Skoda Fabia review - a great-value, practical supermini
Top 10 best cars for students 2024
Affordability, safety and practicality are top priorities for students – these 10 cars are your best options
Finding the right car for a student car can be tricky. Young drivers face some of the highest insurance costs on our roads, and tight student budgets mean fuel station visits must be as infrequent as possible. Safety and reliability are also key priorities, providing vital peace of mind for parents.
Top 10 best first cars for new drivers 2024
While some of the best cars for students on our list may be more stylish than others, all of our picks tick the boxes above. Many are more practical than their small dimensions would suggest, which is handy for lugging all your possessions from home to your student accommodation. As a bonus, all start from under £20,000, keeping them relatively affordable whether you’re buying outright or through a financing deal.
The best cars for students
Read on for our top 10 best cars for students in the UK, or check out our lists of the best cars with cheap insurance and the cars that are in the lowest insurance group.
- Priced from £19,730
The latest Skoda Fabia is spacious, practical and comfortable, making it an ideal car for students. It shares its platform and engines with two other cars on this list, the similarly-priced SEAT Ibiza and the more expensive Volkswagen Polo. The Fabia is no longer the cheapest supermini on the block – that accolade goes to the Dacia Sandero, which undercuts the Skoda by several thousand pounds. Nevertheless, the Fabia is a better all-rounder than ever before, with sharper styling, more equipment and improved driving dynamics.
The hatchback’s boot space stands at 380 litres, which makes it slightly more generous than the Ibiza and Polo in that department. Attractive PCP deals on the Fabia are common, as are cheap servicing packages.
- Priced from £13,795
The Dacia Sandero isn’t the most fashionable, comfortable or luxurious car money can buy, but it’s not meant to be. The Sandero’s USP is to be the cheapest new car you can buy, and although it doesn’t boast the headline-grabbing sub-£10,000 price it used to, you can still buy one for under £14,000.
Though its price has increased, the Sandero is still spectacularly good value and easily one of the most spacious and practical cars on this list. It certainly offers a huge amount of car for your money, because it's cheaper than the Hyundai i10 but comparable in size to the bigger i20. It all adds up to enjoyable, practical, and remarkably affordable motoring. Low insurance groupings and an affordable price make the Sandero easy to recommend.
- Priced from £15,595
The cost of insurance is an important factor for students when buying a car, and you’ll struggle to find a cheaper car to insure than the Kia Picanto. Certain models reside in the lowest insurance group of all, keeping your motoring costs to a minimum. You’ll save even more cash thanks to the Picanto’s frugal 66bhp 1.0-litre engine – it achieves just under 60mpg with the manual gearbox fitted.
If that doesn’t sound potent enough for you, you can upgrade to the 77bhp 1.2-litre four-cylinder unit instead, which gives the Picanto enough grunt to happily transport a fully-loaded car with you and your friends. That’s handy, because the Picanto is a city car that passengers will be keen for a ride in. It’s far more spacious than its tiny footprint would suggest, with more headroom and legroom in the rear than most rivals. The boot’s a decent size, too.
A fresh facelift for 2024 has updated the Picanto’s styling, giving it the appearance of a Kia EV9 SUV that’s shrunk in the wash. Importantly, the interior has been given a light upgrade, so you now get a 4.2-inch digital gauge cluster and an eight-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.
- Priced from £17,995
The Renault Clio ranks alongside the Volkswagen Polo and Vauxhall Corsa as one of the most iconic superminis on the road, and the latest model certainly lives up to its fame. It has an interior that outshines many rivals, with a spacious and intuitive layout, and an impressive level of standard equipment. Students will appreciate the decent-sized boot, although the rear-seat room isn’t quite as generous as the Skoda Fabia.
The Clio should be relatively affordable to insure and an efficient 1.0-litre petrol will keep fuel costs down, leaving you with some extra cash in your pocket for a night out. While we think the base model will satisfy most young drivers, and those who can afford the E-Tech hybrid will get even better fuel economy – up to a diesel-rivalling 67.3mpg. It’s a thoroughly modern hybrid system, with an electric-only driving mode and some clever Formula 1-derived tech (a fact that will no doubt impress your mates). As a bonus, Renault offers some tempting financing deals with competitive monthly payments for the Clio that could make it an affordable option for students.
- Priced from £16,030
City cars aren’t always spacious enough for four adults, but the latest Hyundai i10 rivals some superminis for practicality. The newest model is 40mm longer between the wheels, meaning the cabin feels light and spacious, and the boot is the same as before at a class-leading 252 litres. The entry level Advance trim features all the kit – and more – that would appeal to young drivers; the eight-inch touchscreen includes sat nav, smartphone mirroring, digital radio and a reversing camera. Upgrading to the Premium model adds niceties such as heated seats, privacy glass and wireless smartphone charging.
The i10 offers super-low running costs because both engines manage around 55mpg. It also looks sharp and stylish, with two-tone alloy wheels and a contrasting black roof to make it stand out in a college car park.
- Priced from £19,725
The SEAT Ibiza is the most stylish choice of the three related VW Group superminis, which includes the Skoda Fabia and Volkswagen Polo. It may be older than the Fabia, but it still holds its place as a well-rounded small hatchback with an affordable price tag that will appeal to students. It offers a 350-litre boot, a practical five-door bodystyle, split folding rear seats and lots of interior space for five passengers.
As ever with cars in the Volkswagen group, the Ibiza offers a strong range of engines, all of which are economical and about as powerful as the average student can realistically wish for. The Ibiza is ideal for students looking for something a little more practical and grown-up to drive than a city car.
