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In continental Europe where it was sold under the Opel brand, the Vauxhall Viva was known as the Karl. It’s perhaps no surprise that Vauxhall chose a different moniker, instead reviving a nameplate from the 1960s for its five-door city car and entry point to the Vauxhall range.
The Viva was sold only between 2015 and 2019 but it was popular when new, and as a relatively recent model it’s still easy to find on the used market for very little money. It was far from being the most stylish or exciting city car, but low running costs, a practical cabin and sturdy build quality make it a sensible buy for drivers on a budget.
Back to basics city cars are a dying breed but they’re still popular on the used market, and rivals for the Viva include the Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii trio of cars, the Citroen C1/Peugeot 108/Toyota Aygo competing trio, and the Korean duo of the Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto. All are worthy alternatives.
As you can read in our full review of the Vauxhall Viva, the brand’s entry-level hatchback is a solid five-out-of-ten car. It’ll do almost everything you’re likely to ask of a small, inexpensive city car, but probably won’t be a car you’ll be speaking of fondly in a decade or two when reminiscing about what you used to drive. In fact, you might forget you even owned one.
There’s merit in cars like that though, particularly ones that are frugal, well built, and practical like the Viva. Being affordable was the Viva’s reason for existing and it succeeded at that. Early models, whose fuel economy was calculated on the old NEDC measurement, could dip below the 100g/km CO2 mark, which means some used Vivas won’t cost you a penny to tax, and all use fuel at a modest rate.
There was just a single engine in the Viva range, a 1-litre model that’s suited to town use but needs working harder if you spend a lot of time on country roads or motorways, even though the comfortable ride quality actually means longer trips are surprisingly comfortable. Refinement is good though and the Viva’s chunky cabin, while not built from the most touchy-feely materials, is generally comfortable and well-built. Not all models incorporate a touchscreen infotainment display, but even this may be desirable for some buyers - you can still plug in a phone for audio, thanks to standard USB and Bluetooth inputs.
A relatively small boot isn’t too much of an issue in this class, and there’s always the option of folding down the spacious rear seats for more luggage space. Storage in the cabin is pretty good too - Vauxhall gets credit for getting the basics right.
In recent years the city car segment has shrunk to just a handful of models, but while the Viva was on sale things were still pretty healthy, and it had plenty of rivals. Perhaps the best were the Volkswagen Group trio of the VW Up, Skoda Citigo, and SEAT Mii, each of which felt surprisingly grown-up for such small cars. The Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 and Toyota Aygo formed another competitive trio with more design verve than most, while the Korean-built Viva had a pair of Korean-badged rivals in the form of the Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto.
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It’s good news if you struggle to make decisions, since there’s just one engine available in the Viva. Vauxhall did offer a few more trim levels over the years, including SE, SE Nav and SL, though with later Vivas there’s just the choice of SE or Rocks, the latter being one of that briefly-popular breed of city cars designed to look a little like off-roaders.
SE models lack air conditioning, so we’d be tempted to look further up the range for that reason alone, while an infotainment touchscreen was only standard on models badged SE Nav and SL - and only optional on later SE and Rocks variants. That narrows down our pick to either an SE Nav or an SL, or to keep an eye out for a Rocks in which the first owner ticked the right option box.
Vauxhall Viva 1.0i: The Viva’s sole engine was a modest 1-litre petrol three-cylinder. It produced 73PS through a five-speed manual gearbox (no auto was available), though with a kerb weight of under a tonne, still motivated the Viva from 0-62mph in 13.1 seconds, reasonable for its class. Vauxhall quoted combined economy of 46.3mpg for both the SE and Rocks trim levels, despite their different exterior fixtures.
The Vauxhall Viva’s trim levels are pretty straightforward by the standards of most cars. By the time it went off sale in 2019 it comprised just two, with fairly obvious exterior and specification differences. Given there was only one engine available in the Viva, there’s nothing to confuse buyers there, either. Keep an eye out for the infotainment system in used models - a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto was optional rather than standard on these late SE and Rocks variants, so not all cars will feature it.
The Vauxhall Viva SE was the entry point to the Viva range and while it wasn’t stripped to the bone, its spec levels do look fairly basic compared to modern (albeit much more expensive) small cars. A simple radio unit with USB and Bluetooth connectivity was standard. Wheels were 15 inch steel with trims, and you got electric front windows and electric heated mirrors, but no electric rear windows, and no air conditioning. Seat height adjustment was standard, though.
The Vauxhall Viva Rocks was visually differentiated by offroad-style exterior trim, including roof rails, black wheel arch trims, and more distinctive bumpers with front fog lights. 15-inch alloy wheels were standard, as was air conditioning and cruise control, though the radio unit was the same as that on the SE.
The Vauxhall Viva’s dimensions are:
Length: 3675mm (Viva Rocks 3676mm)
Width: 1595mm (without mirrors, Viva Rocks 1632mm), 1876mm (with mirrors)
Height: 1485mm (Viva Rocks 1532mm)
The Vauxhall Viva’s boot size is:
206 litres
1013 litres with the rear seats folded
If you can find a Viva badged ecoFLEX then you won’t pay a penny in VED or ‘road tax’, as its official CO2 figure dipped below the magic 100g/km mark. After April 2017, Vivas are instead taxed at a flat rate, currently £180 per year, which does make finding a car registered prior to this date seem more appealing, with much lower rates in general.
No Viva should be too expensive to insure. Later SE models started in just group 4 in the 1-50 group system, while SE versions with air conditioning, and Rocks specification cars, were in group 5. Some variants of cars like the Volkswagen Up are even lower (the cheapest Ups fall into group 2) but the Viva is still likely to be among the cheapest modern cars to insure.