written by Rosschristopherwenlock on 07/10/2013
Had my C15 for over a year now and done 20,000 miles. Few little bits gone wrong- new alternator, bit of welding on the exhaust but it's just basic maintenance and the best thing is everything is so cheap! Welding was £20, alternator £40 and fitted myself using two spanners. The mpg is amazing- I get about 45mpg with mine- will go up as have just serviced it. The seats are like my Nans armchair and drining on a bumpy road is like driving on clouds due to fantastic suspension.. It looks about 50 years old as the styling was 40 years out when it was made. The panels are the thickness of three sheets of baking foil and the wheels, I think may have been off of a wheelbarrow. These are the reasons I love it. I can imagine a lot of people having turned there noses up at the C15 but trust me, you can get well over half a ton in the back and drive it for 600 miles on a tank of diesel without the engine skipping a beat. Paid £500 for mine- made that money back 20 times over using Sidney.
written by on 12/05/2012
I sit in my van and it says " where you want to go? " and it just goes there. I've been to Holland, France and Spain in it. No nonsense , anti fashion and slow as hell from a standing start. But I love it and you cant break its spirit. Had a few knocks in it - but it keeps going. Try and get a red one. Once it gets going its quiet and smooth ride - comfy seats. I've moved twice in it - once with a piano in the back. Tough. Some bits will fall off - but its french.
written by on 31/07/2010
I bought my C15 in 2005 brand new, it has now done 158,000,mls and i have to say apart from the odd thing its been fantastic, the body work remains amazing although this is due to expensive autoglym polish! mechanicly i have always taken it to citroen in leeds where i bought it, its serviced every 6 months due to the milage i do. and has always passed mots first time! common faults are brake calipres and wheel bearings, oh and rubbish stereos i changed mine after it went faulty 7 times in 12 months, bought new stereo from argos ,has been perfevt since, make sure you get cambelt done ,engines are amazing!! good van, am looking to replace it now and am going to get a berlingo!
written by on 08/04/2010
I have owned a w reg 2000 c15 for 8 years. It has covered 211000 faultless miles but alas the gearbox is on it's last legs so I must consider changing the van - for another c15 of course. We collect and deliver horse rugs for laundering and very often the van it packed to the hilt including the passenger well but has never complained and consistently attains 50mpg. In a word brilliant!
written by on 01/03/2010
I've had my C15 since new as a private vehicle. They are excellent value for money. It is no thrills motoring in many ways but it is fun to drive and surprisingly agile & does the job well. Most importantly it is incredibly practicle. I have moved everything from double beds to fridge freezers. It's proved amazing for camping & I tow with ease. I've even slept in it a few times! Practicle, Reliable and different.
written by TBirdDen on 16/10/2009
Please read for very important tip! I have recently bought a Romahome built on the C15 and am very pleased with it, as it is small enough to use all year round. Whist reading up on them I read that they are prone to rusting, especially the front bulk head. Having spent all my life in the car body repair business, I decided to look into this. I found that rain water which enters through the air intake grill just in front of the windscreen where the wiper are fitted is meant to drain out through a drain pipe fitted behind the jack mounting plate in the engine compartment. If this drain pipe gets blocked it will hold a few gallons of water which when it gets to a certain level eventually finds its way out by travelling down the inside of the door pillows into the sills and hopefully out onto the road. This water causes corrosion from the inside out and also whilst this pond of water is inside the vehicle evaporates into the entire roof crevasse causing yet more corrosion. But don't dispair, it is easily rectified.
Remove the jack from the rear of the engine compartment, and then remove it mounting plate (black elliptical plate) (When I did gallons of water came gushing out). In the centre of the recess toward the front but behind the lip is the drain hole, poke a piece of wire down the drain hole to make sure it is free Just below this on the outside of the bulk head is a rubber pipe fitted to the other end of the drain hole. Remove the rubber pipe and make sure it is unblocked. A final check should be to pour a jug of water onto the air vent by the wiper and watch the water run freely out of the tube onto the road.
Written on: 28/03/2010
I found this review very helpful because...i am going to buy one of these for my courier work and expect to keep it some while so thank you very much for your help.
Written on: 14/05/2016
Thank you very much for the tip! I´ve actually got water leaking into the back of the van and can´t find the source, but I´ll follow your tip as well to prevent problems up front.
cheers,
Stefan (owner in Austria)
Written on: 30/04/2011
this was a very helpful review as i have just purchaced a 2002 c15 the only problem is it has already rusted in the areas described i hope its not too late to stop this coroding anymore and i am currently thinking of the best way to fill in all the rust holes etc
Written on: 13/03/2011
I found this review very helpful because I have just bought a 1994 C15 Romahome and have wondered why so many were rusted in the area described. I found this review months ago whilst still searching for a van, it gave me confidence, I just hope I can do the practical stuff and although I cant see any rust in this area yet I want to keep it that way. Thanks
Written on: 23/01/2011
Checked out my c15 for the problem you outlined as I had been getting some water in the footwells, and found it had the exact problem as you found with the blocked drain-hole... really glad you took the time to leave the really useful comment...Thanks very much...Paul
Written on: 14/04/2010
I found this review very helpful because I am in process of buying one. It is great when others take the time to submit helpful hints.
