written by andycrap on 30/09/2011
cambelt broke at 66,000 miles cost of repair around £3,000 two garages refused to replace belts as job was too time consuming. In the end I had to replace whole engine as special injector pullers are required. My 10 year old Rover with perkins diesel still goes like a dream. I will never ever buy French again.
written by mariannewarholm on 21/07/2011
I bought this car as a family car in 2006. Since then it has been at the garage for 6 months total. New (automatic) gearbox at 156 000 km. Particulate filter every 500 km - the car almost lose all power and getting back suddenly for 20 km. "Nice" in the winter... Sliding doors doesn't always work - and my three year old girl almost broke her leg because the door didn't stop (child safety only works *after* the engine starts) Electric windows doesn't always work. Rear sensors changed several times. Lost engine power in general. All eletric wiring replaced. Air mass sensor made the car stop at the road - replaced. Engine leeking oil. Several parts in suspension changed. +++ All together: don't buy Citroen...
Written on: 03/02/2013
We bought our C8 about 3yrs ago and was happy with it except it had just had a new exhaust fitted and rattled especially when full of people. After about 8mths it started to loose power as if the Turbo wasn't working. Particulate filter taken off cleaned drilled and eventually replaced only to find the ECU was playing up and needed several adjustments. Try again and again and again before it was Super Chipped and all appeared ok for 6mths then the Unblock Fuel Filter Light kept coming on and off? Several filters fitted and no different? All injecters out and serviced and ok but engine management light keeps coming on and loosing power? Again all electric's checked and New battery fitted. Ok again for a few months but using a lot of fuel. More electric checks reveil that the Fuel cap censor was not working and as such No Addative was being injected into the system. Upon checking the censor it was found that it had been removed and the particulate filter was blocking up again so removed cleaned and power washed with good positive results :) Now engine runs better but some times during normal driving it appears that the engine is suffering from fuel starvation and the engine stutters for power but if clutch is depressed the engine will idle ok and if you accelerate it picks up ok but if traffic flow prevents acceleration you have to keep slipping the clutch. If the engine is turned off for a wile it starts as normal and will drive as normal for a short while before starting to stutter again. The second heater was also isolated about a year ago after fumes were found to be entering the car interior. We have now spent upward's of £2000 and keep feeling we have won the battle only to find not:( any ideas please:)
written by lou chaps on 26/10/2010
Since having the C8 it has been sat on the drive for two months unable to tart due to Engine immobiliser fault whch could cost £1000 - £3000 as they are unable to pin pont the fault. Befrore this had a particulate filter issue £900 and the electrics on the doors have a mind of their own. Now the good points easy to get the kids out with the sliding doors when it works and the space for a pram and shopping.
Would i buy another? Never in a million years
Would i reccommend a citroen? Not ever
written by karen3boys1girl on 06/06/2010
I am yet another victim, with a snapped timing belt, my car had done 72,000 miles, I had owned it just 12 weeks, even had a warranty (useless) Dealership accepted no reponsibility, legal action out of the question due to solicitors fee's. Car has been broken 14 weeks now, due back tommorow after a garage in edinburgh (im near middlesbrough) repaired it for £1720, another garage before this one caused a lot of damage trying to get the injectors out.
Awful, awful experience we paid £6000 for the car and our choices were to scrap it (offered £400) or pay the repair bill, very sad that Citroen are not admitting responsibility. Karen
written by on 08/09/2009
Our C8 packed in at the weekend. Currently in garage and we've been told bill to fix it could be between £1000 and £6000 depending on exactly what they have to do to it. Problem seems much the same as everyone else is talking about. What I want to know is; has anyone managed to get Citroen to pay up? Has anyone had any joy taking the issue to BBC Watchdog? Your comments/advice will be gratefully received.
Before I made this purchase I would like to have known that Citroen C8's clearly have a major design fault.
written by Rattyrodent on 17/09/2008
Owned car from new, May 04. First major problem was electrical drain. Main dealer had car for total of about four weeks, changed battery, alternator and apparently checked entire wiring loom but couldn't find fault. Eventually (just after warranty) independent electrician found faulty radio in about 5 minutes. Next catalytic converter broke down and destroyed particle filter, managed to get this done under warranty. Now, 59,000 mls and timing belt broke in France, will cost circa £3,000. Have asked Citroen for comment but no response yet.
