Cheapest car to run for under £4 k ?

[gobbleplease]

Im looking for a cheap car to run for me and the mrs, ive got a 4k budget but ideally want to spend 3k,
It must have 5 doors cheap to run, tax and insure. I have a few cars in mind although ive never actually run any of them before , so any more suggestions or ownership experiances would be greatly appreciated

My short list so far is
- 1.2 clio
- 1.3 suzuki swift
- 1.2 pug 207
- mk4 golf diesel
-1.0 toyota yaris or aygo

[skard]

Shame, I just put my 3dr 206 HDi in the for sale section. One of the cheapest cars to run on the road - £30 tax and 65MPG.

[Andy]

the yaris is a good cheap car to run

[Phil Miller]

having worked on most cars on your list id say its between the clio and mk4 golf TDI, my brother had a 206 1.4 HDI and that was £35 a yr to tax and he was getting 65 mpg on the drive from crewe to devon doing 85 the whole way

[QD MBE]

Clio FTW!

[Edition30]

Going to have to be a Diesel. A little 1.3 engine must be cheap to tax and insure and be economical.


I have a 1.2 Corsa and dont think they're economical at all.

[Hedge]

Fabia diesel.

[gobbleplease]

Personally id like the mk4, but i think the mrs isnt to fussed on it as its older

Ive had one of the older shaped clios and i really liked it, once i sorted numerous niggling electrical gremlins

Id deffo considder the 207 1.2 and 1.4 diesel if i could get the diesel in my budget that would be top of my list
Im also liking the sound of the yaris 55 mpg average and £30 a year road tax.

[edd666999]

Colt? i had one, good cars.

[Andy]

my brothers mk4 tdi has 120,000 miles on and it has been reliable

[gobbleplease]

Fabia diesel.

Tbh thats what i originally wanted to get or the mk4 golf but the mrs said NO ! Feckin badge snobbery
Which is a shame cos my mate has one and its a blinding car quite nippy too its got 70 k on the clock and apart from being washed 3 times from new having 4 services and discs and pads he hasnt spent a penny on it !

[Phil Miller]

Personally id like the mk4, but i think the mrs isnt to fussed on it as its older

Ive had one of the older shaped clios and i really liked it, once i sorted numerous niggling electrical gremlins

Id deffo considder the 207 1.2 and 1.4 diesel if i could get the diesel in my budget that would be top of my list
Im also liking the sound of the yaris 55 mpg average and £30 a year road tax.

my brothers 206 he had from new iirc it was a 53 plate 60k full history he traded it 12 months ago for £1500

[skard]

Personally id like the mk4, but i think the mrs isnt to fussed on it as its older

Ive had one of the older shaped clios and i really liked it, once i sorted numerous niggling electrical gremlins

Id deffo considder the 207 1.2 and 1.4 diesel if i could get the diesel in my budget that would be top of my list
Im also liking the sound of the yaris 55 mpg average and £30 a year road tax.

my brothers 206 he had from new iirc it was a 53 plate 60k full history he traded it 12 months ago for £1500

The 1.4 HDi engine in a 206 is used in many different cars - C1, C2, Aygo, Fiesta, Demio, 107 etc - so these should all be £30 tax.

Phil - I've pretty much been offered that on trade for a similar spec to what your brothers was.

[ub7rm]

I've heard good things about the Yaris, not exactly the most exciting car out there but good spec for the money and they run like a clock.  Ticks all the boxes I'd say.

One thing to think about - what sort of mileage / journeys will it be doing?

Reason I ask is that a few months ago we lived in the city and had short commutes and the wife's 1.2 was great fuel wise for nipping about.  The GTI was pretty bad.  We've now moved out to the sticks and we both have a 30 mile commute and its almost the other way round.  Small engines are no use IMO for covering big mileage as you have to hash them everywhere to make progress whereas the bigger engine in the golf is barely ticking over on the same journey.  I get high 30's mpg and the wife gets around 42 mpg - considering the difference in weight of the two cars and the power available in the golf it really surprised me how close they are. 

[Hurdy]

Peugeot 106 diesel - cheap as chips and do astronaut mpg.