Best Small First Cars for City Driving
For city driving, physical size matters as much as insurance group: a genuinely compact car is easier to park and thread through narrow streets. These five are among the shortest cars that also sit in low insurance groups, with real used-market price and year spreads.
Prices below are current UK asking prices, checked 4 July 2026, not a fixed number: they move with the market. Insurance group and price both depend on the exact registration year and engine, not just the model name, so always confirm both for the specific car you're looking at (see why that is).
- Smart Fortwo petrol £246/mo all in £69/mo fuel £17/mo tax
By far the shortest car here, around 2.7m, a two-seater built specifically for city use.
- Toyota Aygo 1.0 petrol £232/mo all in £73/mo fuel £2/mo tax
Around 3.45m, a genuinely small five-door with more practicality than the Fortwo.
- Citroen C1 1.0 petrol £232/mo all in £73/mo fuel £2/mo tax
Shares its platform with the Aygo and Peugeot 107 below, and the running cost shows it: near-identical monthly total.
- Peugeot 107 1.0 petrol £232/mo all in £73/mo fuel £2/mo tax
The third car from the same shared platform, all three genuinely compact, similarly priced and identical to run.
- Volkswagen Up! 1.0 petrol £234/mo all in £76/mo fuel £2/mo tax
Slightly longer than the others here, but the lowest insurance group of this five.
Prices and insurance groups checked 4 July 2026.