Citroën C3 Picasso MPV (2009-2017) - Reliability & safety

The Citroen C3 Picasso is fairly reliable, but can suffer from a few niggles – plus, the last time it was crash-tested it didn’t fare as well as many of its rivals.

Citroen C3 Picasso reliability

Owner satisfaction is a bit of a mixed bag, with C3 Picasso owners rating their car 108th overall out of 200 cars in our 2015 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey.

It was ranked in 78th place for reliability, which means that’s one of its stronger suits, but thanks to below-par materials used inside, it finished down in 167th place for build quality.

That’s something echoed by Carbuyer users, who’ve reported issues such as “annoying dashboard squeaks and rattles”, “a ridiculously small glovebox” and ”what should have been a good car is let down by poor build quality”. Some readers also complained about the “notchy gearbox”.

On the upside, one reader said that the C3 Picasso “costs nothing to maintain except for tyres”. Another said: “Citroen has really upped a gear or two on quality and workmanship” and “the dealer has been excellent.”

Safety

The Citroen C3 Picasso scored four stars, rather than the maximum five, when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2009. It received an 81% score for adult protection and 76% for child protection. Euro NCAP commented that the presence of the ISOFIX child-seat mounting points in the back wasn’t clearly indicated. It also marked the car down for not having skid-preventing electronic stability control fitted to all models – but this is now standard across the range.

All C3 Picassos get driver and front-passenger airbags, front lateral airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, curtain and side airbags, emergency braking assistance and automatic door locking. The safety pack included as standard on the Platinum model adds curtain airbags, cruise control and an alarm for unfastened seatbelts.