Item: Used Seat Mii 2012-2019
Rating: 4
Author: What Car? Team

The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/i10/hatchback/used-review/n820">Hyundai i10</a> is the city car to go for if you need more interior space, because it's one of the roomiest in its class. However, it isn’t as much fun to drive and&nbsp;doesn’t have a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.

At the other end of the scale is the bargain-priced <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/suzuki/celerio/hatchback/used-review/n924">Suzuki Celerio</a>, which is more practical than the Mii, because it has three seats in the rear, rather than two. Its interior isn’t quite as nice, though, and its safety rating isn’t as good.

The most direct competition&nbsp;for the Mii&nbsp;comes from its stablemates. If you want the best value, the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/citigo/hatchback/used-review/n836">Skoda Citigo</a> is essentially the same car with a different badge. You can find more of them for sale, for a start, and can often get a top-spec Elegance model for similar money to a mid-range Mii. And then&nbsp;there's the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/up/hatchback/used-review/n794">Volkswagen Up</a>, which is even more plentiful&nbsp;and doesn’t cost that much more to buy.

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<h2><a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars/seat/mii">Find a use Seat Mii with What Car? &gt;&gt;</a></h2>

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

<h3>Towing eye</h3>

The welding of the towing eye in the vehicle toolkit might&nbsp;fail if the&nbsp;car is towed and&nbsp;affects cars produced between 1 October 2015 and 31 November 2017.&nbsp;Most should have had&nbsp;a&nbsp;new towing eye by now, but do check this with your local&nbsp;Seat dealer.

<h3>Manual child lock</h3>

The child lock can disengage without the driver knowing, with the potential for occupants being able to open the door from the inside and get out of the car. This recall involves Miis made between 25 November 2015&nbsp;and 14 April 2016.

<h3>Side airbags</h3>

Some cars might have been fitted with&nbsp;airbag control units that weren't&nbsp;programmed correctly, with the potential for the system to not&nbsp;recognise any potential&nbsp;faults with the airbag system&nbsp;and warn the driver of them. This applies to Miis produced between 14 January 2013 and 19 March 2013.

<h3>Driver's airbag</h3>

The driver's airbag might not deploy correctly&nbsp;on cars made between 12&nbsp;June 2013 and 15 June 2013. It only affects a small number of Miis, but you should still contact your Seat dealer to check whether your car is&nbsp;affected by this recall.

Seat&nbsp;as a brand seems to have slipped down the rankings in&nbsp;the most recent What Car? Reliability Survey, ending up in&nbsp;19th out of 31 manufacturers.&nbsp;There wasn't enough data&nbsp;to include the Mii individually, but the near-identical <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/citigo/hatchback/used-review/n836">Skoda Citigo</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/up/hatchback/used-review/n794">Volkswagen Up</a>&nbsp;finished first and third&nbsp;respectively in the small and value&nbsp;car class, so the Mii should be a pretty dependable choice.

If you would like to see the full reliability list, head to the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2020-what-car-reliability-survey/n20042">What Car? Reliability Survey pages</a> for more information.

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Hatchback

Today, the resurgent Seat brand is selling better cars than at any time in its history.

In large part, that’s because it is one of the brands owned by the VW Group. Underneath, all of the cars it sells are strongly related to similar models sold by Volkswagen itself, or the likes of Skoda and even Audi. If you are buying a Leon, for example, the hardware will be similar to that of the Golf, Octavia and A3.

But while Seat makes the most of this tie-up to offer everything from city, small and family cars, including estates, through to a full range of SUVs, it also adds in its own slice of character, both with its distinctive styling approach and because its engineers generally tune the cars to deliver sportier handling.

While all of its cars are decent, it is the SUVs that stand out. The Arona and Ateca are among the class leaders and have enjoyed triumphs at the What Car? Awards.

SEAT

The Seat Mii is a stylish city car that's fun to drive, feels solid inside and can fit into the tightest of parking spaces

Used Seat Mii 2012-2019

<h3>MPG</h3>

Ecomotive variants are fitted with low-rolling-resistance tyres, along with&nbsp;an engine stop-start system, and get the best&nbsp;official fuel economy (in the older, less realistic&nbsp;NEDC tests) of 68.9mpg.&nbsp;The regular 59bhp model returns 62.8mpg and the more potent 74bhp engine promises 60.1mpg.&nbsp;Both of the latter versions received further improvements later on and are rated to return 65.7mpg.

