Citroen C3 Review (2016-present)
Citroen C3 cars for sale
3.0
Expert review
Pros
Refreshingly different styling stands out from the supermini norm
Smooth ride makes the C3 very comfortable
Sound driving position should prevent aches and pains on a long drive
Cons
Hard and cheap-looking cabin plastics
Not as nippy to drive as a Ford Fiesta
Short new car warranty compared with that offered by Hyundai and Kia
The CarGurus verdict
Not, we’ll admit, the finest driving supermini you can buy, but it trades sharpness for ride comfort, which is arguably more relevant to buyers. The C3 also has plenty of appeal in other areas, most notably its cool, head-turning looks - which are easily personalised - the quirky interior and decent levels of standard equipment across the entire range. Sensible pricing and running costs also work in its favour, too.
The interior materials are a bit hard and cheap feeling in places, but in this regard it’s no worse than the majority of its rivals. The rear seats have a pair of ISOFIX mounts, there’s a comfortable driving position and decent headroom up front. It's a bit tighter in the back, but the C3 certainly has merit as an inexpensive, smart looking runabout that’s easy on your pocket.
What is the Citroen C3?
The Citroen C3 was introduced in its current, third-generation form in 2016, and it received a mild facelift in 2020 to freshen up its appeal against some newer rivals. The C3 has always been one of the coolest looking superminis around, courtesy of its cute curves and smart detailing around the slim, chevron-badged grille and front and rear lights, allied to some now typical Citroen styling quirks, such as the body protecting ‘Airbumps’ along the sides.
The facelift built on its styling strength, those Airbumps now add an extra bit of additional visual flair with contrasting highlights, and the latest model also has larger rear bumpers and mildly revised front and rear lights. A smarter interior, more equipment, and new optional styling packs mean the C3 should be the go-to supermini if you’re after something a bit different from popular superminis such as the Ford Fiesta, the Vauxhall Corsa, the Renault Clio, the Peugeot 208, the Toyota Yaris, the Volkswagen Polo, the Seat Ibiza, the Hyundai i20 or the Kia Rio.
Even this heartland of volume sales has been impacted by a host of compact SUVs and crossovers, which are now the darling of the buying public. Citroen does have an answer for this, though, in the form of the C3 Aircross, which is a C3-sized, higher-riding compact SUV.
How practical is it?
It is possible to find more practical rivals than the C3, but it does a reasonable job all-round. There’s plenty of space for front-seat passengers but it’s let down a little in the back, which is a tad short on space. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t do anything especially well, where competitors such as the Honda Jazz offer very flexible cabins. The rear seats have a pair of ISOFIX mounts and the driving position is comfortable.
The Citroen’s strength here is its boot, which can accommodate 300 litres of luggage with the rear seats upright. That’s not quite class-leading, but it is substantial.
What's it like to drive?
For all the appeal of those compact SUVs, there’s life in the supermini yet, and the C3 underlines that. It’s fun, in character, if not necessarily to drive. Instead of being engaging or exciting like a Fiesta, the Citroen plays to the company’s strength of comfort.
The suspension is soft, which means there is a lot of roll in bends, but a fine ride even over the pock-marked surfaces that sometimes pass as roads in the UK.
The diesel engines are smooth and frugal, while the PureTech 83 petrol is ideal around town. There’s nothing remotely sporty in the C3 range, but if you want the quickest one, then go for the PureTech 110 petrol engine with the six-speed manual gearbox. It covers the 0-62mph sprint in 10.5 seconds. It won’t win a drag race with any number of GTI-style offerings from its supermini rivals, but it is the quickest of the C3s.
Technology, equipment and infotainment
There’s a decent amount of choice in the range, over and above the plentiful personalisation options, with four trim levels dubbed Sense, C-Series, Saint James and Shine Plus.
Every C3 includes a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system, comprising a DAB digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity, automatic air-conditioning, cruise control with a speed limiter, tyre pressure monitoring, LED headlights, and a lot more besides, so it’s hard to argue with the level of standard equipment.
Citroen C3 running costs
This is a crucial factor in the buying process for superminis, so it’s worth crunching the numbers. The truth is, all will be inexpensive to own and run, it being mere degrees of how much. Obviously that cheapest - though still decently specified - Feel model will see you putting down the smallest deposit, and making the smallest monthly payment if you decide to spread the costs, as most people will.