<br/>Thank you
written by leylandtrucker1 on 12/07/2009
ive had my Citroen C15 Champ 9 months its done 190,000 miles . 7,000 by me mega reliable 50+ mpg . i do 50 mile round trip every day and kick its arse all the way there and back without any bother
if i can offer bit of advice re rear brakes if yours fails on rear brakes adjust new shoes up till its difficult to get drums on , then run it just long enough that they dont bind too bad . ive had couple of these and had same beef with them
written by on 28/05/2009
I have owned 2 c15 vans my latest has done 101.561 miles on P reg been everywhere Germany Holland France Belgium must have van !! runs on anything from cooking oil to bio-diesel and some funny red coloured stuff ;-) 55 mpg all day long
written by APR on 24/08/2008
It's a good van for the money. Cheap to buy, and had few problems with it other than having to change stoplight bulbs frequently. I've had mine 8yrs and done 98,000 miles at around 45mpg. It's a basic vehicle, but as a workhorse I've been more than pleased with it. I find it comfortable enough and pretty nippy about town. I can also get into parking spaces bigger vans can't. For what you pay for a new C15, you could pay the same for a three year old Escort with 60,000 miles on the clock. Hasn't got much street cred, but who cares?
written by ancientvanman on 02/08/2008
I've had the Citroen C15 Champ van for just over 4 years but have only done about 14000 miles in my job as a decorator. I've lined it out and added soundproofing so it's pretty quiet to drive. The gearbox is fairly 'agricultural' and you're not likely to be first off the lights but the vehicle has good mid-range acceleration and will happily cruise. I broke the flimsy indicator switch within weeks and, being a Citroen, the radiator packed up just out of warranty (they all do) but no other faults so far. The Blauplunk radio is rubbish to use but sounds okay. The low-speed (non-power) steering is very heavy, and I don't think this is just by comparison with my car. Apart from that don't miss all the other 'power' things that ordinary vehicles have at all, but then I started driving on a 1926 Sunbeam Talbot. However, my biggest gripe is with the driving position. No matter how I try, I can't get comfortable, and the pain in my driving leg is sometimes excruciating. I couldn't afford to get rid of it until now but although it has been a good workhorse in other respects, it's GOTTA GO! Sorry, Citroen.
written by Malcolm B on 16/01/2008
I've had my C15 for about 3 months, to use basically as a private vehicle, and expect to cover 20 - 25000 miles a year. At the time of writing it has approximately 85000 on the clock. The above comments not withstanding I would not put anyone off buying a good secondhand model. Mine belonged to a multi-drop delivery company, and then by a guy who used it to transport a strimmer, so it hasn't been used in a harsh environment. Some of the newer ones have power steering but I wouldn't let the lack of it put anyone off. All in all, I'm once again, very impressed with my Citroen
written by Travatain on 23/09/2006
I bought this Citroen C15 Champ 1.9D 765D van mainly for the cheap price of about five grand and the reliable diesel engine. It has been reliable except for a problem with the fuel injection system which happened when just out of warranty and cost me £600 to repair, plus 2 weeks off the road, so not happy about that from a van carefully driven by myself, and under 10,000 miles from new. Apart from that problem, it has proved to be a bargain for the money, and easy to use as a trade vehicle. The surface rust is a bit annoying, and apparently not covered by the anti-rust warranty! I use it mainly in town but it drives OK on the motorway if you don't try to rush things. Suspension is great but don't overload it or you will get problems. In all, quite a decent small van for the money.
