Vauxhall Adam (2012-2019) Review
Written by Andrew Brady
Quick overview
Pros
- Strong interior quality
- Range of smooth quiet petrol engines
- Lots of customisation - each car will be different
Cons
- Slow and uncomfortable ride
- Woefully short on interior and boot space
- Not that much kit from factory
Overall verdict on the Vauxhall Adam
"The Vauxhall Adam was an attempt to cash in on the trend for style-led and often retro-inspired small cars. Models like the MINI hatchback and Fiat 500. While it looked good, sadly the Vauxhall Adam lacked character and was dull to drive. It never caught the imagination like its rivals, but as a used car, the Vauxhall Adam does at least make a more interesting alternative to its Vauxhall Corsa sibling."
Much of the marketing spiel around the launch of the Vauxhall Adam was centred on the customisation options. Like the MINI hatch and Fiat 500, you could choose different coloured roofs, mirrors cars and even alloy wheels, while there was a whole range of body decals. Sadly this wasn't enough to disguise the fact that the Vauxhall Adam just wasn't as fun as its rivals, as our Vauxhall Adam review explains.
There was no shortage of good small cars. The Fiat 500 was the car that provided buyers with bags of style for a very modest outlay, while the MINI hatch was much more expensive, but also much more aspirational, meaning it was no less popular.
Unsurprisingly, the success of these cars didn’t go unnoticed by other car companies, and one of those was Vauxhall. A bright idea was quickly cooked up. “What if we were to take a chopped-down Vauxhall Corsa platform, stick a sexily-styled body on top of it, offer buyers even more customisation options and then set the price slap-bang in the middle of those of the Fiat and the MINI?”, they thought. Probably.
And thus, a little while later, the Vauxhall Adam was released. Being all-new, it didn’t have the decades of heritage to call upon that its rivals did, and as such, its styling was much more modern than it was retro, but stylish it still was.
But sadly, the Vauxhall Adam wasn’t the goldmine that Vauxhall had hoped for. Maybe it was the fact it wasn’t retro enough. Maybe it was neither cheap nor aspirational enough, to appeal? Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that it simply wasn’t all that good.
Let’s start with what was its biggest Achilles heel: practicality. Yes, both the Fiat 500 and the MINI were also very tight inside and short on boot space, but compared with the Adam, both felt like a luxury limo inside. Yes, buyers would willingly sacrifice a certain amount of practicality at the altar of style, but there were evidently limits.
And yes, neither the 500 nor the MINI were particularly well equipped either, but neither was the Vauxhall, and that would have been an easy thing to make its USP. Fairly crucially, the Adam was also very mediocre to drive. The ride was lumpy and unsettled, the handling was bland and uninspiring, the engines were flat and the performance was gutless. The same was true of the Fiat 500, but it was a cheap enough small car to not matter.
And while the MINI wasn’t the comfiest car on the planet, it delivered thrill-a-minute handling and perky performance to make up.
It wasn’t all bad. The interior was pretty good ergonomically, and the interior quality was also impressive. However, that wasn't enough with such popular competition. These days, used examples can be picked up for a song and if you fancy something stylish and rare it might be worth a look. However, ensure you try before you buy to make sure you can put up with its foibles.
Looking for a used car for sale? We've got 100s of Vauxhall Approved Used Cars for Sale for you to choose from, including a wide range of Vauxhall Adam cars for sale. Vauxhall even made a faux crossover version, the Vauxhall Adam Rocks Air.
Is the Vauxhall Adam right for you?
Like the idea of a MINI or a Fiat 500; a stylish city car that’s all about making a statement, and to hell with everything else?
If that’s the case, the Adam might be for you. It was nowhere near as popular as the cars previously mentioned, but that also means it’s now less common. Why was it less popular? Well, if we’re honest, it wasn’t all that great. Its interior space, ride comfort, and performance were questionable. In fairness, the 500 didn't quite excel in these areas either, but at least it was cheap.
However, it's not all doom and gloom. The interior quality was fine, the engines were smooth and quiet and the fuel economy was pretty good.
What's the best Vauxhall Adam model/engine to choose?
This really depends on your driving style, not that any of the trim levels will set your hair alight. We'd recommend the 1.0T cars as these offer decent punch and efficiency.
What other cars are similar to the Vauxhall Adam?
When Vauxhall noticed how many MINI hatchbacks and Fiat 500s people bought, the firm decided to release a style-driven city car to get a piece of the pie, and thus the Adam was conceived.
