Citroen C4 Spacetourer Review (2018-present)

One of the last of a dying breed. Once upon a time, car manufacturers couldn’t make MPVs fast enough; today, SUVs such as the Citroen C5 Aircross, which has effectively replaced the C4 Spacetourer, reign supreme.

That means five-seat MPVs are all but obsolete these days. But for buyers seeking practicality, they still make a lot of sense, as they offer more space than an SUV or a conventional hatchback, and more versatile seating.

The C4 Spacetourer’s boot isn’t quite as large as that of its biggest rival, the Volkswagen Golf SV, but at 537 litres, it’s still pretty big, and there’s more room than you'd find in most family hatchbacks.

The three individual rear seats can fold flat, so their backs are level with the floor, and they can slide back and forth to increase boot space at the expense of rear seat legroom. The front passenger seat folds down, too, which is helpful for extra-long loads.

All three rear seats have Isofix mounts (most cars only offer these on the outer two seats) and they're wide enough to accommodate most child car seats, so you can fit three young children abreast, something that can’t be said for most MPVs, let alone SUVs or hatchbacks.

Pretty average, really. There’s plenty of grip, but the suspension is quite soft, so the body leans over during corners and, together with the over-assisted power steering, that makes the C4 Spacetourer fairly anodyne to drive quickly.

Most MPV drivers won’t care about that, and neither should they. The ride comfort is much more important, and it's decent enough at speed, but you can get caught out by niggly little bumps and rough patches of tarmac on rural roads.

Each of the C4 Spacetourer’s engines is up to the job, offering decent mid-range punch, but they’re also quite noisy. The manual gearbox is a bit vague, so the automatic is a better option if you can stretch to it, despite its capacity to get flummoxed if you prod the throttle hard.

Only two versions of the C4 Spacetourer were offered during its relatively short life. The cheapest is the Touch Edition, which is well equipped for an entry-level model, with alloy wheels, cruise control, rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and wipers, dual-zone climate control, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The top model is the Feel Exclusive, which comes fully loaded with a widescreen infotainment system, including satnav, a reversing camera, half-leather upholstery, a powered tailgate, aircraft-style trays on the backs of the front seats, window blinds for the rear seats, underfloor storage and even massaging front seats.

However, if you want adaptive cruise control or heated front seats – both of which come as standard on some rivals – then you’ll have to pay extra no matter which model you choose.

As we mentioned, the most efficient C4 Spacetourer is the diesel with the manual gearbox, which should average fuel consumption of around 45-50 mpg. Choosing the automatic will shave 3-4 mpg off that.

With a manual gearbox, you’ll get close to 40mpg from the petrol engine, and again, the automatic will shave off around 2-3mpg.

These aren’t horrendous fuel economy figures, but neither do they compare that well to those of the Volkswagen Golf SV or the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, and that means the Citroen will set you back a little more at the pumps.

The manufacturer offers fixed-price servicing and repairs on its older cars after the warranty has expired, which will help to reduce costs if you want your C4 Spacetourer serviced at a Citroen dealership. Expect to pay around £180 for a minor service, and £300 for a major one, alternating between the two every other year.

Both of the C4 Spacetourer’s engines use rubber timing belts, which need to be changed every few years so they don't degrade and cause serious engine damage. The diesel engine’s belt should be changed after five years or 125,000 miles, while the petrol engine should go no more than six years or 60,000 miles between changes.

Expect to pay upwards of £500 for a belt change, which is quite expensive compared with other manufacturers. Some of the C4 Spacetourer’s rivals use metal timing chains instead of belts, and they shouldn’t need to be changed at all, eliminating one semi-regular (and very costly) bill.

The C4 Spacetourer does not have a blemish-free reliability record: far from it. It finished in second from bottom spot in the MPVs category in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey and, in the preceding years, it came either last or second-to-last.

As with all Citroens, the C4 Spacetourer came with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, which is about the bare minimum these days. By comparison, the Kia Carens's seven-year warranty is much more impressive.

Problems tend to vary in nature, but electrical glitches are the commonest, and can take the form of dashboard warning lights that pop up repeatedly, odd behaviour of the dash-top screen that displays the car’s speed and other driving information and malfunctioning touchscreens, among others.

Mechanical issues are not unknown, either. Injectors and air-conditioning condensers seem to be particular weak spots. Citroen’s PureTech petrol engines, as fitted to the C4 Spacetourer, have become known for timing belt issues: it can break up if it's not changed soon enough. Because the belt runs through the engine oil to keep it lubricated, this means miniscule pieces of rubber are deposited into the oil, which clog up the filter, or worse still, circulate through the engine and pump. For this reason, it’s imperative to ensure any C4 Spacetourer has had its timing belt changed on time, if not earlier than specified.