GETTING into the back seats of any three door car is never elegant or easy and they are a no-no if you have children to get into car seats.

That's a recipe for a couple of expensive trips to the chiropractor to get your back sorted.

The Citroen C4 in five door form is a practical family car with good space and a wide range of other attributes.

But the three door "coupe", while being stylish and standing out from the crowd, is harder to live with.

That said, C4s built between ‘05 and '10 are distinctive in the class, with remarkable refinement which manages to reduce road and most wind noise to zero.

Petrol engines range up from a 90bhp 1.4-litre, to a 1.6-litre with 110 or 118bhp, and a 2.0-litre with 143bhp. Diesels are a 1.6-litre with 90 or 110bhp, and a 2.0-litre with 138bhp.

Performance is fair in the 1.4 and 90bhp 1.6TD and good to excellent in all the others. The ride in the five door is smoother than in the three door and road holding and handling are excellent in all.

This far down the line, I would go for a petrol rather than a diesel, because most diesels have covered much longer mileages.

Inside, C4s are funky and eccentric, with digital instruments and an occasionally annoying steering wheel boss which does not turn with the wheel.

The very long doors of the three door can be awkward, and reliability is thought to be good in the trade, quelling all those fears about Citroens from years ago.