£5000 car budget, cheap to run, cheap to insure, reliable

[LEGZAKIMBO97]

Hello , long story short - I did have a company car , but now I don't. Need a car asap.

im happy with HP deals or could consider taking a loan from the bank etc.

Currently have £1500 saved up for a deposit , just need to pay off the remaining £3500 will be willing to stretch budget but as long as the monthly payments don't exceed 200 I'm happy.

• * more context ***

hopefully i will be getting an apprenticeship in the trade soonish , which means ill take a pay cut ( £7.50 ph ) just need something that's good on the commute ( roughly 21 miles there and back )daily - so need something cheap to run and no dramas

please can anyone throw any suggestions my way please.


thanks

Edited by LEGZAKIMBO97 on Wednesday 21st February 14:50

[Slowboathome]

Petrol Yaris, Mazda 2, Swift or Jazz.

[A500leroy]

Aygo.

[Truckosaurus]

Slowboathome said:

Petrol Yaris, Mazda 2, Swift or Jazz.

Indeed. Anything 'Japanese', petrol and non-turbo. You might lose a few MPG against some tiny diesel engined thing, but they won't break so should work out similar overall (depends on your planned mileage, and tolerance for risk etc).

eg: 1.8 Civic - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402196...

I suspect Civics won't be any dearer to insure than a smaller car as less likely to be owned by teenagers or old biddies who crash a lot.

[Scootersp]

Deposit and one month of £200?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386618446359?itmmeta=01...

[LankyFreak]

Mk2 Clio 1.2
Aygo/107/C1
Yaris.

The Clio looks the best IMO.

[Maracus]

A500leroy said:

Aygo.

+1

[bodhi]

Truckosaurus said:

Slowboathome said:

Petrol Yaris, Mazda 2, Swift or Jazz.

Indeed. Anything 'Japanese', petrol and non-turbo. You might lose a few MPG against some tiny diesel engined thing, but they won't break so should work out similar overall (depends on your planned mileage, and tolerance for risk etc).

eg: 1.8 Civic - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402196...

I suspect Civics won't be any dearer to insure than a smaller car as less likely to be owned by teenagers or old biddies who crash a lot.

This is what I came here to suggest. Our 1.8 Civic cost £1500 to buy, does 30-40 mpg and less than £300 per year to insure.

In 2 years it's needed a service and the headlights polishing to get through an MOT.

[LEGZAKIMBO97]

bodhi said:

Truckosaurus said:

Slowboathome said:

Petrol Yaris, Mazda 2, Swift or Jazz.

Indeed. Anything 'Japanese', petrol and non-turbo. You might lose a few MPG against some tiny diesel engined thing, but they won't break so should work out similar overall (depends on your planned mileage, and tolerance for risk etc).


I suspect Civics won't be any dearer to insure than a smaller car as less likely to be owned by teenagers or old biddies who crash a lot.

This is what I came here to suggest. Our 1.8 Civic cost £1500 to buy, does 30-40 mpg and less than £300 per year to insure.

In 2 years it's needed a service and the headlights polishing to get through an MOT.

thank you for this suggestion - i would love to go for this option but for me with 5 years no claims its looking at around £800 to insure.

[bodhi]

LEGZAKIMBO97 said:

bodhi said:

Truckosaurus said:

Slowboathome said:

Petrol Yaris, Mazda 2, Swift or Jazz.

Indeed. Anything 'Japanese', petrol and non-turbo. You might lose a few MPG against some tiny diesel engined thing, but they won't break so should work out similar overall (depends on your planned mileage, and tolerance for risk etc).


I suspect Civics won't be any dearer to insure than a smaller car as less likely to be owned by teenagers or old biddies who crash a lot.

This is what I came here to suggest. Our 1.8 Civic cost £1500 to buy, does 30-40 mpg and less than £300 per year to insure.

