Top 10 Best First Cars Under £3,000 

A lifetime working in insurance tells me getting your car Insured in a parents name and you as a named driver is a no-no. Its an easy fraud to spot and immediately invalidates your insurance so as well as probably smashing your car up and possibly having someone else's insurer chasing you for a recovery of their outlay you will probably get a conviction for driving whilst uninsured that costs you a fine and points on your license and even more costly insurance premiums. It also forces the parent to disown the child and claim they didn't know or they could face a conspiracy charge - a fine - and possible points. In any event their costs would then rise too because their insurers would ask themselves why should they trust someone who has been proven to be untruthful? I know its a pain and I know its a cost but honesty will always be rewarded and as expensive as the Insurance will be its probably cheaper in the long run compared with all the potential costs I outline above and certainly less stressful.

This is why I love this channel, everything from Bentley and Aston Martins to sub £3k and all backed up with real world knowledge.

youtube adds are giving me depression and anxiety

Great video, really helpful. My daughter passed her test in a little 1.6 Clio which I bought for her to learn in. Once passed her test the insurance said nope. Couldn’t get cover. She was ok on my policy as a learner but not on her own policy with a full licence. Go figure. Also just to add to the comments about insurance, if you make any modifications to the standard specification of the vehicle technically you need to inform your insurer. I’m referring to the bit about changing your fiat 500 into an abarth replica. Changing things like wheels need to be cleared. Basically you don’t want to give insurers any excuse to leave your cover null & void when it comes to making a claim.

Excellent choices! 20 years ago (when we passed) upto 1.4 normally aspirated engine cars were the only ones we could afford to insure. We were always looking for the most powerful 1.4 engine

This was great, I'd actually like to see your take on the best "2nd car under 10k~... ", I think that's almost as significant a step for motorists as their 1st, that point that "okay, I've passed my test and had my first run around for a couple of years years to get the insurance down but now I want to step up to something a little more exciting without breaking the bank completely".

I considered a Ford Fiesta but ended up going for a 08 Mazda 2 TS2. Same platform, but lighter so drives better, more standard equipment, and no cambelt to worry about. Picked it up for £2000 and never had to spend anything on it for 3 years other than the regular mot and service, and a blast to drive down B-roads

The young drivers telematic insurance firm I used to work for used a series of risk assessment questions to determine if you were suitable. Any changes to a car from standard including go faster stickers (like the Abarth) or wraps would be classed as mods & would disqualify you. As other people have commented start with the smallest engined standard car you can & earn your NCD before moving to anything bigger engined.

Great content as usual. It’s refreshing to hear from a trustworthy used car dealer (Sorry, but we must live with that elephant in the room), who’s had a high throughput of wide range of brands and models. I plan on looking into a number of these suggestions for my son. Thanks for the alternative list. 👍🏻👍🏻

Awesome series, thank you. Fantastic you share you hard-earned knowledge with us. Looking forward to future High Peak Autos Top Tens, so many more T10 avenues to explore! For your consideration, thinking out loud regarding format, is it worth trying a Top Ten countdown style video, like the classic tunes hitparade? An idea. Thank you again Matt👍😎

As a young 107 driver, keep it for 2-3 years and build your no claims and some savings up, after that you'll be able to afford something decent like a 500 abarth,keep away from black boxes if at all possible as they will be super sensitive to any harsh driving

Forget 'carwow' ,HPA is the perfect channel. Matt's hilarious analogys, great wit and perfect reviews make me Binge watch. Plus, I'm down the M62 in Merseyside so get his NW humour. Keep 'em coming!

I’d also use the MOT history checker to see how those cars have been dealt with and show underlying issues like structural rust.

I got a '14 Fabia Monte Carlo as my first car and I must say it really is brilliant. It's jammed full of tech like a touchscreen sat nav and heated seats, along with nice red stitched leather steering wheel, gear knob etc. Plus 105 horsepower is more than enough to have fun with!

Great video as always matt your knowledge on cars is appreciated very much for someone such as myself who loves cars & enjoy reading car reviews 😀.