You can break the injectors out and replace them at £250 a time.
Never, never, nver buy a Citroen!
written by C8 Sad on 02/09/2008
I have a Citroen C8 2003 (mar) 2.0 5dr HDi SX and my timing belt broke 3 weeks ago. The garage I bought it from seems unwilling to accept any responsibility. It has only done c57k miles and is just over 5 years old and I still owe thousands on the loan. The garage can ' t fix/repair the cylinder head as 2 injectors are stuck in it so we are looking at either a new cylinder head or new engine. It ' s not recommended to replace just the cylinder head so I'm facing the prospect of a complete new engine. The repair bill will be approx £7000 to fit a new exchange engine from Citroen. I wouldn ' t buy another Citroen nor recommend them to anyone. I have had nothing but trouble with it. I would be keen to hear from others that have had issues with the C8 timing belt. And the fact that there may be a manufacturers issue with this part! Post any comments you have about your C8 timing belt issues and perhaps we can take it from there once we know numbers. Also any issues with the C5 as they have the same 2.0 HDi SX engines in them. As do the Peugeot 806's! I only found out today that Peugeot and Citroen are owned by the same people! I have also gone through 2 sets of types in 2 years - and only discovered via these sites that it ' s an issue with the 15 tyres and that the type wear is less with 16 tyres - wish I'd known that before forking out about £400 for new tyres over the years. Also found it very poor on MPG and only getting about 30/32 mpg.
Written on: 17/09/2008
I found this review helpful because I have suffered exactly the same experience with citroen.
Written on: 17/02/2011
Cambelt snapped at 45k. Citroen REALLY unwilling to fork out for the repair local Citroen dealer wants to strip down engine to take pictures and determine if moisture has caused belt to snap prematurely - if so no pay!! If moisture has got in there surely this is a design fault?? Seems like going to be without car for sometime
Written on: 22/09/2009
I found this review very helpful because...I had not realised this was a general problem. My C8 broke down on Friday 18th Sept 2009 and have been told worst case scenario it will cost £5,000 to repair as the CAm belt has broken and it needs a whole new engine.
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<br/>The citroen dealer is trying to get some funding from Citroen as we do not have this money as my husband was made redundant last month. However as I had it serviced last year at a non-citroen dealer they are not holding their breath. The car is 5 years old and has done 70,000 miles. It is our main family car and to be honest we have not had many problems with it
Written on: 28/07/2009
Last Monday the water pump siezed on my 2004 C8 2.0 HDI. currently the bill stands at £900 but I recieved a call today from the garage saying they couldn't remove the 4 injectors the only option is to rip them out at £250 an injector. Car has done 61k with a full dealer service history. Its been a great car but in the last 6 months its starting to cost me some cash. Wonder whether just to cut my loses.
Written on: 25/05/2009
Hi C8 Sadder. I fully sympathise with you and sorry you've had so many troubles and having to fork out so much money too. I havent actually been back on here to update how my saga ended. The final repair bill was £4995.11 which I couldnt afford to pay. To get around this, the garage agreed to buy my C8 for £3500 which left me £1500 to pay. I took out finance for the £1500 and an 04 Picasso so I had a car to get around in. I have 2 car loans to pay now and will have for the next 3 years. lets just say I have a very different financial situation now to which I did before I was unfortunate enough to encounter a Citreon car. The whole sorry experience has left me out of pocket for more than £10,000. I took out a £4000 loan, put £4000 of my own money to it, paying the £1500 for the left over repair bill and paid £350 to get the injectors out the cylindar head (the garage said they couldnt do it and told me to go to a specialist). In fact it will be more than £10k after I pay the interest on the loans. Needless to say, I am not a happy bunny. Citroen have still not accepted any responsibility or liability. It truly has had a life changing impact on me and my family as I just dont have the cash now to do the things that we used to do. You are right about the drip tray or scuttle panel as I was told the same - I just havent been able to get hold of any evidence. Thank you for posting a reply here cause it gave me the incentive to start back on my crusade ! I do hope you have better luck with the VW and wish you happy and trouble/cost free (except for the expected costs) motoring.
