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In praise of the main dealer
#1
I have owned my Berlingo since October 2010 and it was purchased with a 12 month Citroen (Select) Used Car Warranty.

During that time it has been plagued with an intermittant fault causing the MIL engine management to illuminate. The first time it did it we took it back to Citroen Manchester South (Sale), where we purchased the car from originally, but nothing logged in the ecm. At that stage I was told it could be a "phantom fault"

Over recent weeks the fault has been more and more prominent but equally the light will usually extinguish after 4 or 5 good starts when the engine is warm however this was not the answer to the problem and I wanted it sorted under warranty along with a few other minor issues.

I spoke to staff at Citroen Manchester South and was told that I could go to any dealer in the country for this work but past experience has shown that at the nearest one to me (about 2 miles away) the receptionist and presumably the company do not seem to know what a Select 12 month warranty is. They stated that a £40.00 plus vat charge would be made for no fault found if this happened

Next nearest dealer is about 8 miles away and the premises looks like a commercial vehicle breakers yard so wouldn't touch him with a s*tty stick.

In a further attempt, I rang a dealer about 15 miles south from me. At first he seemed co-operative but again threatened that a £30.00 plus vat charge would be made for no fault found if this happened. (Sound of phone being slammed back in its cradle).

I rang Citroen Manchester South again and told them the tale as above. As luck would have it I spoke to the service manager who was deputising on reception that day.

Without hesitation or prompting from me, a courtsey car was made available and the Berlingo taken for repair on Monday and I collected it yesterday afternoon.

2 pleasant runs up the A34 and back from Manchester and hopefully we are now sorted and very amicably too.

The persistant engine fault turned out to be a bad/corroded connection to the EGR valve and the other repairs were also done free of all charges to myself.

In this life, "You don't ask and you don't get", that is my philosophy and when I went there yesterday there was a new sign out saying that free MOT's were available for the duration of ownership for all cars bought from that dealer.

Slightly tongue in cheek, I asked if that was available retrospectively and after a short delay I was told yes, so I came away with an eligibility certificate for a free MOT as well.

I can only say a big thank you to Citroen Manchester South for performing how they did and for restoring my flagging confidence in main dealers.

Berlingo Multispace 2.0HDI '54 reg Mediterranean Blue
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#2
Sounds like a great result, eventually.
2005 Berlingo Multispace 1.6i Desire (Iron Grey)

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.


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#3
Glad it turned out all good for you andy. Im in the same area as you pretty much but haven't paid a visit to Citroen South Mcr. We have only dealt with Upper Brook St in town (so so) and Citroen Wigan (8/10).
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#4
I find it astonishing that dealers using fault reading equiptment costing thousands fail to pick up some EML codes!

My neighbours EML came on a few weeks ago. A dealer looked at it and said there were no codes there and turned it off. Within 200 yards it came back on. When he got home, I plugged in my £30 reader and it gave a fault code which confirmed the Lamda sensor was broke!!

He took it back and they said oh yes, it is a bust Lamda and said that some of the cheaper readers were better at picking up the codes!!!
Unreal....
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#5
good for you Andy...but apart from your particular dealer it confirms my point on other thread........
Pete
2010 artic silver VTR with EXTRAS.......Confusedunny:
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#6
(11-05-2011, 12:02 PM)tucker Wrote:  I find it astonishing that dealers using fault reading equiptment costing thousands fail to pick up some EML codes!

When he got home, I plugged in my £30 reader and it gave a fault code which confirmed the Lamda sensor was broke!!

He took it back and they said oh yes, it is a bust Lamda and said that some of the cheaper readers were better at picking up the codes!!!
Unreal....

I used to work at a commercial vehicle dealership that was also a main agent for Cummins diesel engines. At that point in time the electronic diesels (Euro 1) were in their infancy. What a nightmare fitters had tracing some of the faults.
A former colleague from that place has taken an interest in handheld code readers and is doing a few jobs for other people, he has quite an armoury of the devices. After working his way through, we found one that talked the 2.0HDI because not all code readers will communicate with all engines. It was he who put me on to what the fault might be so I did go armed with a bit of background info and was not going to be fobbed off.

I am still intent on buying my own code reader and have promised Andre and the readership a full report and evaluation but at the moment have still got a cash flow problem. The device I want is about £70.00 or so and picks up pending codes as well as active ones.

Still singing the praises of Citroen Manchester South even though I have to travel about 40 miles from Stoke on Trent to get there.