I love cars but currently don't drive but hopefully next year I will start driving & after seeing this video I'm tempted in the Volvo c30 & I might go for a Volvo c30 as my first car & as I'm 25 next year I might go a bit bigger engine & have my mum on the insurance. Keep up the good work Matt. Thank you for the information 👍

Great video. I’ve sent it to my car-obsessed 16 year old, who is counting down the days until his lessons start, and told him it’s worth taking 10 mins away from F1 sim racing to listen to a guy I trust talk about first cars. He’ll like that you’ve got the Swift on there, but whether he’ll manage to get a Swift Sport, for his (insurance) budget, only time will tell! PS You’re right, that table is too high! Better in the SUVs vid. 😀

Great little video enjoyed everything good information, keep them coming great to have the pictures to see what car is what.

I had a V reg Ford Ka for my first car around 10 years ago… and was about £1200 to insure. Ended up being a death trap in the end as it needed too much work doing after owning it for a year but it was a good car! I’ve got a 2016 Aygo now and can vouch for the “cheap as chips” running costs… it’s literally peanuts to fuel and insure, and the bonus of free tax. (Although I know the Mk1’s were £20 a year but still hardly budget busting!) I love mine. Cracking cars, and not just for first cars either 😊 great vid as always Matt! 👍🏼

I feel the Vauxhall Adam is a brilliant choice. Very cheap to insure, lots of engine options to suit your budget (1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.0T and 1.4T), unique, cheap to buy and cheap to run. I've got the Adam S as my first car. It's a 1.4 litre turbo that makes 150bhp. While that's not much, it weighs less than 1200kg, so it ends up being fairly nippy. For a small and sporty hatchback, the insurance is affordable and that's without the dreaded blackbox.

I own an A3 Sportsback 2.0TDI quattro. And I absolutely love my car. Very tough, nice looking, nice to drive and somewhat economical (35-40mpg). The AWD system is awesome. The Haldex clutch does miracles.

Mr first car was an 04 plate A-Class - original gen. Loved every minute of driving that car

Really useful video for anyone needing some help on this and who doesn't know a lot about cars.

Had a 2004 Fiat Punto as my first car for 3 years now, the car plus insurance came to less than £2k! It's a brilliant practical choice, nice to drive and easy to work on, but not the most reliable. I'm looking for my second car now and thinking either a Nissan Micra, Honda Jazz, Peugeot 208 or Ford Fiesta as I want something reliable, comfortable and not too big or expensive to insure (even with nearly 3 years no-claims I'm getting quotes over £1200 on some cars I would like)

Sometimes when looking for a first car it can be worth thinking outside of the box. Back in 2005 when my son bought his first car aged 17 and after a lot of research he bought a 1997 Saab 900 se turbo coupe. It was in lovely condition, fully loaded and great performance for its time, and his insurance premium was about the same as his mates who had Corsas and swifts etc. He still has that car although he rarely uses it now.

Keep up with good work, your content is the best from this platform :) i open this app only for your videos!

My first car was a 2009 Ford Focus 1.6 Titanium hatchback - nice to drive, lots of equipment and a very practical car, all for £1800. Even though it had 115k on the clock, I never had any mechanical issues and those 1.6 Zetec engines are supposed to be pretty bulletproof. Same one as in the C30.

I bought my first car, a 2013 Ford Fiesta 1.5TDCI back in November 2019 for only £3200 with only 53,000 miles. It was a cat S but the only thing that happened to it was the drivers side door and side skirt had a big dent in it and I was shown the photos of it damaged and how it was fixed. It’s still going strong now with very few issues and it’s very cheap to fix. What a bargain I ended up with.

More excellent advice and buying tips from the man in the know , sent the link to my friend who is not a car person but looking for a first car for his son who recently passed his test .

I love these quick "best of" (and worst of) lists. Quick to view, informative, handy 👍. I'd add Hyundai i10 to the list. And the Ronnie Corbett comment was in my mind literally seconds before you said it! 😂

Thank you! 👍 This is very useful, especially in these times ...