In 2 years it's needed a service and the headlights polishing to get through an MOT.

thank you for this suggestion - i would love to go for this option but for me with 5 years no claims its looking at around £800 to insure.

That's a bit strange, as we only have 2 years NCD on ours?

Age/location thing? I'm 43 and live in Staffordshire. Current insurer is Tesco.

[Wheel Turned Out]

A few months ago I came out of a creaky old Mondeo and into a Swift. Lovely little thing, anything by Suzuki over the last ten years is highly recommended. Excellent for basic cheap and cheerful transport.

[Shabaza]

Could probably get a prius 2009/10 shape
Boring/reliable/0 tax/economical/surprisingly spacious

[RazerSauber]

Japanese + Petrol gets another vote from me. Mazda 2/3, Toyota Auris/Yaris, something like that.

Astra Mk5 with the 1.6 in are robust, cheap and readily available too. Your deposit should cover the car cost.

[LEGZAKIMBO97]

bodhi said:

That's a bit strange, as we only have 2 years NCD on ours?

Age/location thing? I'm 43 and live in Staffordshire. Current insurer is Tesco.

im 26 from Burnley...

[CivicDuties]

I expect the Vauxhall Corsa and Astra are the cheapest things to insure, with the smallest engine choice. Pretty robust and reliable. I'd pick an Astra, 1.4 petrol, group 9 insurance.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312044...

[Raymond Reddington]

Wheel Turned Out said:

A few months ago I came out of a creaky old Mondeo and into a Swift. Lovely little thing, anything by Suzuki over the last ten years is highly recommended. Excellent for basic cheap and cheerful transport.

+1

I bought a swift sport about 8 years ago, ran it for a year, my mum has had it ever since and in all that time it's only needed an exhaust bracket welding and consumables.

We have a 2019 1.2 Swift now and it's brilliant. Lovely revvy engine, nippy, good on the motorway, feels indestructible like a simple jap petrol always does. Also returned an average of 51mpg over the last 10k miles.

[PurpleTurtle]

LEGZAKIMBO97 said:

bodhi said:

That's a bit strange, as we only have 2 years NCD on ours?

Age/location thing? I'm 43 and live in Staffordshire. Current insurer is Tesco.

im 26 from Burnley...

Is your £800 insurance fully comp?

When I was your age or a bit younger I was in the £2.5k ballpark budget-wise, and went TPF&T for cover, to keep premiums down.

I'm a +1 on the Civic though, great cars.

[LEGZAKIMBO97]

PurpleTurtle said:

Is your £800 insurance fully comp?

When I was your age or a bit younger I was in the £2.5k ballpark budget-wise, and went TPF&T for cover, to keep premiums down.

I'm a +1 on the Civic though, great cars.

i went fully comp , im not entirely sure what the rest mean hahah sorry , ill try the other options though.

[ZX10R NIN]

LEGZAKIMBO97 said:

Hello , long story short - I did have a company car , but now I don't. Need a car asap.

im happy with HP deals or could consider taking a loan from the bank etc.

Currently have £1500 saved up for a deposit , just need to pay off the remaining £3500 will be willing to stretch budget but as long as the monthly payments don't exceed 200 I'm happy.

• * more context ***

hopefully i will be getting an apprenticeship in the trade soonish , which means ill take a pay cut ( £7.50 ph ) just need something that's good on the commute ( roughly 21 miles there and back )daily - so need something cheap to run and no dramas

please can anyone throw any suggestions my way please.


thanks

Edited by LEGZAKIMBO97 on Wednesday 21st February 14:50

1.4T Astra Limitied Edition:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307209...

1.6i (cheaper to insure) Limited Edition:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311304...

The N/A Astra is nigh on bulletproof.

[CivicDuties]

ZX10R NIN said:

1.4T Astra Limitied Edition:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307209...

1.6i (cheaper to insure) Limited Edition:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311304...

The N/A Astra is nigh on bulletproof.

The 1.4 non-T is the cheapest one to insure. Don't think OP really needs the T.