experience. There is nothing that gives a go kart experience that’s legal on the road.

The radio is shit. PSA give two speakers at the front. Toyota on the Black trim give you four and it’s better. Which reminds me, I ought to look for door cars from the Aygo black to get the speaker mounts.

2013+ PSA models, well Peugeot at least, have a head unit that has Bluetooth. That’s worth finding I think. 

Can’t think of anything else. I think these really do suffer in the wrong places. What I mean is in 2011 I parked in a car park outside Glasgow and realised I was next to the exact same model as my own, right down to the year of registration. I found the photo a few years ago and stuck it on the MOT check. My 107 has failed 1 MOT on a lightbulb, that was last year, but there’s nothing for rust or anything. I’ve not rustproofed it either. The twin car though, rust shows up early on I think, and it had rusty pipes etc etc. Roads in Birmingham are different to Scotland. So keep that in mind.

But yeah, they’re a great car. The best car I think. I’ve driven mine to Budapest and all round Europe, as far west as Oban, I’ve had an indicated 114mph on the speedo in Germany in it (downhill), it has never, ever, let me down. At all. If it’s been broken it’s happened once and it’s been pennies to fix and quick to do.

It’s a proper successor to the original mini, it really is. I will fight anyone who says different, it is a hill I’ve built and will die on, but only when they’ve died first. 

[Bradders59]

Brilliant, thanks.

[St.Jude]

1 minute ago, Bradders59 said:

Brilliant, thanks.

Clutch is cable operated, and sort of adjustable, so a bit of slop in it is what it is btw

[Zelandeth]

In the word of my old MOT tester "They're tough little shits these..."

Which from him was high praise.  

Make sure there's free play in the clutch (the dealers often seem to be under the impression it's self adjusting...it isn't.  I only found that out about a year after my 107 shredded the release bearing - clutch itself still apparently looked like new).  Keep on top of the oil level, and keep an eye out for rust as you would on any other car if this age.

They thrive on revs.  A lot of people seem to think they're dog slow, but then you see they're changing gear at 2500rpm like it's an old school diesel.  Sod that, they only wake up north of about 3500rpm, and then make a noise that's an astonishingly good impression of a flat six all the way to the limiter.  Which is about 65mph in second by the way.

I drove mine like I stole it every day and loved it.  Had it from new, 9 years and a little over 60K miles.  Aside from normal service items all I can remember we had to change was a clutch, driveshaft (was cheaper than sorting the CV joint that had gone notchy), AC condenser and radiator - though that I reckon was more to do with it being attacked by a stray lorry wheel ring on the A422 than age.  Exhaust was just about at the end of its life I reckon when I moved it on.

Criticisms?  Boot aperture is tiny, gear change in <2012 cars isn't the best, and the factory stereo (or at least the speakers) is woeful.  I never managed to get the windscreen wiper to work well either until I put an aero style blade on it - and then wished I'd done that about 5 years sooner.  Changing the offside headlight bulb is an absolute arse of a job, especially if you have AC.  

I do miss it.

They were very cleverly packaged for their age too.  I still don't quite know where they managed to find all the room in the cabin given the footprint of the car.  Even though it was a bit cave like in the back seat it was plenty roomy, and I survived most of a trip between Aberdeen and Milton Keynes as a rear seat passenger just fine.  Even if I was wishing for more seat padding after a couple of hours.

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

can you not "open" the rear windows on a 3 door then?

Nope.

[RoverFolkUs]

4 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Nope.

Ah, that'll be why they're ok then. It's only got the 4 blobs of window adhesive about the size of a 20 pence coin on the 5 doors for the pivot hinge. So always bound to fail 

[Metal Guru]

Sometime since I had one (107) , but I think the clutches were a problem on pre 2009 cars and were largely improved after that .

[St.Jude]

8 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

In the word of my old MOT tester "They're tough little shits these..."

Which from him was high praise.  

Make sure there's free play in the clutch (the dealers often seem to be under the impression it's self adjusting...it isn't.  I only found that out about a year after my 107 shredded the release bearing - clutch itself still apparently looked like new).  Keep on top of the oil level, and keep an eye out for rust as you would on any other car if this age.

