The 12 best cars for £10 per day
We name ourpcppicks in a dozen classes that’ll setyou back a tenner or less daily
WHAT can you get for a tenner these days? Well, if you’re prepared to use this as your daily budget – the amount some people spend on their lunch – then you will be able to afford the monthly payments on the best new cars in the business.
Welcome to our list of the finest vehicles you can buy for less than £10 a day. We’ve rounded up the best Personal Contract Purchase finance deals across models from all areas of the market, selecting 12 interesting and talented vehicles depending on your needs, to prove that price needn’t be a barrier.
In most cases, we’ve based these manufacturer offers on a sensible deposit and a three-year contract limited to 10,000 miles per year.
We calculated the monthly cost, multiplying it by 12 to get the annual outlay and then dividing this by 365 to show you just what can be yours for less than £10 per day. And the results are remarkable.
THIS deal is actually closer to £5 a day, which is incredible value for the best city car currently on sale, the Skoda Citigo, in high-spec SE L trim. Put down n an affordable £1,100 deposit and the maker ker will add £1,500 to the equation up front. ront This works out at just £5.34 per day.
For this minimal outlay you get a 59bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine. It’s not fast (0-62mph takes 14.4 seconds), but it delivers where you want it to around town, with decent response and torque to help you deal with urban driving. However, it’s not out of place on the motorway, either, because the Citigo will happily cruise along with traffic in relative refinement for such a small car.
SE L spec features all the kit you’d want in a city car, too; parking sensors, heated seats, air-conditioning, Bluetooth and 15-inch alloys are all standard.
Skoda has realised that most buyers in this market have a smartphone and would prefer to save a bit of cash and use the tech in their mobile device for infotainment. It works well here and gives you real flexibility, something that characterises the Citigo.
For a cheap hatch, it deals with scars on city roads well and is nicely settled at higher speeds. There’s a surprising level of space and practicality in five-door form, too. Rear legroom is good and although it’s not a full five-seater, the Skoda will easily accommodate two adults in the back for short to medium journeys.
That it’ll cost you less than a sandwich every day makes it an attractive deal.
WHILE our deals so far have all been based roughly on a 15 per cent deposit, with just a 10 per cent down payment of £2,100 on SEAT’S 1.0 TSI 115 Ecomotive Ateca in SE trim, im, you could land one of the best mid-size ize SUVS on the market for just £8.44 a day. day
It’s the choice for keen drivers, with th the car’s MQB platform and sportier set-up (even on Comfort suspension) delivering sharp handling, because the Ateca remains resolutely flat in corners for an SUV. The steering is precise and while body control is good, it does mean ride comfort suffers a little.
However, it’s not something you’ll find difficult to put up with, especially given the level of flexibility on offer. The roomy cabin and 510-litre boot mean the Ateca will literally swallow anything an active family throws at it.
SE spec gets a great level of kit, given you’ll easily be spending less than the cost of a few drinks every day. SEAT’S Media System Plus is standard; this features an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto.
There’s also the usual DAB, Bluetooth, cruise and climate control, plus safety is a real strength, thanks to standard autonomous braking with pedestrian detection and a host of airbags.
You can add extras, such as LED headlights and heated seats, and while these will inevitably hike the daily price, there’s headroom here to still spec a car to your tastes that comes in under the magic £10-per-day marker.
HYUNDAI’S Ioniq is the most affordable family plug-in hybrid on the market; so much so that we’re running one on the Auto Express fleet. t.
Unlike rivals such as the Toyota Prius us Plug-in, passenger and boot space aren’t en t affected, because the Hyundai is a full five-seater with a 341-litre luggage bay. y.
Any PHEV has to deliver decent efficiency and here the Hyundai excels. A claimed 256.8mpg and CO2 emissions of 26g/km mean it’ll be a cheap choice to run, especially for business users. While we wouldn’t expect to match such economy on the road, we did return an impressive 71.1mpg on our first road test.
Those low running costs extend to Hyundai’s PCP deals. On a contract limited to 6,000 miles per year you’ll pay just £9.85 per day with a £5,000/20 per cent deposit. In Premium spec the Ioniq PHEV gets an eight-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth, sat-nav, Apple Carplay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging and heated seats – everything you’d want from your car, basically.
As with Nissan’s Leaf, you can recharge the battery in up to six hours using a home supply or just two hours 15 minutes with a faster wallbox. Either way, you get a 39-mile claimed electric-only range.
Of course, the Ioniq’s 1.6-litre petrol engine evaporates any range anxiety you might have, meaning you can cruise in relative comfort for miles if you’re not making a local zero-emissions journey.