Citroen C3 PureTech Flair

[teaandtoastwithmarmite]

Hi there. I'm looking for a new (to me) car. Currently we share a seat Leon on lease. It's due to go back and as DD 11 gets older and we have different hobbies that take us out the house or out with her at the same time we're needing a car each. We're looking at two second hand cars. I've seen the above from 2018 60k miles. It would be ideal for me. Does anyone have any experience of these cars please? I've had two Seats, a daewoo matiz and a ford focus before and tbh I really rate the seat but I like this. Sorry for waffling on. Any experience would be great thank you ☺️

I have a C3 2019 Pure tech flair! I've only had it for two months so can't speak to what it's like over a longer period of time but it's been great so far. Very good on petrol. Comfy inside and nice to drive. Only thing that really annoys me about it is the fact that everything is controlled on a central screen so heating, radio, air con etc changes while driving mean trying to go through screen menus which is quite irritating. Other than that, no issues.

Thank you @Kurololi. Pleased to hear it! I had a Peugeot where everything including the heating was controlled on a screen so I know how annoying that is but it sounds like I could get over it with all the benefits!

I'm not an expert on cars. I love, love, love the freedom that a car gives me but the actual make / model doesn't really bother me.
I'm on my second C3 (I think that it's a PureTech Flair but wouldn't swear to that). It goes from A to B with minimum fuss, which is all I want from a car. They have been reliable and not cost a fortune to run (touches wood). They cope with town driving and motorway driving. They have decent boot-space. That seems a fairly downbeat recommendation but what more do you want from a car?

I agree about the control screen though. I much preferred when you could control things by touch, by twiddling buttons without needing to take your eyes off the road.

Oh, I've remembered another (totally trivial) problem. No cup holders!

Citroens are a great reliable car.

I do agree to an extent. I love cars and my dream is a bmw z4 but at this point something affordable to run and nice drive is what I'm after. I like the sporty look of this though. It's £7.5 for 60k miles 2018. I think that is quite reasonable? I'm test driving it on Saturday. The cup holder lack of is annoying though not a deal breaker. Thank you for the advice x

Mine has cup holders! But they're not very tall or wide which is annoying for a bit travel mug which I like to use. But a minor issue I think.

do your research. Puretech engines tend to have wet belts. I don’t know about this specific model but wet belt engines are a pain in the arse and very very expensive when the wet belt goes wrong. No amount of maintenance can prevent the disintegration of the belt. In some cases it has cost £1500 to have this repaired.

I am a garage technician.

Ok thank you for the heads up

I’ve had a look and it does appear to be a welt belt engine. They need regular oil changes and regular Cambelt changes. The one I had in recently with the same engine but in a Peugeot cost £1400 😂. It had done 40,000 miles!

Same with most Ford 1.0l Ecoboost engines which (average a wet belt. Similar cost when replaced so best to avoid.
I therefore bought a Fiesta MHEV Ecoboost which has a chain belt and has a 10% higher mpg.
I've not found Citroens or Renaults to be very reliable at all.

I’m on my 3rd C3 Puretech. No issues whatsoever. Good on motorways & economical.

Bit worried about the wet belt thing now. I have a Seat Leon and that needs oil quite a bit though. Does anyone have experience of this wet belt/oil change thing please?

That's good to know. Thank you. Have you had any issues with oil? Wetbelt?

No. However I change them every three years on a finance deal with local agent. Also my mileage is fairly low.
In 9 years I can’t recall any issues at all other than normal service & maybe a tyre.

That's good. Thank you.

Thank you for all the comments. I have googled the wet belt and I think if I get regular proper services and oil changes I should be ok but forewarned is forearmed as they say!

Citroen wet belt replacement needed by 120k miles or 12 years.
Make sure you get rid of the car before you get close to this.

Yep as above my C3 puretech has just done 60k miles (19 plate) and it needs £1500 of new drive belt tommorrow - it's a poor design engine - runs well, until it does not- never again Citroen !

Oh no sorry to hear that! That has put me off a bit

Going to test drive it Saturday. What can I ask the sales guy about this?

I really don’t think the sales man will be honest with you in my experience. None of my customers were forewarned by the salesmen, their job is to sell. From a mechanics point of view I really would steer well clear of those engines, and the Ford eco boost 1L engines as mentioned upthread. Even the new design fords with a timing chain still have a belt driven oil pump.

when the wet belts go there is no warning at all. It just disintegrates and blocks the oil strainer. At that point you are already looking at an expensive repair bill. If it goes a step further and snaps before the issue comes to light, you need a new engine. It just isn’t worth it.

Today I’ve had a call from a lady who is still paying the finance and can’t use the car because the oil pressure warnings have gone mad. She cannot afford the repair bill so the car has been sat unused for months in an undrivable condition whilst she saves for the repair. The dealer and sales team don’t want to know.

That’s not good at all. Thank you for being honest. Surely people do drive these cars though and not everyone has these issues. What I was hoping to get from the salesperson is some info on when the last one was done and I will make sure I get regular proper services

I completely agree that not everyone has these issues but I just don’t think I could take that risk personally. Definitely regular oil changes will help, but they need to be able to measure the belt width with a specialist tool aswell. The belt swells as it wears. I also think that it’s worth having regular belt changes. They won’t last 120k miles, more like 30,000/40,000 at a push ☺️. It’s worth factoring in those costs - whereas on a regular car with a normal Cambelt you’d be looking at 80,000/120,000 miles depending on manufacturer recommendations.

Just to say mine has had every sheduled service, bought it new,, and there are lots of them - never had a car needing so many - and it still flagged as needing the drive belt change - then there is a long story about a rear searbelt - which they have still not fixed - there are lots of other cars out there - honestly stay away from Citroen 😀

Thank you both