Vauxhall Mokka Review & Prices

The Vauxhall Mokka is a stylish small family SUV with a solid interior, but there are far more interesting and practical alternatives for your cash – and top-spec trims can get pretty pricey.

It’s a bit like plating up bangers and mash in the style of a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant. Yes, it looks good in your Instagram snaps, but underneath is a simple, unexciting recipe.

Similarly priced and sized SUVs are ten a penny, from the plain but practical Skoda Kamiq, to the refined SEAT Arona, rugged Dacia Duster and chic Renault Captur. There are also electric cars, including Vauxhall’s own Mokka Electric and Frontera Electric, that are worth a look.

Few, bar the Renault Captur, have the visual impact of the Vauxhall Mokka. The large black front grille, narrow yet blocky headlights and angular body panels mean it’s genuinely head-turning. Particularly in the punchy sorta-green paint of our test car.

You don’t get quite the same impact inside, but the twin-screen setup under one wide binnacle looks pretty upmarket and everything feels well put together, even if the shiny plastics and materials used on the things you don’t regularly touch let the side down a bit.

Although the setup looks great the infotainment isn’t the best to use – the menus are baffling to navigate and loading times can be frustrating. At least you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.

Practicality is fine, particularly if you have a small, young family. Cabin space is decent enough, particularly for those in the front, but it’s a touch tight for a bulky child seat in the back and lanky teenagers might start sulking on a long journey. Storage solutions are so-so, and the 350-litre boot is comfortably down on alternatives, though you shouldn’t have any issue fitting the weekly shop inside.

Power comes from a choice of a 1.2-litre petrol engine (with an automatic or manual gearbox), or a 1.2-litre ‘hybrid’. You get a little electric assistance at low speeds for reasonable fuel economy, but won’t see the savings at the pump of a proper self-charging hybrid – which you can get for similar cash in the Dacia Duster, Renault Captur and Toyota Yaris Cross.

That means the best value for money comes from the basic 1.2-litre manual model, which undercuts most alternatives on price. It’s good to drive, and the 136hp is perfectly adequate for most scenarios – it hardly runs out of puff at motorway speeds, either.

It’s anything but interesting to drive, though – that’s a complaint you could level at most alternatives, to be fair, though the SEAT Arona is a more refined motorway cruiser and the Toyota Yaris Cross makes for a crazy economical city car.

You can check out the latest Vauxhall Mokka deals, and Vauxhall Mokka lease deals, available through Carwow, because although it doesn’t stand out in many areas, it makes for a solid all-rounder.

You can also browse used Mokkas as well as other used Vauxhalls from our network of trusted dealers. Carwow can help you sell your car, too.

Vauxhall Mokka prices start at around £25,000 in Design trim with the petrol engine and a manual gearbox, rising to just over £31,000 for the fully loaded Ultimate trim and the hybrid engine.

Entry level models feel like the best value, because they’re better equipped and a bit nicer inside than equivalent trims in other models – though you can get a SEAT Arona and a Dacia Duster for about £20,000 apiece, so there are savings to be had.

Once you’re looking at high-spec hybrid models, you’re in the same ballpark as the Renault Captur and Dacia Duster, which will be more economical and easier to drive around town. You can even get a top-spec Vauxhall Frontera Electric for that money.

The Mokka deals with bumps reasonably well and it’s easy to drive, but it’s really boring behind the wheel

In town

The Mokka’s light steering and compact dimensions mean it’s easy to drive through tight spaces and in town, especially compared to bigger SUVs. The suspension does a decent job smoothing out most bumps and potholes – even on the bigger 18-inch wheels fitted to the GS and Ultimate trims.

You get a better view out of the Vauxhall Mokka than in regular hatchbacks such as the Vauxhall Corsa thanks to its raised suspension and tall body, but the difference isn’t as huge as you may think.

While looking forwards is fine, the narrow rear windscreen and small back windows can make parallel parking or slotting into a tight multi-storey space a little tricky, though you do get rear parking sensors on all cars. You need to step up to the GS model for a reversing camera.

On the motorway

The Vauxhall Mokka is a fairly quiet car to drive, which makes longer journeys much easier on your ears. You won’t hear too much noise from any of the engines unless you accelerate hard, and you’ll only notice a slight wind whistle from the door mirrors at motorway speeds.

You can’t get a diesel engine anymore, though both petrol and mild hybrid engines have enough performance to keep up on the motorway and are economical in the process.

You get cruise control as standard, as well as lane-keeping in automatic models only. If you want adaptive cruise control, to maintain your speed and distance to the car in front, you need a top-spec Ultimate model.

On a twisty road

The Mokka is not designed to be a sports car, but even so it is not as much fun to drive as a Ford Puma. The steering has good weight and feel, but the body leans in corners and the car isn’t keen to change direction quickly.