- Priced from £20,975
The Volkswagen Polo has earned a reputation as a classy, well-built, and comfortable small car, and its desirability helps it to hang onto its value impressively well. The latter means PCP finance deals can be very attractive, which is good news if you're trying to keep monthly outgoings low. The latest, sixth-generation Polo is sportier and more spacious than before – fold the rear seats down, and there's plenty of space for all the gear that students need to lug from home to uni accommodation.
The entry-level version is reasonably priced, but it's easy to get carried away with the options list, and higher-spec versions are like miniature limousines – you can have features such as a digital instrument cluster and active cruise control that were once reserved for far bigger cars. With this in mind, it’s worth checking your budget and listing the key options you need before heading into a dealership. The cheapest versions use a 64bhp petrol engine, but our favourite is the 94bhp 1.0-litre TSI, which is better on the motorway.
- Priced from £17,790
It’s hard to argue with the value-for-money prospect offered by the new Citroen C3 because it provides a supermini-sized vehicle for city car money. It has grown in every dimension but still offers rock-bottom running costs. It’s stylish, too, with chunkier, more upright proportions than before, which translates to good interior space with room to seat four comfortably. Sure, the cabin materials feel scratchy in places, and base models get a smartphone holder instead of an infotainment system, but those shortcomings are easily forgiven when you consider just how affordable the C3 is.
The 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine has just enough shove to get the C3 up to speed. It’s not particularly refined at motorway speeds, but stick to around-town driving, and it’s perfectly quick enough. The soft suspension is clearly set up for comfort over agility, but we reckon that’s a decision most students will appreciate when heading off on a summer road trip.
While that attractive sub-£18k price gets you behind the wheel of the base petrol model, upgrading to the electric e-C3 doesn’t cost a whole chunk more. It starts from around £22,000, making it one of the cheapest electric cars on the market. Insurance costs for the e-C3 are expected to be higher than those of the petrol models, but charging the battery at home will hopefully offset that, meaning it’ll cost peanuts to run.
- Priced from £18,505
The Vauxhall Corsa is one of Britain’s best-selling cars for several good reasons: it’s easy to drive, reliable and cheap to buy. That’s why so many are bought by hire car companies and driving schools. Like the SEAT Ibiza, it also looks and feels like a more sensible, upmarket car. A big part of the Corsa’s appeal is the value for money it offers, because you can buy a new Corsa for reasonable monthly payments.
All models are well equipped, with the cheapest Yes Edition models boasting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB radio, alloy wheels, and LED headlights. The 99bhp petrol is our pick of the range; its average 51mpg is almost identical to the lesser-powered model, but its turbocharger makes it quicker, and a six-speed gearbox means it’s more refined at higher speeds than the entry-level 74bhp version with its five-speed gearbox.
- Priced from £16,140
The old Toyota Aygo was always a popular choice for students, but the discontinued city car has since been reborn with mini-SUV proportions. Its jacked-up ride height certainly looks the part, and it’s far more adept at dealing with our pothole-laden roads as a result. The 71bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine isn’t the last word in speed or modernity, especially when compared to the hybrid Toyota Yaris, but it’s economical and keeps insurance costs low – both priorities for students.
The funky design continues inside the Aygo X. You’re greeted by a large oval dashboard with colourful trim – just don’t look too closely at the hard plastics. The driver and front seat passenger have plenty of room and storage pockets, but things are less rosy in the rear. There are only two rear seats, while most rivals have three, and headroom and legroom are quite restricted. If you plan to carry passengers often, you’ll be better off with the Kia Picanto. That being said, the Aygo X pulls some points back with its standard-fit seven-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Car buying guide for students
New car ownership was once a distant dream for students, but that’s all changed today. Thanks to manufacturer incentives and reduced ownership costs, owning a car while at university is increasingly feasible.
Trying to maintain an old car with a pre-2010 reg plate can often seem appealing to students as a route to motoring freedom, but breakdowns are inconvenient and an expense that most students can’t afford. Although the idea of buying a new car may seem unrealistic, it can often make more sense to know exactly how much a car will cost you per month by buying a new one on a competitive PCP finance deal – you also benefit from the peace of mind offered by a warranty too.
There’s also more reassurance for both students and their parents that virtually all new cars meet the latest stringent safety standards. Newer cars are more fuel efficient, especially city cars and superminis, and the only running costs you should expect are fuel, insurance, servicing, and general wear and tear maintenance, such as replacement tyres. MoTs aren’t required until cars are three years old, and breakdown cover is often included as an incentive when buying the car. We also recommend getting a service plan, if it’s available. While it seems expensive, it actually works out cheaper if you spread the cost over monthly payments rather than paying for the services individually.
When weighing up a new, nearly new or used car, it's worth considering that brand-new cars often work out less expensive on monthly finance. That's because of the way PCP finance works, and manufacturers frequently offer finance incentives to drive up sales figures – which can be very handy if you're on a budget. Don’t forget that you can haggle with dealers to try and get a better deal – read our guide to find out more. You can also check out our guides to the best cars for £150 per month and the best new cars for £10,000.
Students typically face the same challenges as young motorists when it comes to expensive car insurance costs, and those attending urban universities are likely to feel the pinch the most. Fear not, though – most of the cars on this list occupy the lowest insurance group ratings, and none are what insurers would classify as high risk. If affording to insure your car is one of the key factors preventing you from owning a car, it’s worth knowing that there is another way to bring down the cost of your premiums with black box insurance. If you’re happy to have your driving habits monitored, this is a great way to reduce your premiums. The safer your drive, the more your insurer will reward you.
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