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Introduction

The first generation Citan was Mercedes' idea of what a compact van should be. An LCV that was more than just practical and efficient to run but one with a depth of engineering and a sheen of quality that make the right statement about your business. Potentially then, the ideal recipe for a small business with big aspirations. Let's check it out as a used buy.

Models

4/5dr Light panel van (1.5 diesel])

History

Prior to 2013, Mercedes had never offered us a really compact van - and that had historically been a problem for this German maker given that small LCVs account for nearly half of the total commercial vehicle market. In 2013, the marque put that right with this model, the Citan. There's a good reason of course why it took the Stuttgart brand so long to enter this segment. It knew buyers would expect 'the Mercedes of small vans' to be something very special, which would in turn necessitate an asking price beyond what most of them would be prepared to pay. Of course, the company could merely apply its famous badge to someone else's LCV and cheapen the price that way - but then the result wouldn't be a real Mercedes would it? What to do? After a lot of head-scratching in Stuttgart, a compromise solution was reached. A partnership agreement with Renault was signed which allowed Mercedes to base its new small van on the French brand's well respected Kangoo model. But, rather than badges simply being swapped, that Gallic model was then taken apart and re-designed the Mercedes way to ride, handle and feel like a vehicle fit to wear the Three-Pointed-Star. Hence this Citan's unique suspension, steering, gearbox and cabin. It's got its own look too - and it was the only model in this segment in its period to come with the choice of no fewer than three different body lengths. From new, there was a small premium to pay for all this over the cost of a more ordinary compact LCV of course, but then savvy buyers in this segment realised that they'd get some of that back at resale time. The Citan sold in MK1 form until the end of 2022. Find the cash for a Citan and you just know you'll get a professional job. But just how professional? Let's see.

What You Get

This Citan was the smallest van ever to wear a three-pointed star but it was still a confident-looking thing and aesthetically, very much more than just a badge-engineered Renault Kangoo. Indeed, the front end could only be from a Mercedes, a V-shaped bonnet flowing into big powerful clear-glass headlamps flanking a large, arrow-shaped grille with a prominently displayed chrome-plated star in its centre. Inside, the Stuttgart engineers completely redesigned the Renault Kangoo donor model's interior, the convenient dash-mounted gearstick and peculiar L-shaped handbrake lever were the only remaining commonalities between the two models. The Citan got a purpose-designed dashboard that wraps around the driver and is surfaced in an attractive leather-like grain. The chunky three-spoke wheel is bespoke too, though it's a pity it only adjusts up and down and not in and out. Through it, you view a clear set of typically Mercedes-style precisely-drawn instruments, featuring a trip computer with fuel consumption, range, time, servicing and temperature read-outs. It's all neat, functional and beautifully presented - and a lot of effort went into making it so. The brand has its own distinct design standards for dials, buttons and switches, covering everything from lettering font size to ease of use and minimum allowable panel corner radius. All this may be fastidious, but the end result it creates has a distinct feel of Three-Pointed Star. The three Citan body styles really are quite different. The Compact version really is compact, its restricted 3.94 metres of length insufficient to accommodate the sling side doors you get further up the range. If you can stretch to the 'Long' version (4.32m in length), it's probably worth doing so, while the 4.7m-long 'Extra-Long' variant is only about 60mm shorter than an entry-level version of Mercedes' Vito van from the next segment up. Whichever body length you choose, it's clear that a lot of thought has gone into the design of the Citan's load bay. All models come as standard with conventionally hinged side-opening twin rear doors that can be optionally glazed and can swing through 180-degrees. The door aperture here is 1,119mm high and 1,219mm wide, so most of the stuff you'll be looking to get in will probably fit. Get beyond the rear doors and in the Compact model, you'll find a 2.4m3 space that's 1,258mm in height and 1,460mm in width, a figure that narrows to 1,219mm between the wheel arches - still enough for a Euro pallet. The door-to-bulkhead loadspace length is 1,369mm. These dimensions aren't quite as great as you'll find with some rivals, but there is the option to take longer or bigger items if you get yourself a model whose original owner specified it with the folding load protector grille and foldable front passenger seat. Which may negate the need to for some owners to stretch up to the bigger 'Long' body length. We reckon most operators are going to want to do that though, if only for the extra flexibility that the 'Long' body shape provides. After all, you know what it's like: there are always going to be occasions when you'll need that touch of extra space. And when that happens, you'll be glad of the 'Long' variant's extra 380mm of body length. Inside the cargo bay, this means that the total loadspace volume rises to 3.1m3, so about 30% more room than you get in the Compact version. That's thanks to a door-to-bulkhead loadspace length increase to 1,753mm. Go for an 'Extra-Long' Citan and the cubic capacity is 3.8m3 across a load length of 2137mm - which could rise as high as 2,886mm with the folding load protector grille and the foldable front passenger seat fitted. The cargo bay length of the two longer versions means that you won't want to always be using the rear doors, so as usual in this segment, there's the opportunity of loading things in at the side. In fact, from both sides, thanks to the fact that two sliding doors are provided as standard. The aperture of the doors in question offers a reasonable 1,128mm of height, but the 638mm of width isn't quite enough to admit a euro pallet. If you're planning to make use of all the capacity this Citan range can potentially offer, then you'll want to make the right choices on payload capacity when selecting your ideal model. With this Compact body shape, the weight you can carry is restricted to 500kg, but that rises to 650kg if you go for the 'Long' variant or as much as 800kg for the 'Extra Long' variants.

