As the cost of living crisis worsens, a leading motoring magazine has suggested what the cheapest car to run in the UK is – and it’s one we’ve driven before
The cheapest car to run in the UK has been announced (stock) (Image: Getty)
The cheapest car to run in the UK has been revealed by a motoring publication. It comes as the cost of living crises worsens during the coldest months of the year, largely thanks to Donald Trump’s war with Iran. With fuel prices skyrocketing and the prices of other goods rising sharply, UK households are feeling the pinch.
One big pull factor for a person’s finances is their car that not only needs to be taxed, insured, and maintained, but also filled up with petrol, diesel or electricity. With this in mind, one publication has put together a list of the cars in the UK that are cheapest to run. After taking into account many factors already listed, they produced a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over 36 months or 30,000 miles plus a pence per mile rating.
The winner, by the publication’s calculations, was a vehicle that technically isn’t actually a car at all, but a quadricycle. Nevertheless, it is still available for Britons to buy which makes it eligible to come first in the ranking.
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The vehicle in question is the Citroen Ami, that came ahead of its sister vehicle the Fiat Topolino. According to Auto Express, the Citroen Ami cost just 22.17p per mile to run and had a total cost over 36 months or 30,000 miles of around £6,649.88 or £2,5000 for every 10,000 miles.
Although it topped their list, the car journalists added two caveats to their conclusion. They said: “Very few Ami owners will end up doing as many as 10,000 miles a year. This is because the French quadricycle is a vehicle that has been built specifically for those who clock up lower mileages in built-up urban environments.
“The Ami saw a mid-life facelift at the end of 2025 but with a lack of creature comforts, a range of just over 46 miles and a top speed of 28mph, it wouldn’t really be suitable for longer trips and those cost savings demand real compromises.”
The first car on the list that was legally a car as the Hyundai i10 that cost 43.86p per mile and had a total cost of £13,157.45.
The Citroen Ami was top of Auto Express’ ranking (Image: Getty)
I’ve driven the car that topped Auto Express’ list, in fact I’ve driven both the be-doored and sans-doored version of the little French runabout, once in Central London in 2023 and on another occasion in September 2026. It was a fun car to drive, both in buggy and standard form, and no doubt puts a smile on your face just from the sheer distinctiveness of the driving experience.
With no doors, the outside very much gets inside and even with doors you get a lot of attention, something I found in 2023 where we appeared to be getting more attention around Park Lane than people in much more expensive and flashier machines. We even had someone lean out of their tinted window limo and ask about it whilst stuck in traffic. It was a conversation starting quadricycle.
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