heat has once again partnered with Parkers - the definitive resource for car buying advice in the UK - to bring you the award for the Best First Car in its prestigious New Car Awards 2025. The winner is the Renault Clio, and it is one of a total of 10 award-winning cars revealed today (21 October) by Parkers.
For anyone running their first car low running costs and cheap insurance are so important. Choosing a car that sips fuel and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg in monthly payments should be at the top of your shopping list, but smart looks and lots of tech that works is everything when you're young. The Clio measures up perfectly.
For 2025 the Renault Clio has been facelifted and represents even better value than ever. You get striking new looks to match a great interior refresh as part of the upgrade package, and yet it can still be financed on a PCP deal from £160 per month – bargain. The infotainment set-up is brilliantly simple to use and extremely powerful too – perfect for heat’s readers.
The winning car has been tested rigorously by the Parkers.co.uk team, which judged the best first cars on a combination of value, quality, reliability, cost-per-month on finance deals and fitness for purpose.
Keith Adams, Parkers.co.uk Editor, said, 'Earlier this year, we at Parkers grouped a smörgåsbord of our favourite small cars, to determine which we really liked best. The competition was strong, but we all agreed that the Renault Clio is simply the small car to beat on today’s market. It’s comfortable, well-built and fun to drive while also great value when picked up on a finance deal.'
Now in its eighth year, the Parkers New Car Awards 2025 reflects the constantly-evolving views of Britain's car-buying public, with winners decided by a combination of the site's expert reviewers' verdicts in thousands of miles of road testing and the purchasing habits of the website's 2.3 million users actively involved in the buying process.
More details about the Best First Car award can be found alongside all of the winners in the Parkers New Car Awards 2025 on the Parkers website.