Citroen C3 2022 1.2 110HP Automatic

Cintrapark

Any thoughts on the above brand new car? Reliability, etc? Seems like a pretty solid vehicle. 

ididgetwhereiamtoday

If your only keeping it for the warranty period then fine. If you intend to keep it a long time then you may well suffer some big maintenance bills. 

Goudy

The Puretech engine with turbos (110 and 130) did have some timing belt problems to start with and I think they recalled a lot of cars because of it.

I seem to think PSA changed the belt design and reduced it's change interval to 60,000 or 6 years (from 112,000 and 10 years) on recent cars.

It's a "wet belt" so it runs in engine oil. Meeting the correct service intervals and the correct grade and spec of oil are pretty crucial.

The automatic EAT6 torque convertor gearbox is a massive upgrade on the old EGS gearbox PSA used to fit, which was just a single, dry clutch automated manual, but it isn't that sharp to drive compared to some alternatives, like wet, twin clutch systems.

A lot of owners complain it seems like it slips a lot at low rpm, whines a bit at high speed and can be a bit slow dropping down the cogs if stopping and setting off fairly quickly.

Before I bought my automatic hatchback I repeatedly tested all the cars in this class.
I found the drive in the C3 was really comfortable, but some of the fit and finish wasn't quite up there with most of the competitors.
Citroen have obviously spent the money on the seats and suspension, the likes of Peugeot that run the same mechanicals have spent it in the cabin.

I found the gearbox acceptable enough (having owned a EGS in the past) but nowhere near as satisfying as most twin clutch systems.
Around town where an auto should sparkle it was a bit dimwitted and a little laggy.

Citroen have recently dropped the C1 and introduced some cost cutting to the C3 range to fill the gap. How far they've gone is anyones guess but it's something to consider.

Cintrapark

Thanks a lot. I actually test drove the car and really loved it. Smooth, comfortable and almost fun to drive. I think French cars tend to get a bad wrap. At the end of the day how much of it is really 'French'? The gearbox is Japanese, the car is manufactured in Slovenia, etc etc.....