What car should I buy in 2025 if ... I need a small runaround?

It’s time to start picking our best buys from the current crop of new cars on the market

Dacia Spring
Dacia Spring: Our small car recommendation for 2025

Looking to buy a new car in 2025? Not sure whether you should go electric, or stick with diesel? What about hybrid power? Do you need seven seats? Or do you want to find a good home for that Christmas bonus and really treat yourself? Well, look no further – here, we present our recommendations for the motoring year 2025.

So, what to buy as a small car/runaround?

Dacia Spring

By some distance – about €1,500 as it happens, between this and the incoming Hyundai Inster – the Dacia Spring is now Ireland’s cheapest electric car. We say ‘now’ specifically, because this cheapness is built on shifting sands, as car makers all over the world, but especially in China, find new ways to bring down the entry cost of electric motoring.

For a basic €16,990, the Spring gives you just 45hp from a front-mounted electric motor, and enough battery capacity for a claimed 225km of range on one charge – which will probably be more like 180km in real-world conditions. The previous Spring, of which this new version is a heavy update, has been a big hit with empty-nesting drivers who only cover a handful of kilometres a day. In the Irish market, it’ll be in for a sterner test, as Irish car buyers tend to expect their cars to be fully multi-role capable, like an over-ambitious military aircraft procurement officer. The Spring should stand up for most use cases though, except for long motorway runs and the upgraded 65hp motor of the Extreme model is usefully perky.

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The cabin is tiny, and you sit bolt upright on a small seat, surrounded by cheap plastic with your right elbow digging into the door. However, the Spring – thanks to its low one-tonne weight – enjoys that inherently enjoyable sense of driving a small, light machine and is surprising fun. That said, don’t get over-ambitious with it. The small wheels, tiny tyres, and soft suspension don’t take kindly to sharp manoeuvres.

Keep it in town, or at low speeds on country roads, and the Spring is effortlessly charming, while that low price tag means you won’t care if you bash it about a bit.

  • Plus: Small, cheap, efficient
  • Minus: Small, cheap, short-ranged
  • Equals: Probably the most affordable car to buy and run right now

Also try: Hyundai Inster

Hyundai Inster
Hyundai Inster

Still coming in at under €20,000 and overall a far more refined and impressive package than the Dacia – if you are considering one of these, then you must test drive the other as well. The Inster is a grown-up car, with really smart interior layout and space that’s nimble around the car parks but ample enough to carry three gangly teenagers about without complaints (or at least any extra complaints). It’s better looking than the Spring, boasts a better range of 350km for the €22,000 version and has features like 10.25-inch touchscreen controls that you shouldn’t really expect in an EV at this price. Flexible seating means it can even cope with a reasonable run to Ikea. The €22,000 version also comes with a heat pump to protect battery range in cold weather.

Skoda Fabia

Skoda Fabia
Skoda Fabia

When it comes to conventional small hatchbacks, the Fabia is truly hard to beat. It looks smart on the outside (especially in faux-sporty Monte Carlo trim), has the best interior in terms of design and quality of any small car, is roomy, and has a boot as big as a larger and much more expensive VW Golf. Don’t go expecting any hybrid nor battery clever stuff, as there isn’t any, but the basic 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine is willing and frugal. Basically, the Fabia looks and feels like a much bigger, comfier car to drive.

Wild card: Citroen Ami

Citroen Ami
Citroen Ami

When you say “runaround”, we’ll take you at your word when recommending the tiny two-seat Ami. Priced at €9,990 it’s not technically a car (it’s officially a quadricycle) so the Dacia Spring’s record as the cheapest electric car around is technically safe. The Ami is made entirely of moulded plastic, has the most basic interior you’ll find this side of a Travelodge, and has a top speed of 50km/h. With a following wind. It’ll run for a claimed 80km on a single charge of its teeny battery, and while it’s just about technically legal to take one on the open road, we just wouldn’t. Moulded plastic not being noted for its impact absorbency. However, as a way to get in and out of congested city centres, the Ami is unsurpassed.

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