Written on: 24/04/2009
C8 sad sorry to hear your troubles, Unfortunatly I have had exactly the same problems with this same model and year, 29000mls Diesel Particulate filter replaced( 500 quid), the cam belt snapped at 31000 miles citroen not prepared to do anything about it. Had the car checked by an independant garage the belt had snapped fairly clean a common problem on HDi is the water pump momentarily siezing however the 4 injectors had bi-metallically corroded into the cam cover, they had to be ground out to get the cam cover and head off and the head sent away for the rest of the injectors to get drilled out by a head specialist ,obviously new injectors fitted ( £1000) plus new rockers, waterpump and all the rest of the gubbins, final bill £2500- ouch. I have read on another website also that there is a Drip tray fitted on later engines to mitigate the problem of the injectors corroding. Oh The woes do not stop there though, Turbo oil seal blew last week at 36000 mls re con turbo fitted another 500 quid, reason for failure un known, Plus I have the problem with Chrome peeling off all over the door handles. Annoying thing is this car has been cherished and serviced well before the recommended miles. We are having to cut our losses and are going to trade it in for a VW Touran. The C8 is a good practical car, pity the bits that make it move are totally useless.
Written on: 19/10/2008
Now the 19th October and my car is still in the garage. Last update from them was that they have rebuilt the engine twice and both times it had started, run for 5 minutes and then just stopped. They are willing to attempt a 3rd rebuild but after that, if its not fixed then they want me to go in and tow it to the scrap yard cause they cant afford to spend anymore time on it. So my less than fairytale ending to this sage... tow my car to scrap and still pay Citroens thousands of pounds for my car having a 10 weeks stay in their garage! Whooppee. as you can imagine I'm over the moon! However, its been suggested that there is a possible design fault in the 2003-2005 models as water from the windshield drops into the engine cavity and straight onto the cambelt - possibly causing it to prematurely corrode. I'm trying to track evidence of this down. I have also submitted a Vehicle Safety Defect Report to VOSA, written to Watchdog at the BBC and written to Raw Deal at the Sunday Post. I'm still furious that Citroen will not help me with this mess and their rotten car. If the garage can't fix my car the outcome is... £8000 finance on the car, circa £3500 (still to be confirmed) to pay the local garage for labour costs (although they didn't fix the car) and tow my car to the scrap yard. As you can imagine, Citroen don't rate highly with me.
Written on: 14/10/2008
You have my sympathy. I bought an early C8 2.0HDi as an ex-demonstrator from a Citroen dealer in 2003. We always found it extremely comfortable and practical, but increasingly costly and unreliable. The car had a big appetite for tyres, front headlight bulbs and diesel, consistently returning only 32mpg. The door handle 'chrome' peeled off and started rusting and one of the electric sunroofs stopped working. The reversing sensors failed twice. Then the serious problems started. The turbo charger failed at just over 52k miles. Although the car was a year out of warranty, I had hoped (and my dealer was supportive) that Citroen UK would be sympathetic about a customer facing a £1,200 bill on a four year old car with full main dealer service history and average mileage, but no. The final straw was a failed particulate filter at 65k miles as we left to go on holiday this summer. We were left with a £700 bill and two days lost from our holiday. At this point we decided to cut our losses and traded it in for a Honda FRV. Needless to say we won't be going near a Citroen dealer for a very long time.
Written on: 05/10/2008
My cambelt broke on the 11th August and this is now the 5th October and I am still without my car. The service manager at my local Citroen garage has been excellent in trying to get my engine fixed and we have not managed to find a company that got the siezed injectors out of the cylindar head. Hoping to have my car back this week but I will still be about £3500 out of pocket. It doesnt end here though cause I fully intend to fight the parent Citroen company about this and try and get some money back. Its been a long and extremely painful process that has caused me massive amounts of stress, inconvenience and money. As soon as the car is fixed it is getting sold and I will never touch another Citroen!
