The cheapest new cars on sale today

While you weren’t looking, even the smallest cars have crept above the £13,000 mark, with some familiar names now costing nearly £20,000. It speaks volumes that the Vauxhall Corsa and soon-to-be-axed Ford Fiesta are notable absentees from our list of the cheapest new cars in 2023.

List prices are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Today’s buyers are more interested in the monthly repayments than the recommended retail price. Here, we’ve rounded up the 20 cheapest new cars in Britain, including the Citroën Ami quadricycle. The photos aren’t necessarily reflective of the cheapest model in the range.

The VW Polo is a spacious, well-equipped supermini that offers lots of ‘big car’ features. In many ways, it’s like owning a more compact VW Golf, with a similar balance of comfort and handling agility. It just sneaks above the £20,000 mark, but you’ll need to spend extra if you want some of the most desirable options, some of which are standard on rival superminis.

At the end of 2022, VW announced that the Polo faces an uncertain future, amid fears that engineering it to meet Euro 7 emission regulations could add as much as €5000 to the cost of the car. VW CEO Thomas Schäfer said: “It makes no sense to go with very small cars beyond EU7.”

We praised the Hyundai i20 for its roomy cabin, large boot, standard equipment and fuel economy. Its five-year unlimited mileage warranty helps it to stand out in the fiercely competitive supermini segment and gives you a reason to choose it over, say, the VW Polo and Ford Fiesta.

The entry-level SE Connect model costs from £19,725 and boasts the likes of 16in alloy wheels, manual air conditioning, cruise control, rear parking sensors with rear-view camera, 8in touchscreen media display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

With prices ranging from £18,600 to £23,628 the Skoda remains one of the best value small cars you can buy. It’s not quite a supermini for a city car price, but it’s very close. Unfortunately, the hugely practical Skoda Fabia Estate is no longer available, so the most affordable Skoda wagon is the £25,520 Octavia SE.

The entry-level Fabia SE Comfort is a little short of flair, but you do get a 6.5in touchscreen display, DAB radio, Bluetooth, 15in alloy wheels, LED headlights, central locking, rear parking sensors and manual air conditioning. We’d recommend spending an extra £500 to upgrade from the non-turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol engine to the 1.0 TSI.

There aren’t many affordable compact SUVs available in 2023, which makes the price of the entry-level MG ZS look like a bargain, especially when you consider the car’s seven-year/80,000-mile warranty. If value and affordability are your priorities, the ZS is certainly worthy of consideration.

The ZS Excite features a 10.1in colour touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and rear parking sensors. Power is sourced from a dated 1.5-litre petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, so you might want to consider upgrading to the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine which comes with a standard six-speed automatic transmission. Despite the £2500 premium, it’s the drivetrain we’d recommend.

Meet the UK’s most affordable seven-seater. Even if you don’t need the removable third-row seats, the Dacia Jogger does more than a passable impression of an estate car, filling the void left by the departed Logan MCV. Indeed, if you can’t decide whether you want an MPV, SUV or wagon, the Jogger is the perfect car for you.

In Essential trim, the Jogger has no infotainment system, but it does have stereo speakers through which your smartphone can play music or digital radio. It also comes with manual air conditioning, cruise control and automatic headlights. The flagship Extreme SE has heated seats, which feels very plush for a Dacia.

With the new Fiat 500 venturing down electric strada, the old version remains on sale with a mild-hybrid powertrain. It’s a sensible move, because the chic 500 remains in fashion, long after most city cars have been sent to the charity shop for ‘recycling’. If you’re not ready to make the switch to electric, the standard 500 makes a lot of sense.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘Hybrid’ badge on the back, because you can’t plug it in or travel on electric power alone. Instead, the 500 features a 12-volt belt-integrated starter generator and a separate 11Ah lithium battery to improve economy and to deliver a small boost in performance. The £16,790 entry-level 500 has manual air conditioning, 15in alloy wheels, sunroof, cruise control, 7in infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

It might be a city car, but you’d be forgiven for calling the Suzuki Ignis a small SUV. All versions feature flared wheel arches, while the raised suspension and optional Allgrip four-wheel drive system enable the Ignis to venture further off-road than many city cars dare to tread.

Our Steve Cropley is a fan, labelling the Ignis “the ultimate everyday hero”. Having spent three months with one, he said: “It’s one of those cars you grab with ease, even fall into, because it fits any driver, passenger or parking space and happily attacks any chore.”

We can’t talk about the Kia Rio without mentioning the seven-year warranty. It gives the Rio a meaningful USP in the crowded supermini segment; buy one today and it’ll be under warranty in 2030. While you might have grown out of the Rio by then, it’s good to know that the cover can be transferred to the next owner.

The £17,520 price is Kia’s way of dragging punters into a showroom, but we’d encourage you to upgrade to the Rio ‘2’. For an extra £1000, you get 15in alloy wheels, 8in touchscreen display, rear parking sensors, cruise control and lane follow assist. More importantly, the Rio ‘2’ is powered by a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, rather than the wheezy 1.2-litre unit.

The Suzuki Swift has long been one of our favourite superminis. It offers the practicality, performance and efficiency to rival many of its more expensive rivals. This is especially true following the introduction of mild-hybrid technology in 2020.

The entry-level Swift SZ-L comes with adaptive cruise control, 7in touchscreen with DAB radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, air conditioning, rear-view camera, leather steering wheel, 16in alloy wheels and radar braking support. The mid-range SZ-T costs £18,639, while the SZ5 is priced at £20,102.

