Citroen C3 Owners

A new Member 'Hello' to all on here.

Soon to collect a '67' plate 82PS 'Feel' as a surprise Christmas pressie for my Missus to replace her '09' plate GM T250 Aveo.

Although I'm familiar enough with Citroen, we have never owned a French, (or should that be Slovakian) car before and I have
only driven a series-1 loan C3 many years ago, (a grim semi-auto effort I couldn't wait to hand back) so it will be interesting
getting to know about this current-shape car in the metal.

First impressions on the test drive was it's nice deep red colour without the distraction of iffy airbumps, the much improved
interior, overly light/lifeless steering, (all too common these days) and the quietness of the ride. Assuming we can get to
grips with the touchscreen controls OK then it should serve well as a more modern replacement for the Aveo, which is still
going strong and will do someone else a good turn when we sell after Christmas.

Hello 67 on RubyRed,

Welcome to the forum

That is a very nice Christmas present

The airbumps seem to be a 'marmite' option with a 50:50 split of 'for' and 'against' .

Thanks for the welcome.
I can imagine airbumps dividing opinions. Citroen themselves don't seem too confident about them these days, as a neighbour's new model C4 Cactus has fewer attached than his previous 2016 Cactus did. I don't dislike them, but don't think they add anything positive to the looks.

Just seven weeks and 1500 miles into our ownership and the poor C3 finds itself in the local Citroen bodyshop to fix the results
of my Missus' attempts at testing the crash barriers on the A27 - and not surprisingly the C3 came off worse.

Thankfully it was a low-speed traffic-jam incident with no serious harm done, (no airbags or warning lights) but the whole length
down one side needs sorting. All the black plastic trim around the arches and a front wing need replacing and worst case it will
probably need a new front door and possibly a new alloy wheel .
As the damage was mid-height, the mirror and door handles escaped untouched - as did the sill/floor area more importantly.

They've lent us a 3K mile old 'Shark Grey' C3 Aircross as a courtesy car, a model Citroen seem to be pushing hard at the moment.
It is very similar to drive, clutch a bit lighter, although the trendier-style handbrake is in reality no improvement. The identical 16"
alloys come shod with Bridgestones rather than the usual Michelin, a mild surprise on a Citroen.

Being a fair few inches longer and taller than a C3 hatch, you might expect the extra legroom in the rear, but the boot seems barely
any bigger, although it does have a false floor to ease loading if required. There seems no extra space under the bonnet, (uses the
same 1200cc PureTec 3 cylinder) which isn't any quieter in operation.

Instruments/touchscreen/seat trim/carpets and tiny glovebox are all very familiar. Strangely, there are no 'luggage strap' style
front doorpulls though.
Apart from improved visibility on the rear 3/4 and the fitment of a 12V socket in the rear, it's hard to see the point of paying extra
for the ungainly looking, (or just uglier) Aircross over a regular C3 hatch, unless extra rear leg/headroom is an absolute must.