<h3>CO2 emissions</h3>

Road tax will be free for Ecomotive models&nbsp;registered before 1 April 2017, because their CO2 emissions are&nbsp;below 100g/km. The rest of the range will cost you a tiny amount, because the 59bhp engine emits 105g/km, while the 74bhp model chucks out 108g/km.&nbsp;Any Mii registered after 1 April 2017&nbsp;will be charged the current flat-rate fee for road tax. Choosing an automatic gearbox doesn’t penalise you as it does in rival offerings, with lower CO2 figures than the manual.&nbsp;You can read more about<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/car-tax-changes-in-2019-%E2%80%93-what-do-i-need-to-know/n1153"> road tax costs here</a>.

<h3>Servicing</h3>

There are both fixed prices for servicing and monthly payment plans, depending on how old your car is. For cars over a year old, the next two services will be covered for 18 monthly payments&nbsp;of&nbsp;£26.49 per month. Alternatively, Miis&nbsp;aged between one and three&nbsp;years old will cost £179 for a minor service and £299 for a major one. Examples aged between three and 15 years will cost you £189 for a minor check-up and £319 for a major service. Maintenance is required every 12 months or 10,000 miles.

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The Seat Mii is a stylish city car that is fun to drive, feels solid inside and can fit into the tightest of parking spaces

You can find an early three-door Mii for £3000. If you want a more practical five-door model, expect to pay a few hundred pounds extra.&nbsp;Increase your budget to between £4000 and £5000 for a Sport with the more powerful engine or a&nbsp;tidy 2015 car&nbsp;with below-average mileage from a dealer. A Design Mii from 2017&nbsp;will be about&nbsp;£5000, while&nbsp;a 2019 top-spec FR-Line with minimal miles starts at around&nbsp;£7500.

Check the value of a used Seat Mii with<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/car-valuation/"> What Car? Valuations</a>

<h3>Engine</h3>

You'll need the more powerful 74bhp <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/make/seat">Seat</a> Mii if you do plenty of motorway driving. Otherwise, you should&nbsp;find the 59bhp version perfectly adequate.

The Mii's <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/which-type-of-automatic-gearbox-should-i-buy/n17022">automatic gearbox</a>&nbsp;can be&nbsp;jerky, erratic&nbsp;and not as smooth as those of rivals such as the Hyundai i10. We'd&nbsp;therefore&nbsp;suggest you stick with a manual version.

<h3>Specification</h3>

If you're looking at an early Mii, go for an SE version, because it&nbsp;comes with a bit more kit, or a Sport for the more powerful engine. Cars from 2016 onwards are best bought in Design form, because the sports suspension fitted to FR-Line cars will be a bit too firm for some people at lower speeds.

Our favourite Seat Mii 1.0 MPI 60 Design

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Clever interior space </li> <li>Quiet and comfortable ride </li> <li>Good visibility </li> <li>Plenty of safety tech </li> <li>Low running costs </li> <li>Outstanding value for money</li></ul>

City cars are all about diminutive size and manoeuvrability because they invariably spend most of their time on our increasingly crowded urban streets.

They do need to be big enough for a couple of adults, with back seats that’ll suffice for occasional use by people – or as a dumping ground for a couple of large shopping bags – but they must also be small enough to nip in and out of traffic, and squeeze into tight parking spaces.

Out-and-out acceleration isn’t crucial, but there must be enough oomph in the lower gears to scoot into gaps that appear in the traffic. Running costs should be low, too.

Fortunately there’s never been a better line-up of city cars on offer. Kia's Picanto mixes a neat, functional interior with tidy handling and a surprisingly big boot, while the Skoda Citigo and Suzuki Celerio are cheaper and even more frugal.

City

The Mii is a city car, which means there's potential for heavy clutch use, so check the clutch has a smooth action with&nbsp;no slippage. If there are any such issues, it could mean the clutch needs to be replaced – a potentially costly job.

