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Without an decent NCB insurance will be eyewatering. So your no.1 factor should be insurance cost as this may well be more than the cost of the car - so do some searching for the cheapest first cars. With this in mind, a left field suggestion is to look at lease options. A non-UK mate with no UK NCB was able to get Seat Cupra R with insurance rolled in / "for free". Admittedly he has been driving for >20yrs, but not in the UK. But after he did the sums the effective insurance cost (i.e. the extra he paid for his lease package) was c.£500 vs several '000s on insurance. Also you've got a company right? Talk to your accountant to see if there are still any useful tax breaks for EVs. Again you may be surprised that the cost of an all inc. lease package via your ltd. as a company car may be cheaper than buying a shitter and paying £3k on insurance for the 1st 2yrs.
If going 2nd hand ULEZ shouldn't really be an issue as there are cars that have been able to meet the emissions regs from as early as 2002. But for ease anything >2007 will defo be ok.
I'd suggest a Honda Jazz, as they're supper practical, come in small engines, were cheap to insure when I looked (ymmv), excellent storage design, and economical. Other eco options that haven't been suggested are:
Hyundai i30
Kia C'eed / Ceed
Toyota Aurus (Yaris is a bit small, but also worth looking at)
5 door Nissan Micraanything German usually represents poor VFM - with Audi probably being the worst.
In terms of bike carriers, once you're strapping a bike to the outside it makes no difference. You'll be able to get a bike carrier for pretty much any car that you're going to be looking at. In terms of engine size / performance it's absolutely pointless even considering this. If you've got/will have a kid the amount of shit in the car will weight it down to the point of killing anything that would normally feel nippy. You also don't have the usually youthful luxury of going 3 door to save weight.
hugo7-
great reply! thnks.
Also you've got a company right? Talk to your accountant to see if there are still any useful tax breaks for EVs. Again you may be surprised that the cost of an all inc. lease package via your ltd. and giving you a company car may be cheaper than buying a shitter and paying £3k on insurance for the 1st 2yrs.
not the case anymore sadly .. gone full time
amey
The time has arrived at the tender age of 32 for me to get a driving license. I am taking the lessons at the moment and have scheduled a test (so pray for me). I will be needing a car in near future.
This is the criteria:
don't know much about cars
don't care about cars
want to spend as little as possible overall
petrol and be able to pass ULEZ
will need to get TPFT with a black box in the first year of insurance
drive parking in zone 3 SE London
should have 5 doors and ability to take a child seat, bikes on roof or at the back and ideally a wider rear seating area
What are my options pls?