CortinaGT

Citigo was sold this weekend via Autotrader for £5,650. Thanks for the interest.

Well, that's it guys and gals. I watched my Citigo being driven off into the sunset (well - wall to wall rain, actually!) by a very nice lady who had bought it. She used to have a Mini-Cooper a couple of cars ago and was looking for another small car that had good handling. She was amazed at the condition. It was sold after putting an ad on Autotrader on Friday night, viewed on Sunday and driven off after a bank transfer on Monday morning. The selling price was £5,650. So this is where I bow out of the forum until maybe a few years hence with a possible return to the UK and maybe my fourth Skoda purchase. Many thanks - good luck to you all and I hope that I might have been of help for some of you over the past three years. :'(

Thanks to all for your help. Colin D very graciously has given me a complimentary Freedom membership and this evening I posted an advert for my car in the Classified section - cars for sale at a quick sale price of £5.5k. I would add that my wife and I are very appreciative of Colin's totally unprompted gesture - I always said that Skoda owners were a nicer bunch of people than the snooty car owners who 'wouldn't be seen dead' driving a Skoda.

Sadly, and due to the reasons of having to move to New Zealand to aid our daughter's illness recovery, my 2012 Citigo Greentech 75PS is for sale. More on this is in the Briskoda Citigo Forums under the topic 'Selling?'. It is in genuinely mint condition (the dealer has told me this!) with no chips, dents or wheel grazes. We are non-smokers. It is in Brilliant Silver metallic finish and has a full sized spare wheel, air con and heated seats. The sat-nav has the latest maps 3 months ago and also has the bluetooth hands free 'phone system working. The auto-lock/unlock and cornering lights have been activated and the car has a full Skoda service history. Mileage is 5,780 as I type this and the car has never been used for ultra short shopping trips - all use was well warmed up and driven quite a few miles. Clutch pedal assembley has been replaced - so no 'clutch click'! It has a transferable 4 year, or maximum 80,000 mile warranty which will expire in August 2016. The retail price for a 30,000 mile example of this car is quoted as £6,420. My price for a very quick sale is £5,500 - a massive, no-risk saving with the Skoda warranty. Please ask any questions. This is a genuinely fantastic bargain. (Edit 08 July - I forgot to state the model when posting this advert - it is an 'Elegance'. Now also added in the heading)

Apologies for not posting back sooner, but as you can imagine, organising the moving of ones life to another country under these circumstances takes a lot of time and effort. I just tried We Buy Any Car and they have indicated £4,655 less a £49.99 fee. I gather the dealer would pay £4,600-4,800, so the differences are not that geat. Thank you MickA for the Wisebuyers guide suggestion - nice, simple and clear. This quotes private good as £5,560 and retail as £6,420. I am still considering Auto-Trader at around £5,700. Has anyone any further thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Many thanks to you all for your suggestions and kind thoughts. It seems Autotrader is a favourite. I want to avoid the 'tyre kickers' as much as possible, although I would hope that the Citigo would attract less of those than a VRS would! Has anybody used Pre-loved and was it successful? As we are having to reduce things we transport over to NZ, I did try some items on it, but had no interest at all. eBay was totally different.

Hi All Been a long time since I posted on the forum, although I do look from time to time. As many will know, I wrote a lot in the early days of the Citigo and hope that I helped a few of the forum's Citigo members. I was an early receiver of Skoda's new clutch pedal anti-click fix, many will recall! I also posted the Running-In Information in the Technical Guides which I see has now had 7,370 views! Also I was the first to prove that the Greentech and Sport suspensions were the same. There were more. I now have a dilemma. My daughter, who lives in New Zealand, has had to have a serious brain tumour (non-cancerous type, thank goodness) removed whilst carrying her first child. That was almost two years ago and recovery is slow. She needs her mum and dad's help to enable her to overcome the exhaustion of trying to recover and look after an extremely mobile youngster. For that reason we are moving out to New Zealand for a couple of years, which of course means selling our two cars. So the question is - does anyone think that I would get genuine positive interest if I were to join Freedom and advertise my very low mileage, unmarked condition Greentech there? Even the dealer states that it is in mint condition. I am not trying to circumvent the Classified section by asking this question here, just wondering if members think that this could help reduce the stress of selling, as my wife and I have so many other major things to do at the moment.

I only had the click on the return of the pedal, never when depressing it - so one click only per complete clutch action. The exterior clutch mechanism sound can be heard each way.

My car has done much less mileage than yours, but I did discover that by 'phoning around the dealers I had different quotes for the standard service. I know that there is a feeling in the trade that the fixed prices for the Skoda range is OK for a Superb, but rather expensive for the smaller Citigo. So I suggest a bit of negotiating might help when you have had the quote!

I feel pretty sure the confusion about the two sounds exists with the dealers as well. Analysing what you have been told implies that if you hear the sound with the engine running then it is the clutch mechanism and considered normal, although you will likely be hearing the pedal 'click’ as well if you have the pedal fault. If the sound can be heard with the engine turned off then it is the pedal mechanism and a repair is allowable under warranty as that it is not considered normal.