Berlingo Multispace 2.0HDI '54 reg Mediterranean Blue
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#7
ok Andy so which unit you going to buy? and can any fool [eg ME] use it? May save me a few bob long term....
cheers
Pete
2010 artic silver VTR with EXTRAS.......Confusedunny:
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#8
It's nice to hear of a main dealer getting it right Smile
Now an ex Berlingo owner, I have a C4
2010 (B9) Berlingo Multispace XTR HDi 112 - Kyanos Blue
Previously - 2002 (M49) Berlingo Multispace 2.0 HDi Diesel - Arctic Steel
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#9
(11-05-2011, 10:47 AM)andy-womble Wrote:  I have owned my Berlingo since October 2010 and it was purchased with a 12 month Citroen (Select) Used Car Warranty.

During that time it has been plagued with an intermittant fault causing the MIL engine management to illuminate. The first time it did it we took it back to Citroen Manchester South (Sale), where we purchased the car from originally, but nothing logged in the ecm. At that stage I was told it could be a "phantom fault"

Over recent weeks the fault has been more and more prominent but equally the light will usually extinguish after 4 or 5 good starts when the engine is warm however this was not the answer to the problem and I wanted it sorted under warranty along with a few other minor issues.

I spoke to staff at Citroen Manchester South and was told that I could go to any dealer in the country for this work but past experience has shown that at the nearest one to me (about 2 miles away) the receptionist and presumably the company do not seem to know what a Select 12 month warranty is. They stated that a £40.00 plus vat charge would be made for no fault found if this happened

Next nearest dealer is about 8 miles away and the premises looks like a commercial vehicle breakers yard so wouldn't touch him with a s*tty stick.

In a further attempt, I rang a dealer about 15 miles south from me. At first he seemed co-operative but again threatened that a £30.00 plus vat charge would be made for no fault found if this happened. (Sound of phone being slammed back in its cradle).

I rang Citroen Manchester South again and told them the tale as above. As luck would have it I spoke to the service manager who was deputising on reception that day.

Without hesitation or prompting from me, a courtsey car was made available and the Berlingo taken for repair on Monday and I collected it yesterday afternoon.

2 pleasant runs up the A34 and back from Manchester and hopefully we are now sorted and very amicably too.

The persistant engine fault turned out to be a bad/corroded connection to the EGR valve and the other repairs were also done free of all charges to myself.

In this life, "You don't ask and you don't get", that is my philosophy and when I went there yesterday there was a new sign out saying that free MOT's were available for the duration of ownership for all cars bought from that dealer.

Slightly tongue in cheek, I asked if that was available retrospectively and after a short delay I was told yes, so I came away with an eligibility certificate for a free MOT as well.

I can only say a big thank you to Citroen Manchester South for performing how they did and for restoring my flagging confidence in main dealers.

I am glad to see someone with good experience of a dealer.I think they are as common as hens teeth.Perhaps we should have a good dealer guide?
Strawberry flavoured windows  Dodgy
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#10
(11-05-2011, 04:29 PM)pch Wrote:  ok Andy so which unit you going to buy? and can any fool [eg ME] use it? May save me a few bob long term....
cheers
Pete

Hello Pete,

A bit long winded but the full facts to the best of my knowledge.

The unit which is potentially the one I am going for is called Memoscan U581.

The reason behind this is that although a relatively old unit now, that has been superceeded, having seen one working and communicating with my engine I am reasonably confident that it will work ok with my car but it may not work with yours.

Remember that my engine is the old 2.0HDI and Citroen are now using the 1.6 unit, technology has moved on in those 6 years since the 2.0 went out of production, so what worked then may not work now in reading and communicating. Equally said in the choice of instrument bought (caveat emptor), make sure it will work with your motor firstly and if possible is it future proof and upgradeable. Really you need to see one working on your car or know somebody with a similar set up.

Code readers are essentially easy to use, with the engine switched off the unit is plugged into a diagnostic socket in/under/around the dash/steering wheel. The socket resembles a TV/Video scart socket. Each reader will have it's own instructions but basically plug in, switch on, wait for connectivity and see if any fault codes come up. The next step is interpreting those codes into meaningful information which is the hard bit.

Has the sensor failed?
Is there an inherent defect causing the engine management computer to throw up a fault code?
Is something else causing the problem?
What needs to be done to cure the fault correctly?

Those are the questions to ask before throwing good money after bad and/or jumping to conclusions.

Having said that, a relatively cheap instrument will give the user an insight into the actual area where the alleged fault may be and will also enable the user to reset the management light. There is no guarantee that it will not manifest itself again sooner or later as this is not a cure. It may also be helpful to present the data to anyone who may be repairing the vehicle for you and also to demonstrate to the repairer that you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of what the fault might be.

My experience on the tools in the trade was when fault finding on diesel engines was pretty crude and rudimentary. The new trenche of technology is a steep learning curve to me, I am still a good way down that slope and learning as I go.
I do not do any spanner work these days due to being incapacitated but try to keep abreast of new developments.
Berlingo Multispace 2.0HDI '54 reg Mediterranean Blue
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