Better the devil you know or get rid?

Hedge

Hedge

Hedge

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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19,578
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Somewhere in the middle.
We have a Citroen Cactus with a 1.6 diesel engine and adblue tank. The car is cheap to run and not actually as horrendous to drive as you'd expect (OK.. Debatable)

Now my issue is that it threw up an Adblue fault and put up an emissions caption with associated mileage limiter to stop the car from starting after 700 miles.

I ran a code reader and found it was a nox sensor. In researching this fault online I found that the they are also prone to failure of the pump within the adblue tank and if changing the nox sensor didn't work then I was likely that (can show similar faults) . Anyway I bought and changed sensor then got a garage to update the ecu and the fault is all clear.

It has spooked me though and I'm concerned the tank pump is a ticking bomb.

I've been considering selling it and getting a petrol car instead as we don't do too many miles in the cactus these days.

With the used car market being in its current state I'm not sure best option. (I kinda fancy a Honda / mazda / Toyota)

What would you do?

Thanks.
 
How much will a replacement pump be?

Given that your reduced miles should lengthen the time it lasts I would be tempted to keep the car if you are otherwise "happy"

Any new car you buy may have it's own faults that won't be apparent when you buy it.
 
Holst1981 said:
How much will a replacement pump be?

Given that your reduced miles should lengthen the time it lasts I would be tempted to keep the car if you are otherwise "happy"

Any new car you buy may have it's own faults that won't be apparent when you buy it.
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You can't replace the pump because they have a ridiculous design which means the whole tank needs replacing. They can be sourced on ebay for around £650-700 and I could maybe fit myself and pay a garage to update ecu if it came to that.

You're right about the risk of a new car having underlying faults but a purchase from a garage would give peace of mind for 6 months I guess.

It's just one of the frustrations of motoring I suppose. You get hit with some bills and start to worry if you're doing the right thing.

The tank design is terrible. PSA group swap out the filler cap on the tank because the early models like mine have a solid cap on them which means the pump was running against a vaccum. It's due a service so I'm going to get the car serviced at a citroen garage and they can give me a new cap and do any recall type jobs on it. In the meantime I drilled a small hole in the filler cap.

Forums are littered with people who've had this emissions fault. I was lucky mine was the cheaper of the two faults.
 
This got me worried.
Currently have a 2009 Berlingo and it’s been flawlessly reliable.
We are about to get the ad blue version
 
SkodaMart said:
This got me worried.
Currently have a 2009 Berlingo and it’s been flawlessly reliable.
We are about to get the ad blue version
Click to expand...
You're nuts, why would you spend any more on a car at all when you've got a perfectly fine car? You must be a millionaire or something.
 
dLockers said:
You're nuts, why would you spend any more on a car at all when you've got a perfectly fine car? You must be a millionaire or something.
Click to expand...

Doubt it’s going to last forever.
All I’m doing by not changing is delaying the inevitable another year or two.
Not only that, it was bought as a work tool, it’s a bit rough cosmetically if I’m honest.
 
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Hedge said:
You can't replace the pump because they have a ridiculous design which means the whole tank needs replacing. They can be sourced on ebay for around £650-700 and I could maybe fit myself and pay a garage to update ecu if it came to that.

You're right about the risk of a new car having underlying faults but a purchase from a garage would give peace of mind for 6 months I guess.

It's just one of the frustrations of motoring I suppose. You get hit with some bills and start to worry if you're doing the right thing.

The tank design is terrible. PSA group swap out the filler cap on the tank because the early models like mine have a solid cap on them which means the pump was running against a vaccum. It's due a service so I'm going to get the car serviced at a citroen garage and they can give me a new cap and do any recall type jobs on it. In the meantime I drilled a small hole in the filler cap.

Forums are littered with people who've had this emissions fault. I was lucky mine was the cheaper of the two faults.
Click to expand...
Buying a new car to avoid a possible bill of about 1k seems utter madness to me but then so do an awful lot of peoples reasons for buying a new car. Really just sounds like the classic I fancy a new car and will use this to justify it motivation, if you want a change just admit it and go looking…
 
SkodaMart said:
This got me worried.
Currently have a 2009 Berlingo and it’s been flawlessly reliable.
We are about to get the ad blue version
Click to expand...

