heat has 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 2024. The winner for the second year in the row is the Skoda Fabia, and it is one of a total of 18 award winners revealed today (13 November) by Parkers.
For anyone running their first car during a cost-of-living crisis, budget is incredibly important. Choosing a car that has low insurance that sips fuel should be at the top of your shopping list, but smart looks and brilliant tech is everything when you're young.
For 2024 the car that ticks the most of these boxes is the Skoda Fabia. It wins our Best First Car award because it’s good to drive, comes with a variety of economical engines, and has simple and very effective infotainment – perfect for heat’s readers.
It finishes ahead of the Renault Clio – the runner-up last year – which, in updated form, ran the Skoda incredibly close. The French icon has bags of stylish appeal, and is available with hybrid engines, as well a fuel-sipping entry level version for less than £18,000. Also highly recommended is the Hyundai i10 – a sensible but surprisingly fun car that’s one of the cheapest you can buy.
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: “The Skoda Fabia wins for the second year in a row because it’s just so good at what it does. It’s a brilliant small car with a grown-up feel that makes a sound choice for those just starting out. It’s nice to drive, with a good balance between comfort and handling, and it’s great value for money. Specify some flashy alloy wheels and loud paint from the options and it looks the bees' knees.”
"In this year's New Car Awards, we're excited to have integrated electric cars (EVs) into the mainstream, as they’re becoming so popular. We’ve also picked a great selection of EVs, petrol and hybrid winners by taking what we know about what our users are viewing on Parkers,” he added.
Now in its seventh year, the Parkers New Car Awards 2024 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 2024 on the Parkers website.