Used test: Kia Picanto vs Volkswagen Up: costs

What will they cost?

New, the Picanto would have set you back about £700 more than the Up, but bought as here at nearly four years old both cars will cost you roughly the same at £7500, especially so if you weren't so fussy about having your Up in upmarket Beats trim. We would expect both cars to retain a similar amount of value as they go forwards. 

 In fact, the Picanto costs a fraction more to service, according to our three-year running costs, and the Up costs a fraction more to insure. According to our True MPG figures for these two, in the real world, the Picanto averaged 47.9mpg compared with the Up's 53.7mpg.

In our most recent What Car? reliability survey the Up finished in third place in the city and small car class out of 28 cars with an overall score of 98.4%. The Up is pretty dependable, with 15% of owners needing to call a dealer to fix battery, bodywork, brake or engine problems. Their cars spent a long time in the garage, though; nearly three-quarters of them took more than a week to fix. Most repairs were done for free, but 14% of bills ranged from £301 to £500.

The Picanto finished in 15th place, with a good score of 94.3%. The most common problems were minor, relating to the battery and non-engine electrical systems. A third of the affected cars took more than a week to put right, but two-thirds of the work was done under warranty.

However, the Picanto is more lavishly equipped, adding cruise control, a reversing camera, rear parking sensors, rear electric windows and climate control over the Up’s kit list. The Picanto has the edge for safety, too, with automatic emergency braking (AEB) coming as standard, whereas this was part of an option pack on the Up when it was new, and not all first owners took it up. 

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