That Feel has got the lowest insurance grouping, too, at just 11E. The highest insurance group is for the Flair in BlueHDI 100 manual form, which due to lacking some of the active safety aids of the same engine, higher specification (and cost) Flair Plus, comes in at group 22C, compared with 19A for the Flair Plus.
Servicing should be inexpensive, and speak to your Citroen dealer if you want to pay monthly, which they can arrange for you. Likewise, first year road tax on all but two versions is £175, the other two hardly cripplingly more expensive at £215. Consumables, like brakes, tyres and suchlike won’t be expensive, either.
The most parsimonious is the most pricey to buy, and, really, you’ll need to be doing much bigger mileages in the BlueHDI 100 model to justify the additional outlay for its 67mpg potential. The base petrol will manage a realistic daily-driving 40-45mpg if you’re relatively sensible with it, too.
Those Airbumps on the C3’s flanks are more than mere styling details, too, with the big contoured rubber inserts actually helping prevent expensive damage to the bodywork through parking knocks and dings. Likewise, the C3’s chunky plastic, non-painted rear bumper over-riders and wheel-arch extensions mean the C3 should shrug off the sort of urban battle scars that would see you needing to visit a paintshop with the majority of its supermini rivals.
Citroen C3 reliability
It’s fair to say that Citroen has a pretty patchy reputation when it comes to reliability, but the C3 seems to have bucked that trend. Being a relatively simple car helps, of course, with the majority of C3s being base-level trim with simple, proven mechanicals and none of the more complicated equipment as standard. Reported issues tend to centre around electrical maladies rather than problems with engines or transmissions.
There have been a number of recalls for the C3, some minor, others a bit more concerning, like it lacking the correct ballast fitting and being potentially unstable, or having a steering column assembly fault. So, be sure to check any prospective used purchase has had any applicable remedial recall work done to it.
With any new Citroen C3 purchase you’ll get a three-year unlimited-mileage warranty, although it’s worth noting that if you’re a private buyer, you’ll get significantly longer standard warranty coverage from the likes of Kia and Hyundai for their Rio and i20 superminis, which can be passed on to future owners, too.
- The basic C3 Sense does without alloy wheels, but don’t immediately look to the next trim level – where there are 16-inch alloys – and instead consider the potential savings to be made. A scraped hub cap while parking is significantly cheaper to replace than repairing a scratched alloy wheel. The design of the hubcaps have come a long way, too, and the Citroen’s look a lot like alloy wheels anyway.
- Citroen’s ‘ConnectedCAM’ is available as an option with the Shine Plus model. It's a fully integrated dashcam, which can capture up to 20 seconds of video for use on social media, uploaded by a free ConnectedCAM Citroen app. It isn’t purely frivolous, though, because in the event of a collision, it will automatically save a video clip covering the 30 seconds prior to the incident, and a minute of footage afterwards. The clip is triggered by rapid deceleration and could be used as evidence of what happened for insurance claims.
- Only the range-topping Shine Plus comes with satnav, but all C3s come with Mirror Screen technology – containing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – so you can simply use your preferred mapping apps from your smartphone. This gives you access not just to mapping, but to messaging, streaming music, and internet radio services.
- The most economical one: You’ll get decent fuel economy in any Citroen C3, but if you want the very best mpg then you’ll have to stop at the diesel pump. The BlueHDi 100 S&S manual with its 98bhp returns a tested 55.6-67.0 mpg on the official combined consumption cycle. And, these being WLTP figures, they’ll actually be achievable if you drive sensibly.
- The quick one: That’s relatively speaking here, because there’s no GTI/ST/GT/S or anything remotely sporty offered in the C3 range, which is a bit of a shame really. If you’re sold on a C3, then, and want the quickest one, then you’ll need to order the PureTech 110 petrol engine with the six-speed manual gearbox. It covers the 0-62mph sprint in 10.5 seconds, which makes it fast among its C3 relations, but it'll not be winning any traffic light grand prix with any number of hotter offerings from its supermini rivals.
- The one to buy: There’s a lot to be said for the PureTech 83 S&S with a five-speed manual in Feel specification, not least because it’s the cheapest one you can buy, but it’s also got absolutely everything you could possibly need for the sort of use you’ll be expecting from it.
- The C3 that gives you choice: If you choose to ignore our advice directly above, and want more choice, and a fair bit more equipment – most of which you’ll not need – then you want a Flair trim C3. Doing so allows you the pick of the entire engine range and adds things like rear parking sensors, too.
