Real Road Test: 2001 Peugeot Partner (Citroen Berlingo) NON Turbo Diesel. 

Perfect vehicle for Slash from Guns n Roses, room for his amps and guitars and he doesn’t even need to take his hat off.

We’ve got a 03 berlingo in the family that’s been truly dependable. Airport runs, tip runs and dog walks are a breeze. Oh and it only cost £700. Great review Ian!

I spent four years driving a bog-standard white diesel Berlingo van for a Scottish utilities company in all weathers, up mountain tracks, along motorways, along mudtracks in the middle of nowhere, to farms and even around cities and housing estates - notching up about 35,000 miles each year. The 2 seater vehicle was fairly austere really, a bit sluggish with an 'eau de diesel' smelling interior, and all the usual scratches and dings normal for hard working fleet vehicles. I even added a few of my own. It was not too uncomfortable, felt pretty solid and stuck to the roads well, even the heater worked well. It broke down a few times, but never anything serious. Seemed to wear out tyres fast, probably because the company was too mean to buy decent ones. I never thought for a moment that I might like one as personal transport, but on holiday to Malta in 2010 I was met at the airport by the very nice Citroen Berlingo version of the one you are driving, being used as a taxi vehicle. It was comfortable and very practical. I liked it! But on looking them up back home found they weren't cheap.

I bought my 2001 Citroen Berlingo Forte 1.9d modutop, in 2015 for £500 with 82,000 miles. It’s still going strong to this day with 138,500. I get 50mpg out of it, can’t fault it. Fantastic car!

This is making me nostalgic. I had an early 2003 facelift 2.0hdi Berlingo for 9 years and it was fantastic ❤️

2012 and 2015 berlingos I owned were great - I was chatting to a friend and they instantly said they would make a good microcamper and now I'm really tempted !!

Ian doing his thing! Having a camera person really helps. Love these car reviews!

Some brilliant camera work from M.H. 👏

I enjoy your vids. It's harmless enjoyment, and soothing.

Loved the look of the C15.

Excellent Review as always, I can see you getting one of these to join the fleet. My mother in law is getting the up to date Rifter on the Mobility Scheme to transport my father in law in his wheel chair.

Love how Ian does the pichoo and trusts the missus to zoom in the camera to the nearest badge at the same time. Teamwork.

A friend of mine has one of these in gold with a gold and green interior. It is glorious.

Must agree so much with Tiago love my tip runs But i;m 78 and hate the dribble have uprated the headlightbulbs .love your reports .you both keep safe &Keep em posted.

I have absolutely no need for one of these - but you've made me want one! 🙂

Hi hubnut, i have made previous comments on ur vlogs about u getting one of these. I have been driving for47 yrs and had many many cars. Loved the 2cv abd Renault 4 and 6. To me this is the “modern day” equivalent. I currently own an 07 Berlingo 1.6 16v petrol, in my mind far the best engine. 115bhp will pull from 40 in 5th gear and will cruise at 80 no problem. Around town 35mpg on a long run I have had 42mpg. Much more reliable and simple to work on than diesels. None of them can tow much so this petrol is very sprightly but also very torquey. Its a silky smooth and silent engine. I really wanted the modutop but are rare. I have fitted some heated seats😂. Had mine 5 yrs. the chassis and ride are lovely as petrol engine is lighter than diesel it handles well. Done 120k now, drives perfectly, coming up for clutch.i have used it to go back forwards to spain/portugal, skip runs, double bed move. 3 mountain bikes and 3 passengers all inside the vehicle not on a rack. The bodywork is great no rust. Underneath still excellent. I believe a weakness may be the rear torsion bar but atm mines fine. I am going to keep this until its a relic like yuor 2cv. I am going to make a microcamper kit as on many vlogs. It quite simply is a lovely car but with no trinkets hence its reliability. I regularly get ragged in the pub about it but have lent it to a few. The result is all are impressed. U said it yourself as a family vehicle its unbeatable. Go to the canary islands they are everywhere along with 2cv and R4s..they are holding their price well. If u can try 1.6 petrol its “almost “ fast. I do all my own servicing and it really is a doddle, so much room to work in. I wanted to fit full length webasto sun roof but cant find anyone to do it. Definately a future icon classic. I echo all the good things you say but honestly the 1.6 115bhp is the best of all worlds imo😁😁

