General 10,000 Trouble-Free Miles

[Doofer]

I've just completed 10,000 miles over the last 8 months during which time our car hasn't needed any mechanical attention at all - we've literally just put diesel in and driven it. OK, I've pumped the tyres up once and washed it twice.

This is the first time this has happened since 2008.









Oh, I part-exed the Croma for a Citroen Berlingo 8 months ago - that may be a factor!

Hope you're all keeping well. There is light at the end of the tunnel, just past the dealer that takes part-exes.

I miss the support group here though. Motoring can get a bit boring when nothing goes wrong.

 

[buster]

God was it that bad for you,i must be one of the lucky ones were i havent had virtually anything go wrong, touch wood.Mines on the back of my trailer tonlght going to Gus,s tomorrow to have a remap after we swapped the kkk for a garrett gtb2056v turbo last week.Ive still not found anything that appeals to me to replace it with so i.ll keep chucking money at it.Bet you miss the driving experiance though? lol

 

[evo-number-one]

Hi Doofer,

Hope you are well. I'm only a few hundred miles into my new (to me) car, but already NOT missing the Croma as the &@$!@[* alternator died a few days before collecting the newbie - the repair of which negated a big big chunk of my agreed PX value

Glad you're enjoying the Berlingo - and wish you many more trouble free miles.

Have to agree about the site here - great community and still find myself checking the forum once a day old habits and all that!

 

[tarquin1867]

Hello all --- it must be catching! The Korando is great and the better half is thinking about changing the caravan now we can pull 2 Tonne !!!
Must admit to missing you guys on here and my Independant is counting the days until 2017 when he can start servicing it ( its got another service at dealer next january).
Still look on here most days so as you say --old habits.

 

[Doofer]

I got £1300 part ex for mine, and that was with a waggling driveshaft, a leaking intercooler (or pipe somewhere), and four only just legal tyres. Luckily it scraped through an MOT just before the px date.

This is the new beast...

http://www.berlingoforum.co.uk/thread-11148.html

I still enjoy driving this thing every time I get in it. It's our first ever auto, and I don't want to drive a manual ever again. I'm getting a real 55mpg on long-ish journeys, 50mpg locally. In a big tall lump shaped like a brick!

This is our car and a delivery van for the business. Regardless of the Croma's faults, I had grown out of it for carrying ability anyway. The Berlingo can carry around double what the Croma can, despite being a foot shorter. The back seats fold, flip or remove completely and it's just a square box once they're out.

 

[gazskeltz]

Hi,


Just thought I'd join in as the only contributor to this thread who still has a Croma!


Looks nice Doofer, although I can't look at the pictures fully as I'm not a member on the Berlingo Forum (and don't really feel the need to join yet...)


Gaz

 

[Doofer]

Sorry, I forgot about the login thing. Here you go...





















It's not bad for a van with chairs in!

 

[BrianMcL]

Hi Doofer, how're things?

I trust the Berlingo's egr's blanked off already?

 

[Doofer]

No - I don't know how to lift the bonnet up!

I'm leaving it well alone - there doesn't actually seem to be any major recurring issues with these things. My thinking is that if you buy something based on a delivery van that's been on sale for a few years then it should be pretty reliable. Royal Mail and others run vast fleets of these (well, the same thing badged as a Peugeot Partner), and they wouldn't put up with any of the nonsense you get with some cars.

 

[gazskeltz]

Have you got used to putting the ignition key in the 'proper' place again?

 

[Doofer]

Yes, but I think the key was one good feature about the Croma - except that they nicked it from Saab!

 

[evo-number-one]

Keyless ignition on my Croma replacement.

Seems weird leaving the keys in my pocket or putting them in the cup holder but at least in the latter they are in roughly the same position as in the Croma

Still not missing her :devil:

 

[Doofer]

Apologies in advance to the fans, but I'm not missing my old Croma one bit either.

I should add that we had no intention of buying new - the plan was to test-drive a new one then buy used. But with Citroens you can pretty much ignore the list price - ours was a good chunk over £19k with the options and black paint, but it was £15k minus the generous PX. That made my mind up.

For anyone who hasn't kept up with the way car prices are going up, that's about the same price as a mid-range Fiesta.

It's a van with windows, so I was expecting some rough edges to it - it was bought to be a dual-purpose delivery van and car. But it's actually extremely civilised.

We even got a part-refund from the insurer for changing from the Croma to this - despite it being worth 10x the value.

Oh, and road tax is £30 per year.

I'd recommend it to anyone who values their Croma for load-lugging or towing - or even just the high-up seating and space around you. Sod being cool and all that.

 

[cjlar]

Yeah, I sort of (ish) miss it.
I really like my Xf though. I don't recall turning back to look at the Croma!
However it lives on with my son. He finds it ideal for segregating dogs and kiddy stuff.
A failure to start was solved by replacing the crankshaft sensor.
Xf is much smaller (but much nicer) inside.