C4 - DS4 Owners :: Forums :: Citroen C4 Picasso and Grand C4 Picasso (B78) 2013 onward :: Citroen C4 Picasso and Grand C4 Picasso (B78) Road Tests and Model Reports |
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SMEGMYSTER |
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Member No: #51373
Joined: Jun 07 2018Location: Rochester, Kent |
Hi I am new to the forum and need a little advice, pointing in the right direction.... I purchased my 15 plate in July 16 from a Citroen dealer. Within a week of purchase I found the air con not working. The garage was quick to take it back and check. They found a leak through LP valve, replaced the value and re-gassed, all free of charge. Great. I have recently had my 1st MOT and a service which was all fine, and a repair to the clutch which was part of a recall (I wasn't notified of this until I took my car in) 2 weeks later the air con wasn't blowing cold air, I booked the car in at my local garage to have it cleaned and re-gassed/topped-up. They called me after dropping it off to say they couldn't open the bonnet! I called Citroen that did the service and said they were the last to have it open did they know why it wouldn't open. They told me to bring it in same day. I took the car in, but they were unable to open the bonnet and said it would have to be booked in for a day to get it opened. I mentioned that the reason I wanted it opened was because the air con wasn't working. A week later they had the car for 5 hours then called to say they had manged to get it open and on this occasion they wouldn't charge. I took the car back to the other garage for the air con, and was called again this time to say, they couldn't do it as the car required a new expensive gas and Citroen were the only ones who could do it! Called Citroen got in booked in and told it would cost £99 to carry out a service and if it needed gas it would be £2 per gram (car holds 450g I've since found out). Unfortunately 2 days before the appointment my husband had to have emergency eye surgery so I had to cancel the appointment and re-book. The new date was today. After half hour wait I was told 'Found no gas in the system. Explored the reason and found the a/c condenser is corroded and leaking. Requires new condenser. Parts covered by Citroen under goodwill, labour to pay £288' I paid £58 for the privilege of them telling me this information! I have found on this forum site 'Citroen TSB (A1CW010GQ) affecting the C4P/GP (B78) entitled 'The air conditioning is not producing cold air' and is down to corrosion caused by a faulty part' So my questions that I'm hoping can be answered are: What does this mean? When did the TSB get notified? Can anyone tell me where to find the TSB notice? Why should I pay for a known fault on the car? Even if it is only labour. If there wasn't a fault it wouldn't have to be done, so why should I pay? Why hasn't anyone at the Citroen garage mentioned this fault? Sorry for the rambling, but any help would be appreciated before the car goes in next Friday 15th, for the work to be carried out. Many thanks |
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rusky |
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Member No: #27768
Joined: Oct 13 2012Location: Hove |
The TSB seems to be getting on for a couple of years. - Click Here - Have a search on here for A1CW010GQ for more threads. |
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SMEGMYSTER |
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Member No: #51373
Joined: Jun 07 2018Location: Rochester, Kent |
So what does this mean? Does air con checking come under mot? Surely the leaking gas must have been happening when I had the service and mot done, is it ok for a car to be leaking gas? Sorry if this all sounds stupid, but I really don’t want to pay out for a manufacturing fault, even though I’m outside my warranty. Other than reference to A1CW010GQ on this forum is there a Citroen site or other with more detail? |
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jsg1163 |
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Member No: #50650
Joined: Mar 09 2018Location: Birmingham |
It's a tricky one here... generally, if you are outside of the original warranty, most garages would see you as an ATM machine and will ask you to pay. There are only a few handfuls of garages which can treat customers as humans and would do this as goodwill since it is in TSB. If there is a leak in air con gas, the gas would simply leak as soon as the leak happens... It's not like liquid that you can see it leaking for days and days. Also in MOT, they don't really check the air con gas pipe so carefully to inspect any leakage. I suggest take it to an independent garage to get the air con services and re-gas and they should be able to tell you if there is a leak and how much it would cost. Get the parts yourself and save money on dealership labour cost. |
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rusky |
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Member No: #27768
Joined: Oct 13 2012Location: Hove |
Aircon isn't part of the MOT as it doesn't affect the safety & environmental aspects of the car. If it's still in warranty I would expect Citroen to pay for all the work. I would speak to the garage & as in the post I linked to, suggest that a friend/colleague etc. had the same issue & was covered by the TSB. I certainly wouldn't be doing any work on the A/C myself as the refrigerant is highly flammable & the pressure is very high. |
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FrankBullitt |
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Member No: #19238
Joined: Apr 12 2011Location: Cambridgeshire |
Outside of warranty you are entirely in goodwill territory unless it is a safety related recall, which this is not. Whilst it’s not nice to swallow the bill this is at least a decent gesture from Citroën and, importantly, as you are contributing you get full warranty rights on the parts/ labour - if they did it for free and it went wrong again a week late you have no rights. As i would always recommend the Citroën extended warranty is excellent VFM but must be taken before the third birthday. |
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SMEGMYSTER |
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Member No: #51373
Joined: Jun 07 2018Location: Rochester, Kent |
Ok, thanks for all the replies. But, if it is a known issue, does Citroen not have some responsibility in checking it when the car is in their possession? I feel this is really unfair, if I had known that the gas was so expensive from the get go I probably would have looked o purchase another car, and if I was aware of the TSB, I would have been making sure it was checked before the warranty ran out...not very happy... | ||||
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beemanga |
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Member No: #41746
Joined: Aug 18 2015Location: N Ireland |
When I bought my 2014 exclusive+ last year, I found the air con to not be working also. The car was under Citroen extended warranty and I only had got it for a few weeks. Like you, it was the condenser which was at fault. The dealer did sort it out under warranty, which is the way it should be. | ||||
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SMEGMYSTER |
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Member No: #51373
Joined: Jun 07 2018Location: Rochester, Kent |
Does anyone have the link to the actual TSB? I seem to be going round in circles searching online, slowly going grey.... | ||||
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bluehdi |
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Member No: #2617
Joined: Mar 02 2008Location: Essex |
- Click Here - This is also a fairly well known issue in France as well. The condenser suffers from corrosion. I seem to recall my dealer saying to me (before I decided to change my car), that it was likely to suffer from a failure of the air con. They didn't say what, but suggested that before the warranty expired they would sort it out. I took that to mean, my car was in the affected RPO range. The invoice time for this job was over 3 hours, so it is quite a big job. I wonder if you could push back to Citroen for any improvement on the contribution they are offering. Outside of warranty it really is goodwill, despite them knowing about the problem. As has already been suggested, although you'll have to pay out £288, and I absolutely understand that you've got to fork out yourself, the job I think with parts is around £1000. At least you will have a warranty on the work if Citroen do it and of course back to working air con. |
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FrankBullitt |
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Member No: #19238
Joined: Apr 12 2011Location: Cambridgeshire |
SMEGMYSTER wrote ... ...if I had known that the gas was so expensive from the get go I probably would have looked o purchase another car... The refrigerant has changed in all cars due to environmental legislation so you wouldn’tbe better off with any other brand come air con regas time. There is a limit as to what dealers can reasonably check on servicing unless directed, there are multiple bulletins on all sorts of cars, otherwise the service would be 2-3 times longer. As had been suggested, see if you can get a greater contribution. |
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