Perfect vehicle for the hubnut family Another great video has always Ian and miss hubnut and hublets and hubmutts 👍

Clutch on mine was completley jiggered at 53K, they do take a bit of getting used to especially hill starts in traffic. I was quite suprised the Bonnet release on the pre facelift model is on the Drivers side as I assumed like mine they were all positioned on the left. Would be great to bring it along to a Hubnut social if you ever have one planed for the Midlands area in the future. Great Video from a well seasoned Berlingo owner.

I had a Y plate Citroen Berlingo 1.4. Loved it (it was a true Hubnut special too!) My son still thinks it's the best car I've had and his favourite. Wish I'd kept it 😢

I had a very early Berlingo van on a 'P' plate, 1.9D for work purposes. Absolutely lovely thing it was and did the job admirably. Last time a looked a couple of years ago, it was still on the road too!

Brilliant video Ian 👍 brilliant car plenty storage

I had a 2006 C15, the DW8B in that was only rated at 60hp as I recall. My 2015 Berlingo is a far cry from the C15, and really good on fuel too. If the funds existed, I'd be down to the Citroen showroom tomorrow to buy a new Multispace. Why anyone settles for the compromised space of an SUV baffles me, especially as they never seem to be used off road, so carting the extra drive train around as well seems largely pointless as too. SUV's, a triumph of marketing over common sense.

I used to work for a bus company that had a Berlingo van that I drove a lot. Absolutely ragged it across the wilds of Yorkshire, going out to my bus, and absolutely loved it. It just soaked up the abuse - I was actually quite kind to it, compared to some of the other drivers. It was quick enough, supple and nimble - you could even use a bit of judicious left foot braking to pivot it into a corner

Your "Triangle of Doom" makes perfect sense - great review

That’s actually an appealing car/MPV. I had a 1999 Xsara coupe and that dash looks so familiar. Bombproof engines too! The Epic Dribble Of Disappointment is definitely the King Of Wiper Dispair

I always liked the look of these, especially the facelift version. So much more practical than an SUV. I could imagine doing a touring holiday in one of these. That triangle of doom is almost as good as the one on my Renault Zoe. Thank you for the review 😀👍

The review I was waiting for... You ticked all the boxes for what I wanted to know Mr Nut. I'm still none the wiser on which I would go for should I require a van/camper, but that's not your fault. Great review, as always. If you get the chance to, could I request a late 90s Corolla or Avensis review? I'd love to see one of those, would also say the same for the early 00s version of the Corolla.

A great informative review, instant subscribe

A mate of mine has had his Berlingo 2.0 Hdi for year's & it been brilliant.

A printers I worked for had two vans, a Merc Sprinter and a Berlingo. The Merc was great but around London the Berlingo was brilliant. Us drivers were a little disappointed by the performance of the little van until we found that the slack had not been taken out of the throttle cable.... Easy to drive, easy to maintain, very comfortable and handled well. Yeah, I remember the Berlingo with great affection. Nice one Ian, enjoyed that.

Love this. Classic HubNut 😂

As you know, I've constantly been recommending this as a family car. It's perfect IMO Great review

Enjoyed the vid Ian & Carly

I had the use of a Partner (Van) for my job, W reg with the 1.9 na and I can confirm that moving swiftly was not it's strong point, but what it lacked in pace it made up for in ride, comfort and space but then I had spent many many years in Escort Van's which in comparison were tiny cramped little vans if ultimately slightly faster top end than the Partner, those multispace's were once everywhere filled with school kids and dog's but it is now a rare spot, good video 👍

I borrowed a Berlingo van for a while, around 12-13 yrs ago. It was alright - handled well, and had sufficient go. It was a full on van, so a bit boomy though. We’re looking at replacements for my wife’s ancient VW Polo - and this is near the top of the list!

