Faults:

I have owned it from new and covered 26000 miles so far. No faults at all. Haven't replaced anything. Topped up the oil slightly after the first 3000 miles; since then it has barely used any at all between 12000 mile services.

General Comments:

I wanted a car big enough for family holidays, able to carry 3 or 4 passengers and their suitcases in the boot, but short enough to get into small parking spaces. Also, wanted good fuel economy and low emissions - annual road tax on this is still £20 (UK). It is great to drive, diesel provides a lot of low down torque which gives much better acceleration than expected. Fun handling on the twisty bits, you can really shift a lot faster than you might expect - stable and predictable at speed. Over nearly 3 years of ownership, it has grown on me massively. I will keep it, I wouldn't hesitate to buy again. Comfortable and quiet on 500 mile trips or round town. It will happily cruise at 80+mph and returns over 50 MPG under virtually ANY conditions. I get about 62-65 MPG on runs and 50-55 MPG in slow traffic. Seats are good and the rear seats adjustable for rake and they slide forward a little, which gives extra space in the boot if required. One handed folding of the rear seats and a level floor makes loading a breeze.

Passengers love it, great visibility and dashboard display is excellent. Drawbacks? A bit slow to warm up due to the mass of the diesel engine; glovebox is tiny, just big enough for errrr... a pair of gloves! (but door pockets are large, so not a problem). No spare wheel as standard, I guess to keep the weight down for emissions, but I bought a full-size spare on eBay cheap - it fits fine in the spare wheel well in the boot. All in all, a great car. And I have owned everything from Alfa to Zagato.

Faults:

Driver's door seal corroded.

Anti pollution fault, DPF filter.

Water ingress in fusebox.

General Comments:

Please, please, please do not buy a C3 Picasso. I fell in love with it when it came out and hoped it would be a perfect replacement for my old Xsara Picasso.

The good:

It's very roomy, visibility is fantastic, it's reasonably economical and it looks good too.

The bad:

The ride is not that great, a bit on the firm side. The gearing doesn't seem to be that great, the change is a bit notchy and vague, and at usual speeds (30, 50, 70 mph) it never quite feels like the right gear. Change up and it feels a bit bogged down, or don't and it feels a bit noisy and over revved.

The ugly:

This has been by some distance the most unreliable car I have ever owned. Repeated anti pollution display fault caused by DPF filter clogging, and then the lights failing due to water getting in the fusebox, needing a replacement and a replacement wiring loom with a £1000 bill. Apparently a common fault.

Faults:

Screen wash fuse blew when the screen wash was frozen.

After having driven the Xsara Picasso 1.6 HDI for almost 40,000 miles through France, Spain, and Portugal, I found the C3 Picasso a disappointing car. After 20,000 miles I can give the following comparison:

The Xsara's suspension is more forgiving. The C3's suspension is hard, finds all the bumps.

Performance: the Xsara is adequate. The C3 lacks the urge of the Xsara.

Comfort: The Xsara's front seats are OK, rears are a bit hard on long journeys. The C3's front seats are a bit hard, and the rear seats similar. The C3's seats fold easier.

The Xsara has a decent, air conditioned glove box that's great for drinks and food. The C3's glove box is an insult to the name.

Underseat tray: Xsara, where it should be, under the driver's seat. C3 is under the passenger seat!

Tailgate: Xsara is OK. C3 is a ridiculous shape, good for scalping the unwary 6 footer.

After rain, when opening the C3 doors, the water runs down the INSIDE of the doors !

General Comments:

A car full of promise, but as far as I am concerned, bring back the Xsara Picasso.