The Citroën C3 You is the new entry-level version of this small car, which offers an alternative to buying second-hand, costs just £12,995 and comes surprisingly well equipped…
On sale Now Price from £12,995
The new Citroën C3 You is to the French car brand what the iPhone SE is to Apple, or the Switch Lite to Nintendo. That’s to say it offers all the essentials, but not the fancy, cost-bloating extras.
So, the You does without the armchair-like Advanced Comfort seats and faux-wood interior trim of more expensive C3s. But it’s priced at just £12,995, making it an alternative to the Dacia Sandero and its SUV-inspired derivative the Sandero Stepway – plus, any number of second-hand small cars.
Visually, there aren’t many obvious signs that the You is a cut-price version of the C3; it comes with Soft Sand metallic paint as standard, along with painted bumpers, mirrors and door handles. Only the plastic wheel trims and the ‘You!’ graphics below the door mirrors mark it out as a less expensive version.
Power comes from an 83bhp 1.2-litre petrol engine that is officially very fuel-efficient, returning up to 54mpg. However, having experienced this in other C3s, we know that it also feels underpowered, so often needs to be worked hard. It’s much less muscular than the Sandero’s 99bhp 1.0-litre unit, and that can run on cheaper liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as well as petrol.
Still, while the C3 You’s engine might not stand up to the Sandero’s, its equipment list does, because you get LED headlights and a 5.0in infotainment touchscreen with a DAB radio and Bluetooth connectivity.
We haven’t tried this touchscreen yet, but hopefully it’s more responsive than the rather laggy, 7.0in unit in other C3s. Then again, the Essential version of the Sandero (which costs £11,485) doesn’t come with a touchscreen at all; instead, you get a tiny, dated-looking information screen.
Citroën hasn’t compromised too much on driver assistance technologies, either. The C3 You comes with cruise control, hill-start assist and lane-departure warning, among other useful features.
However, there is one glaring omission: unlike the Sandero, the C3 You doesn’t get automatic emergency braking (AEB). A 2015 study by the independent safety experts at Euro NCAP and Australasian NCAP found that AEB led to a 38% reduction in rear-end collisions.
Interestingly, the C3 You is exclusive to Citroën’s online store, meaning you won’t be able to order one directly from a dealer. That takes away any opportunity to haggle on price, but considering how little it costs, we doubt you’d get far negotiating anyway.
It’s otherwise unchanged from other versions of the C3, which means it’s stylish inside but not as practical as some pricier small cars, including the Skoda Fabia.
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