Opinions and Avice : Citroen DS3

[bugspray]

Howsit guys. Sooo I'm calling out on the well informed and vastly knowledgable members of this forum for help.

My Seatcover is looking at buying a Citroen. *Gasp shock horror*
Its actually a great looking and fully spec'd car. Looks schaweet and really stands out.
Comes with a great maintenance and service plan including a 3year 100k waranty. The model in specific is the DS3 sport.

Anybody have some worth advice on the Citroen brand and car as a whole. Is it a sensible buy? Are there any major things to look out for etc...

The plus is, she's getting an awesome trade in on her VW Polony. So that does help. Quoted price for the DS3 is R272k inclusive of paperwork and CO tax.

Thanks in advance.

Junz'

[karmakoma]

Almost all new cars are a rip-off.
If you must, the new DS3 is one of Citroen's better recent offerings.

As you say, has just about everything that opens and closes as standard.

Don't buy it and expect a good trade-in, ever. Once you buy it, you are married to it, but don't feel bad, it's the same for most french car's. So in this instance it's worth taking out the top-up insurance (unless she's buying cash en kontant).

Stands out from the crowd and certainly not boring !

Go do a search on the autotrader and see what else you can buy (even only 1 year old) for R270K before she signs with Citroen.

my 2c.

[JamesD]

+1
I love the look of the DS3 but not new. Yes every one wants a new car smell but a new car smell that loses you 70 grand by driving it off the show floor? rather take a look and see what low milage numbers you can come up with. Rather save some cash or buy something a bit more interesting...

Autotrader, gumtree, junkmail, usedcarsouthafrica, carfind, surf4cars, you get the picture(i take finding cars rather seriously sometimes).
But alwasy have the car checked by a dealer first if it is a private sale or even dodgey dealer. but there is always the consumer protection act to fall back on i guess.

Just adding some interest to Karma's 2c. so thats 2.000000000000000001c

[Bugandy]

Wife drives a C3 - not a bad price was paid when we bought it considering it offered more than anything else at that stage in June 2004. She uses it to and from work and it now has 58k on the clock.
June 2011: Had to replace the complete indicator/lights module (behind steering wheel) as the right indicator came on and stayed on all the time - cost at Citroen (Cape Town)R5k plus diagnostic at R595.00 - Oh and they could only do this two weeks later and not when we needed it!!!
Too replace headlight globes - both gone at same time a real job.
Overall not a bad little car if you have the bucks for repairs etc. Quality not the greatest but it works.....normally have to wait 2 weeks for spares from overseas
Will NOT buy Citroen again - made to last 5 years? I think so.......

[slak]

I had a really bad expierince with a citroen c3 thought it might only be me but my sister nin law bought one too i sold mine and lost out as they have no resale value
door locks started packing up, fuel pump packed up after owning it only 4 months
injector packed up at 45000kms not their fault u pay computer started malfunctioning
and had to be reset at least once a month when i sold it i thought a well i got a dud
turns out after 65000km my sister in law's car started with all the same simtombs as mine
and the sales people were arogant and unhelpful the spares are also ridiculously priced

but they might have done better on the newer models
all i know is no more french cars for me thank u

[riaanj]

It's French, need I say more.......

[beetlepower]

dont do it, I would rather go for the MINI, as it is basically a BMW and have good backup and motorplan.

But all these cars are expensive once out of service plan...

[MINCE]

For me, the DS3 looks cool, but that could also indicate problems. They made that car to compete against the mini.
They went the opposite route to the mini looks wise, but wanted it to handle better than the mini and to look more striking. makes me think what other aspects were looked over with their aims.
i have a Ford Fiesta, new one ( i did buy new. never again), but that car has been an absolute pleasure.
there are loads of options out there.
but if you guys want it, then get it. we have no idea what that car is actually like because none of us own one.

[John Alves]

I bought a c2 (1600) pocket rocket, loved it until 47 000 ks then front seat reclining mechanism broke.(out of warrantee)
It would only click in position all the way back or all the way forward.
Went on the net to find out more, very common problem and the only fix is a new seat at +/-900 euros.
I decided to remove the seat (that is another long story) and try and fix it myself.
Everything is welded and sealed shut, no repairs possible without breaking everything.
After cursing for days I decided to weld it in position........... fixed, you French f...........
Now passengers need to access the rear seats from the front passenger side.
I think French cars are designed to be disposable. Buy a Toyota rather

[Blitzkrieg]

What's wrong with her Polo? 9N or 9N3? Keep it and fix it, they are brilliant little cars...

[bugspray]

Woah! Thanks guys. Well appreciated! Well she's had the Polony for going on 5years now. And only 66K on the clock! Nothing wrong with it, just had its service and she's bored with it, oh and it needs a new front spoiler, so she wants to sell hahaha, I love that!!

Coolios, I hope this model is better built than the previous gen of Citroen!

I was also worried about long term parts costs etc, but she will most prob have waranty covered till she gets bored again. So think we're safe there.

Her hearts set on this car now, so guess that's that. Yeah Mince I'm a crazy ford fan, owned a few Fiestas including the MK6 and 7 wrote of both haha.

She absolutly hates the Mini cooper stopped me from buying one, and just turned down the new polo gti "its too plain compared to the DS3"

Thanks for the advice guys,I will troll the net looking for brand new 2nd hands, and associated troubles with the DS3.

I'm not big on the French cars, but try changing the Seat covers mind!!

Thanks again. Will keep you posted

[sean]

Don’t go near that rubbish! A good friend of mine was forced to give away his Citroen after spending nearly R100 000 on repairs in 2 years, his best offer to sell was R35 000 after 6 months of the car being on the market.

Everything possible broke on that car, it's build quality was cheap and nasty and it kept falling to bits. The worst thing of all it kept breaking down with electronic and mechanical failures. Parts were always unavailable and extremely expensive. After 10 years you probably won't even get spares for it. Get a Mercedes, the parts are a bargain compared to this lot.

The Motor plan is also a waste in my opinion, just because it may not cost you money to repair it's still inconvenience and frustrating when it breaks down under warranty and the dealership keeps it for a month to fix it after paying nearly R300 000?

My 5c

[bugspray]

Hmmm, thanks for that Spanner seun!!