Admittedly this car was my wife’s but having owned it for over 4 years its really served its purpose. If your looking for a luxurious car this car is certainly not for you but for a cheap reliable run-around this car is fantastic. Cheap tax due to the emissions, £35 per year BARGAIN, through to an average of 66 MPG this car really does do what it says on the tin.
I remember when I first drove the car on the motorway, you may think small car, but great handling, overtakes no problem and with its 1.4 diesel engine it cruises superbly.
The cockpit has an away of safety features standard on the C3, due to the bubble like shape of the car its actually sits higher than most cars so your in a raised cockpit as soon as you get in making driving the car pleasurable. The seats are standard but comfy and the dash display with its digital speedo is a nice modern feature.
If your looking for a car with SPACE this car has bundles of it, small compartments everywhere, the bot space is huge and with the seats down its like a van due to the head space of the vehicle.
The car is cheap to run, cheap to maintain and I would suggest it as a small run-around or first time car. I would say being French the parts are really cheap so repairs tend to be low cost although we have only had to maintain the brakes and tyres since owning it. Not a car for image, one for the pocket.
Had a C3 for a few years mid 2000s. Did the job, got me to work and back. Gave a bit of hassle but all fixed within the warranty (with the usual 'banter' over whether the warranty covered it). Traded it in after the end of the warranty as I fancied a change. Went over to Vauxhall. Big mistake.
Came back to Citroen. Saw the C3 when it was first released, liked the look. Went to a dealer and had a good look around it, and read the specs etc. Wasn't too sure, but then drove a friend's. Impressed, much better than the C3 mark 1. Better ride, tighter in the corners, packs a meaner punch all round.
Fuel economy seems about the same actually, around low to mid 40s MPG in real everyday mixed conditions. Ok for the engine size but not amazing. Could do a bit better in this day and age. Steering extremely easy, very light, a bit too light maybe. Excellent driving position in the Citroen C3 and big windows, so easy to park and move around. Can be a bit wobbly if you give it a surprise on the corners but just don't drive like a pillock and it's a dream to drive.
Good space wise inside. Neat trim layout, plenty of storage bins and spaces. Glad Citroen haven't gone with the fashion of making the stereo unit unchangeable. Might give it a go changing that at some point, altho some internet searches suggest it might cause electrical probs.
Enormous windscreen last but not least. Best feature maybe. For some simple reasons as well. In a normal car you can't see the traffic lights when you're too close, need to buckle over to see them. In the Citroen C3, you can see them when you're right underneath them. Generally makes for much better visibility as well.
I got my Citroen C3 at quite a hefty discount because the previous owner had quite a lot of problems with it and generally didn't seem able to sell a car, or just too honest for their own good, so they advertised it as very faulty. I know a few bits and pieces about cars, although not really about Citroen on board computers and things. So when a coil spring went after a few months I was able to get that part and replace it myself by hiring a space in a DIY garage (there are a few of these about, and worthwhile if you know what you're doing but don't have the tools).
What I wasn't able to fix was when the Citroen C3 engine computer decided things were going wrong. That was done by a Citroen specialist independent place near us. I tend not to bother with main dealers for any cars, they all have the air of not needing to try to get people's custom, so their service is poor and they're bad value. Shop around!
All in all I've spent a few hundred on getting things sorted out, but it was cheap second hand and I knew what I was getting into. More to the point I wanted a Citroen C3 because it's a good size inside and with a clever size boot as well, the whole car is sort of tall but in a way you don't really expect from the outside.
For a cheapy sort of car it's fantastic to have stuff like cruise control (dunno if all Citroen C3s have this but mine does). The 'sensodrive' gearbox is really good, very lively and easy to get used to.
There are horror stories out there about the Citroen C3, and probably quite well founded, but you can use that to your advantage as a second hand buyer and strike a better deal. Work out how to do some reasonably basic car repairs and you're laughing.