I have a 2005 model Berlingo that I have owned since 2008. With regular servicing and oil changes like all diesel engines need it has been super reliable. By taking out the 60/40 split rear seat and winding the front passenger seat backrest flat I have even carried 8ft scaffolding boards inside it! I guarantee you won't get Miss Hubnut out of it when she has passed her driving test if you get one!

I have a Peugeot rifter Auto 130 hp quick enough for me to get a few points on licence lol and I must say I love it , wife's wheelchair in the back and still loads of room , great visibility too

A perfect summing up of the Berlingo I've had my present van for about 5 years now a 1.9d with over 180.000miles so far always starts and covers loads of miles in comfort (Wm Croatia with large folding camper) like a big 2cv 😁

Our family never had a Berlingo, but a Xsara Picasso. The car was used as a minibus, removal van, window cleaners car and a car boot sale stock transporter. It’s amazing the space you can find in a Citroen.

Replacement for the superb Citreon C15 model! Romahome love these as a base chassis model!! The 1.9 Diesel gave excellent mpg for size and weight. A lovely drive and very practical! 🖖

Happy memories of two 1.9D Berlingo vans before I bought a brand spanking new 2.0 HDI van at the end of 2004. Kept that for many years until I had to let it go. But I still own a 2004 Romahome 2.0HDI. I also briefly had a Partner 1.6 petrol combi for a few months but that wasn't as nice as the HDI I ran parallel. The 1.6 petrol is fine in my 206s but in the Partner it did not feel at home. Could have been that particular one of course. Must get the Romahome out again soon...

I think I've reached that point in my life where a practical van with seats in the back that soaks up all the bumps actually sounds very appealing. The 70hp engine perhaps not so much. Being much cheaper than a posher MPV or SUV, in fact way more practical than most SUV's they do make a lot of sense for family motoring.

I have a 2014 Berlingo van. I am in the middle of converting it in to a micro camper. Really good on Diesel.

Loved the early XUD 1.9 non turbo Berlingo I drove in France - cracking vehicle 👍

The 04 2.0 could pull anything , low rev grunt was phenomenal ! I dragged a wheeless RR 100 yards out of a dipped barn with a picasso and it didn't break a sweat. what a car.

Worked as a Sky installer for 19 years, had 2 Berlingo vans between 1998 and 2004. Apart from a gear linkage falling apart on the first one I had after 2 weeks, they never missed a beat. Both boggo spec 1.9 na diesels. Thoroughly abused over 20 to 30 k a year and kept going. They were more reliable than the Vauxhall Vivaro 1.9 CDTi we moved onto.

Had our 2001 1.9D berlingo for 16 years ,Its been written off once about 8 years ago but we fixed it and put it back on the road, it still goes well (blocked the egr pipe off years ago to stop it coking up and slowing it down) still use it every day as a work van (with the rear seats removed) keep saying we will get rid of it but it goes through the mot every year with no problems .

As a family, we had 3 x 306s. Two with the DW8 and one with the XUD9T. While the DW8 was smooth and got you down the road adequately the good old XUD was a flying machine!

Hope to see a Berlingo joining the fleet soon.

Loved my old 2.0 hdi Berlingo. Never let me down once. Only real issues in 156,000 miles = Heater matrix and alternator. When I sold it it was still on the original exhaust and clutch from new (!!!). Both were still going very strong.

Really like these, I've had a few. Low mileage examples are getting very hard to find now. I've just bought a Skoda Yeti, they are superb also!

