Citroën Xsara Picasso (2000 - 2010) 1.6 HDi LX (92bhp) 5d Owner Review

1.6 HDi LX (92bhp) 5d
Citroen Xsara Picasso

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In their own words

Yes it drives and corners like a wobbly whale, there is no feel of the road through the steering, braking needs to be planned in advance and to be fair ..... if Picasso designed it, he was wearing Steve Wonders sunnys at the time. That said, it has massive load carrying capacity (anything from chopped down trees (yes small ones!!) bushes and all the junk you need to take to the tip, to fridges freezers double beds (yes the ones you split into two!! It's not a tardis !!!) and three (tall!!) people can sit in the back with ease. Leg room all round is really good. It's cheap!! Cheap to run, cheap to maintain and to be fair, with its looks .... ain't no one gonna steal this push me pull you butt ugly car!! Storage space is good with two cubby holes in the rear foot wells and a good glove box, central dash Drawer under the ashtray and good sized door pockets too. I laugh (maybe a little too Dr Evil like!!) at speed bumps as you can take them fairly quickly. It has a comfortable smooth ride (like I said except on sharpish corners when you do need to calm it right down) but as a family car it's a good little work horse ! Sure there are much better cars to drive but this is a cheap big little car that will do the main thing for you.... get you from A to B. Thats what was important to me when I bought it and still is. In hindsight I would have gone with the 2litre turbo diesel as that's a much stronger engine (the 1.6 diesel (Peugeots with the same engine have this too) the turbo is too small for the engine...... hence my problem.) Oh and the tyre iron is located in the lid of one of the rear cubbie footwell storage pockets!! Took me ages to find it!! Now the Citroen xsara Picasso is cheap (again like I said) so if you need a car that can be used to transport ur family or as a cheap van that's quite easy to access and work on (you can pull the dash apart quite easily if the LEDs go on the dash!) its an ok car to buy. U will probably be like me ... a tad shy of wealthy and just need a car that can do more or less everything I've said.... then this car is it.

How reliable do you find the car?

Turbo went and £1000 to sort! Nasty didn't like that one! Heater/cooler fan packed up ... then fixed .... then packed up... now fixed...... hopefully!!:/

Does the car do everything you expected it to do?

This car isn't great on the road handles like a plate of jelly (it is a Citroen !!!) however motorways are fine and comfortable seats do help.... just don't corner to quickly or you could end up in the passengers seat!!
  • How they rated it

  • Reliability: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • Meets Expectations: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • George McPherson recommends this car

About their car

  • Fuel type Diesel
  • When purchased January 2010
  • Condition when bought Used
  • Current Mileage 115,000 miles
  • Average MPG 45 mpg