Citroen C3 Review 2024

With so many small cars to choose from, why should you pick the Citroen C3? Citroen hopes that its styling will win you over, and if you're the sort of person that likes to accessorise then you'll love the level of personalisation available when buying new.

There are multiple exterior colours, different contrasting roof shades, colour packs for exterior trim in the bumpers, and funky 'airbump' rubber panels - that's before starting on the interior fabric and dash options. So if you want a small car that says something about you, the C3 is one of the best. Apart from its looks, this is a fairly practical small car, with a decent boot, although taller people will find the rear seats a little tight.

The other key selling point for the Citroen C3 is its value. As a new buy its prices start at far less than competitors, and that combined with its older design means used prices are also extremely keen, with some bargains to be had.

The entry-level Citroen C3 is only available with one engine; the 1.2-litre non-turbo petrol. It's quite willing and likes to be revved, but it's ultimately pretty slow and won't be any more economical than the turbo models most of the time. For young drivers, though, it's plenty good enough.

Go for the PureTech 110 petrol if you can afford it and you'll have a much more capable car that will be easier to drive, cost you less to run, and be more refined on the motorway when you do need to take it on longer journeys. This engine was offered with a six-speed manual gearbox or Citroen's six-speed EAT6 automated manual.

While the now defunct 1.6-litre BlueHDi diesel is exceptionally economical, it's also more expensive than the excellent petrol and feels less refined around town, so unless you do a lot of motorway miles then it's not worth paying extra for on the used market. 

There's no shortage of rivals for the Citroen C3. The supermini segment it belongs to is one of the biggest and most popular in the entire new or used car markets, with the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and Volkswagen Polo topping sales charts.

There's no doubting that these cars, plus the Skoda Fabia, Honda Jazz, Renault Clio and Hyundai i20, are all more capable cars than the humble Citroen. But that's reflected in the prices they command. While the C3 can't beat them for cabin quality, practicality or handling, it's still a perfectly fine car and you'll rest easy knowing you're saving quite a lot of money.

At the bottom end of the C3 range another competitor is the Dacia Sandero. That's also a more spacious car and probably also has better tech, but its dull design and plasticky cabin won't appeal as much as the C3 in terms of kerb appeal. 

To take it one step (and several thousand pounds) further you can order the latest Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa as pure-electric cars with zero tailpipe emissions, and around a 200-mile range on a full charge. You'd have to look to the Citroen EC-3 as a true alternative EV-only option here.

There is some attractive design work going on in the interior of the Citroen C3, and we're big fans of how it looks. It has a simple layout but manages to be more appealing to sit in than drab rivals like the Dacia Sandero.

The trouble is, for every neat detail like the 'luggage strap' faux leather door pulls and colourful dash inserts and there's a cheap-feeling hard piece of plastic to spoil the overall impression of the Citroen C3.

Knock on the tops of the doors for example, and they give out a hollow, tinny sound. Adjust one of the stylish air vents and it feels lightweight and flimsy. It's a shame, because touch points such as the multifunction steering wheel and gearstick are nice to hold; some of the few items in the Citroen C3 that feel as good as they look. 

We're glad Citroen spent money on the bits you'll regularly be in contact with, but this car still falls short of the finish and exacting panel gaps you'll find in cars like the Polo, but also the Renault Clio and Peugeot 208. Still, that's just about acceptable at this price point, particularly when you consider the Citroen's base price versus competitors.

As standard on the base model Citroen C3 models, the materials are all pretty dark and subdued, with a gloss black finish on the wide horizontal section of the centre console containing the vents. Higher trims get what Citroen calls its 'Techwood ambiance' which is as bad as it sounds, having little to do with either technology or trees.

As long as you avoid the pre-facelift Citroen C3 Touch, you'll get a 7.0-inch infotainment touchscreen in most models except the entry-level C3 YOU!. It's set close to the steering wheel, so it's easy to reach, but mounted a little lower in the cabin than in some rivals.

That means glancing at it for more than a second diverts your attention quite far from the road. It's also a pretty dated screen now, lacking the responses and features of newer rivals with a fairly laggy screen. The small icons and fiddly buttons bordering the screen hamper usability, too.

Worse still, there are no physical controls for changing the fan speed or temperature in most models, so if you want to make a quick adjustment you have to leave the nav or media menu and hit several icons instead of turning a dial.

Still, it comes with necessities like Bluetooth, DAB radio, and full smartphone compatibility via Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The last feature is probably the most important. It allows you access to your own personal home screen, so you can use navigation apps like Waze and music streaming services like Spotify through the C3's display.

If you'd prefer a proprietary sat-nav, then it's standard on Flair Plus models, but could be added to Flair trim models with a three-year subscription for connected online services including live traffic updates.

