One year on and slowly falling out of love with my ds3

[kyarauk]

I've had my 15 plate black and emerald green 1.6 diesel ds3 for over a year now.
When looking at the car I fall in love everytime time but driving it, it's becoming a chore!

I've bought the car brand new, yet have been back to the citroen garage several times for the following:
- driver side window motor replacement
- investigating steering issues

So whilst the driver window is now all good, the steering problems continue. I've taken the car to two different Citroen delears and they all say there is no problem with the steering. I am not going mad.

The steering does not seem to be responsive when driving above 40 miles per hour, I feel as if the steering has a mind of its own and I fear ending up in a ditch with it. Has anyone had any issues with their steering so far?

My newly acquired problem is now the driver's door makes a popping noise when opened fully!

Please help me love my car again. Citroen will not do anything about the steering because of course when they connect the machine it does not say there is a problem. Should I take it back to the dealer and not leave there until they do something?

[Shiro]

The popping sound could be the door catch ribbon. I had the same issue and get an new one over warranty
But I can not help you with your steering problem. I did not encounter a comparable issue on my DS3, even when I drive 140 mph :confused:

[TypeDS3]

In the absence of the 'wise' who are at the show this weekend I hope I can give some reasonable advice!
Presumably the dealers you took the car to drove it? Connecting to a diagnostic tool won't tell the whole story, and I'm also wondering if you had the tyres and wheel alignment checked, as I would think that would be a factor? Does the fault occur on certain journeys in a particular type of condition?

[Chris_Blue]

My THP was like driving on ice bout 100mph on a track.

[cyclone]

The popping sound could be the door catch ribbon. I had the same issue and get an new one over warranty

I also had the front wing come out of alignment and the door would just catch on it making a popping sound, simply loosing the bolts and realigning the wing fixed it.

[DaveB]

Am I correct in thinking the DStyle Plus has 17" wheels? If so this may not be totally relevant, but I've recently replaced two tyres on my 120VTi with 16" wheels. As the old tyres were showing a wear pattern consistent with overinflation & in the past having had cars for which the tyre manufacturers' recommended pressures differed from the vehicle manufacturer's figures, I checked the Michelin website. For 16" wheels they recommend 2,2 bar for the fronts rather than the 2,4 Citroen recommends, so I decided to give it a try. One effect I've noticed is that the lower pressure gives the steering a much weightier feel at motorway speeds & a big improvement in feedback. May be worth a try.

[marinipersonal]

I bet on over-inflated tyres.
When using a extremely hard tyre (cheap) or over-inflated tyre, the feeling is somehow like driving an ordinary SUV, very numb feeling, extremely light, as if you don't have control of the car and running over a small object can make the car go slightly to any side. Checking the wearing of the tyres can confirm that, but will take a while to make it visible. As advised by DaveB, worthy checking the recommended figures from the tyre manufacturer.
A quick way to improve handling is reducing tyre pressure, not a lot, but by 2 or 3 psi, as when the tyre becomes hot, during a journey, naturally will increase those 2 or 3 psi back. But, don't reduce too much, obviously.
Over inflating will give you a better mpg, but as it's dangerous and put a lot of stress on the suspension and ruin the handling, not worthy.

[kyarauk]

I will take it to another citroen branch to look at the door and steering issue.

[kyarauk]

In the absence of the 'wise' who are at the show this weekend I hope I can give some reasonable advice!
Presumably the dealers you took the car to drove it? Connecting to a diagnostic tool won't tell the whole story, and I'm also wondering if you had the tyres and wheel alignment checked, as I would think that would be a factor? Does the fault occur on certain journeys in a particular type of condition?

Well they say they did, but I certainly did not see them doing it. So I am taking the car to another Citroen branch and will make sure I go with one of their mechanics for a drive. The steering situation occurs either on every journey.

[kyarauk]

I bet on over-inflated tyres.
When using a extremely hard tyre (cheap) or over-inflated tyre, the feeling is somehow like driving an ordinary SUV, very numb feeling, extremely light, as if you don't have control of the car and running over a small object can make the car go slightly to any side. Checking the wearing of the tyres can confirm that, but will take a while to make it visible. As advised by DaveB, worthy checking the recommended figures from the tyre manufacturer.
A quick way to improve handling is reducing tyre pressure, not a lot, but by 2 or 3 psi, as when the tyre becomes hot, during a journey, naturally will increase those 2 or 3 psi back. But, don't reduce too much, obviously.
Over inflating will give you a better mpg, but as it's dangerous and put a lot of stress on the suspension and ruin the handling, not worthy.

I still have the original tyres that came with the car and have always inflated them to the 2.4psi. I've done just over 20,000 miles on them so I perhaps need to change the tyres. The issue is, that I have had this problem since a couple of months after getting the car, so not sure it would be something to do with the tyre wear.

I am harassing Citroen again and I am going to make sure one of their mechanics test drives the car with me in it.

[Chris_Blue]

If the dealers say there is no issue, maybe ask a friend to drive it and see what they say...

[DaveB]

I still have the original tyres that came with the car and have always inflated them to the 2.4psi.

Silly question: is the gauge you are using to check the pressures accurate?

[kyarauk]

Silly question: is the gauge you are using to check the pressures accurate?

well it's the one from a petrol station, so I assume so

[DaveB]

well it's the one from a petrol station, so I assume so

Do you mean the one on the petrol station airline? Those things are notoriously inaccurate!

[Fenbops]

I got a 2012 DS3 with 20k on clock 6 months ago and can understand how you feel somewhat. It's a wonderful car to look at but since I've had it, it's been back the dealership 4 times for steering problems. Mine was making a noise when turning the wheel which still isn't 100% fixed as they can't find a problem each time I take it in. Sometimes it's lovely to drive, others it feels heavy and sluggish.

I guess the best way to fall in love with your car again is to get your steering fixed, maybe take it somewhere other than Citroen? You shouldn't really have to after just over a year tho.