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Before you buy a used Citroën C-Elysée.

2012–2022 · Petrol / Diesel · 3 engines

Taken only from Testigo's sourced sheets. Use it to question the seller and on the test drive: it does not confirm that any particular car is affected.

Citroën C-Elysée, real photo of this generation
Jakub "flyz1" Maciejewski · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Photo source

The essentials.

Typical faults by engine

The period and mileage are those mentioned by each sheet's sources. They are not a maintenance interval and do not predict that any particular car will fail.

1.2 VTi / PureTech

Petrol

  • Oil-bath timing belt degradationTiming / lubrication
    Period mentioned
    2012 – approx. 2022
    Mileage mentioned
    The sheet does not mention a mileage.

    Applies if: PSA 1.2 three-cylinder EB2 engine (PureTech).

1.6 VTi

Petrol

1.6 HDi / BlueHDi

Diesel

Which engine has the fewest documented faults?

Documented faults and recalls by engine for the Citroën C-Elysée
EngineDocumented faultsRecalls
1.2 VTi / PureTechPetrol11 with conditions1
1.6 VTiPetrol11
1.6 HDi / BlueHDiDiesel10

According to the data we have, all its engines have the same number of documented faults.

By fuel type, the one with the fewest documented faults is: Diesel.

We only count the sourced sheets we have. An engine with fewer is not guaranteed to be more reliable: it may have been studied less or sold in smaller numbers.

Official recalls: ask before you pay

A recall existing does not mean this car is affected or that it is still outstanding: it depends on the chassis number, the market and the production date.

  1. Ask the seller for the chassis number (VIN): it has 17 characters, appears in the car's documents and can usually also be seen at the base of the windscreen.
  2. Ask an official Citroën dealer, or the brand's official website if it lets you check by chassis number, whether each recall has been done or is still outstanding for that VIN.
  3. Manufacturer recalls are normally carried out free of charge by the official service network. If one is outstanding, ask for it to be done before you close the sale.
Faulty internal component in airbag control unitBrakes and safety

Engines: 1.2 VTi / PureTech (Petrol) · 1.6 VTi (Petrol)

How to check it: Check VIN; replace the airbag unit preventively, as specified by the campaign.

View full entry

On the test drive: what to look and listen for

Taken from each sheet's symptoms and checks. You can tick off what you have already looked at: it is saved only in this browser.

0 of 3 checked

Engine

  • Look out for: Oil has to be topped up between changes; oil stains under the engine; misfires or hesitation; rough idle or an engine warning from the throttle body.

    Ask them to check: Measure oil consumption between two changes and look underneath for leaks; read misfire and throttle-body codes; ask for the timing-belt invoices.

Turbo / injection

  • Look out for: Loud turbo whistle, power loss, blue or black smoke, oil that gets dirty very quickly. Before the failure, often a puffing or ticking from the cylinder head and an exhaust smell from an injector.

    Ask them to check: Check injector bolt torque and carbon at their base, the turbo banjo bolt and the sump strainer.

Timing / lubrication

  • Look out for: Oil pressure warning, hard brake pedal or reduced assistance, oil consumption, blue smoke, squeal at the front of the engine, turbo whistles or loses power.

    Ask them to check: Measure the belt through the oil filler opening with the manufacturer's tool. Confirm whether the vacuum pump campaign was done.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these Testigo sheets and their original sources. Sources are not checked in real time.

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