The wife's DS3.

Gavv8 said:

So my wife has bought herself a year old Citroen DS3 VTi Dstyle plus in ruby red with a grey roof and mirrors... predictably she has named it ruby.
I'm not a fan of French cars but I must admit it looks good and the seats are very comfortable, only driven a few miles in it myself and it feels huge compared to my 100hp... anyway i'll put up some photo's soon.

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My Mrs has a Dstyle plus around the same age, make you sure check the doors for bubbles in the paint/wheels for corrosion before they can fob you off with anything!

We've got the diesel one, but they drive nice other than the gearbox and clutch combo, like stirring a bag of marbles with a stick and a clutch bite somewhere near the ceiling.

I see what you mean about the clutch bite, also the brakes are very very sharp but all in all it seems like a pretty nice car considering its French and it does look the part... standard equipment makes anything German look silly and it came with a twelve month parts and labour warranty from Peugeot so anything that goes wrong/falls off etc can get sorted for nothing.

I'd forgotten about the brakes, you get used to them although the first few trips out in it were punctuated by impromptu emergency stops. With yours being a year old is it the facelift one? If it is it'll have the aphrodite rather than Bellone alloys and the 3d effect rear lights. Picture for reference in case you don't speak Citroën marketing twaddle...

The equipment is very good, and most of it works most of the time.

It does have the 3d lights but the alloys don't look like yours.. more like giant snowflakes.

Gavv8 said:

It does have the 3d lights but the alloys don't look like yours.. more like giant snowflakes.

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They would be Bellone wheels then, when we ordered ours we were told it would have those but it took them so long to get around to building it that it fell post update. Keep an eye on the wheels they are well known for corrosion especially that style.Also the VTI is can use a bit of oil so keep an eye on it or have the mrs keep an eye on it if unlike mine she knows more than where to put fuel in....

I'll keep an eye on the oil level, thanks for the advice

Update... the doors are daft and a pain in the neck in car parks..

That's just a person used to 5 doors coping with 3 thing. I'll take a guess that you also think over the shoulder visibility for changing lanes/offset junctions is awful and that the seatbelts in the front are miles away.

DS3 specific whinging would be the glovebox is big enough for 2 tic tacs, the door bins can hold a toothpick in each side, the centre cubby isn't big enough to hold a 4.3 inch smart phone without it constantly falling out. Also the interior light is in a stupid f**king place so it only lights up the back seats, the cruise and stereo being on identical stalks hidden behind the wheel so it's quite easy to try and disengage the cruise and change the stereo source or try to turn the volume up and increase the speed...I could go on but i'm sure you'll grow to know and love the Quirks of a DS3

The seatbelts I agree with also the stalks around the steering wheel which is very busy... having said that the interior is a very nice place to be, the 'HiFi' stereo sounds great and its very comfortable on a motorway cruise... the boot is huge too...... and for a French car it does look great when its all clean and polished.

I like the piano black dash (I believe all Dstyle + come with a black dash), and the dials are very classy. On the subject of space they are surprisingly large inside for a small car (although I guess after the HP it's a big car), we've had 4 up in ours quite a bit and as you say the boot is a very good size. You had a look to see if it's got a can of spray foam or the (optional) spare wheel?

Also you might not of noticed yet but the fuel tank is big for a small car, 48 litres compared to the 35 of a panda, so on our diesel the fuel range is hilarious, and even the petrol should manage 350-400 miles a tank easy, we fill ours once a month.

It comes with the foam and a pump which is fairly useless if you have a blowout but I might get a proper spare when I get around to it, I'm borrowing it to take a few friends to the Weston air show in a few weeks so i'll get a proper go in it then.

A month or so in to the DS3 ownership experience and its still not growing on me, it actually feels cramped inside compared to my panda and it rattles!!... the wife loves it though

After a year with ours I don't think I'd want a Citroen again TBH Mrs is already planning her next car and has been since about 6 months after we got it but we have it for 3 years.

Maybe it's our fault for getting one with a donkey engine under the bonnet but I find it a hard car to like.

I took it for a decent drive the other day on a road I enjoy in the panda and which I know I can hustle along and a decent lick and to be fair it does get more fun the harder you push it, it doesn't feel anywhere near the drivers car that the 100hp is as the steering is far too light and the gearchange far too rubbery but it gets through the bends tidily and it revs quite sweetly too.
Its definitely a style over substance car and the interior build quality is appalling but its very comfortable on a long motorway trip and it does look nice when its all clean and polished... the missus loves it and that's fine by me.

Gavv8 said:

I took it for a decent drive the other day on a road I enjoy in the panda and which I know I can hustle along and a decent lick and to be fair it does get more fun the harder you push it, it doesn't feel anywhere near the drivers car that the 100hp is as the steering is far too light and the gearchange far too rubbery but it gets through the bends tidily and it revs quite sweetly too.
Its definitely a style over substance car and the interior build quality is appalling but its very comfortable on a long motorway trip and it does look nice when its all clean and polished... the missus loves it and that's fine by me.

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Mrs loves hers..it has the right ingredients for a fun car and it's got a descent boot and all the toys you could ever need. But It has the feeling of a really good idea let down by iffy execution.

Oh and all four wheels are about to be replaced under warranty, make sure you keep an eye round the centre caps.