Matt, can't believe you missed the wide card, Renault Twingo - I believe (it was when I bought it for my son 5 years ago) the cheapest 4 cylinder car to insure in the UK. It's been a genuine rock for 5 years and have just helped him replace it with a Scirocco. We have just sold the Twingo for what I paid 5 years ago! Otherwise yet another outstanding video, thanks

I bought my first car in 2019, but because I'm mentally 64, it was a Jaguar X-Type with the 2.5 petrol V6 and AWD (dark blue with no chrome, looked great). 52,000 miles, £1,500 and about £1,000 to insure. There are definitely some creative ways of spending that £3K budget.

Great list - good fun. My first car was a Fiat 600D in 1966. Insurance was £12-50. Two years later I was in an MG Midget at £17-50 insurance. Cool!

Great vid as usual. Bad idea to insure in your parents name. It’s called fronting and could see a claim being rejected. My advice would be get a first car to learn in, not when you pass. That way your first 6 months or so are cheap on learner insurance then you’ll only pay high insurance for 2nd 6 months and at the end you’ll have a year’s NCD.

I used to have a Ibiza 2003 as a first car 1.9 diesel 130bhp model which I remapped to 170bhp 2 months after I got it. Using budget tires I used to spin it in 3rd gear with over 300 ft lbs of torque

I come from an age when petrol was cheap and third party insurance was significantly cheaper than fully comp. So 2 or 3 litre Capri was the car for boys about town. Those were the days 👍

Stunning table,I don’t expect to see that again.......a man of your calibre.

Excellent video, Matt - 'great for grandads looking for grand-daughter's first car! Thanks!

5:24 I had this problem with my guilietta, if your confident enough you can access the systems via the OBD connector via a adpater and laptop to check which system is causing the flash. In my case it was the Blue and Me went bust. So it can be a tiny problem.

The ProCeed also came with a CRDI 2.0 which was a cambelt driven engine. A bit agricultural, but decent enough.

My first car was a 2005 1 series BMW SE, had to have the M47 engine which is reliable and it's a diesel. I really loved it but as I was learning to drive I busted the clutch and it did have some sort of issues with the flywheel and bearing and I had to let it go as that would've cost about £650 to fix. But running costs were not bad, on a full service, oil, filters, tires, 2 rear shocks and crankcase breather, discs and pads, that was about £550 in just over a year of ownership.

My first car was a 2002 Alfa Romeo 156 berlina in Grigio Sterling with red leather interior. It was one of those in-between cars that had the pre-facelift exterior and new dash inside. It had lots of kms but I loved it to bits, spent a small fortune fixing it and regret nothing (apart from having sold it for little more than scrap value).

Perfect timing for this vid.... 👍👍 I hate buying cars... Had a 2000 audi a6 for 11 years she's getting a bit tired now can't decide whether to give her two new wings.. Brake pipes.. Wiggly steering bits or just get a new (£3000) ish car 🥴🤔

Great video! Could you tell us what you think the best cars under 1500-1000 pounds would be? Stuff like mk4 Golfs or a Volvo S60 maybe? Luxury cars on a very low budget would be interesting to see as well. Cheers!

my first (serious) car is the one I have now a Peugeot 308 hatchback Mk 2 which has been a delight to drive.. cheap to insure, fuel-efficient, and quite fast and nimble so if you have a bit more than 3k I recommend it. also won euro car of the year 2014 :)

Many thanks for that.. Great advice from someone with the knowledge.

Another great vid Matt, thanks. Yes put your parent(s) on as named drivers but keep your address as where you live. I was going to buy a Skoda Fabia 1.2 HTP (3 cyl) for my Daughter. With about 50k on the clock & a mighty 54 BHP with a group 2 insurance. Perfect little car for her to learn how to drive after passing her test. She's not with us anymore (leukemia) but she set her heart on one. All the best..........

Great practical real world advice , thanks .

My son got a C30 D5 as his first car, lovely car to drive and didn’t cost the Earth for his first year with no black box. Such a shame Volvo stopped making them.

