What's Britain's cheapest car?

08 June 2006

  • Real Cost calculates three-year running costs
  • Toyota Aygo works out to be cheapest car
  • BMW 3 Series cheaper than Ford Mondeo

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What Car? today launches Real Cost – an estimated total cost of ownership over a three-year (or 36,000-mile) period, including depreciation, fuel, servicing and insurance.

You'll find the Real Cost price on each of our Running Costs, Equipment and Performance and Measurement pages in a car review, and when you compare cars in our car comparison.

To help you get started we've looked at the cheapest and most expensive cars from the most popular classes of cars.

If you want a new motor on the tightest budget, go for the Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVT 3dr. With a What Car? Real Cost of £6225, our figures suggest it's the cheapest car you can get over a three-year ownership period.

That goes to show that the lowest list price doesn't necessarily make for the cheapest car in the long run. Sometimes spending more can actually cost you less. The Toyota's list price is £6730, while a Kia Picanto 1.0 S costs just £5895. Higher resale values, cheaper insurance and lower fuel bills tip the balance in the Toyota's favour.

Real Cost also shows the value of a prestige badge, too. A Ford Mondeo 2.0i 16v Titanium 5dr has a list price of £18,495. That's £1500 less than a BMW 318i 4dr, but take likely discounts into account and you'll be more than £3000 better off when you walk out of the showroom with Ford keys in your hand.

It will be a different story when you sell the cars on, however. Largely thanks to the BMW's superior resale values, its Real Cost is £78 less than the Ford's.

Not all prestige cars look such good value, though. Run a Maybach 62 luxury car for three years and you'll be an incredible £155,430 out of pocket.

Real Cost Winners
Supermini Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVTi 3dr List Price £6710 Real Cost £6225
Small Family Cars Renault Megane 1.5 dCi 5dr List Price £12,250 Real Cost £8484
Compact Execs Audi A4 2.0 TDI List Price£22,055 Real Cost £12,788
MPVs VW Touran 1.9 TDI (104 S) List Price£16,280 Real Cost £10,380
Luxury Cars Rolls-Royce Phantom List Price£216,950 Real Cost £12,841

Real Cost Losers
Supermini Fortwo Pure List Price £7130 Real Cost £8093
Small Family Cars Proton GEN-2 1.6 GSX List Price £10,595 Real Cost £12,252
Compact Execs Saab 9-3 TiD 120 Vector Sport List Price£22,145 Real Cost £14,236
MPVs Fiat Multipla 1.9 JTD 115 Dynamic PlusList Price£16,245 Real Cost £11,781
Luxury Cars Maybach 62 List Price£216,950 Real Cost £155,429