They revised the tank and pump around 2018 I think which supposedly helped. Prior to that the tank had a solid cap and a pump that I believe had more metal parts which were eaten by the Urea.
 
never had adblue - but can you reduce risk of pump failure/seizure by regenning regularly , if you only do a few miles.
have often wondered if abs pump/solenoid is similar
 
a1ex2001 said:
Buying a new car to avoid a possible bill of about 1k seems utter madness to me but then so do an awful lot of peoples reasons for buying a new car. Really just sounds like the classic I fancy a new car and will use this to justify it motivation, if you want a change just admit it and go looking…
Click to expand...

Well of course I fancy a new car, I said I fancy a few different brands in the OP and I've fell out of love with this one after reading about apparently common faults. My motivation is clear but I'm looking for some voices of reason before I make any rash decisions.
 
Hedge said:
Wbac quote around £5800 and auto trader prices are up near 7k it seems.

Paid £6400 for it 2yrs and 20000 miles ago.
Click to expand...
I’d get it repaired then, the car still has a good resale value and hasn’t dropped into bangernomic’s territory yet. I know it can difficult when it’s gets to this point, you start to feel like your throwing good money after bad, or that you have lost trust in a car.

You also said you don’t do many miles in it now, how many miles are you talking about?
 
inflames said:
I’d get it repaired then, the car still has a good resale value and hasn’t dropped into bangernomic’s territory yet. I know it can difficult when it’s gets to this point, you start to feel like your throwing good money after bad, or that you have lost trust in a car.

You also said you don’t do many miles in it now, how many miles are you talking about?
Click to expand...

I think it's likely to be around 6000 miles now. I commute in a different car but tend to give the cactus a long run out every couple of weeks. The reduced mileage has made petrol cars seem a more sensible choice.

Think I'm just conflicted. It's that usual thing, when the dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree ya want rid, then once you get it clear you soon feel more relaxed about it.

I had first ran it through wbac valuation a few month ago as I'd considered changing it (it had no faults at that point). Then while deliberating it threw up the fault. Made me wish I'd sold earlier. Now it's fine again I'm scared to hesitate then get hit with the next bill lol.

Current second hand market is a blessing for value in this car but obviously everything else jumped up in line.
 
Only 6000 miles a year, ok that kind of changes it a bit. As diesels really need to doing the miles to benefit from them.

Going petrol maybe a better idea considering the amount of miles you do a year. Going back to your OP, my wife’s car is currently a petrol Mazda 6 and its been a great car for the last five years we have own it. We have had one electrical problem in that time. But over all no complaints. Not had a Toyota but have owned two Lexus Is200’s in the past and would happily buy another Lexus petrol or hybrid in the future.
 
Hedge said:
I think it's likely to be around 6000 miles now. I commute in a different car but tend to give the cactus a long run out every couple of weeks. The reduced mileage has made petrol cars seem a more sensible choice.

Think I'm just conflicted. It's that usual thing, when the dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree ya want rid, then once you get it clear you soon feel more relaxed about it.

I had first ran it through wbac valuation a few month ago as I'd considered changing it (it had no faults at that point). Then while deliberating it threw up the fault. Made me wish I'd sold earlier. Now it's fine again I'm scared to hesitate then get hit with the next bill lol.

Current second hand market is a blessing for value in this car but obviously everything else jumped up in line.
Click to expand...

In what world is everything being more expensive a blessing?

So many cars have fault lists that simply keep on growing and growing, as does anything with age (see our bodies as prime examples).

Either way, it's a terrible time to buy a new or used car. The prices are terrible, working class are being priced out of many previously considered 'luxuries' yet people are still paying with the justification that things will return to normal/get better/everything else has fallen in line... Which it hasn't (mortgages not reduced, incomes not increased much, living costs spiraling)

I wouldn't even consider buying another car for a 1k fix, here in Finland car prices have always been between 2-3 times more even for used (especially for used actually).
 
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