My other half needed a Motability vehicle. She needed the increased rise height these faux-SUV's offered, but once wecd looked at a few of em, we found each one was compromised is some way. So we went for a new Berlingo. Has the ride height you mention, but the space ( with two teens and a dog ) makes it far more practical than any of the trendier stuff we looked at. We cannot fault it. 👍

From these generation of Berlingo / Partner vans I found the pre-facelift having the best front end out of the lot. Didn't like the bulbous lights on the facelift model. A friend of mine's parents used to have a Partner Quicksilver just like that one. Never had any issues with it, and they loved it to bits. Unfortunately that car got written off after being sandwiched between two lorries side by side. (Occupants were just fine luckily)

It got so popular here in Argentina that both Partner and Berlingo are still being produced in that generation. Well, the facelifted one, but you get the point.

I had a later B9 multispace, a 2011 with the 1.6 110bhp engine. Fabulous vehicles it was a real swiss army knife in terms of its versatility. Sadly it got wrote off in December and they are surprisingly pricey compared to when i bought mine pre covid. The modutop and rear opening tailgate glass were very handy options

Love the Triangle of Doom and Drip of Disappointment. Did Mrs Hubnut remind you of that ;-)

I had the 20hdi berlingo loved it ,had it 4 years apart from brakes and tyres and a service once a year never had any problems at all

Cycle touring on Orkney in the mid noughties these were absolutely everywhere. Such a practical and versatile vehicle.

Really like the idea of one of the early ones with the webasto style fabric roof and funky colours. Seriously contemplated a berlingo as our family hack but the lack of proper rear windows was a deal breaker (a travel sick toddler needs good ventilation). We got a yaris verso mini-mpv thingy instead - available for review If ever there was interest.

I have that same bloody Partner! It's a faithfull little tractor that survived expeditions to the Andes without hesitation! Still have it and i got like 15 years more till I'm gonna have to scrap it for emissions lol. 7 L/100km at 80 mph with cross winds and enough torque to pull a big camper ❤️

Nice video Ian, practical looking car. Avoiding a 'dribble of disappointment' has been one of my mottos throughout life ! The scenery in this video was beautiful, where was it filmed please ? Cheers.

Bought a 2003 Berlingo 1.9d couple months ago with 80,000 miles on it just turning 20 year old this month! Genuinely feels around 5-10 years old as of how well kept and mechanically sound this machine is. Ive already put a set of C3 16inch alloys on and the drive is amazing but very slow haha. i am a spray painter to trade and will be doing a full respray in the next couple of months - offcut rust section for the O/S quarter will be arriving soon which will need welded on and will also get a couple of new wings. Although its not very fast i get 600miles out of a full tank and i love the sound of it as it accelerates up the gears very smoothly.

Yep, these are a peach to drive around Cornish country lanes. Parents had the 1.9 and 1.6 hdi - both very smooth and not bad on A roads for swift wafting - good visibility and easy to park/manoeuvre. Oh and the dog(s) can sit behind the rear seat, containing mud/detritus…. So impressed I’ve got there little sister 308 1.5hdi …

Had one in 2004 2ltr TDI. Nice van but engine had a habit of cutting out when going round a right hand bend at speed.Which made things fun.

I think you need to purchase one mr hubnut perfect for you and the tribe 👍

Always liked the Berlingo I remember sitting in one when I was looking to Order my c3 and loved all the space inside and the height and light inside the cabin and my dad did as well he went for the Picasso instead but did test drive one and liked it You should look for one Ian will be fantastic for you all in lots of ways agree about the hdi engine as well

I remember when a tv program might have been on Men and Motors reviewed a Partner 1.9D and it was terribly slow but the DW8 is a good engine and was fitted to later LDV Pilots. 02 till end of production i think. You're right as the 2.0HDI is the best one.

They were popular in my local town as taxis, no doubt with inter-galactic mileage

AY UP MR HUBNUT AND BRILLIANT CAMERA LADY MISS HUBNUT

Did a few driving lessons i a 2016 version of this. Hated it. Did the last of my lessons in a Hybrid Yaris, a night and day difference and then got a 2008 Honda Jazz Sport and love it!

Had 2008 Peugeot partner with the ubiquitous 1.6 hdi diesel engine a couple of years ago. Very good & useful car.

