Peugeot and Citroën are increasing the price of your PureTech, but you won't like it…

Voted three times in a row as engine designer of the year between 2017 and 2019 by specialist and independent journalists thanks to a convincing 3-cylinder 1.2 turbo called PureTech, PSA which became Stellantis (2020) had probably not imagined the extent of the problem it would fall into 5 years later. The fault, in particular, is a timing belt immersed in oil which, instead of lasting longer thanks to natural humidification, has seen its lifespan collapse due to anticipated disintegration. Reliability problems on several counts because beyond a pure and simple breakage of the belt, it can, well before the maximum penalty, break down and damage other mechanical components. And we are not talking about simple and already significant problems of overconsumption of oil.

These serious design concerns have revealed themselves to concern an innumerable number of cars, because the variations of PureTech have been numerous, ranging from 68 hp (1.0 atmospheric in certain Citroën C3 and Peugeot 208) to 155 hp. Aware of its responsibility and found wanting by numerous plaintiffs, Stellantis finally reacted via several actionsranging from an extended warranty to, very recently, a compensation platform to manage premature degradation of the timing belt and excess oil consumption in a more structured manner.

€700 more…only

But for those who would simply like to change their car, without even having experienced the slightest problem – and who remain far more numerous than motorists who have been let down by their engine – the matter is quite different. How to manage the resale of a car whose engine is known to be prone to problems? The loss of confidence on the part of other potential buyers is very real, even on the part of automotive professionals. It's simple, even Autobiz, although partly owned by Stellantis, buys models equipped with PureTech engines cheaper than other brands!

To try to calm things down, Peugeot is the first to come out of the woods by putting in place an additional trade-in bonus. The condition is simple: bring back a model equipped with the 1.2 PureTech to buy a new hybrid car. Electrics are therefore not affected by this rebate, but the desire remains laudable. What is less obvious is the amount decided by Peugeot, which amounts to only €700, as revealed by our colleagues from L'Argus. Same story from Citroën with a “Boost PureTech” operation across the entire range. Even if, in the case of Chevrons, the amount is not fixed and varies from €500 to €750 and concerns the repurchase of both a thermal and hybrid, electric or rechargeable hybrid model.

However, in many cases, models equipped with 1.2 PureTech suffered a much greater discount than this painfully compensatory sumsometimes going up to 15 or 20% of the price of the car since the scandal grew. And the obligation to repurchase a significantly more expensive new car will also prevent a good number of customers from taking advantage of this proposition.