Dodgey Diesel?

LordSutch

I am in the process of buying an 04 Citroen C3 1.4 HDI Diesel (70BHP) but I have one concern re the lack of coolant in the expansion bottle (below min) The car has not been serviced as regularly as it should have been, so maybe this is behind the lack of coolant ? but on the other hand, it might be the head gasget which will cost a small fortune to have done

I want to think that its probably just a minor hose leak, seeing as the 1.4 HDS engines are pretty bullet proof (so I'm told), but on the other hand maybe ............

Should I Buy it & give the 1.4 HDI engine the benefit of the doubt seeing as its a 90% chance that theres a innocent explanation for the coolant loss, or should I steer away from it ?

P.S. no white smoke & no overheating either.

What say you, Petrol>Diesel heads ?

Tigger

import one next month with fsh

245

I wouldn't touch it without a service history - things like the turbo are very dependent on a correct, clean oil supply. It could end up costing you a fortune. If the previous owner couldn't be bothered servicing it properly then it probably wasn't driven very sympathetically either.

That model had a few recalls. If it wasn't main dealer serviced then it may have missed out. Some of the recalls were safety related.


http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/recalls/recalls.jsp?modelID=E5&modelName=C3&makeName=Citroen&makeId=A7

Anan1

245 wrote: »

I wouldn't touch it without a service history

+1. Why buy a car that you know hasn't been cared for?

Rowley Birkin QC

"Checking the details of a second-hand car is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. First of all, verify her year of origin. She may look like she rolled off the production line in 2004 but who's to say the fellow before you didn't give her a good spraying?"

LordSutch

Anan1 wrote: »

+1. Why buy a car that you know hasn't been cared for?

The 1.4 HDIs are as rare as hens teeth in the Republic, (too much hassle, money & red-tap to import one) so after three months of hunting in dealerships & hunting privately 'I actually found one' the body is 100%, the inside too, she goes like stink, no visible emissions, sounds healthy > just the Low Coolant worry . .

Anyway, its all academic now, I bought it & its being serviced today

pburns

ArthurF wrote: »

...she goes like stink

With all due respect I find that very hard to believe - it's a 1.4 diesel for fecks sake! I've seen people on here before claiming their VAG 1.9TDIs 'go like stink' and a guy I know claims his 407 1.6HDI is nippy as hell... These are all slow cars by anyones standards!

Best of luck with the car though. I know what it's like to get a notion to buy a specific model into your head and then spend months searching for it.

LordSutch

Sorry pburns, I should have said that 'it goes like stink' when compared to the 1.1 Litre petrol C3 . . . . anyway, I got it back from the garage today & the coolant loss was apparently due to a loose seal around the plastic thermostat housing, so my worst fears have been alayed & I am now happy

TJJP

ArthurF wrote: »

I am in the process of buying an 04 Citroen C3 1.4 HDI Diesel (70BHP)

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=546&

unkel

ArthurF wrote: »

Sorry pburns, I should have said that 'it goes like stink' when compared to the 1.1 Litre petrol C3

These pocket rockets take 14.8s (1.4 diesel) and 16.6s (1.1 petrol) to reach 100km/h for anybody interested

unkel

TJJP wrote: »

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=546&

Wrong car. That's a C4 and the OP bought a C3

peasant

unkel wrote: »

These pocket rockets take 14.8s (1.4 diesel) and 16.6s (1.1 petrol) to reach 100km/h for anybody interested

That's seriously fast !

(compared to what I drive )