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In-depth reviews

Citroen C3 review - Interior & comfort

"There are some quirky features and we like the physical controls, but some surfaces feel a bit cheap"

Carbuyer Rating

4.0 out of 5

Owners Rating
Be the first to review
Interior & comfort Rating

3.5 out of 5

As a budget-focused car, it’s reasonable to expect the Citroen C3 to be quite basic – and that it is. The interior is simple but effective – while you are surrounded by harsh, cheap plastics on the door cards and dash making for a low-quality feel, everything is where you’d expect it to be and functions well.

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There are some quirky Citroen features, such as a small slit spanning the dashboard ahead of the driver which shows your speed, battery charge level and fuel consumption information in place of traditional or fancy digital dials. Elsewhere you get old-fashioned physical controls for the climate control, but in all honesty many buyers will prefer this as they’re more user-friendly than touchscreen-based controls can be on the move.

Key features

You!

  • Cruise control
  • Air conditioning
  • Rear parking sensors
  • LED headlights
  • Smartphone station

Plus

(You! plus…)

  • 17-inch alloy wheels
  • Two-tone paint with a contrast roof
  • 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
  • Citroen Advanced Comfort seats
  • Powered and heated side mirrors

Max

(Plus plus…)

  • LED headlights and tail-lights
  • Rear privacy glass
  • Climate control
  • Wireless smartphone charging
  • Electric rear windows
 

Is the Citroen C3’s infotainment and sat-nav system easy to use?

On base-spec You! Cars you actually don’t get an infotainment system at all, but a smartphone holder on the centre of the dash. If you really are on a budget, it’s good to know that this is an option and there’s even a Citroen app that can display lots of useful data about your C3, but Plus cars get a 10.25-inch infotainment system that’s a lot more elegant to look at and use.

We like the simple and clean interface of the built-in system, and while there are certainly larger and more complicated infotainment systems out there, we think this setup offers the right amount of features which make it a doddle to use.

Is the Citroen C3 well equipped?

As previously mentioned, there’s not all that much equipment thrown into the C3 as standard, but that’s because the point is to keep costs down. You do get useful features like cruise control, air con and rear parking sensors on You! Models, but while the Plus model introduces the aforementioned infotainment system and heated side mirrors, you’ll have to spring for a top-spec Max for wireless smartphone charging and even electric rear windows.

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Which Is Best?

Cheapest

  • Name
    1.2 PureTech Turbo Plus 5dr
  • Gearbox type
    Manual
  • Price
    £17,790

Most Economical

  • Name
    1.2 PureTech Turbo Plus 5dr
  • Gearbox type
    Manual
  • Price
    £17,790

Fastest

  • Name
    1.2 PureTech Turbo Plus 5dr
  • Gearbox type
    Manual
  • Price
    £17,790

Charlie writes and edits news, review and advice articles for Carbuyer, as well as publishing content to its social media platforms. He has also been a regular contributor to its sister titles Auto Express, DrivingElectric and evo. As well as being consumed by everything automotive, Charlie is a speaker of five languages and once lived in Chile, Siberia and the Czech Republic, returning to the UK to write about his life-long passion: cars.

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