Every year, hundreds of thousands of new drivers set out to buy their first car, faced with the challenge of balancing affordability with reliability. With the cost of living rising, choosing a car that is cheap to insure, run, and maintain is essential.
ChooseMyCar.com, the UK’s leading car marketplace, has identified six cars which best suit new drivers. The prices of the cars below range from £1,000 to £6,000 second-hand.
- Hyundai i10
- Volkswagen Polo
- Skoda Fabia
- Kia Picanto
- Fiat 500
- Renault Clio
ChooseMyCar.com has compiled this list using criteria tailored primarily to new drivers. The cars selected offer strong safety features, affordable insurance, and repair costs, as well as easy access to spare parts.
Safety is an essential factor when buying a car, especially for the younger generation who are new to driving. The cars on the list are all well-rated on the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), which refers to the organisation that assesses cars in terms of crash protection and crash avoidance technology; this is rated out of five.
In the second hand market, the 2009 and onwards models of the Volkswagen Polo, Skoda Fabia, and Renault Clio lead with five-star Euro NCAP ratings. The 2007-2025 model Fiat 500 sits at a four, and the early models of Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto follow with a three. However, the latest generation from 2019 onwards offers tech prevention, such as automatic emergency braking – so if your budget allows for a more expensive car, this may be the better option.
Insurance is another major cost that first-time drivers face, with prices typically ranging from £1,000 to £2,000 plus per year for new drivers. But there are ways to reduce this, including implementing a black box policy, adding experienced drivers (such as parents) to your policy, and choosing a vehicle that falls into insurance group 1 to 10, which are the most affordable for young drivers. All the cars listed above fall within this range.
Fuel cost refers to the fuel efficiency of the car; most of the cars on the list have good fuel efficiency, of about 50 miles per gallon (MPG) or more. This is generally seen as economically efficient, meaning that fuel costs should be manageable on a smaller budget.
Repairs for some of the cars are easier than others, such as the Hyundai i10, which has a reputation for making small cars that are highly reliable with straightforward engineering and widely accessible parts, which helps keep services and repair costs low. This is also true of models such as the Kia Picanto, Volkswagen Polo, and Skoda Fabia. The Fiat 500 and Renault Clio parts can be trickier to come by, depending on the age of the car, but they still fall into the category of low-cost repairs.
Nick Zapolski, motoring expert and founder of ChooseMyCar.com, said that buying a car as a first time buyer can be an overwhelming process.
“Due to increasing costs in every corner of people’s lives, budget is extremely important when it comes to making a car-buying choice. This is especially true for new drivers, who may be young. Their budget may not allow them to buy the newest car, so finding a car that is second hand but still performs well in every area, such as safety, fuel economy, insurance and reliability can be a real challenge.
“With so many models, fuel types and features on the market, it’s hard to know what car is best for you, and your budget. To make this easier for first time buyers, we’ve compiled a list of cars that perform well across all these areas, making them suitable for new drivers.”
