Citroën DS3 Owner Reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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For the first year this car surpassed my expectation but after that it went downhill. A number of problems, not covered by the warranty. A suspension clip broke and they confiscated the car for a week as it was not fit to drive - i felt i was lucky to be alive, just after a weeks holiday in the Lakes. Brakes needed work even with a very low mileage - then i started having problems with the seat movement - the investigation costs £750, and is a common problem - at this point I gave up. The dealership was expensive and last event cost me £112 to fix an oil leak which involved a 57p seal. The build is poor - it had an unfathomable rattle. Things fells off. It has lowered my opinion of French cars after driving a Peugot for some years (built in The UK then of course)

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After having car for 1 year my abs pump and control unit went on car despite car only having 30000 on clock rang main dealer where I bought car couldn't be more arrogant and less helpful disgusted with their service and disgusting quote of £ 1475.00 to fix. Got rid of car; pile of rubbish - dealer even worse.

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Was a great car, until it started its engine fault problem. Currently waiting for Citroen to give their opinion, but it has fuel sensor issue, fan cooling issue (the fan runs constantly), time and date are flashing and it won't accelerate at all (even though it's a turbo engine). Really not happy with car, or with service from Citreon dealerships. Avoid at all costs.

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so far so good

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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An amazing car, with plenty of pros. Wanted to write a review and say how amazed we are with the safety concept of the car. We managed to spin and flip in an accident, and looking at the pics we are amazed we got out of it with minor injuries!! I was 10 weeks pregnant when the crash happened but i was so protected and the baby is totally fine! Airbags deployed on impact as they should and the seats protected our body from moving around. Thank you very much Citroen.

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No issues in 36000 miles

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Excellent

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Have only had the car for 6 weeks. But all good so far.

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Never had an issue

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Completely agree with top gear and fifth gear awarding the ds3 the small car of the year - i love mine!

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Yes Green thumbs up

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It's head turning, fun, funky, new and a great reliable drive

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Not long had my ds3 but really like the performance and look of the car.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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It's a well build, stylish, practical, comfortable, fun to drive car. Little bigger but far more spacious than a mini and far more comfortable. Deservedley the top gear car of the year, and definately mine.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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An absolutely beautiful car to look at inside and out. However, I've had nothing but trouble with engine management faults over past year for a car that had only 20,000 miles on the clock. Two recalls for the thermostat and cooling pump, too. It has cost me over £1,000 to repair and needed repeated trips to the workshop for a coil pack and a sensor to do with emissions. When it did run right it was fab but sadly I lost faith in it and realised it could cost a small fortune. I'm disappointed overall. It's a lovely looking car but the engine seems delicate and unreliable.

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No Red thumbs down

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Absolutely fantastic car! Not a rattle or problem at all and as a 17 year old the insurance is very good, even without a black box. With this particular model, there are lots of features, such as the electric folding mirrors and the automatic lights and wipers, that make the experience of driving it very relaxing and enjoyable. The seats are lovely and comfortable and the ride is very smooth. I also get a lot of people commenting on how good it looks and how stylish it is, especially with the roof being a different colour to the rest of the car. The garage (W.R.Davies) were very helpful when purchasing the car and made the whole experience very easy and stress free. Very good car overall and would definitely recommend.

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Every owner of this car loves it and I've lost count of how many people compliment the look of the car, especially when I had happy yellow. So its popular too. But I've noticed that at first the DS3 had loads of equipment as standard, but now these are optional extras, so i guess Citroën didn't know how successful this car would be. It's popular with both men and women and for less than £20,000 there is nothing with the specifications that come as standard. Everything else that I've looked at doesn't have the same quality as the Citroën. Plus it looks fantastic and lots of fun to drive.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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I lease this car for my driving instructor job, this is my 2nd ds3 and will be my last, after covering 15000 miles in 4 mths the car started to show elec fault which was caused by the wiring harness catching the seat frame and causing a short, the whole harness had to be changed, however there was no parts in the uk so the part had to ordered and the manufactured in France[ so was off the road for just over 2 weeks and then after another week the fan belt tensioners gave up and these had to be changed, off the road again for a car costing this price and being only 4-5 months old not a happy instructor. I have in the past used A ford [ no problems in 3 years ] a corsa no problems in 18 months ,

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No problems whatsoever

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has completely stoped for no reason,battery had to e disconnected

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It is a very reliable little car had no problems with it.

