The two-seat Smart Fortwo is priced against some excellent four-seat opposition, but if you never use more than two seats it will have strong appeal. Fuel consumption of more than 60mpg is also useful for keeping down costs as it cheap road tax. Insurance is affordable too, starting at group 2 for the entry-level Pure models. However, Smart servicing and parts can be expensive – luckily there’s an excellent network of independent specialists who have in depth knowledge.

Depreciation will be in line with other popular small cars, such as the Toyota Aygo.

Few cars have as little impact on the environment as the Fortwo. The biggest CO2 output comes from the Brabus model and that’s only 124g/km – far lower than other small performance cars. The rest of the range fares even better and the mhd models from 2008 emit just 103g/km of CO2 while averaging 66mpg. A German environmental institute has praised Smart for how environmentally friendly it is in the way it builds the car, awarding it an environmental certificate.

Smart doesn’t have a faultless track record on reliability with electric problems on earlier cars such as the first Fortwo and the Roadster. To date they have only come with a two year warranty, however there is no mileage limitation.