Citroen C3 Aircross Review & Prices

Citroen has taken its cracking hatchback-cum-SUV - the C3 - and fitted it with a larger posterior, turning it into a dinky seven-seater. It’s reasonably priced, reasonably stylish and comes with a fuel-efficient engine, but it’s far from spacious inside.

Which is why the C3 Aircross seems like a featherweight boxer compared to heavyweight brawlers such as the Peugeot 5008, Skoda Kodiaq, Mercedes GLB Electric and the Hyundai Santa Fe. In fact, the Citroen is closer in size to a Vauxhall Astra than it is a Volvo XC90 - and it’s far closer in price, too.

In pictures, the C3 Aircross looks larger than it really is. With its raised ride height, chunky wheel arches, boxy corners and roof rails, Citroen has done a good job of dressing the little seven-seater up as a bonafide off-roader. The aggressive headlights and taillights are highlights, as is the optional two-tone paint.

All of the extra length (to cram seven people in) over the regular C3 is behind the rear wheels, so for the most part the two look almost identical.

The interior is pretty much the same, too, with a funky design full of straight lines and some neat fabric upholstery to hide some of the scratchy surfaces. Not to say that all of the hard plastics have been covered, because that would require trimming (near enough) the entire cabin.

It may feel cheap and cheerful, but build quality is solid when you poke and prod around. The 10.3-inch infotainment isn’t particularly clever, but it’s simple to use as a result.

Thanks to the C3 Aircross’ tall roofline there’s plenty of room to get comfortable up front, as with the regular C3, but space in the back varies depending on which version you’ve chosen. To fit the third row in, the Aircross has had the middle row moved forwards - which takes away some leg room compared to the five-seater.

Seats six-and-seven are best for children or emergencies, with very little head, leg and shoulder room for adults. As a five-seater the C3 Aircross has a 460-litre boot, which is around as much as an Audi Q3 or Cupra Formentor small SUV, while the seven-seater has a reduced capacity of 330 litres. With six passengers in place, the boot is non-existent, which is frustrating.

You can choose from a pair of engines, a 100hp, 1.2-litre petrol with a manual gearbox or a 145hp, 1.2-litre hybrid automatic. Citroen claims 47.0mpg from the petrol and 53.3 mpg from the hybrid, but we saw 45.6mpg in the latter during our time with the car.

An all-electric e-C3 Aircross is also available, and it’s the one we’d pick as it’s quieter and more refined than the petrol versions.

With any engine fitted, the little Citroen is a brilliant city car. You sit high-up, making it easy to look ahead through traffic and place the car on narrow streets. It’s comfortable over big bumps, plus the good visibility and light steering make it a breeze to manoeuvre.

It’s less refined on the motorway with a touch of wind noise, it takes a while to get up to speed and it’s a bit wobbly in the wind, but it’s fine otherwise. Take it easy on a county lane, as there’s plenty of body lean around bends.

Verdict

The Citroen e-C3 is an interesting take on the family car which sits in its own niche. As a five-seater with a big boot it’s easier to live with than the regular C3, but as a seven-seater it’s more compromised than the alternatives. Still, it’s cheap to run and if you do need the extra seats from time to time, it’s nice to have the option.

If the idea of a pint-sized seven-seater grabs you, then check out our best Citroen C3 Aircross deals on Carwow here. You can see other great Citroen deals here, or find a used Citroen for sale here. And remember that Carwow can even help you to sell your old car when the time comes.

The C3 Aircross is, considering the space and tech on offer, an absolute bargain. The basic petrol model costs just over £20,000 - a bit more expensive than the Dacia Jogger, but you get much more equipment as standard. Air-conditioning, wireless smartphone connectivity, rear camera and LED headlights are all very nice to have when you consider the basic Jogger doesn’t even get a touchscreen.

Stepping up to the higher Max trim costs about £5,000 because it doesn’t come with the entry-level petrol engine - just the hybrid. However, it does come with navigation, wireless charging and extra safety equipment.

Regardless of which version you go for, you’re getting a well-equipped and roomy SUV for the same price as most small hatchbacks.

Great to drive around town, but feels a bit outclassed on the motorway

In town

The C3 Aircross is fantastic to drive around the city. Even the 100hp petrol engine feels peppy enough for nipping about - though we can imagine if the car was fully loaded with passengers and luggage it might be a bit sluggish.

The 136hp hybrid is more powerful and comes with an automatic gearbox which makes life extra relaxing. Though it can be a bit noisy when the engine kicks in, it’s relaxed in traffic because you can coast along on the electric motor alone.

Whichever engine you choose, the C3 Aircross has Citroen’s ‘Advanced Comfort’ suspension. This has a hydraulic element a bit like Citroens of old, and it means that over big bumps you get just a bit more cushioning than you do in alternatives. The C3 Aircross copes really well with big potholes and speed bumps, though the lighter C3 is even more comfortable still.

The steering is super-light, visibility is good and all models get rear parking sensors and a reversing camera - so manoeuvring around the tight city streets is easy.

On the motorway

The C3 Aircross’ suspension makes it very comfortable on the motorway, too, where things like expansion joints and rumble strips don’t really disturb the cabin too much. There are SUVs much more expensive than this which feel less relaxing on a long drive.

