A new Kia Rio

Now that it’s had several updates and facelifts to bring it bang up to date, the Rio looks clean and slick whist maintaining its sturdy body. It’s much more of a good looking car.

Inside, the Rio has also been revamped with a trendier looking steering wheel, and some brand new kit. All models now have a DAB radio as standard. The infotainment system has a USB port so you charge up your phone, plus Bluetooth connectivity means you can easily stream music from your phone.

Inside there’s plenty of space upfront, although the back doesn’t compare quite so well - your mates may get a bit claustrophobic on longer road trips.

The Rio is a comfortable car and handles equally well in town as it does out on the open road. The light steering allows you to nip around town and you can really start to enjoy the punchiness of the Kia Rio once you get going out on the motorway. There’s a choice of engines and they all offer a spritely drive.

The 1.2 litre models deliver good fuel efficiency at 67mpg which is good news for your pocket. Insurance wise you’ll be quids in too. The lower models fall into insurance group two and three whilst the top end versions are in group nine.

The Rio is ultra-reliable. Since this version was launched in 2011 there have been no major issues or mechanical problems reported - so hopefully nothing would go drastically wrong with this car.

There’s a big tick for safety too, scoring a maximum five stars for safety in the Euro NCAP crash tests. A decent amount of safety kit comes as standard - plus the 7-year warranty offered is market leading and unmatched by rivals. You’re covered for 100k miles or 7 years (whichever comes first) with unlimited mileage in the first three years.