What is the cheapest car to insure in UK?

[Adelast]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some recommendation about purchasing a car.
While I drive and have a driver license since 17 years, I never had a car insurance in my name (always had it under a family member name) so from what I understand, I will be paying the insurance as a novice driver.

The thing is that since I moved in UK, I never had the need to own a car, I work from home, Tesco does a nice service delivery and such. However lately I started thinking about getting a car for short trips during the weekends, and other occasional uses. I am then in a position to decide what car to buy based on the merely cost of insurance and road tax. I understand that the insurance will also take in consideration where the car is parked, how many drivers will use the car etc, but I wanted to hear few suggestions regarding what are the cheapest car to insure and that have a low or none road tax. I don't like big cars, I am not a fan of speed I just need 4 wheels to visit places around with my Mrs, and hopefully soon our baby

I am not a car expert at all, but I was looking online for used cars from 2015 or newer that cost less than £5000, I'd like to don't go further than that as I can see that for £8000 you can get a basic new Sandero and since I really have no preference in terms of how the car looks, and since the use of it would be minimal, I rather spend £8000 for a brand new car than a used one, as for sure both of them would suits my needs.

Any input with this is appreciated!

Regards,

Ade

[FA57REN]

The cheapest car to insure is that which has the lowest actuarial risk for your cohort. Unfortunately that's not public information.

Generally however it means something atypical for your age and demographic. Try an Ecoboost Mondeo.

[Davie]

Stick a few options through some of the comparison websites bearing in mind, small and cheap doesn't always mean cheaper to insure. Plus I'm not sure if base buying X car on the insurance quote, for example you might be able to have something else and the insurance costs difference may be negligible. It's a bit like those who spend more to by Y car as it's got £30 tax but paid a premium to buy it in the first place over car Z. If look at an average year's total costs... probably more telling.

[ImMrRob]

I bought my lad a 207 millisent pug little turbo diesel 700 a year insurance he's 17 passed 20 quid tax he lives it has blue tooth. Looks alright low miles drives great 2p quid to the hmrc! Gotta love that

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Adelast said:

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some recommendation about purchasing a car.
While I drive and have a driver license since 17 years, I never had a car insurance in my name (always had it under a family member name) so from what I understand, I will be paying the insurance as a novice driver.


Ade

No, you won't be paying as a novice driver, if you've held a full licence for years. If you're 30 with a full licence for 13 years, that's the price you'll attract. But of course, you won't have any no claims discount. Depending on your age and postcode, you might find you can insure quite a high group car for not much money. Insurance in the UK is dirt cheap for mature drivers.

[andrebar]

Shopping around is the only way to know. As already mentioned the way your risk is priced isn’t public information so some surprisingly high (& low) numbers can crop up when the quotes come back.

Never having insured in your own name shouldn’t turn insurance costs into the sort of nightmare that the youngsters face btw.

[Adelast]

Thank you all for your replies!

[bearman68]

But insurance costs have gone up hugely in the last year or so, and base cost is probably 20% or more higher than it was.

[LightningBlue]

£8000 for a brand new car would be a very low bar but you should be able to get a very nice used car for that. If you want peace of mind look at Kia which have 7 year warranties from new. Toyota are another good bet.

[InitialDave]

You day "since you moved to the UK", do you have a UK licence? That could affect costs.

As others have posted, you'd be best to get quotes on different cars to see what you find, there can be a lot of variation.

For the time being, if you really are only needing a car for the occasional weekend trip etc, hiring one as and when required may suit you better.

[georgeyboy12345]

Cars are placed into an insurance group, from 1 to 40. The lower the insurance group, the cheaper the car will be to insure, all other things being equal.

Here are some cars in an insurance group below 10

Kia Rio 1.25 SR7 - group 3
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108316...


Hyundai i20 1.2 Active - group 5
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109277...


Skoda Fabia 1.2 12v SE - group 5
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103029...


Fiat Punto 1.2 8v Pop - group 6
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109047...


Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec - group 7
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107024...


Or if you need a little more space - Vauxhall Astra 1.4i - group 9
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109307...

[scorcher]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Cars are placed into an insurance group, from 1 to 40. The lower the insurance group, the cheaper the car will be to insure, all other things being equal.

Here are some cars in an insurance group below 10

Kia Rio 1.25 SR7 - group 3
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108316...


Hyundai i20 1.2 Active - group 5
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109277...


Skoda Fabia 1.2 12v SE - group 5
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103029...


Fiat Punto 1.2 8v Pop - group 6
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109047...


Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec - group 7
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107024...


Or if you need a little more space - Vauxhall Astra 1.4i - group 9
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109307...

Not necessarily. My Saab 2.0T Aero convertible worth 3x what my VW Bora 1.9 tdi was cheaper to insure despite being several groups higher. Even had a refund on my policy when I changed. All other details the same.
This year with 1 years ncb it’s £165 to insure.

[Adelast]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Cars are placed into an insurance group, from 1 to 40. The lower the insurance group, the cheaper the car will be to insure, all other things being equal.

Here are some cars in an insurance group below 10

Kia Rio 1.25 SR7 - group 3
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108316...


Hyundai i20 1.2 Active - group 5
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109277...


Skoda Fabia 1.2 12v SE - group 5
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103029...


Fiat Punto 1.2 8v Pop - group 6
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109047...


Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec - group 7
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107024...


Or if you need a little more space - Vauxhall Astra 1.4i - group 9
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109307...

Many many thanks! You went above an beyond, I really appreciate your help

[Adelast]

InitialDave said:

You day "since you moved to the UK", do you have a UK licence? That could affect costs.

As others have posted, you'd be best to get quotes on different cars to see what you find, there can be a lot of variation.

For the time being, if you really are only needing a car for the occasional weekend trip etc, hiring one as and when required may suit you better.

Yeah, I will perform a switch and get a full UK one, I saw that is a must for some insurance company. Luckily it's just a matter of filling a form and paying £43

[InitialDave]

Adelast said:

Yeah, I will perform a switch and get a full UK one, I saw that is a must for some insurance company. Luckily it's just a matter of filling a form and paying £43

I think you need to find out how this will affect insurance quotes, with how long you are considered to have held a licence for. I have no idea how things work on that front.

[fooman]

Parkers list of Group 1 cars we got a 1.1 Panda on basis it was one of the cheapest cars to insure.

[dhutch]

Pug 107/108, C1, Aygo?

[Truckosaurus]

georgeyboy12345 said:

...The lower the insurance group, the cheaper the car will be to insure, all other things being equal. ...

Of course one of the 'unequal' factors is that the lower grouped cars are the type of vehicle run by higher risk drivers eg. youngsters, the elderly, the poor etc.

[croyde]

Insurance is odd.

My BMW owned at the time for 20 years was £200 to insure. Worth around £2k

My brand new Mustang GT worth £35k was £300 to insure. Almost 3 times as powerful and over 15x the value of the BMW.

Ok I do have full NCB.

My ex wife who'd been on my insurance for donkeys tried to insure an old Fiat Punto and they wanted £1500.

We were in our 50s at the time, both driving since 18 years old.

[andrebar]

InitialDave said:

I think you need to find out how this will affect insurance quotes, with how long you are considered to have held a licence for. I have no idea how things work on that front.

I don’t know exactly how this works either, but my quotes dropped noticeably after swapping an EU licence back to a UK one. Perhaps because it allowed more companies to quote.
An educated guess says it took only 2-3 years of UK resident driving history before I stopped being penalised for having lived overseas, but only the first year was really harsh.