They thrive on revs.  A lot of people seem to think they're dog slow, but then you see they're changing gear at 2500rpm like it's an old school diesel.  Sod that, they only wake up north of about 3500rpm, and then make a noise that's an astonishingly good impression of a flat six all the way to the limiter.  Which is about 65mph in second by the way.

I drove mine like I stole it every day and loved it.  Had it from new, 9 years and a little over 60K miles.  Aside from normal service items all I can remember we had to change was a clutch, driveshaft (was cheaper than sorting the CV joint that had gone notchy), AC condenser and radiator - though that I reckon was more to do with it being attacked by a stray lorry wheel ring on the A422 than age.  Exhaust was just about at the end of its life I reckon when I moved it on.

Criticisms?  Boot aperture is tiny, gear change in <2012 cars isn't the best, and the factory stereo (or at least the speakers) is woeful.  I never managed to get the windscreen wiper to work well either until I put an aero style blade on it - and then wished I'd done that about 5 years sooner.  Changing the offside headlight bulb is an absolute arse of a job, especially if you have AC.  

I do miss it.

They were very cleverly packaged for their age too.  I still don't quite know where they managed to find all the room in the cabin given the footprint of the car.  Even though it was a bit cave like in the back seat it was plenty roomy, and I survived most of a trip between Aberdeen and Milton Keynes as a rear seat passenger just fine.  Even if I was wishing for more seat padding after a couple of hours.

Not just me who has/had a driveway being shared by a Lada and a 107 then?

Do you have a hopeless 4x4 too?

[myglaren]

My second daughter has three kids.  She and my SIL have bought a C1 for each of the kids to learn to drive in, the eldest has had hers for five years and it is ready for the bin now.  Her younger brother has had his for two years and it is OK.

The youngest has the best and newest one.  She passed her test about a month after her 17th birthday, hadn't even got her provisional until a fortnight after her birthday.  She loves it, college every day plus work two evenings and Saturdays.

I don't envy her or her brother having to drive it into Middlesbrough every day.  At least they are easy to park.

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, St.Jude said:

Not just me who has/had a driveway being shared by a Lada and a 107 then?

Do you have a hopeless 4x4 too?

There was a Skoda Kodiaq on the other side of the driveway (a.k.a. the company car I rarely go near - it took me a good five minutes to figure out how to start the last one to move it from one side of the drive to the other) at one point...though we actually had to concede that driven sensibly it actually coped with the snow which had effectively paralysed this whole area a couple of years back quite well.  So not entirely useless it turned out.

Not my choice though!

If there was a four wheel drive of *my* choosing on the driveway it would be a pre-1997 Jeep Cherokee or a Lada Niva.

[Zelandeth]

9 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Sometime since I had one (107) , but I think the clutches were a problem on pre 2009 cars and were largely improved after that .

It was earlier than that they switched to the larger clutch plate I think, might even have been as early as 2006 as the early cars did have inherently weak clutches.

The free play adjustment issue seemed to persist for pretty much the whole model run though.

[St.Jude]

11 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

It was earlier than that they switched to the larger clutch plate I think, might even have been as early as 2006 as the early cars did have inherently weak clutches.

The free play adjustment issue seemed to persist for pretty much the whole model run though.

It’s an absolute pig of a job to adjust the clutch if you don’t have the hands of a toddler.

[Bradders59]

Any recommendations on  oil for the little 1 litre engine please ?

Eurocarparts 10/40 semi skimmed, or something a bit more exotic required ?

[RoverFolkUs]

And as if by magic, had one in today for a service. So thought I'd take some photos as there seems to be a bit of interest on here for them. 

57 plate, Aygo flavour. 

First up, exhaust banging. Caused by shit hangers, allowing loads of movement in the system. Now replaced, much better. I suspect that is the main reason for why they can create noise over bumps (@MikeR) . Also the heatshield had come loose where it disappears up towards the floor

 

The offending section of brake pipe: 

 

Underbody corrosion: 

Fairly heavy surface corrosion forming all along the inner sills, and the outer sill ends. That will be holed within a year I predict. You can see they've got very little rust protection. No splash guards on the rear arches of this one.

Predictably, it had a noisy rear wheel bearing. They all seem to!

This one had the infamous faulty indicator switch.

Also water ingress in the boot and drivers foot well. 

Also the inner steering arms were totally fucked, not sure if that's overly common on them in particular or if it's just wear and tear on this particular example but check those if you've got any knocking in the steering.