Citroen C3, Ford Ka or Renault Clio?

PWEI

I was looking for a bit of advise please,well it's actually for my sister who is buying a car next week. She has narrowed it down to three cars but can't decide. The cars are;

2007 Citroen C3 1.1 5DR with 19,263 M / 31,000 KM for €6900

2007 Ford KA 1.3 03DR with 28,210 M / 45,400 KM for €5250

2007 Renault Clio dynamique 1.2 with 14,292 M / 23,000 KM for €6,895


She has a Ford Ka already but is leaning towards the Citroen C3.
But she's worried about reliability. Especially as she will be spending three months
of the year out of the country. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Stevie Dakota

Is it a 5 door Clio? Of the three the Clio would win for me hands down. Very grown up little car with comfort to spare. Clios have also been Renaults most reliable car for some time, so would be happy enough if the service history is legit.

PWEI

Thanks for the reply. I actually said the Clio also,it's a five door btw.
I used own a clio,the older model and I never had any problems with it.
My mechanic who is 30 years in the business reckons the Clio is the only decent model Renault have ever made.
Looks like she's not interested in the Clio though,she says the prefers the other two. If you had to pick between the Citroen C3 or the Ka which would you pick. Here are the cars;


http://www.carzone.ie/search/Citroen/C3/1.1-5DR/201039199665906/advert?channel=CARS


http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/KA/1.3-COLL/201039199665915/advert?channel=CARS

Ardennes1944

its madness not getting the clio. most reliable, comfortable,refined and the newest model. probably has more kit too. the ka has been around too long and is just so outdated. the c3, aint bad but just dont like them, cheap looking interior.

Ali Babba

The C3 in diesel for me, we have one as a runaround and it's a lovely little car, streets ahead of the Clio in every respect and the diesel is a miser on fuel. I'd happily drive to London and back in this car and feel as good getting out of it as I did when I got into it. No problems with it either. The Renault on the other feels just like a small city car which it is really and not as refined as the C3. We never had any problems with the Clio to be fair to it but it really isn't in the league of the C3.

Ardennes1944

Ali Babba wrote: »

The C3 in diesel for me, we have one as a runaround and it's a lovely little car, streets ahead of the Clio in every respect and the diesel is a miser on fuel. I'd happily drive to London and back in this car and feel as good getting out of it as I did when I got into it. No problems with it either. The Renault on the other feels just like a small city car which it is really and not as refined as the C3. We never had any problems with the Clio to be fair to it but it really isn't in the league of the C3.

its not a diesel though. and the 1.1 petrol may not be as refined driving wise. those french diesels are brilliant though

Stheno

I'd go for the Clio,have had a fair few friends with them and no problems.

Guy:Incognito

Jesus, even if the choice was 3 Ka's I still wouldnt pick a Ka.

Stheno

Stekelly wrote: »

Jesus, even if the choice was 3 Ka's I still wouldnt pick a Ka.

Nippy little feckers tho, I'd a colleague with one who regularly passed me out on the way to work on the M7, I was doing 120kph, he usually hit 150, and worse luck never got done for speeding, jammy git.

Always wondered how much the car rattled when he hit that speed, he upgraded then to an MR2, then gave out about dead insects on his roof :rolleyes:

After he upgraded he simply passed me in a whoosh of speed.

Guy:Incognito

Stheno wrote: »

Nippy little feckers tho, I'd a colleague with one who regularly passed me out on the way to work on the M7, I was doing 120kph, he usually hit 150, and worse luck never got done for speeding, jammy git.
.

An engine stuck to a bit off wood with wheels will be nippy too (and probably a nicer place to spend your time than a Ka). The Ka is such a horrible place to be. The back wheels look like they are going to fall off too.I used to hate them, then I had the misfortune to be a passenger in a couple. I'd gladly have walked instead.

fryup

i'd always go for 5dr car more practical, so thats the Ka out

the Clio's of old were notoriously unreliable so that would put me off them

so i'd go for the C3 but hammer down the asking price

PWEI

Thanks a lot for all the advise. She was leaning towards the KA but I managed to persuade her to go for the C3 after reading the advise here.
She picked up the car yesterday and is very happy with it. She was trading in a 2002 Ford Ka but it is in terrible condition. The car has a lot of knocks &
scratches, one of the doors won't close properly and the heating is broken. So he offered her the C3 plus her own car for €5900, a €1000 off the asking price. She managed to knock him down to €5700 which wasn't bad I suppose considering her own car is falling apart.

Zubeneschamali

PWEI wrote: »

She was leaning towards the KA but I managed to persuade her to go for the C3

I'd have had the Clio, but at least she dodged the Ka.

Wile E. Coyote

Clio all the way. I had a nice 07 clio (till I ran it into a wall). Lovely little car. Made bits of it but walked away unhurt so can't argue with that.

Funfair

PWEI wrote: »

Thanks a lot for all the advise. She was leaning towards the KA but I managed to persuade her to go for the C3 after reading the advise here.
.

Huh ? If you read the advise here you would have persuaded her to get the Clio

PWEI

Funfair wrote: »

Huh ? If you read the advise here you would have persuaded her to get the Clio

I tried to persuade her to go for a Clio from the very start but she ruled it out because there wasn't any for sale in her locality. She needed to get a car before Christmas as the heating was gone in her own car. Both the Ka and C3 were in Galway but the Clio was in Dublin so of the two the C3 got more votes than the KA. I'd definitely have gone for a Clio myself though.

Funfair

PWEI wrote: »

I tried to persuade her to go for a Clio from the very start but she ruled it out because there wasn't any for sale in her locality. She needed to get a car before Christmas as the heating was gone in her own car. Both the Ka and C3 were in Galway but the Clio was in Dublin so of the two the C3 got more votes than the KA. I'd definitely have gone for a Clio myself though.

No bother, the C3 looks just as good as the Clio and should give her plenty of years trouble free driving... Best of Luck and well ware as they say!!

Raskolnikov

The Ka is actually not a bad car to drive, it's certainly nippy as it has the same engine as a Fiesta, but a lighter chassis. I do think build quality is a little suspect though (bits and pieces will break/fall off, more likely to rust, etc.).

Zubeneschamali

The Ka had the same sack of spanners which "powered" the original Fiesta in 1976.

Raskolnikov

PWEI wrote: »

She was trading in a 2002 Ford Ka but it is in terrible condition. The car has a lot of knocks &
scratches, one of the doors won't close properly and the heating is broken.

I am only surprised that she still considered a Ka after all that!

PWEI

Raskolnikov wrote: »

I am only surprised that she still considered a Ka after all that!

Well the state of the car was more down to her bad driving than the car itself and she'd be the first to admit that.