Citroen DS3 - Any good?

[V8Driver]

Saleen836 said:

Mrs Saleen needed a cheaper to run car for her commute so the MX5 has been sold and has been replaced (collect on Saturday) a 2011 DS3 e-HDi DStyle Plus Airdream with lots of toys including power fold mirrors etc, £0 road tax thanks to the stop/start technology.

All the reviews point to them being good so fingers crossed for a couple of years trouble free cheap motoring.

She will love it, mine is going back on Monday to be replaced by a Picasso, will miss having a DS3.

[Saleen836]

V8Driver said:

Saleen836 said:

Mrs Saleen needed a cheaper to run car for her commute so the MX5 has been sold and has been replaced (collect on Saturday) a 2011 DS3 e-HDi DStyle Plus Airdream with lots of toys including power fold mirrors etc, £0 road tax thanks to the stop/start technology.

All the reviews point to them being good so fingers crossed for a couple of years trouble free cheap motoring.

She will love it, mine is going back on Monday to be replaced by a Picasso, will miss having a DS3.

Today is the day we pick up the DS3, most likely explains why Mrs Saleen has been up since 7am on a Saturday!!

[si_xsi]

Congratulations on the new purchase, pics?

We have been out today too looking at some other DS3s, we took a Dsport 110 hdi out which went well but not that much difference to the D style plus 90 hdi. The first car had been stood in their compound for a while and the battery completely dead, so they jumped it and i got in, then all manner of warning lights came on after 100 yards and the power steering failed and car stalled, but we carried on anyway and it sorted itself after 10 mins. Quite a memorable drive.

We just need to find one for the right price and spec now, and chop her 107 in... the search continues, will leave it a few weeks and hopefully there will be some fresh stock on the market.

[Saleen836]

si_xsi said:

Congratulations on the new purchase, pics?

We have been out today too looking at some other DS3s, we took a Dsport 110 hdi out which went well but not that much difference to the D style plus 90 hdi. The first car had been stood in their compound for a while and the battery completely dead, so they jumped it and i got in, then all manner of warning lights came on after 100 yards and the power steering failed and car stalled, but we carried on anyway and it sorted itself after 10 mins. Quite a memorable drive.

We just need to find one for the right price and spec now, and chop her 107 in... the search continues, will leave it a few weeks and hopefully there will be some fresh stock on the market.

Very impressed so far, the stop/start takes some getting used to but the 65mpg avg showing on the trip is very welcome, pulls well but then it does have more torque than the MX5 it replaced


Good luck with your search!

[Broccers]

Good choice of colour - ours is just the same - I wouldve liked chrome wing mirrors tho.

[Saleen836]

Broccers said:

Good choice of colour - ours is just the same - I wouldve liked chrome wing mirrors tho.

It was either the red or a yellow one, excuse my shed in the background

[Broccers]

Not a bad shed.

Im surprised how good these are on a run. Popped down to the airport yesterday to drop family off and cruised back the 70 miles mostly at 72 mph @ 67mpg door to door.

[Saleen836]

Broccers said:

Not a bad shed.

Im surprised how good these are on a run. Popped down to the airport yesterday to drop family off and cruised back the 70 miles mostly at 72 mph @ 67mpg door to door.

Mrs Saleen has not been to work for a week so the car has just been pottering around town plus short trips to the next town etc so the fuel has lasted well, still got 575 miles out of a tank though

[si_xsi]

Finally! My fiance put a deposit down today on a DS3 D Style Plus in Ink Blue, white roof and mirrors, the colour looks great and apparently quite rare. She should hopefully collect this week.

Went for a 63 plate 1.6 120bhp petrol in the end. She has asked if the DLR's can be turned on during the evening at the same time as normal dipped beam lights are on? I know the clue is in the name - i told her the clue was in the name - daytime running lights but she seemed a bit dissapointed with my answer.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Broccers]

You can't.

[Broccers]

You can't.

[Dave Brand]

si_xsi said:

Finally! My fiance put a deposit down today on a DS3 D Style Plus in Ink Blue, white roof and mirrors, the colour looks great and apparently quite rare. She should hopefully collect this week.

