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“So much is great about this car - the basic design...”

Written on: 17/11/2006 by jbreview (1 review written)

Good Points
Obviously it's very small and easy to park
Children grin at you
Fuel Consumption
Storage - I think the amount of space is superb for the size of car
Funky dials and design
Comfortable seats (though there is not sufficient adjustment)
Plastic panelsbumpers mean it doesn't matter if you get a scratch
Split tailgate - boot access is great
Some costs are lower such as parking permittax and insurance- thieves ignore it
Great glass roof (though it's a greenhouse in the summer - even with aircon)

Bad Points
Being small it has no road presence - other drivers frequently ignore you when you have priority - especially 4x4s etc
Children grin at you!!
Horrendous gearbox - very slow off the mark because of rear wheel drive and short wheelbase - it really should be CVT
Outrageously expensive to have serviced
Although there is plenty of headroom there is no adjustment for taller drivers which means the interior mirror is totally in your line of sight - which is dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians at junctions
Mine has no power steering which means a very large wheel and too many turns lock-to-lock when parking
Very hard suspension and poor brakes - needs disks on rear
Electric window operation is awkward - there is no auto windup and you can't operate the passenger's windows without reaching across

General Comments
So much is great about this car - the basic design concept works really well - and living in a big city, being single and having no kids it is the perfect vehicle for 95% of my journeys. But given that this is a city car it is slow off the mark and has a horrendous gearbox that can leave you powerless - literally a sitting duck across roundabouts and junctions - a CVT box would have been much better. The servicing costs are outrageous and the hard suspension means you are frequently having to change your light bulbs - not an easy task and almost impossible for the front bulbs without going to the dealership (at a cost of £50!)

There is no adjust-ability of the steering wheel and only foreafttilt of the drivers seat - it desperately needs height adjustment. The passenger seat folds forward but ideally should be removable if really helping with space - it should also be reclinable but isn't.

The car is very poorly insulated for sound - and this makes lengthy journeys quite intolerable.

I would wait for the next generation to come out and see if it addresses these issues - they could also benefit from extending the options list (like Mini) to include a decent sat nav, bi xenons - better interior lightingambiance etc



I've had only one issue of reliability when they picked up an oil leak in the service but that was sorted out just inside the warranty - other than tyresbrakes all pretty good.