Citroen C3 Picasso (2009 – 2017) Review

The Citroen C3 Picasso is a surprisingly attractive car that blended the best bits of a small hatch and MPV. At launch it looked rather stylish, especially in some of the brighter colour options, while the cabin is roomy and reasonably versatile. It’s not the greatest car to drive, though, and there were plenty of alternatives such as the Vauxhall Meriva or the short-lived Ford B-MAX. Read on for our full Citroen C3 Picasso review.

It might be tall and upright, but the Citroen C3 Picasso is far from drab. Compared to something like a Citroen Berlingo Multispace or similar Peugeot Partner Tepee it’s positively handsome – and it’s also very family friendly, with plenty of space on offer.

The cabin is just as interesting as the exterior, with an attractive dashboard design and a comfortable, upright driving position offering a good view out.

Passengers will find the back row spacious for a small car, even if they’re tall, and the load area is generous too.

There’s a double boot floor, which offers the potential to increase capacity from 385 litres to 500 if you drop the floor down.

Exclusive-spec models are even more capable, thanks to a flip forward front passenger seat that allows long items such as skis to be carried.

The Citroen C3 Picasso has been set up for comfort rather than handling prowess, with light controls and soft suspension.

Potholes and speed bumps are dealt with well, while town driving and parking are easy thanks to light steering and surprisingly compact dimensions.

But the Citroen C3 Picasso isn’t perfect. On a twisting country road, the comfortable suspension means noticeable body roll, and that light steering is much less of a blessing.

The engine range consists of two petrol units and two diesels. The petrol engines produce either 95PS or 120PS, but neither is particularly good when it comes to emissions.

A better bet in this respect is one of the 1.6-litre HDi diesels, which come with either 90PS or 115PS. The former is a perfectly acceptable choice thanks to good torque output, low emissions of 107g/km and official economy of 68.9mpg.

However, the diesels will not be welcome in low emissions zones, unless you buy one from the last couple of years of the Citroen C3 Picasso’s production span.

With its interesting looks and a decent level of equipment on all but the entry-level VT model, the Citroen C3 Picasso holds a lot of appeal for used buyers.

It might not be the most exciting car, but as practical family transport with a touch of pizzazz, it’s pretty hard to fault.

The Ford B-MAX is better to drive and the van-based Peugeot Bipper Tepee is more practical, but as an affordable all-rounder, the Citroen C3 Picasso has all the right ingredients.

Fancy a new Citroen C3 Aircross? Read our Citroen C3 Aircross review here.

The Citroen C3 Picasso was designed to be an easy car to drive. The tall, upright cabin has a large glass area, meaning good visibility, helped by decent mirrors.

The gear lever, meanwhile, is mounted high up, within easy reach, and the steering wheel has plenty of adjustment. Add in a big speedo and the Citroen C3 Picasso feels made for relaxed driving.

Soft suspension gives good ride quality over lumps, bumps and potholes, while the steering is light and the gear change precise.

For town driving or motorways it’s excellent, but the suspension does make for noticeable body roll through tighter twists and turns on B-roads.

Reassuringly, there is plenty of grip and the handling is safe and predictable.

Four engines are offered – two petrol and two diesel.

The entry-level unit is a 1.4-litre VTi petrol with 95PS. It’s powerful enough, but not that well suited to motorway driving.

The more powerful petrol engine, a 1.6-litre VTi with 120PS, offers similar economy and emissions, but with more in reserve for out-of-town excursions.

Those who need an automatic transmission are limited to the 120PS VTi petrol, but it’s not a true automatic.

Instead it’s an automated manual, which is slow and jerky when changing gear. There are also known reliability issues with this transmission that cause us to suggest giving it a wide berth.

It will do the job if you absolutely need an auto, but it’s not recommended if you simply want an auto to make life easy.

For low running costs, you’ll be drawn to one of the diesels. A 1.6-litre HDi is the only option, but there are two power outputs – 90PS and 110PS (later 115PS).

Both are a little clattery at idle, but on the move they quieten down and offer useful torque. You can leave the car in a gear to accelerate or overtake, which suits the relaxed character of the Citroen C3 Picasso.

The more powerful diesel produces a little more torque than the 90PS engine, but it’s probably not worth the extra expense unless you regularly carry a full car on long journeys.

This is a mixed bag for the Citroen C3 Picasso and depends on the trim level you choose.

We’d avoid the base VT model, as it only has four airbags and no ESP traction control.