Not sure if it's of assistance but my posts 147 and 149 in the following thread might help: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/294663-clutch-click-driving-me-mad/page-5

Just to clarify further, the TPI number I was given last year could be for one of either, or even both sounds in the area! Perhaps somebody in the know could help with this point now having been made aware of the confusion. Until that point is confirmed I would be cautious about using last years number. At least I hope that my post will help owners explain the noise more clearly to the dealer regarding what particular sound they are concerned about.

MY CLUTCH CLICK IS GONE! Firstly something I believe we all need to clarify is what each of us is referring to when we mention clutch 'click'. It seems apparent that there are at least two versions of the issue running in parallel in this thread and in others. 1) This is where the clutch pedal click can be clearly heard inside the car as emanating from the internal pedal mechanism, (or attached internal ancillaries), when the pedal is close to being fully released. 2) This where the sound is more remote and from the engine bay. This is heard when the pedal is moved in its travel and is caused by the actual clutch mechanism in the engine bay as the clutch plate and flywheel engage and disengage. If the window is down and there is a wall/object alongside the vehicle this will reflect the sound back to the car and the sound can be much more apparent. I believe this is the sound 110ivan is referring to when he mentions the thrust bearing fork and is probably the one SUK refer to as normal. In my 'A Year With The Citigo' item in August 2013 I said the following about these sounds: “Like many others, I too have the clutch pedal 'click' – my dealer advises that Skoda are aware of this and this and have it listed under TPI 2032106/1 whilst they research a 'fix'. Not a problem, but because of the lack of insulation I can also hear the clutch mechanism operating.” So you can see that at that point I was hearing two different noises. BTW if you you have just bought or are thinking about buying a Citigo I feel sure that you will find the popular article informative and it also contains links to other important issues that were raised in the forum last year: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/285904-a-year-with-the-citigo/ I mentioned in post 142 above that I had been called back to my dealer, White Dove Skoda, Cardiff following my second service in early August. I received a telephone call in early September which outlined that SUK wanted them to change the pedal box on my Citigo. Last Thursday this work was done and at last.............I no longer have the clutch pedal click!! :happy: It appears that both the pedal box and clutch pedal have been replaced. The sound as (2) above can still be heard, but with such light construction and lack of sound insulation this is inevitable. However, overall you get a car that in virtually every way performs the same as a 1974 1071cc Mini Cooper S, but is bigger, quieter and covers more mpg! Enjoy!

First thing I and then the dealer did, as I wrote above "checking seat catches etc."

Count me in with this one too. I have identified the sound on my car as coming from the rear nearside when the car is turning (rolling) left and the suspension is dropped on that side. The noise comes only when the car then runs over an undulation. To clarify - rear n/s suspension in extension and then forced to travel upward. My vehicle mileage is about 4,600. I reported this to my dealer at the two year service and they have adjusted the tailgate in addition to repeating my investigations by tightening the tool strap, checking seat catches etc. I recall reading that an UP owner had cabling in the rear nearside inner panel knocking against it and the dealer wrapped the loom cable in foam rubber which apparently cured the problem. I will be reporting back to my dealer that the issue remains, BUT with SUK's guidance they have fixed my clicking clutch pedal!!. Will put that info in the relevant section later.

Here is an interesting point. My pedal clicks and has done so for over a year. ( http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/285904-a-year-with-the-citigo/) a bit annoying, but the rest of the Citigo attributes easily outweigh the issue. When I had a drive of a friends Mugen Honda I had the clutch pedal click twice on me!! He never has. This makes me wonder if the driver's physical build and position in relation to the pedal can aggravate the Citigo issue. I am not long in the leg (shortish even!) and so it's possible that my pressure on the pedal is slightly offset. Maybe taller drivers are the ones that have less problems with click? My Mugen owning friend is taller. The possibility of some us pressing the pedal in a different way could possibly explain why pushing the pedal to one side can stop the problem for a while. Anyway, after again mentioning the point on the second annual service in August, I have been called back to my dealer for a further look at the issue. I will report back in due course.

I wouldn't be surpised if we discovered quite a lot of cars now have plastic pedals. The following is from the BBC website on 5 February 2014: "Aston Martin is recalling more than 17,000 cars because of a potentially defective part. The Warwickshire-based luxury car maker said the recall accounted for most of its sports cars built since late 2007. It follows the discovery that a Chinese sub-supplier was allegedly using counterfeit plastic material in part of the accelerator pedal. There are fears the pedal arm may break although there have been no reports of any accidents, the firm said. A spokesman said it would now bring manufacture of the pedal arm back to the UK. 'Get it replaced' The firm is recalling a total of 17,590 cars - 1,553 in the UK - including all of its left-hand-drive models built since November 2007 and all right-hand-drive models built since May 2012, affecting about 75% of all cars built in those periods. The recall applies to all cars apart from the new Vanquish coupe and Volante models. "Customer safety is very important and to change the pedal takes less than an hour, so take the car and get it replaced is what we're saying," the spokesman said. "It's very important to say that there have not been any incidents or accidents."" BTW - my clutch pedal clicks too and I realise that I have changed my action of the pedal by reducing the speed of release whilst passing the 'click' point. It reduces the sound a bit,