You’ll notice that the Peugeot 108 and Citroën C1 are absent from this list, with the French carmakers selling their stake in the factory in the Czech Republic where its city cars were built alongside the old Toyota Aygo. There isn’t much money in building small cars, you see, which is why the 108 and C1 have bitten the dust.

Toyota thinks there’s a future in city cars, which is where the Aygo X comes in. It’s bigger, taller, more muscular and, yes, more expensive than the old Aygo, but it feels like you’re getting more for your money. Which is handy, because it’s expensive compared with rivals, although they’re few and far between.

The Dacia Duster continues to make a mockery of rival vehicle price tags. It’s a family SUV for the price of a city car? What’s not to like about that? Sensibly, the basic Access model has been axed, so although the entry-level Essential trim looks more expensive on paper, you do get some of the, well, essentials as standard.

Crucially, it doesn’t feel cheap. Sure, it can’t offer the soft-touch materials and fancy technology of its rivals, but it’s hard to ignore the range of equipment and phenomenal value for money. Space for five people and a boot large enough to swallow the luggage for a family holiday – that’ll be the Duster.

Remember when the Hyundai i10 cost £4995 after the scrappage discount? The company sold 39,000 cars by the end of 2009, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme. The i10 is no longer the bargain basement city car it was a decade ago. Indeed, the price has crept up to over £15,000.

There’s a good reason for that. Today’s i10 is a far superior city car; it’s arguably the best all-rounder in its class. It looks and feels more upmarket, is available with an excellent 1.2-litre petrol engine, and is backed by a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty.

The Fiat Panda is the best-selling car in Italy. In 2022, it outsold its rivals again, which might come as a surprise to anyone outside Italy. That, and the fact that the Lancia Ypsilon was the second best-selling car of 2022.

Today’s line-up is looking increasingly like the Fiat Panda wandered into a fancy dress shop and emerged wearing different clothes. Take your pick from Life, Cross, Red and Garmin, all of which are powered by a 1.0-litre mild hybrid petrol engine.

Although you could argue that the Stepway is just a version of the standard Sandero, as Dacia’s best-selling model in the UK, it warrants its own berth on our list. Raising the suspension and adding rugged SUV styling was a canny move. How could it fail?

The current Sandero Stepway is better than ever, with more upmarket styling, an improved interior and upgraded tech. There are three trim levels: Essential, Expression and Journey. Even the most lavishly equipped model comes in at less than £19,000.

The Volkswagen Up is one of the most versatile city cars you can buy. In addition to the standard three- and five-door versions, you can buy an all-electric e-Up and a sporty Up GTI. We said: “The Volkswagen Up city car isn’t revolutionary, it’s just quantifiably better than the opposition.”

Prices start from £14,630 for the three-door Up, with the more practical five-door Up costing £410 more. It’s worth the upgrade, especially if you carry rear-seat passengers, because climbing into the back can be a real pain. 

If you’re after a supermini for the cheapest price, the fact that you can paint the Citroën C3 in 97 colour combinations will be of no interest to you. Of greater interest is the entry-level You! trim, available for just £13,995, before you start haggling for a bigger discount.

It might lack the Airbump side panels and alloy wheels fitted to the higher trim levels, but you do get front fog lights, DAB radio, LED headlights, lane departure warning and, well, not a lot else. Still, it’s cheap. The C-Series Edition costs an extra £3000 and could be worth the expense if you’re going to spend a lot of time in the car.

With the entry-level Explore axed from the range, the MG 3 looks more expensive than ever. Don’t be too hasty to dismiss the MG 3, because this simply means that the new base model comes with a longer list of standard equipment. Even the range-topping MG 3 Exclusive Nav comes in at £15,111 – some £4000 less than the Ford Fiesta.

Comparisons with the Fiesta are inevitable, not least because the MG 3 is almost as engaging to drive. Only the ageing 1.5-litre petrol engine lets it down. In the context of 1.0-litre turbocharged units, the engine in the 3 feels as old as the dinosaurs. That said, with a seven-year warranty and a revamped interior, it’s worth adding the MG 3 to your shortlist.

The Kia Picanto you get for £13,150 doesn’t look anything like as glitzy and snazzy as the car in the photo. It does, however, come with five doors, four wheels and a seven-year warranty. Basic motoring for a basic price.

All versions except the GT-Line and GT-Line S come with the same 1.0-litre DPi petrol engine producing 66bhp. It’s a shame, because the 1.0-litre T-GDi turns the Picanto into a rival for the VW Up GTI, with more aggressive styling and a long list of equipment. Yes, we did use the word ‘snazzy’ to describe the Picanto.

In our review of the Dacia Sandero, we said: “It’s night-and-day improvement over the previous car”. It really is that good, to the point that it edges closer to some cars costing considerably more than its price tag, even if we mourn the passing of the £7995 entry-level model.

The demise of the Access trim means that the mid-range Essential is now the entry-level Sandero. Many people will choose to spend an extra £1000 for the Expression model, which adds an 8in infotainment system, rear parking sensors, keyless entry and automatic lights and wipers to the mix. The Sandero remains the UK’s cheapest car, but you can get on the road for a cheaper price…

It’s all thanks to the Citroën Ami. Okay, it’s a quadricycle, which limits both its appeal and usefulness, but if you’re after something cheap and you rarely venture beyond the suburbs, it’s worthy of consideration. With a fully charged battery, the Ami offers a range of 46 miles, and you don’t have to worry about speed limits – the top speed is just 28mph. But you may have to wrry about drivers behind you whenever you get to a place where the limit is more than 30mph...

In conclusion, we said: “If it’s for strictly slow-urban use, gets you off a scooter, or your business would benefit in terms of branding, by all means take a look. But beyond a very specific criteria, it’s incredibly difficult to recommend.”