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The claimed fuel-economy figures look impressive, but in practice the C8 proves thirstier. It's still frugal for a big MPV, though, and a big fuel tank (17.6 gallons) means it can go many miles between refills. Insurance groupings are unconfirmed, but the C8 is designed to be easy to repair after a minor impact with replaceable shock-absorbing chassis sections and separate front-bumper corners. Servicing is needed only every 12,000 miles (18,000 miles for petrol models). Depends on whether you're buying or selling. The Synergie was one of the worst depreciators among full-size MPVs, not least because of the heavy discounting of new ones, but the C8's much greater desirability may stop the story repeating itself. If it does prove a big depreciator, however, then a one-year-old C8 should be a brilliant buy in 2004 - provided all those electrics prove reliable. Prices start quite low for a vehicle of this size and specification, and competition between Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat is likely to be intense. Although there are no special offers at first, it's not unrealistic to expect cashback deals, zero-percent finance, free insurance and so on later on in the year.
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