Interestingly all this means the Citroen C3 YOU! is actually the most user-friendly model. It only has manual air-con with physical knobs on the dash instead, and while the tiny 5.0-inch black-and-white touchscreen looks decidedly basic it is at least easy to use, if a bit dim in sunlight. Strangely, in the example we had, you had to turn it on separately from the car, which made it seem a bit aftermarket. Still, you get Bluetooth, DAB and USB connectivity. 

The Citroen C3 was one of the bigger, erm, small cars when it launched but it's about average. The C3's dimensions of 3996mm in length, 2007mm in width and 1474mm in height makes it shorter than a Peugeot 208 but slightly wider and taller. 

Let's start with the boot. Yes it's an okay size at 300 litres, but the Volkswagen Polo (352 litres) and Renault Clio (391 litres) trounce it when you need to cram in as much as possible. The Polo also has added functionality, since it uses an adjustable floor to remove the load lip and ensure you get a flat area when you fold the rear seats down.

The Citroen C3 doesn't have any of these tricks. The boot is just a big, square space, with a few tethering points and a large drop from the opening to the floor. It is nice and wide, so you can fit a pushchair with room to spare for the weekly shop. Fold the rear seats and the C3 can carry even more thanks to a maximum space of 992 litres, but the seat backs leave a large hump in the floor, so you can't slide heavier stuff all the way in when you're trying to fill it up to the roof.

Inside the cabin, there are clever touches like the white coloured door pockets that make it easier to see any loose items you've chucked in there and forgotten about, but there are some odd choices as well. The big cubby slot below the infotainment screen is a bit too shallow to hold a phone, and the glovebox is minuscule on UK cars that are right-hand drive due to the fuse box position. 

The cupholders in the front can hold a coffee cup in place but not plastic bottles, and you don't get any cupholders at all in the back.

Still, not having anywhere to put their cups will be the least of the worries for those in the rear seats. Those of average height will be fine, but taller passengers will find head and legroom pretty tight. You get ISOFIX points for fitting a child seat, and they're easy to access, but the rear doors don't open as wide as its rivals. Up front and there's enough outright space, but the pedals sit too closely to tall drivers and there isn't quite enough wheel adjustment, It means you have to splay your legs out with your knees a bit too close to the steering wheel. 

The Citroen C3 will be fine coping with family life if you have small kids, but if you regularly want to carry teenagers then there are better options out there, especially cars like the SEAT Ibiza, Skoda Fabia and Honda Jazz.

The range when buying a new Citroen C3 kicks off with the 1.2-litre 'PureTech' 83 petrol engine with (you guessed it) 83PS. That's not a huge lack of power in a small car, but because this engine does without a turbocharger you need to work it harder to extract meaningful performance. 

It's a fairly torquey unit, though, so you don't need to pin it against the redline everywhere, while it's refined at speed and makes quite an appealing noise when revved. The biggest downside is how gutless it feels when loaded up with people, while the five-speed manual gearbox feels a bit sloppy with a long throw.

The quicker version (the Puretech 110) adds a turbo and a sixth gear, which totally transforms its character. It's keen to rev, delivering punchy and smooth acceleration from low in the rev range. With a new C3, the 110PS engine comes with a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox.

Normally we wouldn't highlight specific performance figures, but in this case it's illustrative of the enormous difference that turbocharging makes to the response and flexibility of these small three-cylinder engines.

Despite feeling a lot brawnier, the PureTech 110 is also more efficient, and a quieter motorway companion thanks to its six-speed gearbox (a five-speed is standard on the entry-level car). It's also the only C3 to come with the option of an automatic, although the hesitant, jerky EAT6 gearbox is not the best of its type. 

On the diesel side, the Citroen C3 was previously available with a 1.6-litre diesel badged BlueHDi in various states of tune. That unit was replaced in early 2019 with a 1.5-litre model with 100PS and a useful slug of torque. This engine is exceptionally economical - it claimed 76.3mpg combined consumption - but it's more suitable for motorway drives than nipping around town.

Unwelcome wind and tyre noise are nicely suppressed in the Citroen C3 and it's a capable little cruiser as a result. As with many of its rivals, the petrol engines have a three-cylinder layout, so they make a rorty thrumming noise if you accelerate with too much vigour. Still, they're smooth and hushed around town, and you'll only really start to notice them when working them hard, which is why the punchier high-powered engine feels more refined.

The diesel is not as peaceful, with a coarser note at lower speeds, and it also sends plenty of vibrations into the cabin through the pedals and steering wheel. It's not unpleasant but the petrol is a smoother unit.

