Car Hunter: cars under £200 a month that'll be peanuts to insure
Our Car Hunter has a budget for £200 per month and is looking for a car that’s cheap to insure
Dear Auto Express, my son is to lease a new car and still can’t find anything he likes. We’ve set a budget of £200 per month and he doesn’t mind what type of car it is, or if it’s a manual or automatic, but being 18 years old he doesn’t want something that will cost a fortune to insure. Can you think of anything that might fit the bill?
Thanks for your help, kind regards,
Phil, Oxfordshire
Nissan Juke
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- Insurance group 13
- Price: £175 per month
The Nissan Juke is a great starting point for a first-time new-car lease, because it should tick all the right boxes for an 18-year-old with a newly minted driving licence who is concerned about budget and image.
This stand-out offer we found through the Auto Express Buy A Car service for the Juke in entry-level Acenta Premium trim costs a little less than £175 per month and only requires an initial payment of £1,354, leaving lots of breathing room for other essential running costs.
It’s a three-year lease, too, with an annual allowance of 5,000 miles included. If that’s not enough, you can increase the limit up to 10,000 miles and still keep the monthly payments at less than £200.
Crucially, the Juke sits in a relatively low insurance rating for a crossover, falling into group 13 (out of 50). While no car will be truly cheap to insure for an 18-year-old, this rating is significantly better than many rivals and should translate into more affordable premiums. Meanwhile, Nissan says the combination of a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and manual gearbox that’s in this particular model can return up to 48.7mpg, meaning fewer trips to the pump and, again, helping to lower the running costs.
Despite its age, the Juke still stands out from the crowd and it offers a decent amount of space, including a 422-litre boot. A 12.3-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity is also included.
SEAT Ibiza
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- Insurance group 15
- Price: £191 per month
The SEAT Ibiza is another excellent option for a first car to lease. The hugely popular supermini was updated last year and given a new look. There are plenty of deals available that are well within the budget, it’s good to drive yet frugal and attracts low insurance ratings.
This three-year deal we found is for the SEAT Ibiza in top-of-the-range FR Sport trim with a 114bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol and a manual gearbox. It requires an initial payment of £2,127, which we think is reasonable, and costs £191 per month thereafter. Also included is a 5,000-mile-per-year allowance.
A key factor for an 18-year-old is the running costs, and the Ibiza excels here. Falling into insurance group 15 (out of 50), it might not be the cheapest car ever to get coverage for, however it will be more affordable than many of the others being offered at this price point. That rating isn’t ridiculously high either, which will help to minimise the hefty insurance premiums faced by young drivers.
Meanwhile, SEAT claims its highly efficient 1.0-litre petrol engine can return up to 51.4mpg. It's tried-and-tested too, plus being part of the Volkswagen Group means routine servicing and maintenance should be straightforward and generally affordable.
Plenty of safety kit comes as standard, which is always reassuring, plus bucket seats, a 10.25-inch fully digital driver’s display and wireless smartphone connectivity.
Citroen e-C3 Aircross
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- Insurance group 15
- Price: £190 per month
Electric cars used to be so much more expensive to buy and insure than their petrol-powered counterparts, but that’s not the case with the Citroen e-C3 Aircross.
We found a deal for a top-of-the-range version of the comfy and spacious zero-emissions SUV for just over £190 per month – about £50 per month less than the cheapest deal around for any combustion model, which quickly adds up over a three-year lease.
Perhaps more importantly though, the EV falls into insurance group 15 – that’s the same rating as the most basic pure-petrol model and significantly lower than the hybrid version, which lands in group 24.
This Citroen e-C3 Aircross in Max trim also comes with the upgraded 54kWh battery that offers up to 248 miles of range, and on the right energy tariff should cost less than £5 to fully recharge. Plus, being electric means it has fewer moving parts and doesn’t have to be serviced as frequently.
The use of fabrics helps to break up the black plastic in the cabin, plus there’s ambient lighting and a head-up display-style instrument panel, so it doesn’t feel cheap or boring inside.
Admittedly, if you don’t already have a charging point installed at your house for your son to use, an EV might not be an ideal choice in this case.
More Citroen e-C3 Aircross lease deals
Ford Fiesta ST-Line
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- Used curveball
- Price: £8,000
We know you’re looking for something new, but if keeping insurance costs low is the priority then a used car may be a better option, because they’re generally cheaper to get cover for. Plus, over the course of the three-year lease deals we found you’re going to be spending around £8,000, and that amount of money gives you lots of choice on the second-hand market.
For instance, right now there’s a race-red Ford Fiesta in ST-Line trim with fewer than 22,000 miles on the clock available through the Auto Express Buy A Car service for £7,970.
Britain’s beloved and best-selling supermini is famed for being fun to drive, having a great selection of engines and being cheap to run. This particular example features a 99bhp 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine that can return up to 50.4mpg, and attracts an insurance rating of 10 – the lowest of the four cars featured here.
It might be from 2019, but this Fiesta still has many of the features a younger driver might want, including an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, lane-keep assist and keyless start. Being an ST-Line model means it also gets a body kit, sports-tuned suspension and sports seats up front.
Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.
