Citroen tackles C4 Picasso suspension issues

3 Jul, 2014 4:25pm Chris Ebbs

Customers complained to BBC Watchdog of poor ride after gas escapes from air suspension system on rear wheels

Citroen has agreed to cover 80 per cent of repair costs to air suspension systems on the previous generation Citroen C4 Picasso, after the problem was highlighted by a number of owners.

The BBC’s Watchdog programme reported that numerous owners had complained of the ride suddenly becoming bumpy on their previous generation C4 Picassos specified with air suspension. When they then told Citroen, most owners were told that it was wear and tear and they would have to cover the costs.

The problem occurred due to the housing for the air suspension being made of rubber and degrading over time. This caused air that is encased in it to escape.

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Citroen told the Watchdog programme: “It is important to note that the air springs on selected versions of previous generation C4 Picasso models are wear parts. Like all moving components in any suspension system on any car, they are subject to natural wear and tear. As a result, the rate at which they degrade will vary based on the age of the individual vehicle, mileage and conditions of use.”

However, following the complaints highlighted by the programme, the manufacturer agreed that it would cover the majority of repair costs for any cars up to 10 years old and 120,000 miles from the date of registration.

The company also stated that the fault would be detected automatically with a warning light appearing on the instrument panel, and that if a driver sees this, they should take the car to an authorised Citroen repairer.

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Citroen has also assured owners of the latest C4 Picasso model, launched in 2013, that it is built on a completely new platform designed exclusively with steel spring suspension and isn’t affected by the issue.

Finally, customers who have already had work carried out or who require further information are asked to call the Citroen Contact Centre on 0800 3288 141 or to email cuk_contactcentre@citroen.com.

Have you been affected by the Citroen C4 Picasso suspension issue? Let us know in the comments section below...

Disqus - noscript

Submitted by jim on Thu, 2014-07-03 20:17.

this would never happen with toyota, lexus or honda.
they stand by their products

Submitted by Steve Omaha on Fri, 2014-07-04 10:43.

I hope that by your statement, you are not standing by the unfair assessment of the issue at hand. When you purchase steel sprung cars, you have once in a while to replace the bushes, springs, and shock absorbers, joints etc. The equivalent of the spring & shocks assembly in the hydropneumatic suspension are the spheres which WILL definitely wear over time depending on usage and is thus a wear part as stated in the article. Is it fair for consumer watch groups to pressure Toyota/Honda to agree to replace the spring/shocks assy at their own costs for their customers? Would they agree?

You know the answer.

Submitted by FeelGood on Fri, 2014-07-04 14:15.

The answer is that Citroen have agreed to pay most of the costs. Because it does depend on what we expect from a modern car. I would never expect a spring/shock/damper failure at less that 100,000 miles for normal driving, even on our poor road surfaces. Many of the C4 Picasso faults are starting between 30,000 and 40,000 miles, which is not up to what I would expect from a modern car. Had the Picassos been 100,000+ milers I doubt anyone would have had anything to say on the matter.

Common wear and tear failure of suspension at 30K miles is really not good enough.

Submitted by wayne kerr on Fri, 2014-07-04 23:30.

Women; know your motors!
The only current Citroen vehicles with hydropneumatic suspension are certain C5 models and C6.
Airbags are notoriously unreliable not only on Citroens but BMW, Mercedes and Range Rover cars.
Where are the articles criticising the absurd costs and ineffective performance of the rubbish 'upgrades' and 'enhancements' manufacturers invariably lard their offerings with.
The wider motoring press has let-go the nettle 'Car' magazine grasped in the late sixties and seventies and has become the sodden rent-boy of the manufacturers. As a cypher of the PR puff, Autoexpress is no exception.

Submitted by Conejito loco on Mon, 2014-07-07 09:11.

Personally, I would expect that local authorities are to blame for putting devices in so many roads that are deliberately designed to damage vehicles travelling at little more than half the speed limit. I cannot get off my street or to my place of work without crossing at least two dozen of these obstacles. Very few of them feel that they are anything but damaging, even though I slow to a crawl to cross them. We're all paying for this as broken springs and other suspension related issues are becoming far more common MOT issues. Still, that's progress. I don't know why Al Kayda bother, we're already living in the stone age.