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10 BEST SMALL CARS TO BUY
Auto Express
|January 29, 2025
FROM £14,000 Small cars come in all kinds of shapes, if not sizes. Here we highlight the best
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1 Citroen E-C3 Prices from £21,990
THE Citroen E-C3 is a small car that's able to offer all the essentials you need at a decent price.
Citroen's electric car isn't about to set any new standards in terms of luxury or how exciting and dynamic it is to drive, but that's not what the French firm set out to achieve. The E-C3 has most of the kit you'll need day-to-day, plus it's comfortable and more than capable of taking on family-car duties, thanks to its impressive cabin space. Indeed, we were so impressed by the E-C3 we named it our 2024 Car of the Year.
The Citroen has a range of up to 199 miles on a single charge, which should be plenty for most people.
If an electric car doesn't suit your lifestyle, then you can also opt for a petrol-powered Citroen C3, with its peppy 1.2-litre engine and a starting price of around £18,000.

AFTER plenty of anticipation, the fully electric Renault 5 has arrived, and the good news is that this is a capable little car that's worthy of its famous name. Along with its distinctive retro design, the 5 claims between 193 to 249 miles of battery range on the WLTP test cycle.
Combine this with up to 148bhp and this zero-emission supermini feels at home in and out of the city.
High prices have been a deterrent for some EV buyers, but the Renault 5 is one of the cheapest new electric cars in the UK. It starts from less than £23,000, and there are a few low-rent materials here and there, but even the base model comes with a decent helping of kit. The 5 is good to drive too, if not quite as entertaining as its looks suggest, but its hot twin, the Alpine A290, could be the solution if performance is your biggest priority.
This story is from the January 29, 2025 edition of Auto Express.
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