At 1/28th scale this is one of the smallest and lightest cars on our site, which matters a lot for a five-year-old — little hands and a lighter car means less effort to steer, and far less damage when it inevitably clips the skirting board. The small footprint also makes it brilliant for flats or smaller gardens where a bigger buggy simply has no room to run.

Best for: the youngest or smallest children who need a car that’s genuinely easy to pick up and carry. Watch out for: small-scale cars like this have tiny parts, so keep a close eye during play and storage, and expect to supervise battery changes fully yourself.

This is the cheapest car in the guide and a sensible place to start if you’re not yet sure how much interest a five-year-old will sustain. It’s ready to run out of the box with straightforward two-channel control — forward, back, left, right — which is about the right level of complexity for a first go on the sticks, ideally with a parent sat alongside.

Best for: parents testing the water before investing further, or buying as a stocking-filler alongside a bigger present. Watch out for: as an entry-level model, don’t expect hobby-grade toughness — treat it as a fun first step rather than a car built for years of hard driveway use.

A genuinely nice-looking little car that happens to come from a proper hobby brand, the nano-TTR Mustang is built as an on-road runner, so it’s more predictable on smooth floors than a knobbly-tyred buggy — handy for hallway or living room laps on a wet weekend. The classic Mustang shape also tends to go down well as a named “first car” present.

Best for: indoor use, hard floors, and children who like the idea of driving a “real” car shape rather than a sporty buggy. Watch out for: on-road tyres have less grip on grass or gravel, so keep this one mainly for inside or paved areas.

Four-wheel drive and proper off-road tyres mean this buggy copes with lawn, patio and gravel far better than the on-road cars in this guide, which is useful once a five-year-old has mastered the basics indoors and wants to take it outside. It’s still small and light enough to be manageable, just with more grip and ground clearance for rougher going.

Best for: gardens, parks and uneven paths, once a child is confident steering on smoother ground first. Watch out for: more traction means more speed potential than a 2WD runaround, so set a top-speed or driving-area rule with adult supervision close by.

The priciest car here, and intentionally so — this is the one we’d suggest if you want a single buggy that a five-year-old can start on at a sensible, dialled-back pace with you holding the transmitter alongside them, then genuinely grow into over the next couple of years as their confidence builds. The sturdier build gives it a bit more headroom to survive enthusiastic driving.

Best for: families who’d rather buy one slightly better car than two cheaper ones, and who’ll supervise closely at first. Watch out for: it has more performance in reserve than a younger child needs straight away, so keep early sessions slow and supervised rather than letting them run it flat out.