Both the 83PS petrol and the diesel motors use a five-speed manual gearbox. Unfortunately, it's not one of the best, with a long throw and sloppy shift that feels a bit like stirring a big screwdriver in a can of paint. The six-speed manual in the PureTech 110 is a minor improvement, but still less positive than a Ford Fiesta.

If you'd prefer to delegate gear changing duties altogether the latter is available with a six-speed automatic. While it's fairly smooth on faster roads, it can be slow and indecisive in city traffic, an issue made worse by the stop-start system. The dual-clutch transmissions in cars like the Skoda Fabia are a lot more relaxing.

The Citroen C3 received four out of five stars when it was crash tested by Euro NCAP. That sounds ok, but in a class where most of its rivals get the maximum safety rating, it's actually below average, with important kit missing.

It's still reasonably safe, and the tests revealed it performed well for both adult and child protection, but a poor showing in the pedestrian and safety assist categories dragged down the overall score. What's odd is all Citroen C3s come with equipment like lane-departure warning, traffic sign recognition, and six airbags. That's over and above mandatory essentials like tyre pressure monitors, electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes.

However, automatic emergency braking (AEB) is only standard on the top-spec versions. It's a system that scans the road ahead and if it senses an obstacle, it'll alert you before hitting the brakes to prevent a crash. Disappointingly, it's not even an option for the lower trim C3s when buying new.

A rear parking camera is standard on the top two trims. Citroen's ConnectedCam - an integrated dash camera that can record accidents to help save your no-claims bonus if you're not at fault - standard on the top spec Max model with new C3s.

All models do get the 'SOS' emergency call function that is pretty much standard across the board these days. Basic models get a foam tyre repair kit for punctures, but the Max PureTech 110 has a space saver spare wheel.

Citroen's reliability record seems to be improving, but it still finished fourth from bottom in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. Peugeot is slightly higher in the list, but at least Citroen massively outperforms last place Vauxhall.

A few build quality issues aside (things like condensation inside the rear lights), we've not heard of many issues with the Citroen C3. The 1.2-litre Puretech engine doesn't have the best reliability record with some inherent issues, but that could be said about a lot of small turbocharged petrol engines and later cars have improvements.

The Citroen C3 can't match city cars like the old Citroen C1 and Volkswagen Up for their tiny insurance costs, but it's not going to break the bank either. If you're a younger driver or lacking in no-claims bonus, then the PureTech 83 1.2 petrol will be the most affordable. It's in Group 8 - but only in the higher trim levels where safety kit such as automatic emergency braking is fitted.

It's quite a jump to the cheaper trim levels which sit in group 14, rather making a mockery of the basic C3's appeal to younger drivers. We suspect it won't be ruinous to insure, however, and the super-low base price makes up for it. 

Priciest of the lot will be the 110PS version with the automatic gearbox and in Plus trim, which sits in a surprisingly high group 22.

Almost all Citroen C3s from this generation were registered after April 1st 2017, so they'll all incur the exact same rate of tax. You'll be coughing up up to £180 a year to keep it on the road regardless of the engine you choose.

You'll also need to pay a first-year registration fee based on the CO2 emissions if you're buying new. Every C3 is pretty efficient, so this will be between £210 and £255, and is usually rolled into the on-the-road price.

Citroen refreshed the C3 in 2020 and gave it a spec bump over the older car, which is good news. Later on Citroen decided it needed a basic entry-level car, the C3 YOU!, which comes extremely keenly priced.

That entry-level C3 You does without the 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, but you do still get a 5.0-inch screen with DAB radio, Bluetooth and USB connectivity on the tiny black-and-white screen. It's also good to see cruise control is standard fitment, while LED headlights, front foglights and lane departure warning are standard. 15-inch steel wheels are fitted.

The Citroen C3 Feel still rides on steel wheels, but now comes with a 7.0-inch infotainment screen, DAB radio, climate and cruise control, six speakers, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That's now been rebranded as the Citroen C3 C-Series which adds kit such as a reversing camera and 16-inch alloy wheels. 

It may be worth upgrading to the Citroen C3 Flair to get a leather steering wheel, rear parking sensors, and automatic lights and wipers, and you get 16-inch alloy wheels too, but only manually winding rear windows.

The Citroen C3 Elle adds different styling tweaks including 17-inch diamond cut alloy wheels and electric rear windows.

The top-spec Citroen C3 Flair Plus is the only C3 to come with an integrated sat-nav, electric windows all round, and a set of the brand's sofa-like 'Advanced Comfort' padded seats. It's also the safest version, since it includes a safety pack with automatic emergency brake assist, a reversing camera and driver attention alert included.

For the start of 2023, Citroen once again had a rejig of C3 trims. The YOU remained as the starting point, while the Plus and Max replaced the Feel and Flair with pretty much the same equipment in each case.