The first-car cost checker · Great Britain

Know what a car really costs before you fall for it.

Built for 17–24s and the parents helping them. The number that matters — what it costs to keep, per month — shown up front, wherever you found the car.

2,773 postcode districts priced164 first cars ranked£197 cheapest monthly running cost at 21

Every number checked. Every source cited.

Insurance, tax, fuel and MOT — estimated from government and industry data, never guessed. This is what we check before you go and see a car.

The running cost

What it costs to keep, per month — not just the sticker price.

  • Insurance estimate for your age and postcode district
  • Tax, fuel and MOT baked into one monthly number
  • Every figure cited to a public source

The car itself

What the history says before you go and see it.

  • Full MOT history, linked on gov.uk
  • What this model actually fails on — real DVSA data
  • The red flags to look for at a viewing

The cover

Sorted for the drive home, and honest about the year ahead.

  • Drive-away insurance in minutes
  • Black-box options that genuinely cut premiums
  • Introductions to authorised providers only

Built for wherever you're buying.

Found it on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or a forecourt? Vouched works out what it'll really cost to keep — before you hand over a penny.

STEP 1

Find your match

Tell us your age, postcode and budgets — we rank 164 first cars by what they cost to keep, not just the sticker price.

STEP 2

See the true cost

Insurance at your age, tax, fuel and MOT as one monthly number — every figure cited to its source.

STEP 3

Check the car

MOT history on gov.uk, what this model actually fails on, and the red flags to look for at a viewing.

STEP 4

Drive away insured

Instant drive-away cover at handover, then a proper annual quote — with a black-box option that actually saves you money.

Insurance is a postcode lottery. See where you land.

Where a car sleeps at night moves its premium. Our free risk map scores every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Scotland from open data — these are the district extremes:

Cheapest district · LA20£195/yr
Dearest district · LS2£1,548/yr

Typical annual premium, base profile — how areas compare, not a quote for you.

The cars people actually buy first.

164 first cars, ranked honestly by cost-to-keep — the shortlist that fits your budget, not a 400,000-listing haystack.

Cheapest to keep this week

Ford Fiesta 1.1 Trend

42,300 miles · petrol · group 5 · Walthamstow

£273/mo to run

Volkswagen Up! 1.0

38,900 miles · petrol · group 2 · Croydon

£254/mo to run

Toyota Aygo 1.0

51,200 miles · petrol · group 3 · Ilford

£239/mo to run

Example cars for illustration — running costs computed live from our data. Featured, checked cars land soon.

Selling a car that'd suit a first-time driver?

Tell us about it. We'll work out its true running cost, check its history, and put it in front of buyers looking for exactly that — free while we're small.

Tell us about your car

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