Citroen C3 First road tests and consumer car reviews

Citroen C3 First 2003

Do not buy this car! It is the worst built car I’ve ever owned and its list of faults is endless. Low mileage just means the car hasn’t developed some of the faults yet. If you have got this car then your car should have had two new front coil springs, an ECU upgrade and a new clutch by now. If it’s not had these yet then expect to get them soon! If you’re lucky then you won’t have had to replace the alternator, or the battery, or the exhaust or had one of the more complicated parts like the radiator thermostat or the fuel sensor, or have some new fuel injectors, or heating coils replaced yet. But you would have to very lucky. All in all the build is so bad that by the time the car gets to doing 100,000 miles you would have had to replace just about every part that keeps the car running sort of smoothly. Then there’s the actual performance; I like to refer to my car as a rev junkie because to do anything that requires just a little power means you have take it to 3000 revs or more. When everything is working right it’s fun to drive, but the chance of finding a moment when everything works right is slim at best. The space is good for a car of it’s size, it will seat 5 in relative comfort, but expect the car to feel sluggish if loaded with passengers (unless you rev it up to 3000 rpm or more) and whilst the MPG is better than I expected, what it saves you in fuel it will cost you with faults. Avoid this car at all costs!