Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
Costs, insurance groups, MPG and CO2
Most small cars are bought on PCP finance, so there's good news here: Citroën will do some decent deals on the C3 to keep your monthly payments low. If you happen to be buying outright then dealers are happy to discount as well.
The 1.5-litre diesel (badged BlueHDi 100) is the most frugal engine, but not by a great deal, and it costs significantly more to buy than our favoured 1.2 petrol (badged PureTech 110) so it simply isn't worth the extra. As we mentioned in the driving section, we’d steer clear of the entry-level PureTech 83 1.2 petrol as it feels underpowered.
At the top of the range is Shine Plus trim. This pushes the price up by a reasonable chunk, but for that you get larger 17in alloy wheels, tinted rear windows, the advanced comfort seats we discussed in the driving position section, a driver’s centre armrest, faux-wood trim and a safety pack that brings automatic high-beam headlights and a driver attention alert system. It's also worth noting that Citroën regularly offers limited edition trim levels that bundle lots of extra kit together.
Reliability
The Citroën C3 didn’t feature in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey but the brand itself finished in a middling 16th place out of 31 manufacturers. That puts it above Ford, Renault, Seat and Volkswagen, but below Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Mini.
