Citroën C1 hatchback (2005-2014)

The Citroen C1 is a city car like the Volkswagen up!, SEAT Mii and Hyundai i10. It’s getting on a bit now, though – it was launched in 2005, and it is starting to get shown up by newer rivals. It’s a pretty basic car, offering low running costs, low equipment levels and a low price tag. But its tiny dimensions and nippy Toyota engines (it’s based on the Toyota Aygo) make it good fun to drive.

There is a choice of three specification levels: VT, Edition and Platinum. Entry-level cars come with very little equipment and interior quality feels a bit shabby, with plenty of hard plastics. It still makes for a decent first car though, thanks to those low running costs, the comprehensive three-year warranty and those dependable Toyota engines. The only trouble with the C1 is that the competition in the city car class is really, really strong. The Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto and the trio of Volkswagen group models (the VW up!, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii) all cost similar amounts or less than the C1, but are better in every way.

This version of the Citroen C1 has been replaced by a new model. You can read our full review here.

There is only one engine in the C1 line-up because Citroen scrapped the diesel option a couple of years ago. That leaves a Toyota-made 68bhp three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine. It’s very economical and will do 65.7mpg and 99g/km CO2 when fitted with a manual gearbox, making it exempt from road tax. Go for an automatic and the figures aren’t quite as good, but at 62.8mpg and 104g/km CO2, they’re still pretty decent – decent enough to put it in tax band B which is free for the first year and £20 per year there after.

Citroen offer a number of pre-paid packages that help you to keep down other costs like servicing, insurance and roadside assistance, too. Plus the C1 should prove to be very reliable seeing as it’s based on a Toyota.

There’s only one engine available with the Citroen C1 – a 67bhp 1.0-litre petrol unit, and it’s pretty good around town. It may not have a lot of power but it will accelerate the C1 from 0-62mph in 12.3 seconds, which is faster than a VW up! can manage. It’s got enough pace to nip about town, where its light steering and good visibility makes it easy to manoeuvre, but it struggles on the open road bcause the engine starts to strain and get noisy at speeds above 50mph. Getting the C1 up to motorway speeds requires real effort, and overtaking is a pain.

Wind, road and engine noise is also really intrusive at higher speeds, which makes long journeys particularly draining. The C1 is comfortable – more so than most of its rivals – which definitely adds to its appeal around town, but is completely offset on motorways and A-roads by the underpowered engine and noisy driving experience.

The C1 has a soft and supple suspension, so it glides over potholes and speed bumps surprisingly well for a city car. It’s good to drive around town because the light steering and slick gearbox makes tight manoeuvres easy. But comfort levels are compromised by a number of issues. Space is really tight in the back, which means adult passengers are not going to enjoy a journey of any length. Noise is a problem at higher speeds, too. The engine starts to get pretty ragged at speeds over 50mph, plus the cabin is not well insulated from wind and road noise, which makes long motorway journeys really draining. The driving position isn’t great either because the pedals are too close together to be comfortable.

There is only 139 litres of capacity in the C1’s boot, which is small even for a city car. The Hyundai i10 has a 252-litre boot and the VW up! has 251 litres of capacity. You can fold down the rear seats to free up more space, but even then there’s only 751 litres available, compared to 951 litres in the up! and a huge 1,046 litres in the i10. Higher spec C1 models come with 50:50 split-folding rear seats, which does make the space a bit more flexible, but even on this the Citroen is behind rivals, many of which offer split-folding seats as standard on even entry-level models.

Head and legroom in the rear of the car is very tight, too. Only children will be able to fit in the back seats in any kind of comfort.

A big stumbling point for many potential buyers of the C1 will be its poor safety score. It has a very low three-star rating from Euro NCAP, which looks worse when you consider the vast majority of its rivals boast the maximum five stars. Why is it so poor? Because it’s an old car and Euro NCAP downgraded it in 2012 when it made its testing criteria stricter. Citroen has subsequently added electric stability control and some other safety features to the C1, but it’s still no match for rivals like the Fiat 500 and Volkswagen up!.

Citroen doesn’t have a particularly good reputation for reliability, either. The brand came 24th out of 32 in the 2013 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey’s manufacturer rankings, which is a disappointing result for such a big brand. The C1 is, however, based on the Toyota Aygo and uses a Toyota engine, so we would expect it to benefit from the Japanese brand’s legendary reliability.

The Citroen C1 has a similar price to rivals – but that becomes harder and harder to justify each year. For similar money you can have either the Hyundai i10 or Kia Picanto, both of which are better cars, come with more equipment and have comprehensive five and seven year warranties respectively, compared to the C1’s three year guarantee. You’re more likely to get a deal on the Citroen, though, so you may be able to knock a decent chunk off the official list price.

Resale values aren’t too bad either, partly because the car is cheap to begin with, so they don’t have much room to devalue, but also because the C1 remains a popular choice for first time buyers. Used values could start to decline in the coming years though, as newer and more desirable rivals start filtering through to the used market.