written by Andy Maddams on 30/05/2006
I bought this Citroen C15 Champ van to replace a dying petrol Ford Escort. It is in red (the only colour option available in my view!) and has been ply lined. I ordered it with mud flaps but the rears are no longer available and the fronts are a little insignificant. The engine starts easily and runs relatively quietly for a diesel. It pulls well and if not rushed is very economical. 55mpg is the best so far with only 3500 on the clock. This should get better still as the mileage builds up. The ride is pretty good thanks to the long wheelbase and despite being a leggy 6'' 4', it is more comfortable to sit in than a lot of bigger vehicles. I have carried all sorts of stuff in it including large plasterboard sheets and 4m lengths of guttering and down pipes. I really bought a van to be a useful all round hack and to provide transport for my working collie to various parts of East Anglia. The high ground clearance helps when driving across fields and there seems to be a fair amount of traction at the front even on the road tyres. I may fit M+S tyres in the future if I feel the need. My wife is so impressed that she has sold her very under used car and is sharing the C15 with me. I am looking to keep this van for a minimum of ten years with fairly light use, anything over that will be a bonus. I can only conclude that this seems to be an ideal vehicle for those who cannot, or do not wish to spend much money on a new van but don't want to go second hand. It is simple and practical which is just what people need. I suspect that it is very soon to be discontinued in Britain at least as the option list is being reduced slowly and you don't see so many new ones around now. Why anyone would pay several thousands more for a working van of a more modern or 'stylish' type beats me. Get out there and buy a C15 while you can!
written by evdama on 27/04/2005
I bought a Citroen C15 Champ 1.9D 765D van as a cheap replacement for a car the last being a 2001 Astra hatch.
From a main dealer with full 3yr warranty (6yrs antirust) and a colour choice (red silver or white) it was £6500
You can get them for just under 6K online but they wll be white or white with a 1yr warranty. No thanks.If youre VAT registered then its 17.5% cheaper still.
I wanted a vehicle with good ground clearance because our lane floods frequently. There's around 8" under the sump and around 10 under the sills which is excellent for a non 4x4.
The van is based on the old Visa and has been in production, virtually unchanged for 20 years so all problems have been ironed out.
The flipside is of course the driver is effectivly given a 25 yr old car design which is not up to modern desires. That said it all works well and if you wanted luxury you wouldnt have bought this vehicle.
The 600 has no power steering and despite the skinny 155 section tyres it is VERY heavy at low speed. If you dont have wrists like a gorilla then you soon will do. The 765 version has this luxury (or complication, if you like) and I would recommend it if your use will involve lots of town work or frequent stops / manouvering. You would also get higher weight capacity
Theres a Blaupunkt Dublin radio casette. Only two of its four speaker channels are occupied and the speakers are ok but I replaced them with some sony units and put another set in the bulkhead I built behind the seats.
My structure replaces the half-hight steel unit supplied and blocks out the noise from the back of the vehicle.It also enhances the heater output.I now have Full Roast option!
The 1.9 diesel is superb and is used on many of the Peugot group vehicles. All you can hear at speed is a quiet percussion which I actually find qiute soothing. Whilst getting used to the gearbox I took off from stanstill in 3rd a couple of times. There is plenty of grunt there! The vehicle seems to encourage relaxed driving and returns 55mpg when treated gently. Tank range is 400-500 miles.
Accesories I have fitted are a blaupunkt auto changer (plug in) and an alarm /immobiliser.
As I said I built a timber bulkhead and I've lined the load compartment floor with 12mm T+G.
I fitted some rally spats to replace the front mudflaps as they were pathetically inadequate. Rear mudflaps also fitted - the aesthetics improved.
The vehicle is so basic it makes any work quick and simple to perform.
The load compartment will take a metre cube easily. My bulkhead is 500 mm back from the seats (to allow some domestic load capacity) and still there is plenty of room. The rear door stays can be unclipped to allow them to open 180degrees if needed. There are four anchor points on the floor.
The nearside door sticks and needs adjusting as does the passenger door. Not acceptable on a new vehicle.
I had a set of 165 van tires collecting dust in the garage so I thought about getting a pair of spare wheels for them and keep the original Michelins for later.
1- citroen wanted 40 quid each for the wheels.
2-there is very little clearance to the rear suspesion arm even with the 155's fitted.
3 They would go OK on the front but the steering is already too heavy.
Conclusion -stick with the original size despite how silly it looks.
Choose this van if you are either broke or want to be different (or both ,like me!)
Written on: 08/04/2006
Hi. I live in Jersey in the Channel Islands, and I have used these vans since 1985. They are bullet proof, reliable, DIY friendly and very economical. They are quirky, French and you have to want to buy them only for their old-fashioned reliability and practicality. Be assured of total anonymity, as nobody gives them a glance. Great! I recommend them to all of you who want practical, affordable non-poser motoring. I am about to buy another new one, as my current one, a 1995 is falling apart with the ravages of a marine environment here in Jersey. The cabin doors are rotten, the back doors are rotten, the bulkhead between the engine and cab is crumbling beacuse of the awful horizontal joint across it, and the underbody is corroded. Jersey is a vicious corrosive environment.
However the engine is as sweet as a nut, and in 11 years this gallant white Frenchy has only done 55000 miles with oil changes every six months. Anyone want a sweet engine and box.
Sean
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Devlinski's Response to Rosschristopherwenlock's Review
Written on: 17/10/2013
Good to hear mate! mine, likewise...