Cheapest new cars in previous decades

[ging84]

Just wondering how the cheapest car today which is the Dacia Sandero £6k compares with previous decades

i don't really remember seeing any new cars being sold for less than about £5.5k in the last 10 years, was there anything cheaper?

given that part of that rise is due to a VAT rate increase and they have had to make a lot of safety improvement, it seems they have done ok to keep cheap cars well under the rate of inflation going up just 10% in 10 years

I know it's not really worth considering anything before the 80s because inflation was stupidly high
but i was wondering how much a cheap new car was in say the mid 80s or mid 90s

The cheapest cars i can think of from the 80s/90s would be something like the SEAT Marbella / Fiat panda but i'm not sure how much they were new

[ImpossiblyDaft]

I seem to remember the cheapest thing in the mid-'90s being the Lada Riva, which a bit of googling took me to a site of dubious quality claiming it cost £5038 new in '96 which with inflation would be £8009 today.

Have that, all those who complain about the cost of cars these days every time something new comes out!

[MJK 24]

Mk1 Ford Ka was widely available at £4,995 at run out. A friend bought one for that price and still has it.

Citroen C1 was available for £5,200 from a large dealer group last year.

[radiodanno]

Those Maestros that came back from Europe in 2000 were sold at Ledbury for £4995.

[Baryonyx]

Not the cheapest, but I remember the Fiesta Zetec S being £9995 (or was it £10,995) or so when it arrived in the dealers. Seems insanely cheap compared to what the Fiesta ST would cost now!

[Triumph Man]

The Perodua Nippa was at one stage Britain's cheapest new car. I know this because my dad had one once as a courtesy car with this emblazoned down the side...

[rix]

Triumph Man said:

The Perodua Nippa was at one stage Britain's cheapest new car. I know this because my dad had one once as a courtesy car with this emblazoned down the side...

Beat me to it, it was definitely sub 5k

Edited by rix on Saturday 5th October 09:17

[TwigtheWonderkid]

In 2002, when the new Micra was launched, the base model old one, 1.0DX, was selling for £4995. That was a real bargain.

I recall in the mid 70s an uncle bought a new Skoda 105 Estelle for £899.

[Randy Winkman]

I was offered a new Fiat Panda for £2400 (a good bit less than list price) in 1986. Wish I'd bought in instead of the rubbish 2nd hand Talbot I got.

[ch108]

The Skoda Estelle was pretty cheap at one time probably a rival for the Lada. Think they even had an entry level 1000cc model at one time too.

[GC8]

The old style Suzuki Swift was available for several years at an RRP of £4,995. Long after its original contemporaries had been replaced twice with new models. I believe that ti was built in Hungrary.

[Triumph Man]

rix said:

Triumph Man said:

The Perodua Nippa was at one stage Britain's cheapest new car. I know this because my dad had one once as a courtesy car with this emblazoned down the side...

Beat me to it, it was definitely sub 5k

Edited by rix on Saturday 5th October 09:17

I reckon Perodua bailed a bit prematurely on the UK, what with Dacia moving in on their old USP. I think that if they brought back a modern day Nippa, they would now do ok.

Of course, I say this under the belief that they have bailed, I could be wrong!

[anonymous-user]

MJK 24 said:

Mk1 Ford Ka was widely available at £4,995 at run out. A friend bought one for that price and still has it.

Citroen C1 was available for £5,200 from a large dealer group last year.

That's a sound investment that Ka! Peanuts when you divide the purchase cost over the years they've had it (16 years or so?) I guess it'll be rusting quite badly now though?

[kieranblenk]

About five years ago we had a Hyundai Amica courtesy car which IIRC was only £4,995 at the time.

[MJK 24]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think it's a 58 reg so only 5 years old but he plans to keep it another 3 years.

[muckymotor]

My dad bought a Beetle in 1973 for just under £900.