SEAT Mii (2012-2021) Review

The Seat Mii is a great value, cheap-to-run and stylish compact city car

Strengths & weaknesses

  • Affordable
  • Fun to drive
  • Spacious for its size
  • Interior feels a bit flimsy
  • Very spartan entry-level model
  • Closely related Skoda Citigo cheaper still
SEAT Mii prices from £7,795.

It might be small and cheap but the Seat Mii rarely feels it. Its mechanicals have been squeezed together tightly, leaving space inside for four adults who should be comfortable, both on short journeys and longer ones.

There's plenty of storage space in the doors, and the 251-litre boot is big for a city car: a Toyota Aygo only has 168-litres. The interior design is simple, with a straightforward dashboard featuring big, chunky controls and a smartphone holder, with hands-free Bluetooth phone connection that's standard on all but the cheapest cars. 

If your car has the phone holder, then you can use Seat's Android and Apple app to control the music and radio, as well as making hands-free calls. The app also includes a TomTom sat-nav. Names and destinations can be entered by tracing out letters on your phone screen with your fingers.

Seat's decision to force you to provide the hardware for sat-nav might sound cheap, but it's a more appealing option than the small clip-on screen that used to be offered on the car. If you don't like the app (which has had mixed reviews), you can use another mapping app. This also means that if you buy the car second-hand, you don't have to worry about dated in-built sat-nav tech or outdated, low-resolution screens, as you do when the navigation is built into the car.

There's a three-door Mii (two passenger doors and the boot opening) and a more practical five-door, as well as a choice of two petrol engines. Neither are very quick but both feel nippy in town and surprisingly smooth on the motorway, where the Mii is quieter than other city cars. You have to work the engine quite hard to keep up with other traffic but the noise isn’t too harsh or unpleasant. In fact, the engines feel eager, making it fun to drive, whether you're zipping along a country road or dawdling around town.

The Mii is cheap to run, with low fuel and tax bills. It’s comfortable too for a city car, even if you pick the FR model with slightly harder suspension, but if you cover long distances, it’s worth paying a little more for the extra comfort and quietness of a bigger supermini like the VW Polo or Ford Fiesta.

Rivals such as the Peugeot 108, Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo and Renault Twingo aren’t as spacious or quiet as the Mii. The Seat can't compete with the Fiat 500 or Smart Fortwo when it comes to style or interior design but it is cheaper than both, with official prices starting at just over £8,500. 

For the ultimate in budget motoring, the Vauxhall Viva, Suzuki Celerio and Kia Picanto are cheaper but don't feel as nippy or comfortable as the Seat.

The toughest choice may be in deciding whether to buy the VW Up or Skoda Citigo instead. Both are essentially the same as the Mii, just with different badges. The Skoda is a little cheaper but some models come with less equipment than the equivalent Seat.

The Volkswagen is slightly more expensive but is available with a more powerful engine, which isn't avaiable on the Mii. It also holds its value better than the Seat, so the difference in finance costs and even for cash buyers - where you'll get more back when you come to sell a VW Up - isn't as big as it first seems.

You might be willing to pay more for one of the Miis made in partnership with fashion brands. The Mii by Mango came with unique paint colours and leather seats. it was replaced by the The Seat Mii by Cosmopolitan, which is available in white or purple colours, and with soft alcantara seats.  

All cars have Isofix mounts for child seats and the useful option of automatic emergency braking that can help avoid low-speed crashes. When independently crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2011, the Seat Mii scored a reassuring five stars out of five, although the tests have since become much tougher: a car that gets four stars in this year's tests may be as safe - if not safer - than the Mii.

 

Key facts

Warranty Three years/60,000 miles
Boot size 251 litres
Width 1,641mm
Length 3,557mm
Height 1,478mm
Tax (min to max) £145 per year / Pre-April 2017 cars: £0 to £20

Best SEAT Mii for...

Best for Economy – Seat Design Mii 1.0 60 5dr

No Mii is expensive to run, and both engines return roughly the same fuel economy (64mpg according to official figures but more like 46mpg in the real-world). Trim levels from Design Mii up allow you to run an app on your smartphone with an Eco Trainer that's meant to help you drive more frugally.

Best for Families – Seat Mii Design Mii 1.0 60 5dr

The five-door bodystyle is more practical for carrying children and Design Mii cars have everything you need, including air-conditioning, a smartphone holder so it can power your sat-nav, power-adjustable mirrors, a split-folding rear seat, front electric windows and a height-adjustable driver’s seat.

Best for Performance – Seat Mii 1.0 75-FR Line

A 13.2-second 0-62mph acceleration time is not exactly quick, but it’s the fastest Mii you can get. At least the FR Line model looks the part, with racy exterior graphics and eye-catching alloys.

One to Avoid – Seat Mii 1.0 60 SE 3dr

For the sake of a £300 saving (less if you're buying used) over the Design Mii, you'll be missing out on alloy wheels, a leather steering wheel, Bluetooth for wireless phone connectivity, the ability to use Seat's sat-nav app on your phone and electrically adjustable side mirrors.

