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bncomps

Member

Registered: 2025-07-31

Posts: 4

My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

Hi all,

I bought a 2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise 1.6HDi earlier this year for £3,000 with the intention of making it a camper. It had just under 80k miles on the clock and has well maintained bodywork and interior. The seller was nice and we went for a test driver with no issues, it looked like a well looked after van. It is also now my everyday vehicle after selling my car.

It has been a rocky and expensive start to ownership, to say the least! In the first month of owning it I had to replace the battery which was drained beyond depair and also the DPF, after the diesel particulate warning alert came up whilst driving. I then had a full service and MOT in April, which revealed that there was a oil leak from the turbo and a power steering fluid leak.

The leaks were tidied up and wiped off and appeared to have slowed down, so silly old me ignored them for the time being. Then, around a month ago I find myself driving whilst huge plumes of smoke cascade out of the exhaust. I manage to get to a local garage and it is diagnosed as a turbocharger failure, as well as leakage from the oil sump and transmission. I agree to have the work done which also included a DPF clean which is mandatory with turbo replacement.

When the guys take out the DPF to clean they discover that the previous garage who had 'fixed' the DPF earlier in the year had simply drilled a series of holes in it – this fixed the fault temporarily but has now ended with this catastrophic turbo failure.

The work has been completed and to be honest, the van is driving better than ever – feels super smooth with plenty of power. I still need to sort the power steering leak and then I should be good to go for the foreseeable (fingers crossed!).

Apart from the mechanical failures, I really do love this van. It's the perfect size to camp in on nights away or at festivals and I love the added extras such as the rear parking sensors and cruise control that I haven't had on previous vans.

I'm feeling a little down about it all currently, as I'm now in for £7k+ and feel like I'm haemorrhaging money. I can't (and don't really want to) sell it after doing this work as I know I could buy something else that would end up having it's own issues.

Anyone else been in a similar situation and decided to stick it out?

OAT

Member

From: Borders/Dales

Registered: 2017-01-03

Posts: 1,007

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

After finally having to get rid of my expert which had been virtually perfect apart from wear and tear for 7 years,  I spent over 3 times what the Expert cost me for a Honda with a fault that four garages haven't been able to fix. Including a main dealer!

Love it apart from the cold start problem, and lack of power plus low mpg compared to the Expert.  But it's cost me as much in mechanics bills in 6 months and still not fixed.

kenbw2

Administrator

From: Preston

Registered: 2017-11-26

Posts: 1,582

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

As soon as I saw 1.6HDi I knew what was coming. Those Ford engines are the exception to the bulletproof Peugeot/Citroen diesel engines and are notorious for turbocharger failure

But it's sorted now (at much expense, I know). The important thing with those engines is to very regularly service the oil

Welcome to the forum! Would be happy to see pics of your new van

As for anyone else spending more than it's worth - that ship sailed for me years ago. I've similarly had a turbo replacement done, and essentially the entire back end rebuilt last year to resolve all the corrosion

Very happy with it. Economical as a daily driver and like you say the perfect size

---

2000 Citroen Dispatch 1.9TD XUD9 Camper Conversion
1999 Citroen Dispatch 1.9D DW8 Disassembled Camper Conversion
1996 Peugeot 806 1.9TD XUD9 Spare vehicle
1998 Citroen Synergie 1.9TD XUD9 Snapped timing belt

tee_cee

Member

Registered: 2016-03-18

Posts: 627

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

Yes been there. I spent more in the first year on my 2015 2.0, that I spent on the MK1 the previous 5 years - and that included the cost of the van. Unfortunately I did not find out about the issue until the first trip to France after spending 3 months on the conversion. The same as you, I was seduced by the upgrades - 130BHP vs 70BHP, aircon, cruise control, (pseudo) AWD and the (tiny) extra clearance from the ground.
In my case the DPF was cracked due to 4 worn injectors clogging it up. This took the best part of a year to get fixed, including the useless dealer technician guessing all the way.
I would suggest that you get hold of something to monitor the DPF regens to avoid getting blocked. Try out FAPLITE in the Amazon App Store, to see if it supports your ECU, before paying for the full version.

bncomps

Member

Registered: 2025-07-31

Posts: 4

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

After finally having to get rid of my expert which had been virtually perfect apart from wear and tear for 7 years,  I spent over 3 times what the Expert cost me for a Honda with a fault that four garages haven't been able to fix. Including a main dealer!

