What small car is really cheap to insure and can be bought on £500?

Sarsie

I have a budget of £500 to buy a small car. This is a fek of a lot lower than I thought I'd have but such is life, £500 it is.

I don't have cars if I can help it (biker through and through) but health/circumstances dictate I am gonna need a car for a while. So on goes the big-girl panties, a sale has been agreed on my bike, and I'm looking at a £500 car budget.

Because I only have a car intermittantly insurance is higher than for a normal consecutive year on year driver. The insurance is a bigger priority than the car itself frankly.

Last car I had was a 1.4L P-reg Fiesta which came in stunningly cheap, I had been running quotes for things with even smaller engines (I don't care how small the engine is- just the insurance costs) like tiny Corsas and Metro's and Seats and stuff with 1.2L and under engine capacities. So I was suprised to find the Fiesta came out at 2/3 the cost of the tiny little cars.

What I want to know is can anyone tell me what small cars are very very cheap to insure and can often be purchased at under £500 so I can cut down the time I waste looking at things that I can't afford to insure?

Have we got any call centre workers here who do this all day long and therefore know what's stunningly cheap to insure?

Is there a list anywhere of cars by insurance group so I can read the lowest ones?

Do you just happen to know of one (like my old 5 door petrol 1.4L P-reg Fiesta was)?

The only requirements I have is that it must have back doors (so a 4 or 5 door) and it must be the size of a VW Golf or smaller to get it on my driveway.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Kilty_2

TBH anything that age will be cheap to insure because of it's value. £500 isn't a lot of money to play with so you'll need to take what you can get tbh.

Length of MOT is what you worry about in this price range . Obviously keep the engine size sensible and the insurance will fall into place.

ArsenalFC

I paid £600 18 months ago for a 5door 1998 fiesta ghia 1.25 with 71k mileage. Nothing has gone wrong and I have spent nothing on repairs or replacement, although the rear brakes needs looking at now. Japanese cars are the best for reliability, why not look for another fiesta.

https://www.parkers.co.uk or https://www.whatcar.com has insurance groups and reviews on cars.

Hammyman

For £500? A ratty old shed. Any Fiesta for £500 is going to be borderline unroadworthy or riddled with rust. I've tried to do the "buy a car for £500" recently for my brother. The only reason we found one was because a trader mate of mine was selling one on but it had issues needing fixing.

£1000 buys you what £500 probably did the last time you bought a car.

jd82

Insurance can be expensive on older cars, insurance isn't anything to with value really. I have a brand new FIAT Panda which cost me £6500, my old car was worth £300 (A fiesta) and that cost more to insure than the Panda did.

£500 won't buy you much at all but if you choose something unfashionable you might find something. You won't get a decent Corsa/Fiesta for £500. These cars spent most their lives in the city, so they may 'only' have 70k on them but they are likely to be was worn as a 250k Mondeo which spent all its life on the motorway.

Aspiring_Writer

Hammyman wrote: »

For £500? A ratty old shed. Any Fiesta for £500 is going to be borderline unroadworthy or riddled with rust. I've tried to do the "buy a car for £500" recently for my brother. The only reason we found one was because a trader mate of mine was selling one on but it had issues needing fixing.

£1000 buys you what £500 probably did the last time you bought a car.

Yes, I agree, you are going to have to be careful. You can find cars for this sort of money, I know I have done it, but you need to look at service history, condition, MOT's (current and previous) and the area it is in.

Ebay, Autotrader, your local rag and referrals from people at work etc selling cars are where you need to look. Apologies if you already know this OP, but be careful. There are bargains to be had, but the Scrappage Scheme removed a lot of cars from the road, and kept second hand prices firm, it will be interesting to see where they go from here.

Good Luck!

Sarsie

Thanks everyone for the advice and for the note of caution. I know £500 isn't really good enough but such is life, gotta make the best of it eh. One day I'll be healthy again and I'll have a good job again and I'll ride and drive what I like again (within reason)... till then I still need a car and I got £500, so I'm reading everything MSE'ers are kind enough to write and taking my most mechanically minded mate with me to view stuff, hoping for a stroke of luck, or at least a better education!

almillar

Just by a Nissan Micra 1.0L. Extremely reliable and actually good fun to drive too. You'll get a better one than Fiesta at most prices too. Never buy a car without getting an insurance quote for it first!

delain

Again with the micra.

My mum's got my old one, it's never missed a beat. Also she reversed it into a wheelchair ramp and put the handrail through the back windscreen and was able to get a replacement windscreen fitted for £80 by a garage which didn't affect her insurance at all.

Great little cars. If I didn't need to fit 3 (soon to be 4) car seats and a buggy in it I'd have it back in a heartbeat!

It cost her £200.