Berlingo / Partner - what should I look for?

[bigalan]

My partner has taken a fancy to a Citroen Berlingo / Peugeot Partner as for some reason she doesn't think my LDV Pilot Mailbus is cool.

Gonna have a look at a few tomorrow. Anyone got any experience of these? What problems should I be looking for? Hints/tips gratefully received.

Apologies for the non-retroness of this request - have some retro-ish pics to make up for it:

My old Sunny Coupe and L200


My old 740 GLE


My old Casita folding caravan on the Volvo


The Shoebox unfolded


And before the cats appear my sister's Daihatsu Move when it was stickered

[surprisingskoda]

been around a few berlingos. suspension, bodywork, exhausts and more suspension like every small french car goes through. Didn't rate the rattly diesel either.
reanult kangoo, now theres a slightly less annoying van

[bigalan]

She doesn't like the way the Kangoo looks Had her looking at a Fiat Multipla today but she doesn't understand why I think something so ugly is cool!

The Partner she really wants has 5 sunroofs and some sort of roof mounted airvents!

[Rusted Pistons]

We have a Berlingo at work, The locks have some sort of immobilzer thing which means the key goes round and round in the lock and it s a pain in the ass. Make sure the locks work ok. There is also a nasty rumble/grinding from the gearbox on acceleration think it has about 80 000 miles on it. The starter skips on the cog too. don't know if these are common problems only had experience of this one. Even with these problems it does keep going however!

[briandamaged]

They did a 1400 petrol and two (pre-HDi) diesel models, 1769cc and 1905cc, both of which will go forever provided they are kept fed and watered. From experience the 1800 is woefully undergeared, sounds busy at motorway speeds and tops out at about 80, the 1900 is a bit better. PAS makes them a doddle to drive, expect 50mpg with ease. Handling's great for a van/bus too.

I think they are based on the 306/ZX floorpan so everything that applies to their running gear (look for negative camber on the back end...if there is, the beam's shafted) applies here.

Daddy Damaged has just had his '97 Partner van back off me after an extended loan, I loved it!

[Fiat Daft]

avoidthe hdi's , thought about a doblo?

[jaykay]

we had three berlingo's at work, one had 155000 on it and they were all abused from day one and kept on going. we only broke it by going from fifth to second on the motorway, and that was because we wanted a new van. the locks wear out though and do the spinny thing, and eventually pack up all together, but they aint cheap or hard to replace. the 1.9d lump gets used in every thing apparently, not a rocket but can keep up, certainly faster than my 2.3d nissan, economical too.

[Odin]

Seconded about a Doblo, my mum has the 1.3 diesel and it's needed nothing in five years and it still gets over 50mpg all day long.

My uncles Peugeot Partner (it was a 2.0 HDi with the airliner-style roof) bought at the same time ate both front coil springs (they are a known problem, the recall solution is to fit plastic cups to stop the spring puncturing the tyre when it breaks.....), a power steering pump and the gearbox was on the way out. Did less to the gallon as well. He got rid of it months ago.

[bigalan]

Thanks guys, will see if there are any Doblos about this way.

Performance wise not too worried and anything should be a little more refined than the two we were running last year (see below). Is the 1.9 D a more modern version of what's in my Pilot?

[mattblack]

We had an 05 (IIRC) plate Partner at a place I used to work... had some sort of rev limiter that made pulling out onto busy roundabouts erm... interesting. It died when the ECU cashed in it's chips after someone steam cleaned the engine...

[surprisingskoda]

^ a friends berlingo did that too. it got so dead it was slower than walking around town. the exhaust fell off and then he put it into a ditch.
horrible little thing, and apparently far too easy to break into as well (twice he lost £5k of plumbing tools)

[Fiat Daft]

The reason i mentioned a doblo was i have just bought one.

got it for the dogs,but the first job was finally picking up an engine crane to do my turbo tipo swap,105 jtd active,reasonably quiet and comfortable for a van with windows,nippy with 105bhp and so far 47 mpg.

so far so good.

[bigalan]

Had a look at Doblos on Autotrader. Cheapest near me was £3000 for an 05 plate with 7 seats and a 1.3 Diesel. Unfortunately budget is £2000!

Had a look at an X-Plate Espace (2.0 Petrol) today. Not what we were looking for , but a definite possibility.

[allthingsauto]

What about a Vauxhall combo.I have a 53 plate one that i use every day.Been a great buy nice to drive and will do 45 to 50 mpg.Mines the low pressure turbo one and not had any problems.

[swordfish210]

I used to drive this for work and I've never driven anything that I hated more than this piece of automotive curse word. It wasnt even a turbo diesel, It did sod all to the gallon, It wouldnt do 0-60 in less than 20 seconds (i timed it) it handled like a polished turd on an ice rink, actually it was worse than that, at best it was...unpredictable, you never quite knew what it would do in a corner, the steering wheel felt like it was connected to the wheels by jelly thats been soaked in soggy fluid, the brakes didnt work I might as well have hung my coat out of the window in a vain attempt to slow the thing down, it was bloody filthy inside and it smelt like a group of old, wet, homeless dogs have been housed in there and have all farted at once, the brakes were curse word, the clutch was pointlessly heavy, the acelarator pedal doesnt feel connected to anything, it was stupidly noisy, you couldnt drive it in the wet because the wipers didnt work properly they just smear the screen so bad I wonder why I used them at all and everytime you went through a puddle the left rear wheel bearing would grumble horribly, the tyres wont hold their air so I have to inflate tham every other day, the filler cap is desinged for midgets because even a short like me had to crouch to reach it, the seat position is horrificly uncomfortable...seriously i'v seen torture devices that were more appealing to sit on than 8 hours in that thing, the stereo was a friggin TAPE PLAYER!!!!!!!!, and the interior is one of the poorest quality interiors I have ever seen. The piece of s*it.

[swordfish210]

I suppose i should add this piece of garbage was replaced with a Transit Connect T220 which is absolutely fantastic! Goes like stink, handles well...and not just well for a van i mean it handles well, tonns of load space, decent enough stereo, steerings nice, pedals are nice. All good really.


Edit: i did think of one positive point about the Berlingo (because there was only one) One day the radiator burst, spilling all the coolant out. I then managed to drive it (on a 28 degree day) through 8 miles of traffic, 16 miles of a-roads, 18 miles of motorway, 10 miles of traffic and back again....AND THE FECKIN THING STILL DIDNT DIE!!!!

[bigalan]

Took the plunge on a 2002 Partner (its what SHE wanted. 1.9D Quiksilver with the Modutop roof boxes / air vents / sunroof.

£1600

Drove it back from Glasgow yesterday. Initial impressions:
Engine really smooth and refined.
Goes like sh1t off a shovel.
Corners like its on rails.
Really comfortable seats.
Hardly any rattles.
Nice and compact.
Looks great.
Lots of kit (ie electric windows / central locking).
Hardly uses any fuel.
Really quiet.

OMG Clearly I've been using my Pilot as a daily for too long! ;D

Looks like this one: