I took my elderly neighbours Picanto 1l auto for a service in January due him being ill at he time. I found the gearbox slow and cumbersome yet my neighbour who just tootles arounds town loves it and wouldn’t hear a bad word about it. I also found it underpowered but what you have to remember is I drive a car with 2 – 4 times the horse power and mine and others driving characteristics may be totally different to yours.
The best thing you can do to put your own mind at rest is ask for an extended test drive or even try arrange to have it for 24hrs. The only other thing I would say the newer Il turbo is far better than the 1.2 na.
Have you looked at the Dacia Sandero auto, I believe its around the same price as the 3 trim Picanto if not a little cheaper.
Don’t forget places like Autorader Carwow etc