Check for bumps and scrapes to the bumpers and bodywork, because these will all cost money to put right.

Not all Miis came with sat-nav. On earlier cars, it's a removable unit that sits on top of the dashboard. Some will have gone without, while some high-spec and special-edition Miis had one fitted as standard, so it's worth contacting your local Seat dealer to find out whether your prospective purchase came with it. If it did, check that the previous owner has left it in the car.

The exposed paintwork in the boot of the Mii can easily be damaged by sharp objects. This is due to only part of the boot floor being covered by carpet.

Also check that the DAB radio, if fitted, works. The unit might not be covered under warranty if it stops working or the screen gets scratched.

You can’t blame the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/make/seat">Seat</a> Mii for suffering from middle child syndrome. Sandwiched as it is between the high-achieving <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/up/hatchback/used-review/n794">Volkswagen Up</a> and the hard-working <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/citigo/hatchback/used-review/n836">Skoda Citigo</a> on shared underpinnings, it was always in danger of feeling a little left out.

Fortunately, Seat gave the Mii an identity all of its own by offering it in a number of trim levels and special editions, some of which have been created as part of collaborations with major fashion brands such as Cosmopolitan and Mango. The Mii, therefore, is the stylish one of the trio.

The Mii also manages to be really good fun to drive, if a bit slow. That’s because it's available only with 59bhp or 74bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engines, missing out on the Up’s 89bhp turbocharged unit, unfortunately. However, at least this means that the Mii is cheaper to buy than the Up and, in Ecomotive form, more economical. From 2019 onwards, the Mii could be had only as an nipply little electric car with 83bhp and an official range of 161 miles.&nbsp;

Entry-level S trim is likely to be a bit too basic for most people, so we'd suggest you go for an SE to get air conditioning, 15in alloy wheels, electric front windows and mirror adjustment, 50/50-split folding rear seats and driver's seat height adjustment. From around 2016, the trims were altered to Design (essentially the same as SE&nbsp;but with added rear privacy glass) and FR-Line, which adds larger 16in alloy wheels, a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel, front foglights and firmer sports suspension.

We wouldn’t blame you for being tempted by one of the many special editions, either.&nbsp;The Toca version is particularly noteworthy, because it&nbsp;has rear parking sensors and a Garmin sat-nav system. Another popular model is the Mii by Mango, which has rather nice part-leather, part-Alcantara seats and some interesting paint colours.&nbsp;

While you’re waiting for the petrol Mii to get up to cruising speed, you’ll notice the ride is remarkably smooth. This is helped by the smaller wheels fitted to the majority of the range; as long as you stick to 15in or 16in wheels, ride quality shouldn’t be an issue.

What’s more, all the controls are a pleasure to use. The gearlever and clutch actions are smooth – ideal for low-speed manoeuvring. The steering manages to be precise and weights up nicely in corners when you get out of town onto faster roads, but it's still light for parking in tight spaces. In other words, the Mii always feels safe and surefooted, so you feel like it’s on your side at all times.

You still&nbsp;need substance and practicality in a small&nbsp;car, though, and&nbsp;it’s good news for the Mii&nbsp;on this front, too.&nbsp;You can fit four adults inside quite comfortably.&nbsp;The only problem is that in order to make passengers&nbsp;feel less squished, Seat had to limit the car to carry only two across the rear bench, whereas rivals such as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/i10/hatchback/used-review/n820">Hyundai i10</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/suzuki/celerio/hatchback/used-review/n924">Suzuki Celerio</a> can take three.

All versions of the Mii come with six airbags and two Isofix child seat mounting points on the rear bench. When the car was launched, it got a full five-star rating from <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/the-safest-cars-on-sale-today/n19724">EuroNCAP</a>, making this a very safe city car at the time. However, this was dropped down to just three stars in 2019 when the testing criteria was altered to include more autonomous&nbsp;safety technology that wasn't available on the Mii, penalising its overall score.

If you're interested in finding a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars/seat/mii">used Mii</a>, or any of the other <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/category/city">value cars</a> mentioned here, head over to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars">Used Car Buying</a>&nbsp;pages to find lots of cars listed for sale at great prices.

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Used Seat Mii 2012-2019 review

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