The 8 best cars for new drivers
You've nailed the parallel park, successfully conducted an emergency stop, conquered roundabouts and, having demonstrated all this to the authorities, now have the pass papers to prove your roadworthiness. Finally, it's time to buy your first car but which one? Fear not, friend, we're here to guide you to a memorable first motor. You won't find any Jackanory options here; all the cars on this list can be insured by mere mortals on modest pay packets, but they're also fun in their own ways – worthy wingmen on your first motoring adventures. These are the best cars for new drivers.
Volkswagen Up
The Volkswagen Up has recently gone off sale, killing off one of the best small cars ever made. The Up combines everything you love about a small car with big-car qualities like motorway stability, refinement, and ride comfort.
The Up's square footprint and clever packaging meant it could accommodate five adults comfortably, and its boot capacity was class-leading at the time. Inside, Volkswagen's build quality shone through, and the clever phone holder, which used your phone for the car's sat-nav, was a smartr way of getting around fitting an expensive infotainment screen. In corners, the Up was grippy and planted, and although gutless, its three-cylinder engines sounded eager and were cheap to run. The turbocharged engine that joined the range later made the Up almost the perfect package.
Skoda Citigo
The Skoda Citigo is essentially the same car as the Volkswagen Up – as is the SEAT Mii, for that matter – but the Citigo makes it on this list thanks to its sporty Monte Carlo trim level. Sporty cars and new drivers mix like oil and water because the insurance premiums are prohibitively expensive to all but the most well-heeled new drivers.
But that's fine for the Monte Carlo because it's mechanically identical to the rather brilliant (but not quick) standard Citigo. Skoda did an excellent job of making it look like a mini hot hatch by lowering its ride height and adding alloy wheels, body stripes and decals. Inside, you got red trim pieces and sporty trimmed seats. While not blessed with pace, the Citigo is still fun. Its three-cylinder engines have an offbeat thrum that develops into a pint-sized Porsche roar as the revs rise and its chassis grips the road with surprising tenacity.
Citroen C1
The Citroen C1 is dynamically inferior to the Volkswagen Up et al. It lacks the stability of the Volkswagen, isn't as comfortable or refined, and its cabin feels cheaper and less practical. But it does have one ace up its sleeve – its sardine-can-style roll-back roof. Yes, new drivers can have the wind in their hair, too, without paying the punchy insurance premium of a proper convertible.
While the paragraph above isn't exactly a glowing endorsement of the Citroen, it's not a bad car in isolation. It's highly manoeuvrable, has willing three-cylinder engines, and is fun to drive in a door-handles-scraping-Tarmac kind of way. On the outside, bright colour combinations help it stand out. Inside, It feels like a small car, but its five doors make it relatively easy to cram everyone into the tight cabin.
Toyota Aygo X
The 'X' in the Toyota Aygo X's name and its tall ride height might lead you to believe it's a mini offroader like the Fiat Panda 4x4, but its off-road pretences don't go past its crossover looks. Perhaps that's not such a bad thing, though, because the Aygo is the most modern looking for all the cars here, and while it can't handle mud, its raised ride height will come in handy on poorly surfaced roads and speed humps hit with a tad too much enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, squeezing any kind of enthusiasm out of the Aygo is quite the effort, especially if you go for the CVT automatic gearbox, which leeches away what little power the Toyoyta's three-cylinder engine has. It's a shame because the Aygo X actually handles surprisingly well. If anything, this is the long-distance cruiser of the cars on this list thanks to having autonomous driving tech that takes the tedium out of big drives.
Hyundai i10
The Hyundai i10 is another example of how far South Korean companies have come from being budget brands to builders of class-leaders. While old i10s were fugly, the latest model looks excellent with sharp styling and a choice of eye-catching paint jobs to choose from. Turbocharged versions even have a baby hot hatch flavour. Inside, the i10 feels substantial and has big-car features like a proper infotainment screen and a digital dashboard. The back seat and boot are also surprisingly roomy.
The i10 rides comfortably on the motorway and is quieter than you'd expect for a city car. Its cruising ability makes up for the fact that it doesn't feel as tied down in bends as the likes of the Volkswagen Up and Toyota Aygo X. But the i10 does have a trick up its sleeve: It's available with a turbocharged engine that gives it a healthy lick of pace.
Dacia Sandero
The Dacia Sandero is like the Skoda Superb of the small car world – it gives you a heap load more space than you get in cars costing twice as much. While the Sandero is relatively cheap for 2024, its £13,795 asking price isn't as startlingly good as it used to be – a few years ago, these cars cost well under £10,000.
But the Sandero isn't the only car to have gone up in value, and if you want a new car with plenty of room for five people on a budget, you won't find a cheaper option. In fairness, this is not the basic Sandero you know and love from a few years ago. It has kit like air-con and a smartphone mirror infotainment screen, while power comes from the same turbocharged three-cylinder as the Renault Clio. There's even a model that can run on petrol and LPG, offering a comically long range between fill-ups.
Suzuki Ignis
Rule one of the city car playbook dictates that a small car must have puppy-like looks and there’s a terrier-like boldness to the Suzuki Ignis' big-boned mini SUV design and toothy face. It even has some retro throwbacks to the classic Suzuki Whizzkid in the form of the three indents on its C pillar. Inside, it's a hard black-plastic fest, but the blocky colours of the infotainment screen have a retro feel, and the sliding back seats means you can balance between passenger and boot space.
Save for the precise manual gearbox, the Ignis isn't that fun to drive, suffering from inconsistent steering and floppy body control. However, it is astonishingly good on fuel, getting close to 60mpg thanks to mild hybrid technology. There's even a four-wheel drive version if you fancy a city car that can handle offroad adventures.
Fiat Panda
While the Suzuki Ignis is available with four-wheel drive, if you want a proper off-roading city car – and you do because they're cool – the Panda 4x4 should be option #1. Not even a one-star NCAP rating is enough to put us off the Panda's pert Italian design and squircle-encrusted cabin, which, by the way, has five doors for practicality and a surprising amount of headroom.
While it might not look like it, the Panda is a formidable offroader. Its light weight means it can dance over soft surfaces that heavier more complex SUVs sink into and its clever four-wheel drive system gives it mountain-goat like traction combined with its standard all-season tyres. Factor in the raised ride height and this is one hardy little hustler. The final thing to call into the Panda's favour is its twin-cylinder engine, which sounds like a scooter motor but delivers impressive punch, although it has a drunk's thirst.
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