Although the Fiat 500 lay at the cheaper end of the scale and the MINI at the more expensive end, with the Adam somewhere in the middle, both cars were rivals. Vauxhall wasn’t the only car company that attempted to muscle in on the action, either. Citroen - and later DS - weighed in with the DS 3, while the ever-popular Audi A1 was aimed squarely at nicking sales from the MINI.
With the Adam discontinued, similar new cars include the Suzuki Swift, Skoda Fabia, Peugeot 208, Vauxhall Corsa, Honda Jazz and the MG3 Hybrid+.
Comfort and design: Vauxhall Adam interior
"There may have been lots of different colours and textures on display, but the layout of the Adam’s dashboard was pretty conventional, and that meant most of the various switches and buttons sat right where you expect to find them."
Everything was well marked, too, so it was clear what everything did, and the instrument dials were nice and easy to read. The chunky front seats had lots of support and held you in place as you barreled around corners.
Visibility at the front of the car was fine despite the steeply angled windscreen pillars, but the small rear window with bulky pillars meant your over-the-shoulder visibility was less clear. What’s more, no version received parking sensors as standard.
Quality and finish
Most of the displayed materials looked and felt impressively high-grade, and had various glossy trim panels, chrome edgings and brightly-coloured inserts.
The switches and dials worked with well-damped precision, too, which also helped boost the feeling of quality. You could find harder, scratchier plastics lower in the cabin, but that's normal in a city car, even today. They still felt more substantial than those in a 500 or DS3. In all, the Adam felt reasonably posh.
Infotainment: Touchscreen, USB, sat-nav and stereo in the Vauxhall Adam
Most versions had a basic stereo with Bluetooth, FM/AM radio, CD player, a USB and aux-in sockets. Stepping up from Jam trim to Glam upped the speaker count from four to six, while Slam trim added a wifi hotspot.
The optional system (standard on the Energised trims) added a 7.0-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto so you could use some of your phone’s apps - including navigation functionality - through the car’s screen, but there was still no built-in sat-nav. It was hardly the best infotainment system but was at least reasonably straightforward to use, although the screen could've been more sensitive and the reactions quicker.
Space and practicality: Vauxhall Adam boot space
As a stylish city car with runty rivals that included the Fiat 500, DS 3, MINI and Audi A1, you didn't expect game-changing practicality from the Adam. Even by these low standards, the Adam was the poorest car in its class.
Front space was only adequate, and tall adults would have struggled for room here. There was so little headroom and legroom in the rear that even small passengers would've been uncomfortable, and things weren't helped by the chunky front seat design.
The boot was minuscule at 170 litres boot and was even smaller than you got in a MINI.
There was a huge load lip and an annoying parcel shelf that you had to put down manually every time you closed the boot. The back seats split 50-50 so you could fold them down in two parts, but they didn't lie flat and there was a big step in the extended load floor.
The Adam is 3698mm long, 1966mm wide (including mirrors) and 1484mm tall.
Handling and ride quality: What is the Vauxhall Adam like to drive?
"When you buy a city car, you’d want it to feel at home in the city and the Adam’s compact dimensions and light steering fit well here. However, the low-speed ride is less successful. It’s decidedly brittle, fidgeting and jiggling over ripples and ruts in the road surface."
Things got lumpier on the bigger wheels and were worse on cars fitted with sports suspension (Standard on Glam, Energised, S, and Rocks S trims). Ironically, things improved once out of town and could go faster. Even a MINI or a DS3, both still firm, felt cosseting next to the Vauxhall Adam.
In corners, the Adam did a decent job of controlling its body movements, and there was a decent level of grip, but its town-handy light steering didn't provide cornering confidence.
Cars fitted with sports suspension felt a shade more direct in the steering stakes, but they were still unnerving because suspension stiffness meant that mid-corner bumps could cause the whole car to hop sideways. Rivals like the MINI and Audi A1 were involving to drive, but the Adam was miles behind.
What engines and gearboxes are available in the Vauxhall Adam?
The Vauxhall Adam was a petrol city car. The range kicked off with a 70PS 1.2. It was okay for tottering around town, but it felt desperately slow, as a 0-62mph time of almost 15 seconds will testify to.
If motorways are a regular occurrence, you'll want to source a 1.4. There are two, one with 87PS and one with 100PS. We didn't try the former, but the latter was a bit more relaxed under acceleration and more comfortable at motorway speeds. The best engine available was the 115ps three-cylinder turbocharged 1.0-litre unit.
