Driven: Skoda Citigo

Was driving a Skoda Citigo during my travels last week, and on paper there’s a lot to recommend it. The Czech firm’s smallest ever model, it’s based on the same platform and running gear at the Volkswagen up! and SEAT Mii. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine is giving me 50+mpg despite spending much of the last seven days sat on the motorway. The problem is the three-door model’s seating set-up; it’s fatally flawed and I wonder how many buyers aren’t going to realise until they’ve bought one. The issue is the driver and passenger seats, and how they slide/tilt to let someone into the back. The ‘going forward’ bit isn’t the problem, it’s the return element. Firstly, for some reason which I can only conclude is an oversight, it doesn’t slide back to where you last had it locked. It just goes all the way to the end of the runners. Aside from mangling my son’s legs, it means you’ve got to manually adjust it every time you sit down again. And at the same time you’ve got to do the seat back, because it’s afflicted with the same fault. After a weekend of running the kids about – and having to reset the seat about eight times – I was ready to scream. I know the VW up! suffers the same problems because I’ve already tried it out, so I assume the Mii does too. My advice – pay extra and get the five-door version whether you need the rear doors or not.