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no problems so far

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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Brought new thp155+ ds3 , after 7 months had new cam chain, and since then a new light sensor, turbo pump, temperature sensor, and some new wiring, and now another cam chain. Don't touch the petrol engines, Citroen won't take car back. Not happy. But saying that, nice looking car

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Very chic

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Fab

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Fantastic, best car that i have ever owned. so much better than the bmw mini that i had before this one.

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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I have loved this car from the day I purchased it. Easy to drive, luxury interior, brilliant for long trips, quick acceleration, very light steering. No problems at all. Boot is larger than it looks. Cannot rate this car highly enough.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Lovely car to drive but too unreliable to recommend. Timing chain was replaced at 9,000 miles, again at 20,000 miles and then again at 23,000 miles at £500 a pop all due to poor design as the tensioners were breaking. The fuel tank was replaced at 19,000 miles due to leaks and sender unit making up it's own fuel readings. Citroen attempted to fix this 4 times so took to an independent garage, where the fuel tank was replaced. (Also got fed up of the £70 a time Citroen diagnostics) The paintwork around the mirrors is corroding and peeling off. Citroen did everything they could to avoid repairing paintwork so ended up doing it at my own expense. Unfortunately is currently on my drive awaiting repairs, at 24000 miles the fuel pump has broken and there is now a problem with the electrics. Expected cost of at least £500 to £1000 to fix.

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No Red thumbs down

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I bought this with only 3,000 miles on the clock and it was good for two years, but then I noticed a rattle on the engine. This turned out to the timing chain at 13000 miles. I took the car into the dealership, who wanted around £300 to diagnose the fault, and wanted another£900 to carry out the repair. We told the dealer to contact Citroen customer care as we are not at all happy and a timing chain should not go on a car that has only done 13,000 miles. To be fair the dealer did and informed us Citroen will pay 35% of the repair. We agreed to this as we wanted the car back sooner than later. The repair was carried out and we paid approx £630. We asked for the contact details for Citroen customer care and address. The dealership asked why, we told them we are still not happy and intend to take this up with Citroen. All this was around June 2017. We wrote a letter to Citroen setting out our concerns and dissatisfaction, and then went on holiday for two weeks. On our return we had response from Citroen. The letter read along the lines that they are surprised we had to write to them on this matter as they they had instructed the dealership that the full cost of the repair (£900) will be borne by Citroen. This was good news, but it still took another four weeks to get the money from the dealership. Now we are into March 2018. We took the car in for a MOT. It failed on emissions at 16,000 miles. We have been told by various sources a car that has such low mileage should never fail an MOT on emissions at just five years old. So we went back to the dealership again. They wanted £90 to carry out the diagnostic check, which was carried out. We received a phone call from informing us it was the temperature sensor. Before it went in for the MOT we had noticed that the car was not getting to temperature, and had decided to have this looked at on the next service. (Might add though we have the car serviced by an independent garage for which have complete trust with). The cost of this repair would be £150.00 approx. We told the dealership to go ahead. We then had a second phone call from the dealership, who informed us that the fault was now the temp sensor housing, which will now cost £650.00. You can now imagine we are not all happy. Then another phone call form the dealership, the fault was now the catalytic converter which is now a repair bill in access of £1350.00. We complained bitterly about and told the dealership to again contact Citroen Customer Care. We have a result although again not happy. Citroen agreed to pay for the catalytic converter, so now we still have a bill for £708.00 which included another MOT test. As we could not drive the car home as our insurance would be void. So another letter will be going onto Citroen, to complain about the dealership as if I had complained they would be very happy to relieve me of the full £1350.00 repair bill. Makes you wonder how high the repair bill would have gone. When I have written the next letter. I will continue with this saga and let you know the outcome.

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No Red thumbs down

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Trading in a 13 year old Mazda 6 and spotted this very stylish Citroen. Had it for about 4 months and love it. Lots of compliments about its appearance, very economical, roomy and great acceleration. Only small negatives are lack of in car storage space and no cup holders but I can live with that. Nicest car I've ever had!