I hate to say it but I just liked the look of the Citroen C3 1.4 Desire and it pretty much went from there. In fairness it was quite a new model at the time so we couldn't have got much of an idea of how bad things might get, but anyway it just goes to show you should really be super careful about buying a new car, especially one that is a new model of car.
The main problems started really quite soon after we got it, with the engine management unit flashing a number of problems at us. We kept taking it to Citroen but they didn't seem all that clued up, maybe like I said because it was such a new car. Eventually they did get to the bottom of it, but it was a big hassle.
Then the clutch went when I was quite far from home which left me a bit stuffed really as I was on quite a tight schedule that day and just had to cancel everything. That was after about two years, which did seem quite soon really for something like that. I mean it was sorted under the warranty, but that's not really the point.
Also, when you do break down it's got this mode that it flips into which allows the car to move but reeeeaaallly slow. Now as you can imagine this was sold to us as a dead clever idea, but actually it's pretty pointless unless you're pretty much on your home street, it's so slow.
Aaaaaanyway, it's got some good points! Nice and big inside. I mean really the problems we had early on, really, have pretty much gone now. It's a bit sticky getting into first gear but apart from that it's pretty much fine. Nice and big, really good for head room. I'm glad we got the 1.4 Desire because it feels like it's got just enough strength for hills, and decent acceleration, that sort of thing. It's very good with petrol as well, and it's nice and cheap to insure. The kids like it and we can always easily get all their stuff in the boot which is a very big for a car this size.
I suppose I just let the negatives take over when I think about the car, so it's hard to recommend it really, on balance.
had the car from 20000miles serviced at specified times now as 117000 still as good as new fuel consumption is an believable and it as a terrific turn of foot would not buy anything else is very comfortable and reliable road tax £30 per year
I like my Citroen C3 but it's got down sides. I bought this new in 2003 and it looked really really new at the time, very modern. It still does looks quite nice, but some of the plastic bits inside are starting to come apart a bit which is kind of sad. Like the bit that surrounds the electric window control on the driver door, and the plastic around the gear stick. It's nothing major but it's just a bit of a let down to have your car falling apart a bit.
I got the injection car instead of the regular C3 1.4 because, well I was just feeling a bit cheeky at the time and wanted something that could overtake in a hurry. I do like that about this car. I got the diesel as well, which I wasn't expecting to be any good, all I remembered about diesels was noisy old vans. But this diesel is very good by comparison even to petrol cars. It's very sporty and responsive.
It's dead cheap to run as well. I think a lot of mums and careful drivers like me get this car because the insurance is extremely reasonable. It doesn't use much fuel either. It only weighs about a ton I think, which is very light. One thing though, a friend of mine got the same car on my recommendation a couple of years later, and hers actually stops the engine when she's stopped at traffic lights, then it just starts up again automatically when she moves forward! That's amazing, and it must save a lot more on fuel.
One bad point is that the car starts to curve down at the back which really cuts off a lot of headroom for those sitting in the back. As my eldest has got older this has become quite a problem really. I actually worry a bit about how he'd do in a crash, I mean if his head is almost at the ceiling. I don't know, it's just a bit of a downer.
The Citroen C3 is lovely and easy to park, and you can very easily see all the way around you, nice big windows. The boot is big enough for a week's shopping and a pram, plus maybe the odd strange thing my husband likes to keep in the boot from time to time, like for example a computer monitor?!
When I got the car I loved that it played CDs, that was a big step forward at the time. But my kids now complain that it doesn't play mp3s. Whatever, doesn't bother me!
It's a bit annoying the way the dashboard doesn't have any real space to leave things, they just fall off cos it dips towards you. Having said that, it's got TWO enormous gloves boxes, one on top and one underneath the left airbag. That's really really handy for stashing all sorts of stuff.
They look quite cheap second hand, certainly compared to what I paid, so you should be able to get a bit of a bargain. Although look out for the plastic inside falling apart. Maybe a driver without quite such destructive kids would have had more luck!