Used test – chic convertibles: Citroen DS3 Cabrio vs Fiat 500C

What will they cost?

The Citroen DS3 Cabrio does look like considerably better value than the Fiat 500C – despite being the larger of the two cars, it’s around £500 cheaper, like-for-like. And while the Citroen’s depreciation looks steeper than the Fiat’s, because you’ll be starting from a lower price in the first place, you probably won’t actually lose any more in cash terms.

You’ll save even more after you’ve bought your DS3 Cabrio, mind you, because according to the official fuel consumption figures, it looks like it’ll go 47.9 miles on a gallon of fuel, as opposed to the 500C, which will travel just 43.5. As you might expect, that also translates to lower emissions, and therefore cheaper tax, for the Citroen; it’ll cost you £130 a year to tax, compared with the 500C’s £185.

That said, servicing on the 500C is slightly cheaper – a basic oil and filter change at a Fiat dealership will cost you £99, compared with £115 on the DS3 Cabrio, while a full service on the Fiat is £199, compared with £250 on the Citroen. What’s more, Fiat throw in 12 months’ free roadside assistance, which is a handy extra to have.

Neither car has a stellar reputation for reliability, but then again, neither car looks like it’ll be particularly unreliable, either. While the DS3 doesn’t feature in the What Car? Reliability Index, the closely-related Citroen C3 does, and gets a slightly better score than the Fiat 500. Meanwhile, both manufacturers had an almost identical score in the JD Power Vehicle Dependability study – Fiat coming out one place above Citroen, and both straddling the average mark.