If it's any consolation I think this is a problem on all plastic coated foil materials on vehicles once exposed to the elements. My Octavia L&K and Elegance both had the wheel medallions replace under warranty, as were the front and rear Skoda badges on the Elegance. My Citigo wheel medallions were showing the same corrosion signs at the end of the first year and the car is low mileage. But it is NOT a Skoda only problem - a friend of mine has had a 2006 Porsche Boxster and a Mugen Honda in the last 12 months and they too had the same issue!

I originally posted this in the Citigo forum where there has been some discussion regarding whether to buy a Sport or Elegance version. We know the suspensions are identical except for the Sport having larger and wider 15" wheels and non Eco tyres. My intention was simply to introduce this as another thing to be considered in the choice when buying a car where low running costs are an important issue. If you are buying a larger vehicle you have already introduced the higher running cost into the equation! ;-) Incidentally when I used to rally my mk1 Cortina GT back in the 60's it was upgraded to 5 1/2 x 13"J wheels (from the standard 4 1/2) and running on 175 tyres! Oh, how things have changed! (The moderators must have moved the topic!)

The point I was trying to bring to make is that no other manufacturer is bringing to prospective purchasers attention the fact that their new car choice might look good and probably handle better with the larger wheels, but that it will do less to the gallon! Note Which? said BMW for example have not mentioned it! I had an Octy L&K on 17", next was an Elegance where I deliberately went to 16" and now proudly own a Citigo on 14".

The latest Which? On-Line has some amazing 'real world' information on how wheel sizes affect economy. Toyota and Lexus are the first company to give true information. The following is quoted: “However, official figures could be even further from the truth – depending on the wheel-size of the car you buy. Opt for big alloys (as many style-conscious buyers do) and your fuel economy could drop significantly. Different wheels, different mpgAt the moment, Toyota and its sister-brand Lexus are the only companies to quote separate economy and CO2 emissions figures depending on wheel size. For example, buy a Lexus IS 300h in entry-level SE spec and it comes with 16-inch wheels. Quoted economy is 65.7mpg with CO2 emissions of 99g/km (grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre driven). However, stretch your budget to the Luxury model and you’ll also need to stretch your fuel allowance; its 17-inch alloys reduce efficiency to 64.2mpg (103g/km CO2). At the top of the Lexus IS range is the F Sport version. This has exactly the same engine and electric motor, but with 18-inch rims its claimed economy is 60.1mpg (109g/km CO2). That’s an increase of nearly 10% over the SE model – almost entirely because of those larger wheels and tyres. To put that in perspective, a driver covering 12,000 miles a year would spend £107 more on fuel for the F Sport than the IS 300h SE. Plus, annual car tax (VED) costs £20 – rather than being free. Same car, different wheelsNow let’s look at one of the IS’s rivals. The BMW 3 series is the UK’s bestselling large car, yet its maker quotes identical fuel economy and CO2 emissions for all models, whether with 17, 18 or 19-inch alloys. We believe Toyota and Lexus deserve credit for being upfront about fuel economy figures. It’s time other car companies followed suit.” I found this very interesting! I am also aware that another manufacturer adds a further small spoiler on its top of the range model purely for stying - it does look good, but in testing it actually reduces mpg and does nothing for the handling either! :think:

Have you seen this in the Technical Guides section? http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/248740-running-in-information/

Thanks Marty Mii - no more assumptions - the Sport and the Greentech suspensions ARE the same - only the wheels are different. So in the magazines the reviewers thinking the suspension was stiffer or harder is down to the wheels and tyres. Put in another way, its just the lack of flex in the lower profile tyre wall. Of course the extra comtact area will make a difference on the limit of cornering. Enjoy the codes everyone!!

I agree, but was wondering if the suspension codes were actually the same. Perhaps when you get yours, or anybody else who has a Sport, might like to see if the codes do tie up? Perhaps someone will have a code for a Citigo turbocharger that's fitted, then probably not!! :-)

A few prospective purchasers and newer owners might not be aware of some details I provided back in February relating to the factory design of the Greentech suspension. As you know the Greentech is already 15mm lower and checking the supplied information in the handbook, I also discovered that my August 2012 purchase of the Greentech was fitted with: '1JC = Rear shock absorption for sports design' This information is contained in code on the inside front page of the Service Schedule book shown alongside 'Special equipment'. It also has: 'L07 = Suspension range 07 installation control only, no requirement forecast' - whatever that means, but could be the other components of a stiffer suspension. Converting your own codes is quite fascinating and can be done with these on-line converters: http://igorweb.org/equidec/Default.aspx http://vag-codes.info/vag-option-codes I wonder if the only suspension difference on the Sport are the wheels and tyres?