So now I’ve never really seen myself as driving a family wagon and if you’d ever suggested I get a Toyota Torago I would’ve cringed and said “Never in my life”. So when I went to pick up the Picasso I was a bit apprehensive as to how I would feel but after five days of driving around in the CITROËN I feel just as excited, sporty and luxurious as I did on Day 1. I don’t feel like I’m driving a wagon and it sure doesn’t look like a 7 seater troop carrier from the outside. All my friends keep commenting on how gorgeous, stylish and compact it looks and I totally agree, we’ve all just fallen in love with it.

So after our trip down south and we’re on Day 6, we’ve driven a total of 700km and I still have 1/4 tank in fuel. I would never get this amount of km’s from my Falcon and that only carries five people. I didn’t notice any difference in the driving of the car with 2 or 7 passengers, which is great. On our last day away it poured rain all day on and off and it was just amazing how the wipers would automatically come on and off and go fast or slow depending on the strength of the rainfall. My husband drove home and was very happy with the wipers, he could concentrate more on using the speed limiter (which is good as he can sometimes be a little lead foot). Its great how you can quickly put a limit on the car and it won’t go past that limit even if your foot is flat to the ground. This is awesome when going through school zones.

Last night my daughter had soccer and we got to bring home the big soccer ball, which she was just over the moon about. As you’ll see from the photo, the ball is big and we never get to take it home in our sedan cause it just won’t fit, but with the two back seats down it fit in easily and still with the soccer bag, camp chair and more!
I keep finding more and more things I love about this car and am not looking forward to the day I have to return it! So far it’s been the perfect car for my family and I.

There is one more thing I have to mention that I just love about this car and it’s the ECO drive! This is a device that stops the car at every intersection or stop sign or just whenever you brake and stop. Its a counter to save petrol and energy and I feel like I’m helping save the ozone layer every time it’s on and this makes me feel good!

I forgot to mention how often I use the cameras when reversing or parking. Today they even came in handy when someone in front of me was reversing as I could signal to them just how far back they could come without hitting me. They are fantastic when parking at the shopping centre and the 360 degree camera shows you just how straight you are parked, which is sometimes hard to tell by looking at the car next to you, as they’re usually on a ridiculous angle, which was the case today. I was sure I wasn’t parked straight and the camera was wrong but when I got out I saw the car next to me wasn’t parked straight at all, I was secretly pleased by the CITROËN again.

As our review period with the Picasso winds down, the whole family are feeling fraught at the thought of squeezing back in to the hatchback again this week (and what will I do without Park Assist?

Both my husband and I have REALLY enjoyed driving this car and the kids have loved travelling in it too. We’ve been SO surprised that a ‘People Mover’ could become our new most-wanted, and I’d say this new CITROËN Picasso will be a bit of a game-changer in the category.

Today for the first time we filled every seat, and with two 7-year olds in the 3rd row, it was a comfortable and fun ride for everyone. My extremely tall brother-in-law was quite shocked at how much leg-room he had in the middle (quite rare apparently). When there’s just the five of us though, the huge boot is fantastic- and we are big fans of the under-floor storage too.

It took the 7 year-old to show me how to use the pull-up shades on the passenger windows, and combined with the transparent roof (with electric shade covering) and the individual air-con. controls, this is a lovely car to be a passenger in.

For a driver, as well as being superb to handle, the dash-board is loaded with EVERYTHING you want. The Bluetooth phone connectivity is brilliant, the integrated GPS is easy to work on the move (while stationary I mean!) and the option of digital radio is an awesome added bonus.

The fact that these great features come in such a safe, fuel efficient car is what is most important to me though. Front, side and middle row airbags, ABS, 5 star ANCAP rating.I’m very happy to have my family travelling in the Picasso.

It’s made a such a difference driving a car so perfectly suited to our needs (as well as our wants) for the last ten days. I highly recommend the CITROËN Grand C4 Picasso as the ultimate city family car, and as for us, we’re seriously considering a French addition to the family!