Written on: 17/09/2008
A further thought, similar thing has just happened to my 2.2HDi. Non-Citroen garage are repairing it, should be about £2,500. It is possible to smash out the injectors and replace them at around £250 each. I have aksed Citroen what they are going to do about this but no response yet. I will keep fighting.
written by rbmccunn on 01/04/2008
I have owned my Citroen C8 for one year and nine months now. My wife loved the car despite the 'niggles' until the latest big problem occurred. I got it from my main dealer as an approved used Citroen with 30000 miles on when it was just two and a half years old. Now 25000 miles later it has suffered catastrophic engine damage due to a failed timing belt. Due to the car being out of warranty now Citroen wont contribute to the repair cost despite the fact that nothing in the engine that the dealer can find has caused the belt to fail. As a result I am left with a car I still owe 10,000 on that does not work and I cant afford to fix. If you are looking at buying one of these cars please read all the reviews written by people who have actually owned one, not just had a shot in one, and chose carefully! Citroen, get your customer after sales sorted out!
Written on: 01/09/2008
I also own a C8 2003 (mar) 2.0 5dr HDi SX and my timing belt broke 3 weeks ago. Neither the garage I bought it from nor Citroen seem willing to accept any responsibility. It has only done c57k miles and is 5 years old and I still owe thousands on the loan. They cant fix/repair the cylindar head as 2 injectors are stuck in it so we are looking at either a new cylindar head or new engine. Its not recommended to replace just the cylindar head so I'm facing the prospect of a complete new engine. The repair bill will be approx £7000 to fit a new exchange engine from Citroen. I wouldnt buy another Citroen nor recommend them to anyone. Generally a nice car to drive and travel in but I have had nothing but trouble with it. I would be keen to hear from others that have had issues with the C8 timing belt - perhaps as a 'group' we could get Citroen to sit up and take notice of their customers !and the fact that there may be an manufacturers issue with this part!
Written on: 27/09/2009
I found this review very helpful because my citroen c8 has just snapped its timing belt and can clearly see now, that there is an obvious issue with the design of these by citroen. Citroen recommend that the belts only need replacing every 100,000 miles. ours has done 75,000 and has snapped. in the past we have had a new alternator, new fuel pump, new particle filter - luckily this one was under warranty!!!
<br/>we have owned this car for just 2 years and have had nothing but problems with it constantly. advise never ever buy a citroen c8. they are complete rubbish!!!
written by asreview on 14/11/2005
I have had my Citroen C8 SX 2.0 HDi for 11 months now, and I have had rust on engine components, rust on rear door hinges, rear electric doors open and close on their own, lots of creaks and rattles. The front passenger seat vibrates at 70mph, so much so that the tray behind it can't be used without all the objects placed onto it falling off!! I have also had 3 noisy window motors replaced. 2 Climate control noisy fans replaced. 2 rear door sensors replaced. 2 rear door rails replaced due to flaky paint, which is a known issue with no fix, except t keep replacing rails until your warranty expires! Oil level sensor replaced - still faulty. Rear door pinch sensors faulty. Random strange noises when unlocking the car. Poor fuel economy - Citroen state that 20 - 30 mpg average is acceptable!! The brochure states an average of 40mpg.
This car is very poorly put together. The fuel economy is terrible, and I've had better economy on a BMW V8!! I've just got rid of it after my 4 year old sons foot got caught by the rear electric door (pinch sensor didn't work), luckily he had strong shoes on. The dealer keeps saying there is nothing wrong with the doors, but when I asked him to put his arm in to test it he wouldn't!! In the 11 months I have owned this car it has spent 6 weeks in the garage!!
Written on: 01/04/2008
I agree with this review because... My C8 experience has not been very good either, had most of the problems listed but the icing on the cake is that my timing belt has failed 45000 miles before it's due to be replaced and because it's out of warranty Citroen wont contribute to the cost of the repair. I have never experienced worse after sales support from a car manufacturer or a more unreliable car than my Citroen C8!
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Tezamcdonald's Response to andycrap's Review
Written on: 11/11/2012
iv had to do the same and i also will not buy citroen again and i whent the citroen center in liverpool to ask advice of where 4 pipes whent (breather and vacumme)pipe and they would not give me a diagram or a picture to see where they go to verry helpfull customer care i think not so never buy citroen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!