Went for a 63 plate 1.6 120bhp petrol in the end. She has asked if the DLR's can be turned on during the evening at the same time as normal dipped beam lights are on? I know the clue is in the name - i told her the clue was in the name - daytime running lights but she seemed a bit dissapointed with my answer.

I haven't seen Ink Blue in real life, but it looks good in the pictures I've seen - we'd have liked a blue car but neither of the blues available when we bought ours appealed to us.

As for the DRLs, I believe that it is technically possible to have them on all the time, just a matter of programming, but it's illegal as they are too bright for night-time use. The cars which do have them on all the time dim them when the other lights are switched on.

[Saleen836]

You wont regret it!

Only downside I have found with Mrs Saleen's DS3 is that the brakes are REALLY sharp, she still hasn't quite got the hang of them yet!

Anyone else have the same problem or is this where I find out there is something wrong and it needs to go back to the garage?

[Dave Brand]

Saleen836 said:

Only downside I have found with Mrs Saleen's DS3 is that the brakes are REALLY sharp, she still hasn't quite got the hang of them yet!

Anyone else have the same problem or is this where I find out there is something wrong and it needs to go back to the garage?

Nothing wrong. . . even by French standards DS3 pedal pressure is very low! It's just a function of how much assistance the brake servo gives - a lot of people consider French cars in general to be "overservoed".

Edited by Dave Brand on Tuesday 1st October 10:00

[Saleen836]

Dave Brand said:

Saleen836 said:

Only downside I have found with Mrs Saleen's DS3 is that the brakes are REALLY sharp, she still hasn't quite got the hang of them yet!

Anyone else have the same problem or is this where I find out there is something wrong and it needs to go back to the garage?

Nothing wrong. . . even by French standards DS3 pedal pressure is very low! It's just a function of how much assistance the brake servo gives - a lot of people consider French cars in general to be "overservoed".

Edited by Dave Brand on Tuesday 1st October 10:00

That has put my mind at ease, I have driven it a couple of times and almost gone through the bloody windscreen where I haven't got used to the brakes and when braking and pushing the clutch down my left foot has caught the edge of my right foot and put more pressure on the brake pedal!

[Dave Brand]

Saleen836 said:

I have driven it a couple of times and almost gone through the bloody windscreen where I haven't got used to the brakes

I know what you mean! Back from holiday last week, three weeks driving a Chevy Malibu (great name, boring car!) which had much "heavier" brakes, a combination of the DS's "light" brakes & rust on the discs from being out of use for over three weeks meant that first time I stopped at the end of our road I stopped about five metres short!

[si_xsi]

Here it is, i think i've driven it more than she has over the last few days. Very impressed so far, gear change is not as precise as i was hoping but that might be because its fresh out of the box. She is made up!!

[Saleen836]

si_xsi said:

Here it is, i think i've driven it more than she has over the last few days. Very impressed so far, gear change is not as precise as i was hoping but that might be because its fresh out of the box. She is made up!!

So how is your good lady liking her DS3?

[Faxo]

si_xsi said:

Finally! My fiance put a deposit down today on a DS3 D Style Plus in Ink Blue, white roof and mirrors, the colour looks great and apparently quite rare. She should hopefully collect this week.

Went for a 63 plate 1.6 120bhp petrol in the end. She has asked if the DLR's can be turned on during the evening at the same time as normal dipped beam lights are on? I know the clue is in the name - i told her the clue was in the name - daytime running lights but she seemed a bit dissapointed with my answer.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

You can't have them on with headlights BUT I had it programmed so the sidelights were on all the time on the 0 posistion. That meant I had DRLs and rear light on, so could keep them on in dimmer light

I had a 150thp DSport Plus back in 2011, sold it after 6 months to WBAC, but was an excellent car, in fact the only car I've bad my gf didn't complain about an aching back in...

[si_xsi]

Saleen836 said:

So how is your good lady liking her DS3?

She is loving it. Coming up to 350 miles so far and its returning 43mpg on a decent A road run. The brakes are better than on my Gti!

After the 107 She enjoys having all the gadgets to play with, esp the bluetooth connection to I-phone. Not sure if you have rear paring sensors but we have found they only really come on when you are right on top of aomething, might just need a clean.

How is yours going?