Citroën C3 Feel PureTech 82 5d Owner Review

Bought at a year/12K miles old at a very good price as a second/school run/wife's car - a role that suits it well and ours has proven to be reliable so far. The styling inside and out speaks for itself, you'll either get it or will dislike the whole concept. In practice it's the usual weird PSA mix of some nice features like seat comfort, style of instruments, generous space - and the poor stuff like tiny glovebox, missing grab handles and cheap/thin carpets. The touch-screen isn't the best, but is OK with familiarity. Being more comfortable and quiet than most similar smaller/cheaper cars at lower speeds is nice and the 1200 3-pot engine pulls well in context, (despite lack of turbo) sounds great when extended and is economical. The driving experience will be the decider for many, because as well as it copes at lower speeds and is quite a good, quiet motorway cruiser, it is pretty hopeless at 'sporty' driving. Despite being perfectly safe and having plenty of grip, it is no B-road blaster and the long-throw gearshift, mismatched pedal weights and overly-sharp brakes, (for most tastes) encourage a more gentle style of driving, which suits the car best anyway. This lack of talent in fast bends would rule it out for me as an only car, but we've found it an interesting, enjoyable, cheap-to-run and useful addition and would well suit the needs of many. Underneath it is conventional with no 'proper Citroen' mechanical surprises, so is a safe, (and often cheaper) choice compared to the usual duller Corsa/Polo/i20/sister Pug 208 supermini options.