DS 9 - long term review

My default position is that I am in the wrong. So, when the DS 9 refused to charge the first 10 or so times I plugged it in using a three-pin socket, I presumed it was something I was doing (or not doing) that was causing the issue. After all, I am not an EV aficionado and well believe I could be doing several things very wrong very easily.

However, I am not one to shout wolf without good reason. So, I tried the charging cable in all the sockets in the TG Garage (there are many). I tried it with an extension lead at home. I tried it with a different extension lead. I checked the fuse. No, no, no, no. However, after a chat while in the office with Greg Potts and Sam Burnett (both very familiar with the trials and tribulations of running an EV) I began to consider a radical idea – the problem might not be with me. Andy Franklin (former keeper of the long-term eBerlingo) had left his lifer in the Garage, so being as Citroen and DS are part of the same Stellantis family, Greg offered to try the Citroen’s charging cable on the DS. To cut a long story short: it worked! Hurrah! Turns out that the charging cable was faulty.

I contacted DS to ask for the best course of action regards getting a new cable. After initially being reluctant to believe the cable wasn’t working (“We’ve never had a faulty cable before...”) I was told to “go to the dealer and get them to check it”. Now that sounds like a great solution, but my nearest dealer is at the minimum 48 miles away, and traffic-wise it’s probably quicker for me to get to the one 100 miles away. After negotiation, we agreed that I would post the faulty cable back and they would send me a replacement. Great solution. Even better? The new cable actually worked.

This was also a lesson well learnt in terms of buying a car and not having a dealership within easy reach. Had I ordered the DS 9 online and had it delivered to my front door, I wouldn’t know anything about nearest dealers. Naturally, no one wants to think their new car will develop a fault, but if it does, having a dealer within easy reach is a very useful thing. Would I choose a car with a limited dealer network after this? Hmmm. That’s food for thought.