HELPPPPP, Dealer just want money money money money

[yingxue2022]

Just wondering if I can get any help pleaseeeeeeee...

I have purchased a Citroen berlingo 19plate last year from a private dealer and still has 6 months warranty. The van has occured ad blue signal fault for couple times, and everytime I go to a citroen dealer they managed to put it back to normal (probably just a easy reset of sensor or something I have no idea about cars). They would then always find out something else and put forward a huge bill for us to pay (which we did in the 1st time).

However this time I take to Citroen Robin Day west london branch and asked them to check what exactly it is going on with the Ad blue system and that if they can fix it. (I raised a complaint about a member staff who wasnt polite to me), so they have it in the garage for couple days and ran through the checks. Next thing I am send a email saying that there is essencial work needing done and the bill is more than 1000pounds. (Part of customers originaly requested work. add blue and engine light on ~requires new urea pump and dpf clean and regeneration

I am surprised they can simply put as customer required work as I wouldnt know what the problem is with ad blue signal and isnt it their job to check and advise the problem? what I also dont understand is the large bill they advised as this should be covered under warranty. I am just shocked and dissapointed with citroen. It is a reletivately new van with only 20K miles something, yet we have had so many problems with it. Not only it is annoying and time consuming for the fixings, but all too costy.

Worse still, they said after check the ad blue needs a new pump and further invesitgation... So that means it may have problem again in the future??

Any advise will be really appreciated,

PS. I have also tried to extend warranty the customer care said I can last year, but when i rang up now they said No. So they asked me to get it from ROBIN and DAY who also said you need to go to Citroen. It seems to me that all they want is simply money money money money money, so dissapointed.

[GiveMeABreak]

The Adblue tank should be in warranty, so if youa re not getting support fromt he dealer, contact Citroen UK Head Office and speak to them. Have your vehicle details ready and see what they say. Many car owners here are getting their tanks replaced even after they are out of warranty.

Unless there are some conditions or issues we are unaware of, like for example the vehicle has not been properly serviced as recommended at the correct intervals - in which case they may decline to replace the tank under warranty.

[yingxue2022]

The Adblue tank should be in warranty, so if youa re not getting support fromt he dealer, contact Citroen UK Head Office and speak to them. Have your vehicle details ready and see what they say. Many car owners here are getting their tanks replaced even after they are out of warranty.

Unless there are some conditions or issues we are unaware of, like for example the vehicle has not been properly serviced as recommended at the correct intervals - in which case they may decline to replace the tank under warranty.

Thank you so much, yes I have got in touch with Citroen who advised that should be under warranty and free of charge. How often should a vehicle be serviced please? Can I get the service done at private garage rather than dealer. Also trying to find out if I can get warranty extended, Citroen said it needs to be purchased from dealer and dealer said it is with Citroen....

[GiveMeABreak]

1) Yes there is nothing to stop you getting your vehicle serviced at any competent garage of your choice - however, the service MUST be undertaken to the manufacturer's requirements and evidence of this must be available (like an invoice detailing the work, the mileage and date for example) if you need to make a warranty claim. So a quick oil change round the corner won't cut it. The proper service (Minor / Intermediate / Major) will depend on the mileage and or time of last service. These are set out in the maintenance and service schedules and involves different operations according to which service is required. So having 2 'minor' services is not the same as 1 minor and 1 intermediate or 1 intermediate and 1 major service as they involve different operations.

2) In the UK, you have your Citroen manufacturer's warranty for 2 years and the third year is via the participating dealer, making 3 years in total. After this period you may be contacted or invited to apply for an extended warranty, although this will be dependent upon the history of the vehicle, then age, the mileage and whether it has been serviced at the correct intervals. They are not obligated to provide this and generally your car must be in good health before they will approve an extended warranty at the time of application.

So if you have a problem with the vehicle now, you are not likely to get an extended warranty on it at present. That would be like applying for car insurance after you have written the car off and trying to make a claim ...

[yingxue2022]

Thank you so much for your information sir... So it is best to have a service done in their dealer and then perhaps they will be happy to extend my warranty after checking the vehicle? The van is only 20k miles something, I am surprised that it has so many issues,,sigh.... Is there any other way I can get a extended warranty at all?

Just concerned as the staff who examined the van said further invesitgation needed after replacing urea pump and DPF clean also regeneration, so that means they might not know what exactly the problem is with the ad blue problem but just guessing it? I am thinking if I should sell this to the dealer, and perhaps get a newer one..all about money more money though..

[GiveMeABreak]

Any warranty work has to be approved and undertaken at an official Citroen dealership. Are you saying the work you have had done was undertaken elsewhere at a non-Citroen dealership?

If this is the case, and work has already been undertaken at a non-Citroen garage, then Citroen may decline the warranty work as attempted diagnosis / repairs or in fact some issues may have been caused by a third party garage.

