Skoda Citigo Review 2024

It might be classed as a city car, but if you can fit all the people and luggage you need into a Skoda Citigo, then there’s a good chance it can fit into your life. 

Whether you are a new driver that needs something small and easy to manage, or a small family that takes occasional longer distance trips, the Skoda Citigo has the breadth of ability that makes it able to tackle all of those tasks. The fact that it is one of the cheapest cars to tax, fuel and insure is a bonus for everyone. 

Most of its rivals offer similar strong points - low running costs and a compact exterior are essentials for the city car class - but the Skoda Citigo manages to do all this while still feeling like a car for grown ups. The quality of the interior and the way it drives make it feel like a bigger car that’s been shrunk to fit, which is definitely a good thing.

It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that the Citigo’s closest rivals are the Volkswagen Up and SEAT Mii, the former offering a bit more class and the option of a more powerful turbo engine on latter models, while the Mii is arguably a bit better looking but may cost a little more.

Another trio, this time the Peugeot/Citroen/Toyota triplets in the form of the 108, C1 and Aygo, offer a similar low-cost but big-value take on the city car. However, they are not quite as sophisticated to drive and not as nice to sit in. A top choice in the city car sector is the Hyundai i10, which isn’t quite as nice to drive but is more spacious inside and is well-built.

The upside is that the Skoda Citigo covers itself in glory with a quality of finish that is beyond most of its rivals. This is still a cheap car remember, but it does an excellent job of hiding that fact from you as much as possible. It’s more obvious in the lowest specification S model, but even then the quality of the materials and the standard of build is good. 

There are some cheaper plastics dotted around the cabin of course, but at least where they are present they feel like they will survive years of use rather than becoming easily damaged or broken. You can also feel the quality in the way that the switches operate with reassuring solidity: they feel like they’ve been pinched from a more expensive car, rather than being whatever was left in the parts bin. 

As you move up the range things get more appealing, with a leather steering wheel fitted to the Sport and Elegance models, as well as selected special editions, and smarter trim on the seats, all of which help the feeling of quality. 

The infotainment setup in the Skoda Citigo changed during its production run, so what system you end up with depends on the model you choose, but also how old the car is. 

From launch in 2012, S and SE models came with a basic FM/AM radio with CD player and auxiliary input as standard, while Elegance models and upwards had the Portable Infotainment Device (PID). This was a separate screen that fixed to the top of the dash and provided Bluetooth for streaming and phone calls, satellite navigation and a trip computer. It was a relatively inexpensive way of adding these functions to the car, although the fact that it is removable puts it at risk of theft.

Later models ditched this idea, with a different specification for each model. S trim gets a CD player with a USB port and twin speakers, while SE and above adds to this a colour display, four additional speakers and Bluetooth but removes the CD drive. The later system allows you to connect your smartphone - held in place by an integrated cradle - and use the dedicated app called Move&Fun, offering much the same features and a few more, but direct from your smartphone. 

Of the two, the later system is preferable, as apart from anything it will benefit from regular updates and the ease of use. If you go for an earlier model, make sure the seller includes the PID if it was originally fitted.

Even city cars as small as the Skoda Citigo have to provide space for passengers and luggage, and if anything they have to work harder than bigger cars to do so: with less room to play with, space efficiency is everything. The good news is that the Citigo is one of the best in the class in respect of interior space, despite only measuring 3597mm long and 1645mm wide.

Remarkably, almost any size of driver can get comfortable in the Skoda Citigo, even though the steering only adjusts for reach, with plenty of head- and legroom to stretch out. Shoulder room is good also, despite being a relatively narrow car. The feeling of space is boosted by the slim dashboard and the large glazed area, increasing the amount of light coming into the cabin.

In the rear, there is not quite as much space available, but it is still good for a car of this size. The rear seats are mounted slightly higher than those in the front, reducing the amount of headroom slightly, while legroom is reduced and dependent on the position of the front seats.

Even so, you can accommodate adults on shorter journeys, and all but the tallest children will fit relatively comfortably. Five-door models have easier access to the rear seats, but getting into the back of the three-door is not too difficult, either. It is important to note that the Citigo is a strict four-seater, with a rear bench designed for two and a pair of seatbelts rather than three, which may rule it out for some buyers.

The Skoda Citigo’s boot space is equally impressive, with a sizeable 251 litres available, putting it just behind the Hyundai i10 and ahead of the Renault Twingo and Toyota Aygo. Fold the rear seats, and this can be expanded to 959 litres, and there’s an adjustable boot floor, too, so you can hide more valuable items. S models get a single backrest, whereas SE and above get a 60/40 split seat, so you can carry more luggage and still have a rear passenger.

Storage space in the cabin is also impressive, with good-sized door bins that can hold a 1-litre bottle, a cubby in front of the gearlever - with an insert designed to hold a smartphone if you wish - plus a larger-than-average glovebox, all of which help make the car easier to live with.

All Skoda Citigo versions are fitted with a tyre repair kit as standard, but a temporary spare was available as an option, so if you are buying a used Skoda Citigo, it is worth enquiring whether this option was selected.

