Used Car of the Year Awards: Hatchbacks
With living costs on the rise, getting a good deal on your next car is more important than ever. That's where our Used Car Awards come in. These are our favourite hatchbacks...
Honda Jazz
Prices from £11,500 Our pick 1.5 i-MMD Hybrid SR
American football coach Vince Lombardo once said that perfection wasn’t attainable, but that by chasing it, we could catch excellence. Well, we’d argue that by putting a used Honda Jazz on your driveway, you won’t be far away from perfection – and you don’t even need to step foot onto a sports field.
You’ll certainly have room to carry your team-mates; six-footers will find more room than they would in its Ford Fiesta or Volkswagen Polo small car rivals, or in several cars from the class above. The boot is generous for a small car, too, and if you’re taking the team’s hard-won silverware to the polishers, the Jazz’s ‘Magic’ rear seats flip up, cinema-style, to take even the tallest trophy standing up.
The Jazz’s 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric motor produce a relatively modest 96bhp in total, but that’s still enough to get you to motorway speeds faster than an equivalent Yaris or Polo could manage. And while no one would choose one over a BMW 1 Series for driving fun, the Jazz’s safe, predictable handling inspires confidence. It’s also one of the best hatchbacks when it comes to ride comfort.
The Jazz’s interior should have no trouble standing up to the rough-and-tumble of family life, and pleasing materials grace every surface that hands will touch regularly. While even entry-level SE cars have most kit needs covered, we’d look for SR trim, which gives you 15in alloy wheels in place of the SE’s wheel trims, as well as front and rear parking sensors and part-leather seats.
Opting for a small car brings obvious advantages in terms of running costs, and hybrid power gives the Jazz a further eg up here. In fact, it managed an impressive 56.0mpg on our Real MPG test route – running even the tiny Skoda Citigo's official figure close.
Elsewhere, Honda’s strong reliability rating (the brand finished sixth out of 32 in our most recent Reliability Survey) bodes well. And yet, for all its excellence, the Jazz isn’t as pricey as you might expect, starting at £11,500 for a four-year-old example. There are cheaper hatchbacks, yes, but no better all-rounder. The Jazz truly is at the top of its game.
Also consider...
Best budget buy
Skoda Citigo (2012-2020)
Prices from £3000 Our pick 1.0 (59bhp) SE
It may not fit the family car bill like the bigger, more spacious Honda Jazz, but nothing beats the fun-sized Skoda Citigo if you’re looking for a quality runabout on a budget. If the city is your stomping ground, the Citigo is right at home; its ride is comfy, taking the sting out of battered city streets, and its peppy 1.0-litre petrol engine (helped by a snappy five-speed manual gearbox) is strong enough to deal with town driving. And when you escape the urban jungle, the Citigo is far from out of its depth on faster roads.
While it isn’t quite as plush inside as its Volkswagen Up sibling, the Citigo is cheaper to buy at the same age. There are plenty to choose from, too. It’s well worth seeking out a car in SE trim, which brings such niceties as air-con and a height-adjustable driver’s seat, as well as electric windows and remote central locking. Big-car features with none of the bulk.
Read our full used Skoda Citigo review >>
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Best for driving pleasure
BMW 1 Series (2011-2019)
Price from £3000 Our pick 118i SE
Driving enthusiasts are likely to give you a nod if they spot this 2011-2019 BMW 1 Series on your driveway; it was the only car in its class with rear-wheel drive, following the brand’s traditional recipe for driving fun. There was a wide range of engines to choose from as well, both petrol and diesel. And the good news is you don’t need to spend a fortune on the most powerful models to enjoy the fun; even the entry-level 1.5-litre petrol engine found in the 118i offers sprightly performance on top of decent fuel economy.
While not as practical as the Jazz inside, the 1 Series knocks the socks off that car for interior appeal, with high-quality materials used throughout and one of the best infotainment systems in the business. True, an Audi A3 is even nicer inside, but it isn’t a patch on the 1 Series to drive. And with the BMW scoring higher for reliability in our latest survey, the fun should go on for longer.
Read our full used BMW 1 Series review >>
Find a used BMW 1 Series for sale >>
Best electric option
Volkswagen ID 3 (2020-present)
Price from £12,500 Our pick 58kWh Pro Performance Life
With the prices of used electric cars looking so tempting, it’s no surprise that more buyers are considering going green – especially if they can charge up at home to keep running costs low. And the Volkswagen ID 3 makes more sense than most, with early examples available for as little as £12,500.
Our recommended 58kWh Pro Performance model had an official range of 260 miles when it was new – usefully farther than the Citroën e-C4 and Peugeot e-208 could manage. The ID 3 is more spacious and practical than those rivals, too, although interior quality and functionality leave a lot to be desired.
With 143bhp on offer, the ID 3’s electric motor has no trouble whisking you up to motorway speeds, and the car strikes a fine balance between comfort and agility, making it better to drive than the e-C4 and e-208.
Read our full used Volkswagen ID 3 review >>
Find a used Volkswagen ID 3 for sale >>
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