E, A & the Kids. x

Yesterday we went to basketball in the morning and my husband decided to use the manual gear shift. He has always loved driving manual cars so enjoyed being able to shift through the gears himself and it was a very smooth ride!
In the afternoon we went for a lovely drive out to some mountains going through suburbs on the way and back through the hills and rural areas on the way back. We set the speed limiter on which is great if you like being warned when you may be a few km over. We also turned on the blind spot feature which I personally love! It shouldn’t take away from doing your head checks etc but it was comforting to see the red spot light up on the mirror when a car was in the spot.
We started the drive with my nearly 3yo and 6yr old in the middle row in their Maxi Rider seats and my 8yo in the back row. After driving for about 30 mins Miss 8 decided it wasn’t very comfortable as she was feeling tired so she moved to the 3rd seat in the middle and said that was much more comfortable. I think the back row seats are good if you have extras to drive around but otherwise I would use them only for short trips. This is good actually as with the back row seats in use there is no way we could fit all the luggage we would need if we went away but with them down we could easily! We will test this next weekend when we go away for the weekend It also makes me feel safer as I can never get over the fact with any car with a tiny boot and little room between the back seats that in a rear-collision (someone hitting the back of us if we are stationery) that it would be more dangerous for the people in the back row. Trust me I don’t know how true this is and I’m sure this car has great safety features but being a Mum (and an avid watcher of Car crash shows etc) I still worry about this.
It really is the most comfortable ride though the head rest just doesn’t feel completely right when I lean my head back on it. The kids love the trays in the back of the seats and were storing their iPODS in them though the constant opening and closing of them got a bit annoying (a novelty I’m sure would wear off lol). Both my older girls also discovered a love of the window sun shades!!
The eco mode where the car turns off when stopped at lights etc is very strange but a feature I really like! As a driver of cars in the past that liked to stall when stopped at lights (auto’s with issues) whenever it did that for the first bit of the trip I instantly thought it had died; but then quickly remembered it was just the car being smart Even with that mode enabled the car still has power when you take off.
We have also discovered that the car is a big talking point!!! When we were stopped in a small town having some food a couple parked next to us commented on how new the car looked. We then spent the next 10 minutes chatting to them and showing them all of the cars features etc
The only thing I discovered yesterday was that when scrolling through the list of radio stations using the up and down arrows it would often jump way past where you wanted to be. When I used my finger to scroll though it wasn’t as touchy and when where I wanted it to.
Today my husband took the kids out to some local places and used the reverse park assist for the first time! He loved it!! He said it is strange/different to just sit there, put the car into reverse or drive and have it do the rest!! I will get to try this out tomorrow when I do School drop off for the first time where all the parking is reverse parallel.

a friend of mine has this car and i have ridden in it many times with her. its such a smooth ride, its easy to drive, it is roomy so all the kids and their bikes and toys fit in comfortably and it runs well. it has a stylish look and is definitely a head turner. the bonus 6 year warranty is reassuring and it comes at a decent and very affordable price

With the bub # 3 on the way it was time for an upgrade. After extensive research, taking into consideration safety features, size, price, efficiency and ease of driving, the Citroen Grand Picasso certainly made the short-list. After taking it, and some other cars, for test drives it easily topped the list, and we signed on the bottom line.

We have now had it for over a month now and couldn’t be happier. It is by far the nicest car I have been in, and it’s ours! Some of the features I love are:

* Room for all three children in the back, side by side. I have a 3 year old, a 1.5 year old and a newborn, so they are all in appropriate car seats. My 3 year old is in a slimline car seat, but they all still fit in comfortably.
* Fuel efficient – with the eco setting that turns the car off when idle for over 1 second, the car has received the top green rating for fuel efficiency and emissions. The car dealer also noted that with the car running in the showroom, and standing behind it, you still can’t smell any diesel fumes.
* Smooth ride – especially if you get the lounge pack upgrade (which we did!) to get the massage chairs!
* The electrics – just be careful to not get distracted by all the cool dash controls!
* Heaps of space – even with the back two seats up (making it a 7 seater) there is still room in the back for groceries etc.

I could go on, but won’t, aside to say that I definitely recommend this car for families. Just one note, if you do get this car allow for 3 months (at least in WA, not sure about over east) for the car to get built and sent across. Well worth the wait!

Well our lovely 10 day trial period came to an end on Monday and straight away I was missing all the lovely extra features! Upon hoping into my old car I was startled to see just how much heavier it is to drive! It’s not something you notice when you always drive it (already it’s all normal again) but the difference that first day was HUGE! I miss the ease of which I could park the Picasso (by myself that is) and just everything!!!
My eldest daughter keeps looking up at the roof expecting to see the trees and then remembers lol!

I and my family would like to thank Mouth of Mums and Bayford CITROËN for giving us this amazing experience!

Well as our time comes to an end we are feeling a little sad we have to return the car tomorrow as it has become a part of our family. It was great again today when went to soccer and had to return the big ball and also fit everything else in.

