What are the Cheapest Cars to Insure for Young Drivers?

Car insurance is, famously, an unavoidable pain in the rear bumper. If you’re a young driver you want to be off exploring with your friends and celebrating the fact that you’ll never have to wait for the bus in the rain ever again, not looking through paperwork and trying to work out if black boxes are as menacing as they sound.

To help you cut through some of the pain, we’ve selected five different cars that are cheap to insure and perfect for new drivers.

Take a look to see which you like best, and remember that they’re all better than trying to borrow your mum’s car without her noticing. 😉

Austin Mini

Groovy, baby! Austin Minis are distinctive and have their own classic charm. Sure, we might prefer Ferraris for their glamour and style, but if you want to get around and remind your parents of their first cars, the Austin Mini is perfect.

As you would expect from the name, it’s not a big car, so you won’t be able to take all of your friends out. It’s also not very fast and has a top speed of 75mph, which is fine because the speed limit on the motorway is 70mph. Remember, from your driving test?

The best part of this car is the cost. It gets 40 mpg and the quote we found for insurance is £344.20 per year for young drivers.

Classic and affordable? Pretty good, if you ask me. We even found secondhand Austin Minis for sale at around £7000.

Rover Mini

This is our second and final mini. We do love them, and they’re great for young drivers who don’t have big families to chauffeur around.

It does have limited room, but that means that it’s easier to park and you’re less likely to be asked to do lifts. 😆

The Rover Mini is a little faster than the Austin Mini and can reach 90 mph, but we’d advise you not to test that out because you don’t want points on your shiny new driver's licence.

It has a similar running cost to the Austin, and the average annual premium is £446.43 for young drivers.

We found secondhand Rover Minis for sale at around £6700. That cost can be even more affordable when you qualify for Carmoola's flexible payment plans. 

Citroen C1

A car from the 21st century! The Citroen C1 was first made in 2005, and production ceased in 2022. Through that time the car has had facelifts (seriously), two generations and various editions.

There are some differences, but as a general rule, this model is a five-door, five-seat vehicle with top speeds of about 100 mph. You can also get three-door options if you prefer.

The average annual premium for Citroen C1s is £506 for young drivers, dropping to £294 after you turn 20.

We found secondhand Citroen C1s for sale at around £5000, with significant variation.

Fiat 500 Pop

Back to petite cars with three doors, the Fiat 500 Pop is cute, small and easy to park. It’s perfect for anyone who lives in a drivable city and can go further if needed. But it might not survive a bumpy track in a snowstorm. 

The Fiat 500 Pop has City Steering, which makes controlling and fitting it into dainty parking spaces easy. It also gets decent mileage to the gallon, which is always nice.

The average annual premium for Fiat 500 Pops is £509 for young drivers, dropping to £319 after you turn 20.

We found secondhand Fiat 500 Pops for sale at around £4000. Get an estimate of the cost when you finance it with Carmoola using our Calculator feature!

Volkswagen Up!

Don’t worry, this car isn’t propelled by balloons and won’t open with an eight-minute clip that will reduce anyone to tears. That’s a different sort of Up!

The Volkswagen Up! is a great city car that’s roomier than our other options. Great if you like to keep junk in your car, or want to drive off to festivals with a boot full of tents, sleeping bags and body glitter.

It gets fairly affordable mileage per gallon of petrol and some models have a detachable infotainment system.

The average annual premium for Volkswagen Up! is £636 for young drivers. We found secondhand Volkswagen Ups! for sale at around £8000.

Takeaway

Getting your first car as a young driver is an exciting time! Be sure to get the right insurance coverage for you. You can read more about the different types of car insurance, so you'll know which one fits your needs best. 😀👍