Love it apart from the cold start problem, and lack of power plus low mpg compared to the Expert.  But it's cost me as much in mechanics bills in 6 months and still not fixed.

That's unlucky! I hope you manage to get the problem sorted sooner rather than later.

Last edited by bncomps (2025-08-05 12:02:44)

bncomps

Member

Registered: 2025-07-31

Posts: 4

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

As soon as I saw 1.6HDi I knew what was coming. Those Ford engines are the exception to the bulletproof Peugeot/Citroen diesel engines and are notorious for turbocharger failure

But it's sorted now (at much expense, I know). The important thing with those engines is to very regularly service the oil

Welcome to the forum! Would be happy to see pics of your new van

As for anyone else spending more than it's worth - that ship sailed for me years ago. I've similarly had a turbo replacement done, and essentially the entire back end rebuilt last year to resolve all the corrosion

Very happy with it. Economical as a daily driver and like you say the perfect size

Thanks, that's good to know re the oil. I will be having it serviced every year to keep on top of all the maintenance it needs. If nothing I have now learnt to be more alert to any issues and not to ignore the warning signs!

What measures do you take to try and prevent rust? The underneath of my van looks to be in decent condition, there is a little bit of rust on the sub frame currently and I know it will deteriorate over time.

Last edited by bncomps (2025-08-05 12:10:35)

bncomps

Member

Registered: 2025-07-31

Posts: 4

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

Yes been there. I spent more in the first year on my 2015 2.0, that I spent on the MK1 the previous 5 years - and that included the cost of the van. Unfortunately I did not find out about the issue until the first trip to France after spending 3 months on the conversion. The same as you, I was seduced by the upgrades - 130BHP vs 70BHP, aircon, cruise control, (pseudo) AWD and the (tiny) extra clearance from the ground.
In my case the DPF was cracked due to 4 worn injectors clogging it up. This took the best part of a year to get fixed, including the useless dealer technician guessing all the way.
I would suggest that you get hold of something to monitor the DPF regens to avoid getting blocked. Try out FAPLITE in the Amazon App Store, to see if it supports your ECU, before paying for the full version.

Has anyone ever had a good experience with a dealer technician?

I have ordered an OBDII reader and will try to find a compatible app. Thank you very much for the tip, that's really helpful!

kenbw2

Administrator

From: Preston

Registered: 2017-11-26

Posts: 1,582

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

What measures do you take to try and prevent rust? The underneath of my van looks to be in decent condition, there is a little bit of rust on the sub frame currently and I know it will deteriorate over time.

Haha "prevent" . Don't buy a van that lived most of its life in the Scottish islands. Now I just deal with it as it becomes a problem

Rust converter is my friend when I want to try to stop things getting worse

---

2000 Citroen Dispatch 1.9TD XUD9 Camper Conversion
1999 Citroen Dispatch 1.9D DW8 Disassembled Camper Conversion
1996 Peugeot 806 1.9TD XUD9 Spare vehicle
1998 Citroen Synergie 1.9TD XUD9 Snapped timing belt

OAT

Member

From: Borders/Dales

Registered: 2017-01-03

Posts: 1,007

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

That's unlucky! I hope you manage to get the problem sorted sooner rather than later.

At a bit of a loss as to who to try.  I will have to get it done before winter though.

Mechanics, like most things, aren't what they used to be.

tee_cee

Member

Registered: 2016-03-18

Posts: 627

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

That's unlucky! I hope you manage to get the problem sorted sooner rather than later.

At a bit of a loss as to who to try.  I will have to get it done before winter though.

Mechanics, like most things, aren't what they used to be.

I was in a similar situation, and eventually chose to go to the dealers. My thinking was that I could leverage off the manufacturers to get a resolution and I would refuse to take it back until it was fixed. Things got so bad that they started to screen out my calls, and several times I contacted to dealership head office to get things moving. Boy did they hate me.
Of course it was expensive to pay for the parts bingo, however I asked for a contribution from Peugeot, and got 25% off the bill, which was something.

OAT

Member

From: Borders/Dales

Registered: 2017-01-03

Posts: 1,007

Re: My expensive journey so far (2013 Citroen Dispatch Enterprise)

The response of main dealers has been unbelievable.

I describe this elsewhere in my post pleading for advice.

Last edited by OAT (2025-08-07 14:05:25)