We had one for 6 months and did around 6000 miles in it in that time. ‘Twas a 1.4TFSi S-Line (the 120bhp version). It was actually a pretty good car all-round.
Clearly it’s not the biggest car going (but then you already have a MINI, so shouldn’t be a problem). As others have said, some of the internal plastics are a bit hard, but it’s way better inside than any of its competitors – certainly chalk and cheese when compared to a DS3.. It’s entertaining enough to drive when you’re in the mood, even if it’s not as focused as something like a MINI (and the ride of our S-line was far less harsh than S-line models higher up the Audi range, or for that matter a 500 Abarth…).
What you only realise over time is that rather than trying to be particularly ‘retro’ or ‘funky’ it’s a genuine (and fairly convincing) effort to feel like a big(ger) premium car, only scaled down.
Clearly you’ll have your own priorities in terms of interior fit and finish, driveability, price etc, but certainly there was nothing in our experience for me to try and sway you away from it.
The only points I’d suggest watching out for are avoiding the Bose speaker setup (requires a box in the boot that goes ‘under’ the floor, resulting in the floor being 10-15cm higher up…), and keeping an eye on the boot stops, which were wearing the paint away where they came to rest on the main body of the car. I’m sure the latter point is likely to have been fixed already if it’s a common problem – ours was a very early car.
Having driven BMW-era MINIs (owned two), several DS3s (as rental cars), 500s (including Abarths), I would rate the A1 as the best all rounder. The 500 is siginficantly smaller and cheaper, but a perfectly good car (said as a Panda owner). The DS3 is OK but wasn’t really to my liking. 500 Abarth is hilarious – you can’t help looking at it without cracking a smile – but a bit wearing for every day use. BMW MINIs I had too many problems with for them to ever be contenders again…
