I bought my BlackCherry at 2 years old and 21,000 miles. It is currently at 55,000, and these have been largely trouble free with the notable exception of a failed power-steering unit at 49k miles, repaired - after some 'discussion' - for no charge by the local Citroen dealer (it is a 'known' issue, and Citroen are usually responsive).

The only other repairs required have been normal 'consumables' like the front discs & pads and the rear pads, with new rear discs (an MOT advisory) also probably being required this year.

Other than that the car has been a genuine first-time, every-single-time, hot-or-cold starter, and has never let us down.

Oh, one weird issue - the always-notchy gear change became very hard to use for a good few months, being really stiff and sticky and not follow the 'centring' of the 'H' as it should. As I despaired about the work involved in gaining access to both ends of the control cables, it mysteriously sorted itself, and returned to its usual notchy quality (one of the less desirable characteristics of this car). I have since lubed the gear knob 'ball' and the tops of the cables, and this has helped and it's no worse now that it was when first bought - ie notchy.

Ok, GOOD BITS: an easy and fairly pleasant car to drive, quiet, comfy (more on tyres later*), decent steering feel, nice upright seats, fine performance (nice torquey diesel), and feels safe on the road - all is generally 'good' tho' it could hardly be called a "driver's car".

Fuel consumption - the 1.6 diesel returns a hugely impressive 55mpg average, and this is for normal rural driving - towns, countryside, very few long runs.

Room - must be the best in its class? Both children and now strapping teenagers, and still fit in the back with no issues - even with a colleague in the middle (ok, at that point it becomes 'friendly').

Looks - like it or love it. Ok, a few will hate it, but I think it's a very successful design; quirky, but not over-the-top 'Juke'...

NOT SO GOOD: The opened rear tailgate has low side sections which gave me a regular headache until I got used to their presence. Still causes occasional issues for my wife, much to my amusement.

Notchy gearshift, which you do get used to - until you try other cars and you start off thinking their gearsticks are broken (how can they get it sooo light?).

A bit too much road noise and roughness from the original 45-profile Michelins. Even worse was the skittishness I found when going through a roadworks chicane over a patch de-surfaced road; the rear skip-hoped sideways. That alarmed me. On the first light snow in Devon a few years back, a planned journey had to be rerouted when I found the rear completely unsticky on even gentle corners - that really surprised and frightened me.

That's about it - I like my little Citroen.

* Oh yes, tyres... The BlackCherry came with 205/45s on 17" rims which are virtually as wide as the tyres themselves. The result was that on purchase at only 2 years old, all 4 rims were already very well kerbed - and I added to that from day one (I found the car sides tricky to judge when parking against pavements...). After a year of this - and the rougher-than-it-should-be jiggly ride - I bought a set of 16" Citroen alloys and fitted higher profile tyres on them, carefully choosing ones with a low road noise rating. Result is a very noticeable improvement in comfort and quietness.