What You Pay

Please contact us for an exact up-to-date valuation.

What to Look For

The MK1 Citan is a tough thing that can shrug off most of what even the most careless city driver will throw at it.. Check for crash damage, uneven tyre wear, kerbed alloys, parking dents, ripped or discoloured upholstery and make sure the electrical features such as central locking and infotainment screens work as expected.

Replacement Parts

(approx based on a 2017 Citan 1.5 108 CDI - Ex Vat) An air filter is around £9. An oil filter is around £5. A fuel filter is around £12. Front brake pads are in the £27-£44 bracket; rears are around £21. Front brake discs are in the £57-£97 bracket; rears are around £42. A timing belt is around £60. Wiper blades are in the £2-£21 bracket. A starter motor sits in the £148-£204 bracket. An alternator is in the £321-£340 bracket.

On the Road

This van may be based on quite a number of Renault underpinnings but with a Three-Pointed Star on the grille up-front, it needed to ride and drive like a Mercedes. Rather to our surprise, we found that it did. In fact, its on-the-road demeanour is so different from that of its Kangoo design stablemate that it's difficult to believe that the two models are in any way related at all. The ride, steering and gearshift quality in the Renault are all soft and vague: you only need drive a Citan a few yards down the road to realise that here, things are very different. Let's start with the ride, firm but not unpleasantly so, thanks to changes made to the damping and stabiliser bars, getting rid of the rather wallowy feeling you get in a Kangoo. You could actually imagine quite enjoying punting this vehicle through a few of your favourite backroad bends once you'd dropped off your load, although doubtless, it would be a little less effervescent when loaded up to its payload weight. The preciseness of the Mercedes Direct Steering set-up helps here too, responding in a way that's a world apart from the sort of high-effort gritty feel you come to expect in a small van. Instead it delivers supple, polished feedback that's really not too far off the kind of thing you'd get in a Mercedes A-Class, offering low effort when manoeuvring and a bit of reassuring heft at higher speeds. The turning circle is decently tight, rated at 12.2m - or as little as 10.1m for a short wheelbase Compact model. Drive is directed to the front wheels whichever model you choose and there's a crisp, clean shift action to the manual gearbox. You'll like the high-mounted stubby lever too, which falls perfectly to hand. It is a pity though, that you have to stretch up to the pokiest 110bhp 111 CDI model to get this stick with six-speeds. That top diesel variant uses the same Renault-derived four cylinder CDI diesel you'll find further down the range - in 75bhp guise in the entry-level 108 CDI Citan and in 90bhp form in the volume 109 CDI model. If you're looking at towing, obviously the two faster diesel units will be better choices, respectively developing 200 and 240Nm of torque, though right across the range, Mercedes quotes the same 1,050kg braked trailer weight. Not ideal for towing is the minority-interest Citan 112 petrol variant, fitted with a 114bhp 1.2-litre turbo petrol unit and a six-speed manual gearbox.

Overall

Thanks to the Citan, Mercedes-Benz became a full-range supplier in the van class, covering the entire LCV spectrum from urban delivery runabout to large-capacity load lugger and dealing with everything from 1.8-tonne to 7.5-tonne permissible vehicle weights. A measure of that success would have been achieved even if all the Stuttgart maker had done was to dabble in the kind of badge engineering indulged in by notable rivals. But that isn't the Mercedes way and sure enough, this Citan proved to be good enough - and distinct enough - to credibly wear the Three-Pointed Star and justify its premium as a quality choice in the compact van segment. The way it looks, the way it drives and the way it'll feel to own and use this van are all unique. As will be the impression your business will make in running one. Imagine, say, you're running a gourmet food business or delivering fresh flowers. Like it or not, you're going to create more of an impression of quality arriving in a Mercedes-Benz. It's all very premium - all very Mercedes. And all evidence of how, in most of the ways that really matter, this Citan can really deliver.