A Review: Small Cars For Short Drivers

This is a bit of a different post from me but after recently passing my driving test I thought i'd share the search to find my first car. It definitely hasn't been easy as i'm only just over 5ft tall and finding a small car with an adjustable seat for good visibility is harder than you'd think. I had a look online at a few guides but they all suggested medium to large cars - when parking isn't your strong point a smaller car is always going to be a better option! Here are my three top picks if you're not very tall and want a small city car.

Toyota Aygo
The new Aygo is super stylish and comes in a huge range of options with hundreds of variations when you start changing the colour of the X on the front. There are a number of different models with the x-pression sitting at the top of the range offering a modern radio and a parking camera to make reversing really easy. Inside, the Aygo has lots of nice features and is a huge step up from the previous model but there is still a lot of plastic and the back doors seemed to be quite hollow which felt quite poor quality for a new car. During the test drive I found that visibility was good and the seat was easily adjustable for my height however it was really noisy, particularly in lower gears. The Aygo has four seats but room in the back is limited so I would definitely opt for a five door model to make it easier for passengers and putting the seats down. Prices start from £8695 which is reasonable but more attention to detail on some elements of the car would have made this more justified. For me it was the road noise that let this car down but it would be a good first car if you don't mind the noise and want a small but stylish car.

Ford KA
The Ford KA has been around for a while and comes in a range of colours and styles, from sporty to simple depending on your taste. It offers really good visibility and an adjustable seat in the models that are higher up the range and the chassis is very similar to the Fiat 500. The inside is mainly made of plastic which does give the KA a cheaper feel particularly on the more basic models. One of the reasons I didn't test drive the KA was safety as it doesn't offer the same number of airbags as other similar cars and for a new driver this is really important. I also felt that the model was becoming quite dated and it's likely that Ford will be releasing a new one in the future that will iron out any complaints customers have had about the previous model. Prices start from £8725 but it's probably worth buying a used one to save money however this car is still a great option if you're a small driver.

Seat Mii
The Seat Mii is almost identical to the VW Up and Skoda CitiGo but sits in the middle in terms of price (prices start from £8195). It offers a range of add-ons including parking sensors and a sunroof and the special edition Mango model has stylish alloy wheels and Alcantara seats aimed at women. I test drove both the CitiGo and the Mii and found the Mii better in terms of the smoothness of the drive and road noise. For small drivers I found that the seat moved up higher than the Aygo and provided the road visibility that I was looking for without compromising on comfort. For a small car the Mii is also spacious in the back and you feel like you're in a much bigger car but again I felt a five door model would be worth the extra money. In comparison to the other cars the inside of the Mii has a sleeker finish and there isn't much cheap looking plastic but I did feel it would have benefitted from better lights on the radio and dashboard to give it a more modern feel.

After a lot of deliberation I decided on a Seat Mii from the Mango range as I couldn't resist the gorgeous Alcantara seats and it offered all the features I was looking for as a shorter driver - no surprise that I fell for the car marketed at women though!

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