Our New Baby (Citroën Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol)

Member Name: Groovee

Product:	Citroën Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol
Date:	03/06/04 (3877 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Spacious, cheap to buy

Disadvantages: Hard to park

When a couple of friends bought Citroen Xsara Picasso's last year, I was mightily impressed by the shape, and the size of the car. We looked into getting one but realistically we couldn't afford a new one and even a used one would stretch our budget.

But when my mum and dad gifted us some money, we realised that it could be very affordable and would really help us manage a new one. So my challenge started..... I had to talk the other driver in the house into it.

There are 3 types of Picasso. The basic model is know as the LX. The key equipment in an LX is:

- ABS with electronic Breakforce distribution
- Driver, front passenger and front lateral airbags
- Height adjustable front seat belts with pre-tensioners and force limiters
- On Board Trip computer
- CD/Radio Stereo with 6 speakers
- High Frequency remote control central locking.
- Electric front windows with one touch operation on drivers side
- Electric and heated door mirrors
- Heat reflected windscreen

Now as a female driver who's only concern is a nice car which is easy to drive, most of the above is a foreign language.

The next model up is a Moderate model I would say. It is known as a Desire. As well as everything in the LX model, the desire includes:

- Air conditioning
- Front fog lights
- Leather steering wheel
- Body colour painted bumpers, side rubbing strips, door mirrors, handles and rear number plate moulding
- Cruise control (but only on models 2.9i 16V auto)
- ESP with EBA and traction control (1.6HDi 1.6V 110hp and 2.0i 16v auto)

The coloured bumpers etc makes a big difference as on the LX model they are blac
k and personally look a bit out of place.

The top model in the range is an Exclusive. The key equipment over the desire model are as follows:

- Automatic digital Air Conditioning
- 3 independantly sliding seats
- Electric rear windows
- Alloy wheels
- Electrically retractable door mirrors
- Air conditioned glove box
- Automatic illumination of headlamps
- Rear window sunblind
- Boot net
- Cruise control (except 1.6i)
ESP with EVA and traction control (1.6HDi 16v 110hp and 2.0i 16v auto)

We decided to test drive a basic model to get a basic feel for the car and see what we thought. My first thoughts in the drivers seat was "That blimming window is ginormous, it's like driving a bus). I did have my reservations but my other half really liked it and I decided that as he liked it it would be ideal to get. He was extremely impressed by the computerised Dash Board. Normally you have 1/2 circles behind your steering wheel where you keep an eye on speed, petrol guage, milage etc. In the Picasso, there is nothing behind the wheel, but in the middle of the dash board is a computerised sort of screen. In BIG numbers you can watch you speed change digitally and give an accurate speed such as 28mph instead of you attempting to guess. Also if you leave something on when you are getting out like leaving the keys in the ignition or my favourite, leaving my indicator on, it comes up to tell you why it is making the funny we ringing noise.

You also have the choice of turning the key in the Rear doors and turning on the child locks, which I personally feel is an excellent idea. Eilidh however is not happy with mummy now as she can't get out of the car unless mummy or daddy open the doors for her. It's also grea
t for locking Mother in Laws in. I have done that too. My mother in law was mortified! It's great that you can turn them off if you won't have children in the car and are having some friends on a girly day out or when my hubby goes bowling. At the drivers side there is a way to turn the airbag off for the front passenger seat. This is a personal choice. We haven't done it but I have seen some picasso mums with babies in the front who have turned it off.

The car comes in 12 different colours, such a blue, red, green, grey, white and black. There are a couple of different shades of green and blues. There is a mixture of pearlesent or metalic paint. We chose Oriental Blue which isn't as Dark as Navy but a few shades down in my opinion. The inside interiors vary depending on what model and what colour you are going for. Ours is supposedly blue but looks a bluey grey colour. Leather inetriors are only available with the Exclusive models but I was grateful as on hot days wearing a short skirt or shorts, I have often been stuck to the seat and sometimes the leather gets too sore when hot.