I'd highly recommend a Suzuki Swift. My last car was a Swift and they look great, are great fun to drive, reliable and fairly cheap to run. Also the petrol engines are chain driven Toyota engines. What's not to like?

Good list Matt, would like to see your top 10 most reliable for under 3k too?

Sharp, fast and 2 the point - GR8 Job👌🏼

Hi Matt. Love the channel - For a first time driver I recommend a Honda Jazz SI in a 1.2 Petrol if you can find one. It has alloy wheels and a spoiler and totally reliable as it has a timing chain. Also has magic rear seats so you can get a mtb or two in the back etc.

Brilliant, my daughter is looking for her first car so this list is really helpful. Only thing is she will be insuring it in her name with myself and wife as named drivers, that way she will build up her own NCB.

Very entertaining and informative video! Btw i think you can grab a C30 2.0 petrol for that price range. Cheers

Thats a great list but I was shocked to see the 1 series Beemer on there! As for the Fiesta, fantastic cars wether you are a new driver or experienced; great fun, stylish and practical too,

This is my current budget and my wife is currently learning so the perfect video thanks!

Might be outside the £3k limit but Hyundai i10 and i20s are great. We've had both for years with very few problems.

Aygo is always a good bet and my friend used to have a Kia estate years ago for taxi 1.6 diesel never gave him any issues

Good list! I'd choose the Volvo C30 - The Aygo a close 2nd! Both cracking cars!

Great video as always, but not too sure about chavving a Fiat 500 as you will have to declare modifications to insurance

Good vid, enjoyed it.Thanks.

This is what I'm looking for.Thanks a lot.Thinking of a Mazda MX-5 sports car.

Love these new style videos Matt

Mind doing a series on best estate examples and then convertibles etc to buy for 3/5/10k please? Be good to get the left field options!

My first car is the car I still have now, a little 1998 Toyota Corolla, it's the 5 door E11 Hatchback, bought it from an old guy who owned it since new, only putting 48k on the clock, cost me £750 for a nice, fuel efficient, cheap car. I love it to bits, it's all original and doesn't have any issues, so it's perfect for me.

My first is a 2008 mk6 fiesta zetec blue edition. 1.4 not gutsy but enough for a year or two. It's lovely.

Solid content. Wobbly table.

My first car was a Citroen Xsara hatchback 2 litre diesel and although it's fairly dull, it was so good on fuel, tax and never let me down. The saxo's forgotten older brother.

I lived and drove around for about 3 years in central London with my car insured from my parents address in Scotland without realising it was wrong. I didn't do it to bring down the premium, simply because I'd changed address a few times and it kept things easier. This was back in the late 80's and my car was a Peugeot 205 GTi. I was lucky I guess. In mitigation, it was insured in my name not that it would've helped.

I was down the pub(hotel) talking to my cousin for 1st time since covid and we were just talking about it as we were very bored !

I have a Volvo C30 as my first car. It has huge blind spots and the 1.6 has quite short gears, but they’re very comfortable, fairly refined and should be reliable (though can have electrical gremlins). Do find one with good history though…

My first car was a 1979 Mini 1000, which I bought in Sept 1994 as I started learning to drive age 17. Insurance was about £350-390 for it with my mum as the main driver. The fickle world of car insurance premiums makes wonder if I could have paid a similar insurance premium for a bigger car like Ford Cortina or Capri 1.6. You could buy one of those for a few hundred pounds back then! And I wouldn't have had to put up with a cramped driving position.

my first car was an Aygo, second car is a 2020 240i convertible :) Honestly can say that I desperately wish I never sold the Aygo. Sold it to a friend and he ended up selling it on for more than I bought it for when I was 18. Stupendously cheap to run (was getting 300-400 miles out of a tank), the few relatively trivial issues I had with it (I think transmission mount? And the hook which holds the exhaust pipe on one side - that rusted off...) cost me less than £150 in TOTAL to fix.

Great video! What do you think of the Fiat Punto? The 500 is a bit smaller for my needs. Please advise. Thanks!

