Today I am driving ... a Citroen C3

[Leif]

The garage collected my wee Polo today, and left me with a Citroen C3. They later rang to tell me that my Polo has a ruined driver’s door, a dented sill and a dented B pillar. Sigh. Any roads, I drove home in the C4. I was delighted to get a decent size car, and not a Peel micro car or whatever you normally get. Apparently they have some Toyota Aygos as loan cars.

My pleasure didn’t last. Yes it feels not so bad inside. Yes the plastic aren’t as nice as in the Polo, but they’re okay. Yes it has CarPlay. And a DAB radio. No it isn’t a pleasure to drive. The speedometer and other dials are hard to read. And they are partially obscured by the steering wheel. The infotainment display is smaller, of lower quality and with a poor layout. The gear lever is yuck, not as smooth and precise as the one in the Polo. The steering is so so. The engine lacks the oomph from the turbo that the Polo has. It’s as if this is a car designed by marketing, they want features A and B, so they add A and B. And that’s it. They couldn’t be bothered to play around with the layout, move some buttons around, make them easier to use, change the design a bit, make it more ergonomic, more intuitive, more pleasing, add a bit of nicer plastic just to make it feel nicer. The gear lever works, what more do you want? The LCD display works, isn’t that enough? The ride is okay, but it’s a bit noisy, and it lacks the comfort and pleasure of the Polo. It just lacks soul. Everything about the Polo is a step up, they’ve put in more effort and more money, just enough to make it refined, but not so much as to waste money.

This is a car for people who want specific features, but they can’t afford a nice car, or they are too tight to pay more for a nicer car. This gets you from A to B. And that’s it. And despite being a bigger car, it doesn’t feel more roomy, except perhaps in the boot.

Sorry for the rant, but I do miss my Polo. It’s been, ooh, almost ten hours since they took it away ... just a week left of motoring purgatory...this is some kind of sick joke by the insurance company to teach me not to have an accident ...

[SRGTD]

Often it’s a really good way to appreciate your own car; drive one from a different manufacturer.

[SCGB]

My mate had a cactus and used to rave on about it. The only thing I ever liked about it was how the gear stick looked! I agree, not a scratch on the polos. The infotainment system was slow as s**t in the cactus too.

[Leif]

Scrub my comment about boot space. I couldn’t get my hockey kit in the back, too narrow. Fits in the back of the Polo, just. Purgatory ...

[RUM4MO]

There is a guy on the Skoda Fabia forum who has moved to Citroen C3 and sees it as the best sorted out and manufactured car around - he claims to own a few companies, having been a master tech for many years and an engine design/developer, so he thinks that he does know his stuff, though I suppose any of us could talk up what we have done over our working lives - I've worked with a few like that who have not stayed long and moved on, strange that?

[monkeyhanger]

Often it’s a really good way to appreciate your own car; drive one from a different manufacturer.

Definitely. I had the misfortune to be driving a Renault Kadjar for work about 6 months ago and was puzzled as to why the front passenger seatbelt was already plugged in while the seat was empty after picking it up from Enterprise. I got moving and unplugged the belt while on the move, and realised why it had been plugged in. Immediately there was a piercingly bright warning sign in the roof console- right in my eyeline, to tell me that the front passenger airbag was active. Bad design for either lacking a weight sensor to ascertain that the seat was empty and not illuminate that bloody light, or make it noticeable, but not irrittaingly blinding while driving.

I've always found VWs logically laid out.

The bloody thing swayed like a Spanish Galleon in a storm on its very bouncy ride when going above 65mph too - downright dangerous at 80mph (which I tried and immediately slowed down with). I was so pleased to get back in the Golf R

[vc-10]

I showed a friend the infotainment in my Fabia, which is the previous gen of VAG systems. He has a Peugeot 2008, basically the same setup as the Cactus only the Peugeot gets real A/C controls rather than putting it through the screen like the Cactus.

He said that it was like showing him an iPad Pro compared to one of those PDA things from the early 2000s, the Peugeot system was so clunky in comparison.

[Leif]

Often it’s a really good way to appreciate your own car; drive one from a different manufacturer.

Quite right. I’d better not drive a Mercedes/BMW/Jaguar just in case I like them.

To be fair the sound system is good, and the seats are fine. And it might be a lower power engine from the range.But it is noisy, and the air con is controlled from the LED display which is fiddly, and more dangerous than normal controls, because it takes your attention away from the road. The speedo and other dials look toy town when lit. I honestly struggle to understand why someone would buy this rather than a Polo. It doesn’t seem to have more room inside, although maybe it’s better for three in the back. The Polo has quality, comfort, a nice drive and a logical layout. I suspect the Nissan Micra, and a few others, are much better too.

Incidentally I work for a company that supplies capacitative touch screens to the automobile industry, and VW et al are very fussy. We sell on quality not price, and they buy from us.

[Andy Beats]

The day I bought my Polo, the Citroen C3 and Nissan Micra were also on my list.
It was just chance that I went into the VW garage first, really.
I could equally have chosen to go into the Citroen or Nissan garage first and done a deal there.
I needed a car quickly, they're effectively white goods to me and I'm sure I'd have been equally pleased with the C3/Micra.

[Leif]

Apologies, this is a C3 and I think it has the lowest spec engine. It is fine if you get a good discount, and money is tight. But not my choice of wheels. Christ, I’d rather use inline skates.

[monkeyhanger]

.
I needed a car quickly, they're effectively white goods to me

Does that mean you frequent washing machine forums too Andy?

[Leif]

.
I needed a car quickly, they're effectively white goods to me

Does that mean you frequent washing machine forums too Andy?

Or maybe he’s a white supremacist. Seriously though, that was my attitude before my Polo. A colleague has a new 4 series BMW Coupe, he says he spends so long commuting that he wants nice wheels. He gave me a lift once to a local shop. I have never been so terrified in my 55 years of existence. I was on the verge of screaming out loud. I’ve always wanted a Mazda MX5, though reality might not be so good,

[Leif]

I heard from the repairers that doors are on back order, so I won't be collecting my car today as originally thought. Does anyone know where the doors are made? I know the car is assembled in SA.

[Andy Beats]

I honestly struggle to understand why someone would buy this rather than a Polo.

Looks, primarily.
The C3 is funky and modern, I really like the way it looks with the high up headlamps etc.
The Polo is staid and boring in comparison.

[Muldoon]

Agree Andy, the Polo does look more traditional but you could say classy and less likely to look dated in 3 years time.

I can see the new appeal of these C3 and C4 models in being more 'funky' but longer term I wouldn't trust reliability - one day that LCD screen heater control will go awol and leave you without any heating or ventilation cue a mega £ bill. I sat in a few when looking at new cars and the interior plastics seemed cheap and the gear change very vague and heavy.