History

  • April 2012 The Seat Mii goes on sale
  • July 2012 The sporty-looking Vibora Negra special edition is introduced, with alloy wheels and a bodykit.
  • August 2012 An automatic gearbox is made available
  • January 2013 The Mii Toca Edition is launched. It's based on the SE but includes sat-nav and rear parking sensors.
  • January 2014 Seat teams up with the fashion chain Mango to launch the Mii by Mango, which includes a pale 'nude' paint colour, leather seat trim and sat-nav.
  • August 2014 The Mii i-TECH replaces the Toca Edition.
  • September 2015 The Mii FR Line is launched, with 16in alloy wheels, grey door mirrors and harder sports suspension that makes the car more agile but less comfortable.
  • October 2016 Portable sat-nav unit is replaced by a smartphone holder and app on higher trim levels. Basic S model is dropped from the range, as is the option of an automatic gearbox.
  • January 2017 The Seat Mii by Cosmopolitan goes on sale with a choice of purple or white paint, "champagne" colour door mirrors and soft alcantara seats

Understanding SEAT Mii names

Engine 1.0 75

Seat Mii model names include the engine size - all of them have 1.0-litre motors. The power figure will often be included too. In this case, it is 75hp. Ecomotive models have extra fuel-saving technology.

Trim Design Mii

The trim level lets you know how well-equipped your Mii is. The range starts with SE, followed by Design Mii, FR-Line and the fashion-inspired Mii by Cosmopolitan.

SEAT Mii Engines

Petrol: 1.0 60, 1.0 75

The Seat Mii is available with a choice of two small petrol engines, both of which are 1-litre in size.

The least powerful has 60hp. It feels smooth and is quick to rev whenever you press the accelerator. This helps make it feel faster than its acceleration figures suggest (0-62mph in 14.4sec).

The engine is best suited to town driving but will also cruise along at 70mph on a motorway without much drama, so it’ll be sufficient for most buyers.

The 75hp version of the engine is available in FR-Line and Mii by Cosmopolitan models. Its extra performance is hard to notice in everyday driving, but if you want your Mii to be as fast as possible, it’s the one to go for.

 

Fuel

Fuel economy

Power

Acceleration (0-62mph)

Top speed

1.0 60

Petrol

64.2mpg

60hp

14.4 secs

99mph

1.0 75

Petrol

64.2mpg

75hp

13.2 secs

106mph

SEAT Mii Trims

SE, Design Mii, FR-Line, Mii by Cosmopolitan

Since Seat dropped the cheap but basic S and S a/c models from the range towards the end of 2016, all of the trim levels available on the Mii come with a reasonable level of standard equipment.

That includes air conditioning, a USB port, basic FM/AM radio, remote central locking and front electric windows on the entry-level SE car, which is only available with the least powerful 60hp engine. Split-folding rear seats, which allow you to increase luggage capacity and retain a rear seat, are also standard.

The extra £300 it costs to upgrade to the Design Mii specification is likely to prove worthwhile. Unlike the cheaper model, these cars have alloy wheels, tinted rear windows and bright LED daytime running lights underneath the headlamps, which makes them look less basic from outside. There are also electrically adjustable and heated side mirrors in white or black, a leather steering wheel and a radio with a colour screen.

These cars are also fitted with the technology needed to integrate your phone with the car. This includes Bluetooth, for a wireless connection and a smartphone holder, allowing you to use your phone as a dashboard screen. Seat's 'Drive Mii' app for Android and Apple devices, includes TomTom sat-nav maps and the ability to control in-car music and radio through the screen. Hands-free calls are also simple to make.

Design Mii cars are also available only with the least powerful engine, but you can have an FR-Line car with either of the engine options. These sportier-looking cars come with distinctive 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights, sports suspension that makes the car a bit firmer over bumps, and FR-Line logos inside and out. The seats and gearstick have red stitching that also makes the car appear sportier. The 60hp FR-Line cars cost just over £1,000 more than Design Mii cars.

Topping the range is the Mii by Cosmopolitan – a collaboration between Seat and the fashion magazine. This car comes with a unique 15-inch alloy wheel design and is only available with purple or white paint, with champagne (beige/gold) colour side mirrors and a black roof. In addition to the Design Mii specification, it includes soft leather and alcantara seats, purple dashboard panels and Cosmopolitan badging. It's only available with the most powerful engine, and is just over £100 more than the equivalent FR-Line car.

SEAT Mii Reliability and warranty

The Seat Mii rarely figures in realibility surveys because the limited numbers of cars on the road mean that it's difficult to get the required number of responses.

However, you can still buy with confidence thanks to the encouraging results recorded by its virtually identical twins, the Skoda Citigo and Volkswagen Up!

Despite its strong reputation, the Mii is only offered with a three-year warranty, up to a maximum of 60,000 miles. Hyundai and Kia offer five and seven years cover respectively.

Used SEAT Mii

Figures from CAP-HPI, a used car values specialist, suggest that the Seat Mii will lose almost half of its value in the first 12 months. A VW Up! is likely to be worth around 40% less than its new price after a year. 

The better-equipped and special-edition models like the now-discontinued I-TECH and Sport and still-current Mii by Mango are particularly smart buys, as they don’t tend to command the same price premium used that they did new. So you should aim to seek out a Mii with the most possible standard equipment for your budget.

And by the same logic, the basic S versions of the Mii, which are now discontinued, are worth avoiding. These had wind-up windows, a bench seat in the back, that couldn't be folded in two separate sections and (with the exception of the s a/c model) no air conditioning.

One or two-year old Miis are particularly appealing, as they’ll still have some manufacturer warranty left (provided their mileage hasn’t exceeded 60,000). Mileage on cars of this size is generally low.