Citroën C3 Aircross review

The Seat Arona and Kia Stonic both offer trim levels that undercut the C3 Aircross on price, but Citroën partially makes up for that with a higher level of standard equipment.

What’s more, for those signing up to a PCP finance agreement, as the majority of small SUV buyers choose to, the C3 Aircross looks decent value for money. On the other hand, it won’t hold on to its value as well as many rivals do because of its higher predicted depreciation, while official CO2 emissions and fuel economy are good, but not class-leading.

In our real-world True MPG tests, the Puretech 110 averaged 43.5mpg, whereas the more powerful Ford Puma 1.0 Ecoboost mHEV 155 managed 45.1mpg.

Even entry-level C-Series cars come with 16in alloy wheels, automatic headlights, and climate and cruise control, in addition to the rear parking sensors and infotainment tech mentioned earlier.

We’d be tempted to upgrade the Citroën C3 Aircross to mid-level Shine trim for the extra safety kit it brings, though (see above). Range-topping Shine Plus cars are a bit on the pricey side so they're best avoided, even though they add rear electric windows, more flexible seating, and keyless entry and start.

The C3 Aircross didn’t feature in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, but Citroën as a brand was in mid table, at 16th out of 31.

You get a two-year manufacturer’s warranty with no mileage limit, plus a further one-year dealer warranty with a 60,000-mile cap. That’s roughly the same level of cover as is provided by Ford on the Puma and Skoda on the Kamiq, but Kia gives you a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty on its Stonic.

It’s disappointing that Citroën doesn’t include automatic emergency braking (AEB) on the C3 Aircross unless you go for Shine spec and above. However, all models do get lane departure warning and a traffic sign recognition system that displays the speed limit.

That helped the C3 Aircross secure a five-star Euro NCAP rating, although it’s worth noting that it was put through its paces several years ago, when the tests were less demanding than they are today. There are Isofix child seat mounting points on the outer rear seats, while the security kit includes an alarm.

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