That means higher spec Citroen C3 Picassos are the ones to have, as they add ESP and curtain airbags.

The Citroen C3 Picasso achieved a four-star rating when crash tested by Euro NCAP when it was new.

If you want to tow with a Citroen C3 Picasso, you will need to check the exact limits of the car you are considering buying.

With an unbraked trailer, it can pull 620kg, while a braked trailer can raise that to as much as 1100kg. But some models are restricted to 900kg.

The tall, boxy exterior of the Citroen C3 Picasso gives way to a roomy, spacious cabin with some neat, family-friendly features.

In the front, there’s a stylish, clear centre console with instruments mounted right between the driver and passenger. The speed readout is huge, while the gear lever is mounted high and close to hand.

It’s effortlessly comfortable and easy to get to grips with.

Space is generous – the back row of seats will easily accommodate adults, while the boot will happily swallow all the accoutrements a family will need for a day out.

The total volume is 385 litres, but if you need more space then you can drop the floor, expanding capacity to 500 litres, or fold the second row of seats, giving 1506 litres.

You can even fold the front passenger seat down in top-spec Exclusive models – useful if you’ve got planks of wood or pipes to carry for DIY. 

Not only is the Citroen C3 Picasso practical, but it’s also well built.

The plastics used are good quality, with soft-touch materials on the dashboard, nicely trimmed seats, plus small metallic embellishments to lift the ambience and give the cabin some character.

However, there are some irritating oversights and issues, including a pointlessly small glove compartment and an optional, confusing infotainment system that’s tricky to operate.

A basic form of sat-nav was an option for the Citroen C3 Picasso from launch, although the screen always looked like an afterthought in the way it was plonked in the middle of the dash.

In 2012, an updated system was offered that was better to use, but now feels very dated and slow-witted.

All but the base trim versions of the Citroen C3 Picasso came with Bluetooth connection as standard.

As a family MPV or useful second car, the Citroen C3 Picasso endears itself with used prices that start from as little as £2500 for an early example with less than 80,000 miles on the clock.

You have your pick of petrol and diesel models at this price point.

The most you’ll pay for a Citroen C3 Picasso will be around £9000 for one of the very last examples, with as little as 25,000 miles under its wheels.

This will bag you a Platinum trim car with a healthy list of standard equipment.

The 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre petrol engines come with claimed fuel economy figures in the mid-40s, and they return in the high 30s in normal driving.

That’s decent, but we’d opt for the 1.2 PureTech petrol, available from 2015 onwards, as it comes with a claimed 56.5mpg and delivers a real-world 50mpg.

It’s also the lowest emitting petrol engine, with CO2 output of 115g/km. This gives it an annual road tax cost of £35 per year at the time of writing.

On the diesel front, there are 90PS and 110PS (later 115PS) 1.6-litre turbodiesel motors that deliver as much as 68.9mpg, according to official calculations.

In normal driving conditions, that equates to 55mpg, while emissions come in as low as 107g/km for a £20 road tax payment every 12 months.

The diesel engines in the Citroen C3 Picasso need a service every 12,500 miles or once a year, whichever comes first, whereas the petrols can stretch to every 20,000 miles or 12 months.

Either way, routine servicing is not expensive for this car, but the Citroen C3 Picasso has not performed well in our reliability surveys, so you may have to put up with some unexpected garage visits.

Insurance is not a major gripe with Citroen C3 Picasso owners, as it sits between groups 10 and 16 (out of 50).

The Citroen C3 Picasso VT models come with ABS, EBD, driver and passenger front airbags, remote central locking, steering mounted audio controls, auxiliary audio socket, an adjustable boot floor and split-folding rear seats.

They also have a panoramic windscreen, front electric windows, 12V socket and 15-inch steel wheels.

With the Citroen C3 Picasso VTR+ models, you gain air-conditioning, cruise control with speed limiter, side airbags, curtain airbags, front foglights, and LED running lights.

There’s also Bluetooth and USB connections, three rear headrests, 16-inch alloy wheels and VTR+ exterior styling.

Citroen C3 Picasso Exclusive is the top trim level and gains digital, dual zone climate control, a leather steering wheel, shiny black centre console, auto wipers, auto lights, auto dimming rear view mirror and a child surveillance mirror.

A folding front passenger seat is included, along with tray tables for the back row, rear window blinds, a boot net and boot torch, rear parking sensors, rear electric windows, roof bars, plus heated and folding door mirrors.

The Citroen C3 Picasso Platinum trim later took over from the Exclusive but kept to much the same specification.