It had more low-end pull than the naturally aspirated engines, which made it feel eager. Not only was it a good bit quicker, but making progress was considerably easier. The other turbocharged engine was the 150PS 1.4 S and Rocks S.
Refinement and noise levels
Most of the petrol engines in the Vauxhall Adam weren't particularly powerful, but they were quiet and impressively smooth. The smallest ones had to be worked hard when winding up to motorway pace.
The five and six-speed manual gearboxes had a pleasingly short throw even if the changes weren't the slickest. Wind and road noise weren't bad, but you could hear suspension patter.
Safety equipment: How safe is the Vauxhall Adam?
With the Vauxhall Adam dating back to 2012 don't expect modern driver assistance systems.
Still, all the then-legal requirements were covered, including electronic traction and stability aids, tyre pressure monitoring, and daytime running lights while six airbags and some ISOFIX child seat mounting points were also provided. You didn't get much on top of the necessities, though. The Adam scored a rather disappointing four (out of five) stars in Euro NCAP crash tests.
That was back in 2013, too and since the tests get harder and harder year on year.
MPG and fuel costs: What does a Vauxhall Adam cost to run?
"As there was no diesel option, the 1.0-litre turbo engine was the most efficient at 57mpg."
The 1.4 with the Easytronic transmission came next with 56mpg, then the 1.2 with 51mpg. Both versions of the 1.4 stopped short of the 50mpg mark, while the 1.4 turbo S returned 45mpg. In the real world, expect this to be significantly lower as these figures were recorded using older testing methods.
Vauxhall Adam reliability
Vauxhall secured a disappointing last place in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk satisfaction index.
Vauxhall Adam insurance groups and costs
The Adam's a sensible first car, being in insurance group 2. For those needing more power, the warm S guise is only group 15 while the 1.0T is group 10.
VED car tax: What is the annual road tax on a Vauxhall Adam?
The key date here is April 1st 2017 because this is the date the Government changed the law to introduce a flat annual rate. 1.0T cars have the lowest g/km at 108, meaning you'll pay £175 for the first year followed by £190 for cars registered post-1 April 2017.
A warm S variant costs £270 for the first year before defaulting to £190.
Vauxhall Adam price
"Like with most cars, prices changed throughout the Adam’s life, but it was never cheap. Even the entry-level Jam 1.2 would’ve set you back around £13,500, while at the top of the range, prices rocketed to a frankly ludicrous £20,000 for the Vauxhall Adam Rocks S."
A 140,000-mile Adam Jam can be had for just £2,000, but we'd recommend looking around. We spotted a 2017 Jam with 53,500 miles for £5,500, and a 2017 43,000-mile S for £7,600. Bargains can be had if you're keen enough.
Trim levels and standard equipment
Prepare to be confused. Vauxhall chopped and changed the model range almost constantly throughout the Vauxhall Adam’s life, and also regularly offered bizarrely named special editions.
What’s more, because the Adam was all about customisation, there were loads of option packs and individual options for new car buyers to choose from, so on the used market, it’s likely that you’ll never see two cars the same. It’d take all day to namecheck every one of the various trim levels offered, but we’ll take you through the highlights. Three trim levels formed the backbone. These were called Jam, Glam and Slam.
Vauxhall Adam Jam gave you manual air-con, alloy wheels, cruise control, electric front windows, a leather steering wheel, electric door mirrors and remote locking, while Glam added single-zone climate control, a panoramic roof and some extra bit of external chrome detailing.
Vauxhall Adam Slam had bigger alloys, privacy glass and a contrasting roof colour, along with sports suspension. Then came the S, which had the most powerful engine, a sporty body kit, uprated brakes and even bigger alloys.
The Vauxhall Adam Rocks Air version had 4x4-styling with plastic wheel arch covers, chunkier bumpers and a raised ride height, and it also added a retractable fabric sunroof. The Vauxhall Adam Rocks S took the Rocks' SUV physique and the S sporty styling, creating an odd concoction
There were also the Vauxhall Adam Energised and Energised Blackjack models, which both came with the upgraded infotainment system we talked about earlier, and some body-coloured interior panels and some fancy paint choices, but were otherwise pretty similar to low-spec Jam cars.
Ask the heycar experts: common questions
Can I buy the Adam with an automatic gearbox?
What is a Vauxhall Adam?
Where is the Vauxhall Adam built?
Does the Vauxhall Adam make a good first car?
Vauxhall Adam Alternatives
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