Right on time. Just opened my pizza and ready to rock! Just noticed how many logos are there.. if you watch in full screen there is total of 7 High Peak logos 🤣 Might be an over kill imho

Love your work 👍

I totally agree with the Suzuki Swift. There's something about bike manufacturers who also do cars (or vice versa). The engines are really good and they are very reliable. Little known fact: Yamaha has designed engines for car manufacturers. The Swift is also a bit quirky but that doesn't make it impractical or an object of ridicule.

Definitely recommend the Citroen C1/107/Aygo. I had one 12 years into driving, I loved it. They are incredibly cheap to run to the extent my bank account forgot I had it!

Just picked up an MX-5 RF 2 litre facelift model for my first car (I only passed at 21 so I can afford a bit more). Family seem to think I'm nuts but it's the absolute dog's knackers.

super helpful thank you

Hi, great video, I'm about to get my first car and I have a question in my mind, would you rather look at milage or age? Thanks

Hi Matthew love watching the videos concise and very helpful. I thought I’d just ask your opinion re buying a 4x4. Given I’m not in the slightest mechanically minded, and with a budget of £10k , which would you suggest ? Many thanks and keep up the good work

Great advice video

Good first cars also make good runarounds for retired people like me. I use a VW up for all the short trips and a Passat R36 for the long ones. Works out well. I am a fan of vws though, not everyone is.

Didn’t I mentioned this last month 👍 excellent

You are a daring soul recommending good addresses - the bulk of all insurance will be registered to Surrey on the Thames 😊

My first car was Peugeot 207 estate 08 never had a problem had 155000 only thing had was handbrake replaced for very cheap and a clutch. Engine was 1.6 diesel 90 bhp enough power and very cheap to insure. Bullet proof engine didn't have cambelt replaced and wasn't regularly serviced. Had since 95000 miles. No longer have but still see driving around

Got a used BMW 116i as first car - 6 years down the road I've kept it! Great car, if starting to get a bit heavy on maintenance -

Hi Matt, could you do a rundown of the most reliable diesel engines please?

Like a few others on here, I also work in the insurance industry, and I’m glad to see the comments regards giving false information, non-disclosure, and fronting. I also picked up, Matt, on your suggestion of buying a Fiat 500 and changing its looks so it resembles an Abarth version. Please note that insurers will require any such vehicle modifications to be notified to them, and failure to do so will invalidate a policy. They consider such changes to be modifications, and all vehicle modifications whether they can be seen or not, need to be notified. Some insurers just won’t quote on a modified vehicle, while others will want an increased premium. But the key point is that not telling an insurer that a vehicle has been modified will most likely have very negative consequences. Thanks.

I had an EP2 Civic Type-S 1.6. Brilliant for a first car!

Another informative video look forward to the next one

I bought my son a 2009 Mazda 2 three years ago when he passed his test. It was about £1100 to get him fully comp, just renewed it and it was just over £500. The best advice I believe is to be the policyholder from day one rather than be a named driver, it might hurt at first but it pays to start building your no claims bonus As for the Mazda, it's a 1300, 84 hp is, electric windows, aux input etc, a nice metallic. It stands a lot of the time as he is at uni but I use it from time to time to keep everything moving. It always starts first time and drives really well and has passed every MOT that it's ever had bar one and that was only a suspension arm, it's done 70000 miles. It has a few age related blemishes but no rust but its mechanical condition/reliability is more important. I think it's a great car, let alone a really good first car, tons better than my first car, a Viva HC. As with a lot of things these days a lot of people want to start out with the best and get themselves cars that I would say aren't right for them lower your expectations, build your experience and no claims in something basic and work your way up. I would not consider a few on the list as first cars.

Could you do a video ,On entry point Mid executive cars, As i am in my 30s earning ok money at last , can you also factor in repair costs and relevent deals ,Love the content Factual

Another way of reducing the insurance is by saying it's not parked on the road at night; however Streetview has kinda put paid to that one as some brokers will go on it to see if you actually have off-street parking.

great car info matt.

Another to add and is often overlooked is the vauxhall adam. Any chance you can review one?

My pick of those cars is the Seat Ibiza. Beautiful design by Luc Donckerwolke. ❤️