Used Vauxhall Adam Review (2013-2019)

You’re not short of choice if you want a stylish and affordable city car. Contemporary rivals to the Vauxhall Adam include the Fiat 500, Mini and Citroen DS3, while the likes of the Kia Picanto and Toyota Aygo are more spacious than the Adam.

Named after Vauxhall/Opel’s founder (it’s called the Opel Adam in Europe), the baby Vauxhall packs a lot of styling punches into its shoebox proportions. The front looks happy, there are slick bodywork curves down the flanks and there are over-sized lower lights front and rear.

Underneath, the Adam is a curious mix of old Vauxhall Corsa and Fiat parts, from a time before Vauxhall and Fiat were stuffed together under the Stellantis group umbrella. However, despite the numerous similarities between the Adam and the Fiat 500, there isn’t any shared DNA between the two cars.

Like the 500, the Adam often comes with a 1.2-litre petrol engine producing 70hp. With only just enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, you’re not getting anywhere quickly – but the upshot is that the Adam sits in one of the very lowest insurance groups.

You’re paying extra for the Adam’s trendy style. The more sit-up-and-beg Vauxhall Viva can be had for less money with a newer plate than the Adam, and the Adam costs a similar amount to a Vauxhall Corsa with comparable age and mileage. The Corsa, while forgettable through its familiarity, is a much more practical offering with much of the same equipment.

The Adam jazzes up its Corsa parts with a slab of body-coloured trim across the dashboard, in the same way that the 500 does. There’s also some chromey trim on the steering wheel and air vents. We don’t even mind the piano black plastic – it’s a better alternative than brittle scratchy plastic that you’d expect in a cheap car like this.

With twirly dials for the air conditioning, simply marked steering wheel controls and intuitive touchscreen, the Adam is an easy place to get acquainted with.

The screen has all you need in a small car – DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – without too many settings menus or things to needlessly fiddle with. The dials, meanwhile, are simple and classy looking, although the low-res display dates the car somewhat. Additionally, the orange background glow doesn’t really fit with the cleaner black-and-white display on the touchscreen.

Entry-level Jam models come with 16-inch alloy wheels, cruise control and Bluetooth, while Glam adds climate control and a fixed glass roof and Slam gets bigger wheels, LED daytime running lights and sports suspension.

You just know that whoever named the Adam’s extensive colour palette was very proud of themselves. Highlights include Black Jack, White My Fire, Saturday White Fever and James Blonde (which is yellow, duh). You can also change the colour of the mirrors and grille bars, and add various decals to set your Adam apart.

Even compared to other city cars, the Adam isn’t very impressive in the practicality stakes. There’s decent front-seat adjustment, plus reach and rake on the steering wheel, but the rear seats are almost pointless.

Average-sized adults will struggle to find a comfortable position in the back. Your knees are high and will more than likely be buried in the seatback, and there’s precious little headroom either. Anyone sitting in the back won’t want to stay there for very long.

There are Isofix points in both rear seats but, to save your back, your kids will have to get themselves in and out.

If you’re a newbie to the Adam, you might struggle to open the bootlid. You need to press the bottom of the Vauxhall badge and have your hand in the handle cutout. Lifting the bootlid reveals a 170-litre space that’s fairly deep, so it should be enough for a couple of small suitcases or a few rucksacks. A Corsa will be a better bet if you’ve got anything bigger to carry.

However, perhaps the most egregious thing about the Adam’s practicality is how useless the cupholders are. Not only do they feel like they’re right behind you, but we had to hold on to our big gulp cup for dear life while navigating busy roundabouts. The door bins aren’t sculpted enough to hold anything in place, either, while your phone is likely to sit awkwardly in the centre console stash.

With just 70hp and a 0-62mph time of nearly 15 seconds, you’d better be patient in an Adam with the 1.2-litre petrol engine. But this is a car primarily designed to go around town in, so that won’t be an issue if you use the car as intended.

It will sit quite happily on the motorway, but the five-speed manual gearbox and noticeable wind/tyre/road/engine noise mean it’s not a particularly relaxing place to be.

Keep it at lower speeds and you’ll benefit from low running costs. It should be fairly economical as long as you’re not having to rev the engine out too much, and the 1.2 engine sits in group 2 insurance – the second lowest out of 50 possible groups, which’ll keep your premiums low. An Adam registered before April 2017 will have low road tax, too.

You could also get the Adam with 87hp or 100hp, through a 1.4-litre petrol engine.

Plus, there’s also the Adam S (we’d have to call it Bryan because we don’t want to miss a thing…). The S’ 150hp is a lot in a car this size, and the turbocharged engine spins you up to 62mph in just 8.5 seconds – a proper mini hot hatch, just like the Suzuki Swift Sport and Volkswagen Up GTI.

With refinement merely passable and quite a firm ride as standard, we’d avoid the temptation to find an Adam with the optional 18-inch alloy wheels – or the Slam model with its even firmer sports suspension. You'll slam into potholes especially hard if you do.

On the other hand, this makes the Adam feel a bit sportier than something like a Toyota Aygo or Fiat 500. It’s not quite as fun as a Mini or Ford Fiesta, but it’ll make light work of country lanes.

Light work of tight car parks, too. At under 3.7 metres from nose to tail, the Adam is a doddle to park whether you get a model with parking sensors or not. One of the best features of the Adam is its ‘city steering’ mode, which dials up the power steering assistance to make the steering super light – you can steer the car with one finger. No more getting a sweat on in a multistorey car park.