There’s not an awful lot of power in reserve from either of the engines, though, and the C3 Aircross is lightweight, tall and slab-sided - all of which mean it’s quite susceptible to crosswinds. All of these criticisms can certainly be levelled at the Dacia Jogger, though - so it’s not as if the C3 Aircross is notably worse than the alternatives on this front.

On a twisty road

With light, accurate steering and a surprising amount of grip in the corners, the C3 Aircross isn’t unenjoyable to drive down a twisty road - but the soft suspension means it leans a lot in the bends and there isn’t a lot of grunt from the engines to power out of corners.

Like the Dacia Jogger, the C3 Aircross feels much nicer if you take it a little easier. Taking corners more slowly will definitely keep your passengers happier, too.

Seven seats in a tiny package is impressive, but brings some compromises

The C3 Aircross puts roominess at the top of its priority list. Up front, it’s every bit as practical as the regular C3, with comfortable seats and reasonable space for small items.

There are big cupholders and a phone shelf in the centre - on the Max trim, this contains a wireless charging pad. The door bins are a good size, and so is the glovebox. Max models also get a central armrest with a little extra storage under it.

The dashboard has a wide, fabric-covered shelf which you could potentially leave smaller items on, though they won’t stay there if you’re cornering hard.

Space in the back seats

You can get the C3 Aircross with five or seven seats. Five-seater models have the rear bench pushed back, giving impressive rear legroom - it’s on par with many much larger and more expensive SUVs, and ideal if you like the regular Citroen C3 but need more room in the rear seats.

With ISOFIX points on the outer rear seats, the extra legroom makes it much easier to install child seats without having to slide the front seats uncomfortably far forward.

There’s also a seven-seater version of the C3 Aircross. This has the middle row in the same place it is in the regular C3 - so legroom is modest, but suitable for adults. Fold the middle row out of the way and you get a reasonably-sized opening to clamber back to the third row of seats.

Once in place, you’ll find there’s plenty of room for kids, but adults would be better avoiding it except for very short journeys. There’s more room in a Dacia Jogger. Rear occupants don’t really get much other than a seat and a seatbelt - it’s not exactly luxurious.

Boot space

The five-seater model gets a pretty good 460-litre boot - an appreciable upgrade over the 310 litres you get in the regular Citroen C3. You get 565 litres in a Dacia Jogger when the third row is folded, though, and a five-seat Volkswagen T-Cross has 455 litres.

The seven-seat C3 Aircross gets 330 litres when the third row is folded, which is about the same size as most small hatchbacks. The rear seatbacks do leave quite big gaps around them, down which small items could fall, so Citroen provides a couple of fold-out panels to form a boot floor. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it does work.

With all seven seats in place, the C3 Aircross basically doesn’t have a boot. Citroen claims there’s 40 litres of space, but you’d be hard pushed to even squeeze a small bag of shopping behind the rear seatbacks. So you can have seven passengers, but not their luggage unless you’re willing to put it on a roof rack or have the passengers carry their suitcases on their laps.

Simple interior is easy to use but quite basic

The C3 Aircross has been built to a price but unlike in the Dacia Jogger where corner-cutting is really obvious, it’s quite nicely hidden in the Citroen.

The materials are all quite cheap, but they’re used cleverly. Citroen’s added a big swathe of fabric trim across the centre of the dash which makes a change from black plastic and feels pleasant, and the steering wheel and gear selector both feel pretty classy.

Where it’s noticeable more is in the digital offering. The C3 Aircross doesn’t get a big, high-resolution display for the driver information - it gets a narrow strip just beneath the windscreen which displays the essentials and nothing much else.

There’s also a 10.25-inch infotainment screen which is notably lower-spec than the one in Citroen’s bigger cars, and also runs a simplified operating system. That’s actually not a bad thing at all, as it’s a little easier to use - and since it comes as standard with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, you don’t really need to use it unless you want to.

No version of the C3 Aircross should cost a lot to run. The basic petrol engine claims up to 47mpg, while the hybrid should be slightly more efficient with an official figure of 53mpg. Over a 50-mile mixed test route in the hybrid, we managed 46mpg, which is pretty good. However, you should expect this figure to go down significantly if you’re making the most of all those seats…

CO2 emissions are 136g/km for the petrol or 120g/km for the hybrid, meaning neither are particularly good company cars - a Dacia Jogger hybrid has a lower output at 108g/km. A plug-in hybrid will save you much more if you’re looking for a good company car choice, though.

The C3 Aircross hasn’t yet been tested by Euro NCAP - nor has the C3 that it’s based on. Both cars have underpinnings originally designed for cheaper models in developing countries, and so crash prevention isn’t necessarily at the top of the priority list - the Indian-market C3, for example, scored very poorly when tested by Global NCAP.

However, the European model receives significant changes under the skin as well as a lot more safety equipment, so while it may never achieve the lofty heights of a full five-star rating it’s likely to at least be passable. The main alternative, the Dacia Jogger, holds just a one-star rating.

Citroen performed well in the 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, coming fifth out of 32 brands. Several of its models returned impressive ratings individually, too.

The C3 Aircross uses tried-and-tested components and is a pretty simple car overall, so you should be able to count on strong reliability. The main warranty is three years and 60,000 miles, but Citroen also offers a new service-backed warranty on the powertrain of up to eight years or 100,000 miles.