Kia Picanto

A Kia Picanto is a sound choice, and one you can buy safe in the knowledge that any problems will be taken care of. This is thanks to Kia's industry-leading seven-year warranty. That’ll be a strong selling point to young drivers, as will the 10,000-mile service intervals and insurance group ratings as low as three. But the Picanto is a great city car in its own right.

It’s sold as a three or five-door, and the compact dimensions hide a reasonably spacious interior for the class. There’s plenty of equipment for the price, too, including electric front windows and MP3 connectivity on entry-level 1 models. And Kia provides a decent tally of standard safety kit, such as ESP and Isofix child seat mountings. Boot size can be expanded from 200 litres in all models to 605 litres in the three-door and 870 litres in the five-door by folding the rear seats,

The Picanto is an easy car to drive, and the 1.25-litre petrol models provide nippy performance around town. The 1.0-litre petrol car is a bit more sluggish, but promises 67.3mpg fuel consumption, plus free road tax thanks to its low emissions.