If everything has been taken to a proper Citroen Dealership, then stick with them until the issue is resolved. At 20k miles and with the vehicle still under warranty, you should have not problem getting the emissions system sorted out including anything to do with the SCR system (Adblue tank, pump or injection) resolved, and also with the DPF as the particle filter should not need replacing for well over 100k to 120k miles minimum. If the vehicle does a lot of short stop and start journeys, the particle filter may not be able to regenerate and after a lot of failed attempts will warn you with a message about the filter at risk of clogging. That is when you should drive at 40-50 MPH for 20-30 minutes somewhere safe to allow the engine to warm up and allow a regeneration to complete.

As for your Adblue - have you not topped the Adblue tank up? It should of warned you that it needed topping up again with a message, well before 19k miles.

[yingxue2022]

hi there, thanks again for the help. Ad blue tank was already topped up every one month ( however when the signal start flashing it wont allow any more to be added), the vehicle is with Citroen dealer as we still have warranty didnt bother to go elsewhere. The dealer who we bought the van from said we can potentially get an independent warranty after this is fixed, do you know if that is the case? thanks

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok so if the Adblue reservoir is full, then it seems the pump is faulty as it is not dosing any fluid to the injector. When this happens, the engine ECU detects via the NOx sensor that the NOx levels are too high and flags the warning up.

They should fix this under warranty for you.

As for an extended warranty, see what happens once it has been fixed. There is nothing to stop you getting an independent warranty elsewhere - just make sure it provides the cover you want.

[yingxue2022]

thanks, so is this kind of big issue? the person who examined said, they will need to investigate further even after the urea pump is replaced... It has happend so many times and really worries us, as I am not entirely sure where went wrong. We thought about trading in to get a newer one, but then it will mean much more money to put in... thank you again for your help sincerly

[GiveMeABreak]

No problem - but I hope you understand it is difficult to comment on individual issues as we may not be aware of the full circumstances.

Best of luck and I hop it gets resolved.

[yingxue2022]

No problem - but I hope you understand it is difficult to comment on individual issues as we may not be aware of the full circumstances.

Best of luck and I hop it gets resolved.

thanks a lot

[Richard_C]

As long as the vehicle is still in warranty you should be able to get it extended here:

https://www.citroen.co.uk/maintain/citr ... ranty.html

Note though that even if the original warranty has expired even by just one day then you can't get the extension from Citroen. I don't normally buy warranties on anything, but when my Picasso was coming up to 3 years old I did get this one, it doesn't cost much more than the included breakdown assistance - I chose the + version becsause it covers things that might help my wife if she is travelling alone, like changing a tyre, and the cost of repairs can be very high.

The cost of the warranty is much much less than the depreciation on a newer car.

[yingxue2022]

As long as the vehicle is still in warranty you should be able to get it extended here:

https://www.citroen.co.uk/maintain/citr ... ranty.html

Note though that even if the original warranty has expired even by just one day then you can't get the extension from Citroen. I don't normally buy warranties on anything, but when my Picasso was coming up to 3 years old I did get this one, it doesn't cost much more than the included breakdown assistance - I chose the + version becsause it covers things that might help my wife if she is travelling alone, like changing a tyre, and the cost of repairs can be very high.

The cost of the warranty is much much less than the depreciation on a newer car.

THANK you sir, yes a new car will cost more hence I hesitate... it is only 19 plate car with 20K miles,,so I am just shocked to find out so many problems occured thanks again for the information

[yingxue2022]

The Adblue tank should be in warranty, so if youa re not getting support fromt he dealer, contact Citroen UK Head Office and speak to them. Have your vehicle details ready and see what they say. Many car owners here are getting their tanks replaced even after they are out of warranty.

Unless there are some conditions or issues we are unaware of, like for example the vehicle has not been properly serviced as recommended at the correct intervals - in which case they may decline to replace the tank under warranty.

Hi Sir, so 2 weeks we had our citroen berlingo repaired at dealship. They have changed new urea tank, did DPF deep clean, and regenerated and we thought the problem is solved finally. However here I am again, just 2 weeks after we got the van and exactly same issue has occured again.... initially they wanted me to pay for the repair which is more than 1500pounds. But because my warranty is not expire until August, they finally repaired for free.

I wonder if they even replaced the parts, because how else could the same problem come back again immediately after the repair.... It is so annoying as my husband rely on the van for work. So what exactly is the problem with AD bLUE, HELPPPPPPP.... I am thinking to sell it and get another van, but really worried now if the next one will have AD blue problem tooo.... any help will be appreciated

[GiveMeABreak]

I'm not sure what the actual problem is now - what are the warnings or messages / lights being displayed? Was the Adblue tank fully topped up by the dealer?

My advice is to take it straight back to the dealer that did the warranty repair and tell them there is still a fault after the work and let them deal with it as part of the original warranty work.