Faults:

Usual wear & tear items replaced, drop links replaced, timing belt, clutch, coil pack all replaced once only apart from tyres and regular servicing, no major problems.

General Comments:

This little gem has been in the family for 13 years and has given great service. It has been used to carry kids and adults. No trim has come off, no rips or tears on seats, and probably most surprising no rust. Still a very presentable little motor, although mainly used these days as a second car.

Whilst not head turning or overly powerful, it will still get you to the national speed limits and does not cost a fortune to run. My other car is a 2.9, but I still love driving the wee car, especially in towns. If you can find a good one that has been looked after, you could do a lot worse.

Faults:

90k : Locked out of car when parked near to transmitter mast (Droitwich)

95k: Car running lumpy when just started up. Suspected injectors so removed and cleaned all. Problem identified as battery voltage.

New battery fitted and problem resolved.

General Comments:

Quite nippy and economical.

Car has been very reliable.

Locking out problem is common when near transmitter masts, so can't really blame Citroen.

Used up and down the M5 100 miles each day regularly for the last 4 years.

Quite a good ride, better than I expected.

Easy to maintain and work on for the DIY motorist.

Faults:

My only complaint is that the black plastic trim on the roof sticks up and I have to thump it to get it back into place.

General Comments:

We are on to our third Citroen. Had a ZX from new in 1997 which we only replaced last year by C5, and I have a lovely C3 which is like an extra family member! The ZX was running perfectly and was as new inside and completely rust-free, but a bit dented!

In 11 years and 3 cars we have never had to fix anything except replace brake pads, tyres and one exhaust (between the three cars.) My Kids love the C3 and we have become complete Citroen devotees, due to reliability.

Faults:

Vinyl trim on doors split, seals on headlights failed, screen washers failed, reverse gear very difficult to get, headlights failed. Upholstery began to wear within 1 week of purchase. Window electrics will open the windows, but not close them.

General Comments:

The car is spacious, and very useful as a run around. It takes a lot of items in the spacious boot, and is great when the back seats are folded down for holding a great deal of stuff.

The upholstery is terrible, it began to "pill" within days of purchase as a brand new car. It is virtually unclean-able, showing marks where any cleaning has been attempted.

The vinyl trim split around the drivers window, and had to be replaced. It has now split again.

The windscreen washers have failed, causing yet another expensive trip to the dealers.

The headlights failed, and after Citroen repaired them, the seals failed.

Reverse gear is terribly difficult to get, and can sometimes take up to 5 minutes or more of attempts.

Faults:

At around 1000 miles the power steering failed, at this time the car was still under warranty and was promptly fixed by the dealer. The car is virtually undrivable without power steering especially to someone with low upper body strength. In this case the car was recovered to the dealer.

At around 25000 miles the gear box suffered a failure, the car was still drivable, but would not go into a couple of the gears. Again the car was under warranty, it would have been expensive if not.

General Comments:

The car is fairly sterile to drive with average handling comfort and quality. If I was nit picking I would say the gear box is a bit rubbery and over weighted and fabric lining on the doors is only glued straight onto the plastic door lining, as a result it has started to peel off.

I expected a bit more power from a 1.4 car of this size, the engine does not like to be laboured at low revs and stalls easily, and the pickup has a bit of a flat spot until you get to around 3500 revs then it flies. This can catch you by surprise when trying to pull away quickly because below 3000 rpm your in the flat spot zone. Drives a lot like a turbo diesel before and after turbo kicks in.