Dacia Duster review – a budget family SUV favourite
Top 10 best cars under £200 per month 2025
Looking for a car finance bargain? These are our picks for under £200 a month
If you’re looking for a new car on a budget, these cars for £200 a month are a great place to start. From as little as £6 a day, you can drive away in one of the latest superminis, family hatchbacks or SUVs – there’s even a few Carbuyer Car of the Year award winners up for grabs.
These deals are made possible through Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) finance. It’s now one of the most popular ways to buy a new car, allowing you to spread the cost over a period of time. You pay an upfront deposit and then a series of monthly payments, followed by a final ‘balloon’ payment if you want to keep the car at the end. Or you can use any ‘equity’ you’ve built up towards another deposit on a new car. Alternatively, you can just hand the keys back and walk away. Our list of the best PCP deals is updated often, so take a look if the cars here don’t take your fancy.
While all the cars on this list are available for £200 a month or less at the time of writing, be warned that deposit costs can vary. Some manufacturers will entice customers with a low monthly payment figure, but you’ll need to hand over a hefty deposit first. We’ve highlighted the deposit cost for each of the cars listed below, but you can often tweak the deal to suit you best.
There are other ways to finance a car, too. This list looks almost exclusively at PCP deals, but there’s Hire Purchase and Personal Contract Hire (PCH) – more commonly known as leasing – to consider. If you’d like to see a selection of new leasing deals, our experts regularly scour the web for the best deals available.
Best cars under £200 a month:
That’s right, you can pick up the keys to the Carbuyer Car of the Year 2025 for less than £200 a month. That’s a pretty astonishing deal, but the Dacia Duster has always traded on delivering excellent value for money. The small SUV provides everything a family could need, including a spacious interior, economical engines and plenty of standard safety kit, for less than the cost of a Volkswagen Polo. It’s cheap to buy and just as cheap to finance through Dacia’s PCP scheme.
Monthly PCP prices for the Duster start from as little as £111 – a figure you’ll struggle to beat anywhere else. Of course, a fairly large deposit is required, but even the most expensive Duster with the self-charging hybrid engine still looks like great value – it’s £117 a month with a deposit of around £6,000. If the hybrid isn’t for you, there’s always the petrol model which can be had with four-wheel drive for added off-road capabilities. We recommend skipping the most basic Essential model as it misses out on some important features, like the 10.1-inch infotainment screen.
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With generous cabin space, excellent safety and low running costs, the Renault Clio is a great value hatchback that can be yours within our £200 per month budget.
The standout feature for us is the Clio’s interior – it looks and feels as premium as more expensive cars, such as the Volkswagen Polo or Audi A1. A seven-inch portrait touchscreen (9.3-inch on higher spec models) sits in the centre of the dashboard and features both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The climate controls remain as physical dials, which are much easier to use on the move than touchscreen buttons, and there’s a long standard equipment list, featuring LED headlights, cruise control with a speed limiter and automatic folding door mirrors.
The Clio has the edge over others on this list with its optional hybrid powertrain. It uses a 1.6-litre petrol engine working in tandem with two electric motors – a combination that can achieve up to 67.3mpg. It always sets off in EV mode and the petrol engine won’t kick in until around 20mph, meaning it’s possible to cruise around the city in silence.
Renault offers the Clio on a 0% APR PCP deal with very enticing payments of just over £150 per month, although a hefty deposit of around £6,000 is required.
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There's a reason the Skoda Fabia is a previous Carbuyer Car of the Year award winner. It strikes a great balance between practicality, comfort and affordability, and we were impressed by its handling and efficiency during our in-depth test.
Whilst there’s no hybrid tech to speak of, Skoda offers a strong range of petrol engines to choose from, offering a combination of efficiency and performance. We think the mid-tier 1.0-litre TSI engine is the one to have, although the less powerful 1.0-litre MPI engine in this deal drops the Fabia into a lower insurance group, making it a good choice for learner drivers.
The Fabia’s interior certainly isn’t as stylish as cars like the Peugeot 208 or Citroen C3, but it’s spacious, ergonomic and there’s plenty of kit available. The optional digital driver’s display is a cut above the basic dials of earlier generations, and you can even pay extra for a panoramic sunroof. Oh, and the boot’s huge too!
Like other Skodas, the Fabia is the sensible option in its segment and we think it's perfect for most buyers. A deposit of just under £4,000 is needed, but for £200 per month, you can’t do much better.
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The latest Suzuki Swift is a hatchback that’s great to drive with low running costs and unique styling. Available from £139 per month, on a contract lasting two years after a deposit of around £5,000, it serves as an alternative to the more obvious Skodas, Vauxhalls and Citroens.
All Swifts are powered by a 1.2-litre mild-hybrid powertrain producing 82bhp. It’s enough performance for driving around town, but a 0-62mph time of around 12 seconds won’t get your heart racing. The benefit of the hybrid system is improved economy and CO2 emissions – drive sensibly and you can achieve up to 64mpg. Choose to drive more enthusiastically and the Swift responds well, with nicely weighted steering and virtually no body roll. You can even get the Swift with four-wheel drive, giving it an edge over its rivals in wintery conditions.
What it lacks in speed, the Swift makes up for in standard equipment – even the base Motion model comes with adaptive cruise control, a rear-view camera, a nine-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, alloy wheels, heated seats and air conditioning. The boot isn’t the biggest, at 265 litres, but the Swift can seat four people comfortably and a tall roof meant that headroom was never an issue during our testing.
We think that the Skoda Fabia and Renault Clio are better cars overall, but for those who like the looks of the Swift, or simply want something a bit different, this sub-£200 per month deal is for you.