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Can anyone advise what the sound system is like on on the Citroën DS3 Hatchback 1.6 e-HDi 90 Airdream DStyle?

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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Always starts and runs well

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Yes Green thumbs up

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So good this is my second DS3

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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no problems so far

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Absolutly love my car! So comfy and stylish. Very cheap to run but also quite nippy, love it so much im selling it and buying a new dsport as has more extras and bigger as going to be doing motorway work. The 1.4 dsign is perfect for a run around car but isnt the best on fuel when on long journeys (35mpg). This car is a must buy :)

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Sporty and clean lines very good running costs no road tax. Very nippy around town.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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My ds3 thp is absolutely brilliant! It's great fun to drive, with a terrific blend of performance, handling and ride comfort, funky to look at (especially in yellow and black!), Stylish, comfortable and well-equipped on the interior, and it has been 100% reliable over the first year of ownership. Citroen has got it's mojo back!

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Superb, great to drive & ride in. Well built and totally reliable

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Economical and fantastic fun to drive, with styling that sets it apart from other cars. With no road fund licence fee to pay makes it the best car i have owned.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Very nice car, it stands out from the crowd, a real head turner.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Nicely packaged hot hatch

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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My DS 3 has cost me a fortune. First the timing chain cost £13,00, then a fuel pump and other works to the engine cost me £600 and now an engine de-coke at £2,000. Its only done 40,000 miles! Several times Citroen has damaged the vehicle further when in repair and have refused to do anything about it. Citroen has been useless. Very expensive with poor customer service. This car has cost me a fortune and is unreliable.

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No Red thumbs down

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Bought my car new last year to find out only 2 days later it was accident damaged. I was horrified and the dealer swapped it for another car then 9 weeks ago the engine went pop they rebuilt it but still didn't no what caused it. I sold the car back to them today very unhappy and lost my deposit.

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Citroen have a bad press, as do all French cars - I was sceptical about having one. However the car has been fantastic, obviously no breakdowns yet, but things like no squeaks and rattles mean I can happily give this car a 5

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Yes Green thumbs up

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all good, no faults...

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Only just done 7,000 miles, But fuse blew for the windscreen wipers after 3 months and discovered Citroen only supplied 3 spare fuses, not which were suitable, so I had to swap my fuses around so I could use the wipers. Dealer told me Citroen as a policy don't supply spare fuses. Also 'ipod' connectivity, which is actually a USB slot, is prone to not working.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Bought this for my 18 year old, couldn't insure for a decent price till 19. Very nippy - alot faster than acclaimed 9.7 seconds to 60 more like 7.5/8. Returning 48 mpg doing short trips around town which is amazing. Gorgeous looking, interior is unbelievable ans as its the DSport model.the seats are so comfy (frinds saying never been in a car so comfy and the posture of the back) Overall 10/10 amazing performance ans economy mixed with style and looks. Very impressed.

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Fantastic

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Yes Green thumbs up

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This is my 3rd citroen and so far the best. For a small car it has been fantastic. I really like how i was able to make it my own. It is a delight to drive in a variety of situations whether it be city or long motorway journeys. I am also very impressed with just how solid the build quality is as well.

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No Red thumbs down

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The citroen ds3 1.6 thp dsport is an amazing small car. It has sporty handling without being too hard (slightly jittery ride on bumps), it is comfortable on the motorway and the in-car entertainment - sat/nav system is more than adequate. Fuel consumption is reasonable if performance is taken into account. In terms of practicality, it has plenty of space for 4 adults and their luggage (as long as they are around and below 6 ft tall). And then there's the design flair which is evident everywhere you look both on the inside and the outside. Quality of build seems to be very good and approaching teutonic standards. In conclusion: Pros: great engine and gearbox package, spacious, design flair, quality, playful handling, running costs. Cons: thirsty when pushed, jittery ride on urban roads with bumps and potholes.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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My ds3 thp is absolutely brilliant! It's great fun to drive, with a terrific blend of performance, handling and ride comfort, funky to look at (especially in yellow and black!), Stylish, comfortable and well-equipped on the interior, and it has been 100% reliable over the first year of ownership. Citroen has got it's mojo back!

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up