Don’t think opting for the manual gearbox will make things more fun, either. It’s a light throw so there’s not much satisfaction to be had shifting gears. The hybrid has a bit more power, which will put a bit more of a smile on your face, but comes with an automatic gearbox – neither is particularly thrilling.

Front seat passengers get a decent deal, but the rear cabin is a squeeze for adults and alternatives have more boot space

The Vauxhall Mokka’s cabin feels pretty roomy in the front. The seats are comfortable and come with a decent amount of adjustment so you’ll be able to get a good view out whether you’re small or very tall. The steering wheel adjusts for reach and rake too, so most drivers will be able to find a comfortable driving position.

Storage space is okay, with respectably sized door pockets and a tray below the centre of the dashboard which is perfect for storing a phone – on the top models this area will wirelessly charge it too. It’s slightly more awkward to access on cars fitted with a manual transmission though, as the gear lever dominates the centre console.

Two cupholders sit behind the gear lever, with an armrest which covers another generously-sized storage cubby.

Space in the back seats

It’s best to describe the back seats as cosy. The doors themselves are small, meaning larger adults will find it tricky to fold themselves in. Once there, six-foot-tall passengers don’t have much headroom to spare and their knees will touch the front seats if they’re sitting behind an equally tall driver.

The central rear seat is raised, which limits headroom further, but at least there’s enough space for three kids to sit side-by-side without the need to fight over elbow room – unless there are child seats involved, which will eat into the available room further.

The Mokka’s relatively small rear windows mean the view out isn’t fantastic, and the dark interior fabrics can make things feel a little too dreary at times too.

Boot space

The Vauxhall Mokka has a 350-litre boot, which is enough for a weekly shop or some light luggage for a weekend away. However, pretty much everything else you might consider has more capacity, particularly the Renault Captur (484 litres), Dacia Duster (472 litres) and Toyota Yaris Cross (397 litres).

You can fold the rear seats to open up 1,105 litres, though there’s a bit of a lip which can make it tricky to push heavy items through. The seats don’t fold particularly flat, either.

The Mokka looks smarter than many small SUVs inside and feels solidly built, but its infotainment system isn’t the most intuitive

The Vauxhall Mokka’s cabin is more interesting than the interiors of most alternatives, but it can’t quite match the style you get in a Peugeot 2008. That might suit you though if you prefer the more restrained – and arguably more sensible – design.

You get a twin-screen setup, with two 10.0-inch displays for the infotainment system and instruments. It looks pretty upmarket, similar to the setups you get in much posher cars, but the system itself is slow and clunky to use. The Renault Captur’s Google-based system is infinitely better.

At least you get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is useful for bypassing most of Vauxhall’s setup, and the fact there are still physical controls for some functions, such as the climate control, means you’re not messing about in the touchscreen for a simple temperature change.

Most of the Mokka’s materials feel pretty solid. There are a few hard plastics on the doors and beside the centre console, but the soft dashboard trim and sturdy buttons and controls feel pleasingly well made.

The engine range is quite simple, with a 1.2-litre petrol engine available in three different variations.

Most people will find the entry level engine is the most affordable if you’re only planning on keeping the car for a few years. It makes 136hp and comes with a six-speed manual gearbox. It’s the cheapest of the line-up to buy and official fuel economy of 49.6mpg is respectable. You can have this petrol engine with 130hp and an automatic gearbox, but it’s more expensive and, officially, isn’t quite as good on fuel.

The hybrid is the pick of the bunch, money no object, because you get the smoothness of electric assistance and an automatic gearbox. It’s pricier than the other engines, but fuel economy of up to 58.8mpg in official tests will offset that if you plan to keep the car for a long time.

Low emissions mean you have to pay relatively low first-year Vehicle Excise Duty, and there are no worries about paying the expensive car supplement in years two to six, either. You’re better off looking at a plug-in hybrid model, such as the MG HS, if you’re a company car chooser, because it has a lower benefit-in-kind rating. There’s also the Vauxhall Mokka Electric, which sits in the lowest company car tax band because it’s an EV.

The Vauxhall Mokka received a four-star Euro NCAP rating back in 2021, which is the same as the Renault Captur and higher than the Dacia Duster. The Skoda Kamiq and Toyota Yaris Cross scored the full five stars.

You get all the basic assistance kit such as driver drowsiness monitoring and traffic sign recognition, as well as basic cruise control. Step up to the Griffin trim and you get rain-sensing windscreen wipers, while GS models add parking cameras. Top-spec Ultimate models get adaptive cruise control, matrix LED headlights and a blind spot warning.

Vauxhall performed fairly poorly in the 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, coming 26th out of 32 manufacturers.

As with all other Vauxhalls, the Mokka is covered by a three-year or 60,000-mile warranty. That’s pretty much the bare minimum these days, and rivals such as Kia and MG offer seven year cover.