The limited choice here means you can’t go very wrong. It’s a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine regardless, you just get to choose between 60PS or 75PS outputs. There’s not much between the two, with identical claimed combined fuel consumption and CO2 emissions whichever version you choose. 

The 60PS unit is willing and refined, and can still deal with motorway journeys, but if you can afford the 75PS version it makes life a little easier: it can hold a higher speed more comfortably and is a little quicker in acceleration terms, too. 

The Skoda Citigo, like the SEAT Mii, was never available with the more powerful 90PS turbocharged unit that was offered in the Volkswagen Up, which is a shame. Later on, the Citigo was also offered as an all-electric car.

As with many of its rivals, the Skoda Citigo’s engines are all three cylinder, and while that means a fraction more noise than four cylinder offerings, it actually adds something to the driving experience. The three-cylinder unit spins happily away up front, and is happy to be revved to the stars if you feel so inclined, but it also allows you to cruise in a reasonably quiet and refined way.

As for gearboxes, the standard five-speed manual is all you’ll need. It has well-chosen ratios so it’s easy to get up to speed, yet can cruise comfortably on the motorway. The automatic offering is actually an electrically-operated manual, and while that sounds good, it actually spoils the driving experience, so avoid it unless you absolutely have to drive an auto.

For a car of this size and cost, the Skoda Citigo offers a level of refinement that is usefully above the class standard, and is big part of it being an easy car to live with. The fact that it is a well-built car helps significantly, with minimal vibrations finding their way into the cabin.

The three-cylinder engine may be a busy-sounding thing, particularly if you try to hurry it along, but it is actually a relatively refined unit. There’s virtually no difference in noise levels between the 60PS and 75PS versions, although you won’t have to work the more powerful version quite so hard.

At low to medium speeds, noise from other sources is kept well in check. Small wheels mean skinny tyres so tyre noise is reasonably low on most surfaces, while wind noise doesn’t present any problems. At higher speeds the latter starts to make itself known, but not unreasonably so. You can take on a lengthy motorway journey without having to stop frequently to give your ears a break.

The Skoda Citigo has been tested by Euro NCAP on two occasions, once when the car was first introduced in 2011, and again in 2019 when it was relaunched as a pure electric model. It’s also important to note that it was actually the Volkswagen Up that was tested, as Euro NCAP decided the amount of identical design and equipment meant a separate test was not required.

In the 2011 test the Citigo scored an impressive five stars. It achieved 89 per cent for adult protection and 80 per cent for child protection, and although pedestrian mitigation was quite low at 46 per cent - a result of being such a short car - it managed a high 86 per cent for safety assist. Standard equipment includes front- and side airbags, seat belt pretensioners and load limiters, ISOFIX child seat mounting points, hill hold assist and tyre pressure monitoring. 

On early Skoda Citigo models, all versions except the S were fitted with ESC stability control as standard, but it could be added as an option, along with City Safe. The City Safe was optional on the rest of the range, too and was Skoda’s name for Automatic Emergency Braking, so is a worthwhile addition if you can find a car with it fitted. Later Skoda Citigo models had ESC as standard across the range, while City Safe remained an option on all models, so check the specification carefully when looking at a used car.

The Skoda Citigo has been around for well over a decade now, and the good news is that it's proved to be a very reliable city car, with no major common problems reported. 

Skoda as a brand performed okay in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, ranking 13th overall out of 29 manufacturers, which is about as fair-to-middling as you can get.

Top marks for the Skoda Citigo here, as it manages to get the entire range into either 1E, 2E or 3E insurance groups, helped by the good provision of safety equipment. That means premiums that won’t necessarily reach tens of thousands if you’re a new driver: it’s definitely one of the best first cars for new drivers because of this. 

Older and more experienced drivers can enjoy insuring their Skoda Citigo for as little as possible, alongside fuel bills that are amongst the lowest in the class. It's certainly one of the cheapest cars to insure. 

As with its Volkswagen and SEAT siblings, the Skoda Citigo can be free to tax or cost considerably more than that depending on the version you choose but more importantly the age of the vehicle. All versions of the Citigo with a manual gearbox come under 100g/km, so if they are registered before April 2017 they qualify for zero road tax. Cars from April 2017 and onward automatically jump to £190 a year, whether you go for the manual or automatic transmission. But choose the manual...

On the earliest Skoda Citigos we would suggest skipping the basic S trim, as although it might make for a cheap car, it was not massively popular because it had so little equipment. Far better to go with an SE model as the minimum standard, which was much more popular with buyers so you get more choice, and adds important things like air conditioning and ESC.

As for latter Skoda Citigos, S models do get ESC but still do without air conditioning, whereas SE models get alloy wheels and the upgraded audio system including Bluetooth, which are welcome additions. The Colour Edition models add visual elements and bigger alloy wheels, but for a high-spec car we would recommend the Elegance (later called SE L), which adds rear parking sensors, smarter interior trim and heated front seats.