Ooh! Suits you Sir!

We had a Serena, a Prairie and two Berlingos, the Prairie was our favourite, you had to practically dismantle the Serena to check the oil level, but it would take a mini rugby team in its stride. Happy days.

Quite an interesting and clever design! Looks very versatile for such a small footprint. Don't think we ever got these in MPV form in Australia, although we got Berlingo vans, seemingly only seen at French patisseries, florists or owned by other Francophiles🙂 Would seem like a great HubNut family choice with the 2.0HDi!

We have a 64 partner tepee horizon se disability conversion and I was abit anti peugeot but we've had it nearly 2 years and ok low mileage (19k) it's been bang on its got the infamous 1.6 120ps out the mini but can't fault it they're such a good alrounder for the money

My brother has a three year old Berlingo diesel and he likes it a lot.

You still see loads of these in Cornwall. The C15 was hugely popular in rural Spain and you still see lots of them them chugging along.

We had an early Berlingo NA diesel as a pool van and it was terribly slow; such that you would never let the revs drop when changing gear for fear of not making progress. At the same time we had a petrol Corsa commercial which went very well, a Montego turbo diesel which could lose traction in 3rd, a couple of Transits and, best of all, an old Ital van which was really good fun.

Had an 07 1.6 turbo d van that was decent enough, the weakness for me was cornering did not inspire confidence, had my fair share of non turbos diesels you just find the best point in the torque curve and change up at that point

I've been to Liechtenstein up in the mountains and back in a Partner 1.9D panel van without problems. It wasn't a fast car but it did take its occupants plus a lot of luggage there in comfort.

I served my apprenticeship at a local council garage huge variety of vehicles and machines heavy plant etc. They had a large fleet if Berlingo vans plus two petrol LPG. They had regular faults mainly springs, strut top bearings, Anti roll bar links that always snapped the Torque tool I used to just cut off old and fit new all the time. heater blower resistors. Unlike the vw caddy and skoda pickups theyd throw up some expensive irregular faults. Compared to the Escort MK4/5 and the Vauxhall combi. R5 extra, Kangoo and Clio vans the berlingo was just so much better. They hardly ever rusted were better seam sealed. I gas welded many Escort Van and Combi. The Berlingo had regular faults but racked up insane milages they were nicer than a Renault to work on. Timing belts I can do in my sleep. I love them. Change the oil every 6 thousand miles. I can get axels at my local parts supplier. I redid my banger 206 and I am going to redo my 205 ba k axel. So many have been scrapped Axels they are so easy to replace. I'm 37 and all my cars have been Peugoet never had an issue lucky I can do all my own work and plenty parts in the local scrap yard.

My works van was a bonglybingle... A 1.9 non turbo slug. But an absolute hoot to drive. Tyre munching because of its amazing cornering, but absolute dire turning circle for such a small van! And of course doing the GT rear bouncing suspension thing totally rips out the brake compensator. The hidden tray on the passengers seat was an excellent dinner on the go table.

Searched for one of these at my budget in reasonable condition and failed miserably. They had either a gillion miles or had been converted for disabled access. Eventually bought a Xsara picasso which has turned out to be a brilliant buy. Almost as practical and converts to a van in minutes. Always loved the berlingo though.

I've got a 2.0 hdi partner and it's just brilliant! So comfortable for long trips!

After yesterdays vlog I wasn't 100% sure you'd found it!

My Brother In Law has an 2Ltr HDi 05 Berlingo that is used for his landscape gardening and horticulture business, its organic inside but its taken a right beating and is on 130,000 miles only the odd advisory on the MOT mostly bulbs.

My Uncle had a Citroen Berlingo and he loved it as a family vehicle he had the turbo engine and non modutop. When my dad had own business he had a Citroen Berlingo on his van fleet and it had the non turbo it wasn't quick but some sort of fiddled with the pump which gave it a slight power increase. He also had the larger Fiat Scudo (Citroen and Peugeot version were also available) wedge shaped version with the later grill which was also a interesting van complete with a triangle of doom and near its end of hard life a dodgy turbo issue which occasionally kicked in or decided not to.