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If you’re after a car with seven seats, the Dacia Jogger is your best bet for under £200 per month. A deposit of just over £4,500 affords you the most basic ‘Essential’ trim level, but we think it’s an excellent value family car, great for transporting seven people and their luggage.
Despite the ‘Essential’ name, you’ll be pleased to know that the base Jogger comes with more equipment than just seven seats and a steering wheel – air conditioning, LED lights, cruise control and rear parking sensors are standard. The cabin materials, whilst far from luxurious, don’t feel cheap and the ride is smooth. A smartphone holder replaces the traditional infotainment display but does the job and is easy to use.
The three-cylinder turbocharged engine delivers reasonable low-down power and returns good fuel economy. During testing, we found the steering to be slightly heavy and the road and wind noise was noticeable, but road tester John McIlroy summarised it as a “fuss-free way to get from A to B”.
Of course, the Jogger won’t feel as premium as alternative cars from more expensive brands, but it offers undeniable bang-for-buck practicality and, at less than £200 per month, it’s a great choice for families on a budget.
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If you like the sound of the Renault Clio above but need something a bit more practical, you’re in luck. The Renault Captur is essentially a Clio on stilts, and it’s also available for well under £200 a month. You get more space, a bigger boot and trendy SUV looks for not much more money – a no-brainer for family buyers. The most basic Captur can be yours for just £166 a month, so long as you have £6,000 to put up beforehand.
Admittedly, that’s a rather big deposit, but the Captur still represents great value. You get the same high quality cabin as the Clio, but with a bit more room in the rear seats. Those seats also slide back or forward, allowing you to prioritise leg room or boot room as you see fit. The plug-in hybrid engine is no longer offered, but both the petrol and self-charging hybrid options are available for under £200 a month. The latter returns impressive fuel economy of up to 60mpg, but even the pure petrol engine will manage up to 48mpg.
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Landing in seventh place is the Kia Picanto, with a 1.0-litre engine and manual gearbox. A deposit of around £3,000 is all you need to pay upfront to drive away in a brand new Picanto, with 36 monthly payments just below £200.
The Picanto comes well equipped with an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 14-inch alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and bags of safety kit. Inside, it feels just as well put together as its European rivals and there’s plenty of space, although there are only two rear seats.
The 1.0-litre petrol engine may only have 62bhp, but feels at home in urban environments and can cope with longer journeys too. We found that it struggled occasionally on steep hills, but it’s still faster than the aforementioned Toyota Aygo X. As expected, running costs are low, the Picanto delivering up to 55mpg and falling into a low insurance group, making it an affordable option for beginner drivers.
Our expert testers summarised the Picanto in our in-depth review, saying, “some rivals have a little more flair, but the Picanto is a very competent, enjoyable and comfortable small car.” We think it’s worth considering if you’re on a £200 per month budget.
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Mazda has often taken a slightly unusual approach to car making throughout its history, and the MX-30 is no different. It’s an electric car with chunky SUV looks but hatchback proportions, powered by a small 36kWh battery. It’s important to point out that the MX-30 only has a range of up to 124 miles, which means it’s definitely not suited for everyone. But for those who just need a small EV for pootling around town, the MX-30 could be the ideal fit – especially for as little as £199 a month.
That makes the MX-30 one of the most affordable electric cars to finance. A deposit of around £5,000 is required (and Mazda will throw in a £6,000 deposit contribution, too), but that’s a whole lot cheaper than most of today’s EVs. You wouldn’t know it sitting inside the MX-30, however. It has one of the nicest interiors in its class, with a well-laid out control arrangement and a mixture of high-quality materials. It even drives fairly well, although don’t expect Tesla-like acceleration from its single 143bhp motor.
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One of the quirkier-looking cars on this list, the Aygo X is worth including for its smooth ride, generous standard equipment and great value. For £200 per month, for 36 months after an initial deposit of just over £2,500, you can drive away in this stylish, if not class-leading, supermini.
Under the bonnet of the Aygo X, you’ll find a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine with 71bhp. It’s best suited to around-town driving – ask too much from it and noise levels begin to rise. We were disappointed in the lack of any hybrid tech, but the basic engine keeps costs down and means the Aygo X is cheap to run, returning up to 58.9mpg. There’s an automatic gearbox available too, but it’s not the most refined and requires a larger deposit.
The base ‘Pure’ trim has enough kit inside for most drivers, with a seven-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, air conditioning, a reversing camera and useful safety features, like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning. Pay a bit more towards your deposit, and you can upgrade to mid-tier ‘Edge’, which adds two-tone paintwork, larger 18-inch alloys, an eight-inch touchscreen and automatic climate control.
Space is good up front but there are only two rear seats – they’re fairly cramped but fine for children and small adults. You can fold them down, adding more storage space to the already large boot. There are better superminis for the money, but if you like the Aygo X’s mini-SUV looks, you can pick one up for £200 per month.
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We’ve included the Vauxhall Corsa as a wildcard at the end – it’s the only Personal Contract Hire (PCH) deal on this list, just sneaking under our budget. We’ve recently seen it advertised for £199 per month over 48 months, with an initial deposit of just over £2,000. Being a PCH deal, you don’t have the option to keep the car at the end, but the resulting lower monthly payments give the Corsa a spot on this list.
The Corsa is a hugely popular car in the UK – and for good reason. Even the entry-level ‘Design’ trim, featured in this deal, is nimble and easy to drive with good body control and accurate steering. It shares its underpinnings, including its 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, with the Peugeot 208, albeit wrapped up in a more conventional-looking package.
The Corsa suffers from the same lack of interior space as its Peugeot cousin, but features a large boot and a seven-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity for infotainment. The interior may not look as stylish as the Peugeot’s, but the Corsa’s more traditional layout may prove more comfortable for some.
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