Thinking of buying. Questions..

[Chris12]

Hi.

Ive had a little search but my questions are a bit specific so I though I’d start another thread.

Im looking at buying a used ds3. Budget up to 7k. I want a 1.6thp in black or grey. Don’t want to go too old so looking at 13 plate as the oldest I’d go for. Any advice? What do you wish you’d known at the time? Are thps as poor as some suggest, reliability wise? Also I’d prefer one with satnav (it’s not a must) because I like having some tech in the car rather than the base poverty spec

[Chris_Blue]

I had 2 THP's, a 150 and 155 (13 plate) and neither were trouble on a daily basis. A few rules to follow such as let them warm up a minute or 2 b4 driving off, (Let the oil circulate) and no thrashing above 2k revs until engine warm (5 Minutes) and keep eye on oil level. Run a fuel cleaner through every few months for piece of mind, and use premium fuel. (Burns cleaner)

Saying that, my HPFP Fuel pump went at 20k miles which sometimes happens, (Chocolate teapot comes to mind) and it needed a walnut blast at the same time, luckily under warranty

For £7k would have thought from 2015, maybe even 16 plate, if u r very lucky. Depends how many bells and whistles you want.

Good luck, keep us updated :-)

Welcome to the Club

[Chris12]

There’s a 15 plate grey dsire on autotrader at the moment for £5290. It’s got the fabric sorts seats rather than Leather, but I’m not that fussed on leather as long as the seats are supportive. I had leather in my old in my old bmw and unless I had the bolsters fully inflated I’d slide around a bit. Ideally I’d want sat nav and this one hasn’t got it. Do all ds3 have Bluetooth?

[Chris_Blue]

AFAIK all DS3 have Bluetooth. Sat nav was never a problem for me either, in fact there are software issues with some built in Sat navs. Ive just got a Tom Tom in mine.

Dsire has the nice headlights I believe- theyre worth £600 odd as an aftermarket extra if you buy used- so theyre nice

Ive never been fussed about leather, same as you. Its cold when you first get in, in the winter, and as you say you slide around a bit.

What sort mileage?

[Kat]

Not all DS3s have Bluetooth, I think it was included in the Plus pack (so the DStyle Plus, DSport Plus etc) My 2012 DStyle didn't have it, so it's worth checking if/when you look at the DSire.
If the cloth seats in the DSire are the same as in the DSport, they're really good. I bought a set from someone on here and upgraded my DStyle seats. They were really supportive and comfortable on long journeys.

[BeefMasta]

If you want the THP engine (recommended), I would look at getting a DSport Plus model, 2014 or newer. It should include almost all the extras available at the time (apart from Sat Nav). Make sure it has decent service history and warranty. Get the timing checked and if it's over 30k miles, look into getting it walnut blasted.