I’ve been fiddling with the buttons on the steering wheel even more and keep finding more little things that they do like changing the dashboard screen to a lovely photo of the mountains which can be quite surreal with screaming kids in the car sometimes!

I also love the space between chairs and felt like I was in a recliner when I sat in the middle row with the kids the other day. The chairs recline backwards and it is so much more comfortable with still enough leg room in the back two seats. The kids love sitting in the far back, they think it’s special.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our weekend which include our mini over-night stay at the beautiful Phillip Island!

After watching our daughter and her basketball team win their grand final yesterday (YAYAYAYAYAY) we came home to put all our bags etc (yes even for 1 night you need a lot with 3 kids) in the back of the car. There was a heap of space!!! Obviously if the rear seats were in use we wouldn’t have had it all but without them the space is ample! There is also a lot of leg room for kids in the middle row and for their bags! They each had a bag with their “necessities” for the trip on the floor and it wasn’t squashy at all. I have to say it’s also a lot easier to find dummies that have been thrown on the floor in the Picasso than it is in any other car I’ve ever been in!!!

The Picasso is such a pleasure to drive on freeways! It’s not like a lot of older cars where you can hear the whoosh of the wind like the windows are open. It’s just nice and quiet!
My husband used the cruise control which works a treat and also used the speed alerts which makes a loud noise if you go over the set speed limit by a few km’s. Always a good thing to have just in case.

The fuel economy is amazing too! We put in $20 of diesel on our way to Phillip Island just because we figured it would be cheaper here than there and that’s probably all we used. With that $20 we still have over 1/4 tank and that’s after 9 days of driving everywhere including a few hours on the 3rd day going over the hills etc and then a trip to the beach and back.

We also used the navigation system a bit just to see how it worked and I have to admit it does annoy me a bit. It will get you where you need to go fine but it’s how they talk sometimes and the directions that just seem a little bit odd to me. For example today on the way home we were coming down a straight section of road towards an intersection where you can turn left with a give way sign or go straight or right with lights. As we were going straight, instead of saying go straight (or nothing as that’s the way we were already going) it says “At the next fork in the road veer right” or similar to that. Just seems a bit silly to me as it’s not exactly a fork in the road and could be rather confusing if you were in an unfamiliar location. We also noticed that at an intersection where there used to be a roundabout; it still thought there was a roundabout and was telling us to take the 2nd exit, even though the lights were put in around 12 months ago.

All in all though it was lovely to be able to travel in the CITROËN Grand C4 Picasso on our trip! It handles the roads so well no matter what the surface!

One feature that would be nice that is apparently only available in the Picasso with leather interior is the electric lumbar support and massage function. Oh that would’ve been lovely to use!!!

Have put up photos of the beautiful car in the sunset and near the beach

Yesterday morning I got in the car alone and drove to the gym, I had the most surreal feeling. I felt that I was actually driving my own car, it felt comfortable and like home, I no longer felt that I was driving someone else’s car and it felt great! I must say I never expected a car to have such an impact on me but it has. I really enjoy getting in it each day and finding new little features.

Today it was the fact that I could leave my phone in my bag and still make a call or listen to music through the bluetooth. Also that the scroll buttons on each side of the steering wheel control just about everything on the touch screen, like the radio, calls, changing stations or devices and so on.

I’ve also found so many little storage places for books or glasses and wallets, like under the steering wheel and under the front chairs.

Yesterday was spent running errands and shopping and with 5 in the car, a large stroller, a camp chair and baby bag, I still easily fit all my shopping with plenty of space left for more! Normally in the Falcon (which has a decent size boot) I struggle to fit all the shopping in with the pram, so this was a huge bonus.

Most days we’ve had at least 6 in the car at least once and the only thing I have found to be not perfect is the middle seatbelt in the second row of seats. My mother in law was in the middle seat and when she took the belt of it retracted quite quickly back up into the roof and knocking my 3year old in the face on the way through! Who was in the seat next to her.

In Perth over the last week our weather has been all over the place so we’ve really got the best use from all the sun shades on the side and the sunroof, then it starts to rain so down they all come and ready for the automatic wipers. These little everyday features really make a difference in making life that little bit easier and of course, 1 less job for busy mum!!

My family think I’m a little bit crazy over how much I’m enjoying the simplicity of having this car, every time we go out I’m going on and on about which features I’m using at that moment and oh oh oh, just watch me reverse into that tiny spot again, without even putting my hands on the wheel!! LOL the joys of Park Assist.

I love driving the Grand Picasso and it truly makes my day easier, if only my home had this many quick and easy to use features!!!