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Original poster

Small city cars- i10, up, ignis, aygo etc

40 replies

IndigoDream · 02/03/2019 23:06

I'm looking into changing my car. If you have a small city car, I'd appreciate hearing what you like or dislike about whichever model you bought. I'm particularly keen to get something with good visibility at the rear - lots of cars seem to have smaller rear screens nowadays, with rooves sloping down at the back.

OP posts:

Troels · 02/03/2019 23:25

I have a Panda. I love it. My 6'1" Dh has pleanty of headroom in it even. It feels big inside and is very comfortable to drive. Sips petrol too.

Tr1skel1on · 03/03/2019 01:15

We ended up with an i10 when wanting something else (long story).

Brilliant car, 1000 times better than the Ford Ka we had previously, uses next to no petrol. Wish I had got one years ago tbh.

My parking skills are shite but I can reverse park the i10 in about 20 seconds so the rear visibility must be good :)

smartcarnotsosmartdriver · 03/03/2019 01:31

I love my smart forfour, good visibility high off the road and economical. Downsides are that she pulls a bit in the wind and the boot is small but I still love her. Oh and having 5 doors is a nice bonus.

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Cars & vehicles

LizB62A · 03/03/2019 02:08

My son has got a VW Up!
It's a great little car - lovely to drive, easy to park, good visibility, good reliability.

And the seat goes back far enough for him to fit in (he's 6ft 2) - loads of headroom for him. It's like a Tardis !

Backwoodsgirl · 03/03/2019 02:34

Step mother has a Chevy Spark, we call it a pregnant roller skate.

It's ok, gets reasonable MPG

emwithme · 03/03/2019 03:27

I have an Aygo.

Pros: Super fuel-efficient
Can park really easily
Cheap tax
Copes with short motorway journeys well for a small car

Cons: World's smallest boot
You can't open the passenger window from the drivers seat without leaning over
Horn sounds ridiculous

Gullible48 · 03/03/2019 04:02

I have an Aygo.

Great car but the lack of light in the boot is so annoying in winter and yes, it's tiny. You also have to manually centrally lock the doors on driving off. My old car used to lock and unlock automatically and it still pisses me off after 2 years!

However it's a wonderful family car for me and my 3 teens. Doesn't feel too small for the passengers. Good runner. Cheap tax. Good visibility.

lljkk · 03/03/2019 06:38

I have a 2011 Fiat500 Lounge.
Rear visibility is terrible! I marvelled at how well someone in a 1990s (?80s?) Mini Cooper could see out the back. I suspect all modern cars have terrible rear visibility (but benefit of high safety ratings).

I like F500 loads but it is a plastic can, mileage is not amazing. Low power in engine but locally few big hills & hard to go >60. Radio meh (no DAB). Minimal boot but that is not problem for me.

So easy to park, though, & economical to run. Can't emphasise that enough. Will hold its value better than many.

OnlineAlienator · 03/03/2019 06:43

Not bought one yet but im after a skoda citigo - same as VW up! but cheaper. 60+ mpg

Disfordarkchocolate · 03/03/2019 06:44

I loved our i10, miss it every time I drive our Cleo. Easy to drive, economical, great to park and turn in a tight spot. Too small for very tall son in the back seat. I'd happily have another one if we ran two cars.

Twooter · 03/03/2019 06:46

Got a Skoda citigo. Same car as the VW Up and Seat Mii, but much cheaper and more gadgets for the money. Rear visibility great. Only a 4 seater but I think the others are too.

Faster · 03/03/2019 06:46

I’ve for a Skoda citigo and I LOVE it.
I get 400m per tank, costs £35-40 to fill the tank. I can get my armadillo pram in the boot.
It is a small car and DS is in the rear passenger side seat in a rear facing car seat which means I need the front passenger seat pulled forward a bit, so this seat can only be used for shorter legged people.
It’s practically vertical at the back so it’s got good visibility. It’s a 1L so not the fastest off the block but has never struck me as slow.

Twooter · 03/03/2019 06:49

Onlineienator - they also have 75bhp models - very nippy! Dislikes - mine doesn’t have automatic headlights but it’s very obvious from the dashboard when you don’t have your lights on.

SuperHeroMum · 03/03/2019 07:55

We've just got a Fiat 500 and I'm completely in love with it! Sooo cheap to run and easy to park!

grannycake · 03/03/2019 08:02

I've had both a C1 and a Citigo. I loved the Citigo and was sad to see it go but we've gone back to having just one car so needed something just a little bigger

Original poster

IndigoDream · 03/03/2019 09:03

Thanks everyone! This is all really useful.

OP posts:

OnlineAlienator · 03/03/2019 09:05

Yes glad to hear the citigos arent too sluggish as i'll be downgrading from 1.9tdi!!

ScarlettDarling · 03/03/2019 09:07

Love my fiat 500. Very economical. Boot bigger than you'd expect (much bigger than the little Peugeot I had before it.) So easy to park.

TheFrogsLegs · 03/03/2019 09:28

I love my 🐼

Lovely high seating position, adore where the gear lever is, good all round visibility, proper dice doors, good boot for class.

TheFrogsLegs · 03/03/2019 09:29

I had a 500 before my panda, prefer the 🐼. So much bigger feeling.

katseyes7 · 03/03/2019 09:34

l'm on my fourth Aygo and l love it. Cheap to run and insure, and brilliant for parking. Yes, the boot's small, but l'm on my own - l don't have huge amounts of shopping. And it has electric front windows and air con, which is brilliant in the summer.
The only gripe l have with my current one is that it doesn't have a cd player. l'm not techy enough to sort out any kind of mp3 player or whatever, so l have to have the radio on, which l hate, so l'm constantly channel hopping. Otherwise - can't recommend it highly enough.

chutneypig · 03/03/2019 09:36

I’ve had Kia Picantos for a few years and been very pleased with them. Visibility is very important for me too andi find them very good in that respect. They’re very economical to run, reliable and have a good level of kit too.

It’s great as a city car. I’ve started to do a lot of motorway driving and will be looking for something a little higher up and with a little more acceleration for lane changing etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly fine for occasionally trips but week in week out, I need a change, but is is reluctant as I do love them.

NannyR · 03/03/2019 09:39

I have a citigo and I agree that its a great little car. The boot space is brilliant for the car size - I can get a baby jogger city mini double buggy in easily. With the back seats down its like a tardis.
It's economical and drives well on motorways.

Celeriacacaca · 03/03/2019 09:47

Watching with interest as our ancient Volvo has gone to car heaven and am looking for something much smaller now. Some great tips here.

Vanillaradio · 03/03/2019 09:52

I love my Kia Picanto, excellent visibility, great turning circle, economical, surprisingly nippy (I literally only drive it round town so probably not so much for motorway driving!) Mine came with with CD player and aircon although no parking sensors. Boot is quite small, fine for me but most pushchairs or big shop wouldn't fit.

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