Had an SE Tech delivered on Monday, thought I'd see what it's like to live with one for a week. I've driven the saloon version, had a 170 SE Lux a few months back so knew what the car was like to drive and all that - this demo came as a more in depth test. I'd ordered the SE Tech based on what the SE Lux was like anyway!
My regular work hack is a Citroen C5 Tourer - 1.6HDi 110.
First up the Exeo is smaller than I remembered it to be, I gather the new A4 platform is a little bigger? Haven't really looked into it to be honest.
The car appears to be a bog standard SE Tech with no options fitted. None of the packs, no xenons, nothing. It was registered 20th May 2011 and has the RNS-E Audio / Nav unit fitted.
This week I've spent 35 hours in the car (that's what the on-board told me anyway) driving from home to work (Hemel to Watford) and then work to various parts of SW London (Richmond, Twickenham, Clapham, Battersea, Streatham etc) and back home again. The nav is excellent - something which did come as a surprise to me as it doesn't do full postcodes, but now I understand the way it works it's not an issue, I was concerned it would be. If you take a wrong turn it re-routes you quickly and with no fuss. I usually use a TomTom One (my C5 is a pre-nav model) and have had a few wtf moments with it!
The Bose stereo kit sounds lovely. I connected my iPhone to it via the dock in the glovebox and it worked ok, guess I'll need to read the manual or play about with it some more to work out how to get the best from it, the interface isn't the most intuitive.
The auto lights and wipers work fine. The standard headlights aren't too bright but have a decent beam pattern, if I wasn't getting mine with xenons I'd upgrade the bulbs straight away. I also thought the SE Tech came with DRLs (non LED) and cornering fog lights - I've not looked too closely... Maybe they aren't activated?
The leather seats are firm but comfortable, and driving position is spot on. The steering is pretty heavy and stodgy, turn in is a bit slow but it grips faithfully with a bit of roll but at the end of the day it's on modest tyres and has the non sports suspension so I expected a bit of roll.
The common rail diesel engine is smooth and refined, if you boot it, it goes ok too. Gear shift is light but positive and I've only crunched it a few times
Fuel economy... Hmm. I guess 40mpg is all I'm going to get around town in lots of stopmand start traffic! It's only got 1600 miles on the clock so hopefully that will improve over time, and the last week for me has been exceptional - I've never done a week driving to and from SW London in that sort of traffic.
The boot seems big enough for all the crap I sometimes carry around in it.
I now know what to expect from the car - quite a handy demo.
It's different to the C5 in a lot of ways. I'd have another C5 in a heartbeat - mine has been perfect - but Citroen have pulled a lot of support from the contract hire deals and made them an expensive proposition (to replace mine would cost an extra £130 a month!).
The Exeo wasn't an obvious choice at first but the basic ST SE Tech was £100 a month cheaper so it seemed like a no brainer. The price went down a further £17 a month too - and by the time I'd added winter pack and xenons it was still a no brainer at £55 a month cheaper. Keeps the boss and the fleet manager (that's me) happy.
Am hoping for a good 3 years, hope I don't get a lemon
My regular work hack is a Citroen C5 Tourer - 1.6HDi 110.
First up the Exeo is smaller than I remembered it to be, I gather the new A4 platform is a little bigger? Haven't really looked into it to be honest.
The car appears to be a bog standard SE Tech with no options fitted. None of the packs, no xenons, nothing. It was registered 20th May 2011 and has the RNS-E Audio / Nav unit fitted.
This week I've spent 35 hours in the car (that's what the on-board told me anyway) driving from home to work (Hemel to Watford) and then work to various parts of SW London (Richmond, Twickenham, Clapham, Battersea, Streatham etc) and back home again. The nav is excellent - something which did come as a surprise to me as it doesn't do full postcodes, but now I understand the way it works it's not an issue, I was concerned it would be. If you take a wrong turn it re-routes you quickly and with no fuss. I usually use a TomTom One (my C5 is a pre-nav model) and have had a few wtf moments with it!
The Bose stereo kit sounds lovely. I connected my iPhone to it via the dock in the glovebox and it worked ok, guess I'll need to read the manual or play about with it some more to work out how to get the best from it, the interface isn't the most intuitive.
The auto lights and wipers work fine. The standard headlights aren't too bright but have a decent beam pattern, if I wasn't getting mine with xenons I'd upgrade the bulbs straight away. I also thought the SE Tech came with DRLs (non LED) and cornering fog lights - I've not looked too closely... Maybe they aren't activated?
The leather seats are firm but comfortable, and driving position is spot on. The steering is pretty heavy and stodgy, turn in is a bit slow but it grips faithfully with a bit of roll but at the end of the day it's on modest tyres and has the non sports suspension so I expected a bit of roll.
The common rail diesel engine is smooth and refined, if you boot it, it goes ok too. Gear shift is light but positive and I've only crunched it a few times
Fuel economy... Hmm. I guess 40mpg is all I'm going to get around town in lots of stopmand start traffic! It's only got 1600 miles on the clock so hopefully that will improve over time, and the last week for me has been exceptional - I've never done a week driving to and from SW London in that sort of traffic.
The boot seems big enough for all the crap I sometimes carry around in it.
I now know what to expect from the car - quite a handy demo.
It's different to the C5 in a lot of ways. I'd have another C5 in a heartbeat - mine has been perfect - but Citroen have pulled a lot of support from the contract hire deals and made them an expensive proposition (to replace mine would cost an extra £130 a month!).
The Exeo wasn't an obvious choice at first but the basic ST SE Tech was £100 a month cheaper so it seemed like a no brainer. The price went down a further £17 a month too - and by the time I'd added winter pack and xenons it was still a no brainer at £55 a month cheaper. Keeps the boss and the fleet manager (that's me) happy.
Am hoping for a good 3 years, hope I don't get a lemon
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