A friend of mine had one of these in a very fetching shade of bright metallic blue. His kids named it 'The Slogger' as it was so slow. Luckily no-one was hurt when at about 20mph he slid into a ditch on black ice and the engine made its way through the tinfoil body and into the cabin.

For the last 6 years I have owned a Berlingo Multispace 2.0HDI it currently shows almost 261k on clocks and still goes well Happy enough to keep going as long as possible

Clever concept, very usable.

Thanks for car reviews I enjoy them a lot maybe a Datsun 240/260 in the future

I've got the ,1.6 diesel 2016, great car but it as you day drives like a van and the Auto box on mine is slow at changing gear anyway great video keep up with the good work

My Dads 2007 M59 Berlingo 600 Enterprise has been a little French tank. The 1.6 hdi has been bullet proof, it's never had a major fault but at 75hp it's so understrained that it's should be like that. The drivers seat has collapsed due to my dad being in an out it all the time, the glove box lid won't shut because of all his plumbing fittings and stuff he flings in it. It has a few rattles from the ever degrading trim, I've treated the arches and sprayed to it death with white stonechip (almost identical colour match by the way) and I have undersealed it and wax sealed it. After over 90k miles it finaly broke it's first spring and to my surprise the top mount was still pretty good for being original. Still has one original lower arm left. Best thing ever and it has character for days, when he retires I've said to him we will keep it and take it to Citröen themed car events because if it's survived a hard town work life as a plumbers van in scottish weather for 12 years then It to is allowed to retire and enjoy some praise by fellow berlingo lovers for surviving, after all...it's worthless to sell really and it also may have been clearly in the background of a picture taken with a now sadly passed away young female artist when it was in Leeds with its first owner.

I'm from Argentina, and I have a Peugeot Partner Patagónica since 2001. With 600000 km (373000 miles) I made the engine to new, because I've not change this vehicle yet. Is the best car I had in my life.

We used to borrow FIL's 2004 "facelift" Berlingo for family holidays when our children were really small about 10 years ago. I really liked it and was a bit disappointed when he wouldn't sell it to us (as he wanted us to get something newer). He sold it on to someone else. He passed away last September and left us with a fairly new Kangoo. Having literally today just travelled 400km in it, I still prefer that 2004 Berlingo. Was more comfortable, especially in the back.

You missed 2 extra storage compartments; they are in the floor on each side in front of the rear seats! I replaced the wipers on mine, longer for the driver and shorter for the passenger, minimizing the triangle of doom (and this was long before Hubnut times :-D ) Had it for 3 year when the stroller for the kids were a part of daily gadgets, very reliable and practical, a 1.4 petrol it was.

This has got me thinking about the many diesels I’ve had the (mis)fortune to drive over the years. Land Rover 90 2.5D, several old skool Transits, Pug 205, Pug 309 even a Bedford CF2. Nowadays I have a Citroen AX. Common theme with all - none of them were turbo charged. But by gum most of them could’ve done with one! 😂

Great review, thanks very much (albeit at 1.25x speed, you were in a rush I gather!). I'd have thought that one of these or equivalent was a must-have for your family use. That then means you have to partially abandon the ideas of it being a HubNut fleet member, and treat it as a means to an end rather than a video-worthy entity. There are so many times when you need to just get somewhere with family in tow, and what vehicle it is just doesn't matter and you shouldn't really be leaning on your proper fleet for such daily use. Stuff the handling, triangle of doom etc. The perfect daily does not exist because it's different for everyone. 4 wheels, plenty of seats, drive it, arrive at destination, get on with your day.

Awesome cars for wheelchair conversions.I think you should try a citroen Nemo or equivalent peugeot(bipper I think)-Fiat Qubo also borrowed the body if I'm not mistaken.

Wasn't that little trolley box in the Citroen called modubox? Seem to remember it was available in the Xsara Picasso too.