The inside of the car is very spacious which is one of the reasons why we bought it. We wanted 3 proper back seats with proper diagonal seatbelts. We have 2 car seats permanaently in the car and often someone has to squeeze in the middle or we take a niece or nephew or even one of the children's friends and we couldn't fit their car seat in so it meant rearranging everything which was something I didn't want in my new car. The middle seat belt confused me at first when I saw it. But the right hand side of the middle seat has a black seatbelt holder instead of the usual red and one part of the seat belt fits in here to form the diagonal belt and then the rest of the seatbelt pulls over from the back of the head rests at the
roof and forms a diagonal seat belt with a red holder on the left handside. The seats are very roomy in the back and we have comfortably fitted 3 large car seats as well as just the 2 car seats with one person in the back seat. My only complaint with 3 car seats in the back is that as we have 2 highbacked booster seats it can sometimes be hard to get your hand down the side and fit the seatbelt into the holder, so please don't be in a rush when you have 3 seats in the back. Each seat has a head rest but we have removed these to fit the car seats in properly and the middle one blocked my view in my rear view mirror when I was driving which really annoyed me. On the floor in the back seat just behind the front seats you will come across 2 funny looking flaps in the floor. These are excellent storage areas. They aren't too big but great for keeping a selection of books or toys in for a long journey with young children. If we didn't have the children I have no idea what I would use them for. The middle seat also folds down and has room for 2 juice cups in our case and you can purchase a fridge to go in here if you want but I would be more likely to use it for storing toys or blankets if we were going on a long journey. The back of the front seats have little airplaine like tables with a hole for your cup in it and these have been very popular with our 2 who have learned to kick them out to get them up when they can't reach them!

The front seats have lots of room too and are easy to move and adjust to the correct height for yourself. We have a manual car so the 3 pedals on the floor are in the usual places. The dash in our car is a nice grey colour. It has a build in CD/radio player which only takes one CD at a time and when you are used to a 10 stacker, it gets on your nerves severely. One thing I really like is that just below the wee stick for the wind
ows and wipers is a wee lever which can control your volume, can change the track and can also change on to the Radio from the CD or vice versa. At first I didn't like it but now that I know where everything is I LOVE IT! It's so great to concentrate on my driving yet be able to do all this without having to reach over to the CD Player. The wipers and the controls for the CD player are on your righthand side and neither interfere with the other. You also have a rear wiper which is great news after 4 years without one and I am still learning that it is there. I ahve lost count of how many times I have accidently switched it on. Lights and indicator controls are on the opposite side and are fairly easy to work. It was all very well my hubby showing me where they were. But the first night I went out I nearly died when I wasn't sure what I was doing. I soon figured it out and off I went. You also have fog lights but seeing as I have had no use for these just yet, I can't comment.

The car comes with the usual heaters and I did find that when the windows steamed up last week that it was easier just to put the cold air on instead of actually having hot on which I had done in the past. The front windows are electric and the drivers one you push quickly and it goes down all by itself. A few people have had a good laugh at me attempting to get my window down to a reasonable level with out it shooting down out of control. If you push and hold it goes down while you control it. Luckily the passenger side is not so much work and just has a manual control on it. There is a ciggie lighter. Not used by us and an astray which holds change for the Edinburgh Parking metres, but no smoking in my car please. Below that is a small storage area which I keep my driving sp
ecs in and also my phone when driving. It closes which makes it hidden from view if you happen to leave your purse or anything in there. There is a large glove compartment which when you pull down the door you have space for 2 drinks and there are also large pockets in the doors which we keep our maps in.

The one thing that won over this car for us was the spacious boot. Our previous car we had to bend down to put things in. This one is on one level and builds up and is very easy to fill up without too much bending over. Inside is a wee storage rack thing which you can pull out. We joked it was the wine carrier until i took ot out by accident and discovered that it was a small basket thing on wheels like a trolley suitcase. We haven't used this yet as we have the buggy in there and we haven't bought any wine. But we did a massive weekly shopping as well as a spending spree round the shops and everything fitted in well. They keys for the car. One comes with the button function while the other is just a key to open and lock the door. There were a few fights but I managed to get the button one in the end! The lights flash when you lock and unlock the doors to alert you that it is open. Although the lights have been the indicator ones and has had me baffled in this weather with the sun shining on wether I have opened the door or not.

Overall we are loving our car and have both found it lovely to drive. The gearstick is on the dash which I did worry about but I got used to it fairly quickly along with a very large slanted window which actually makes it easier to see out of when driving. My hubby had been a bit bemused by the shape off the outside of the car. But now he is very happy with the choice of car and finds it a pleasure to drive. Being slightly higher up is nice as you can see around you better but I have encountered difficutly in parking i
t while I still find my bearings in it. Fingers crossed that I learn soon. This is an ideal family car if you have a young family but also if you need a lot of space maybe for someone who has a disabilty or you just want a bigger car with a difference. This is the one for you. You can go on to the Citreon website and book a test drive. We looked at a lot of cars and this was definately our favourite. Eilidh loves our new car and everyone has commented on it. OOOH I can't wait to get back in it now and go for a drive.

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