Cheap leasing deals are hard to find in 2024. The price of, well, everything skyrocketed last year – and the market hasn’t yet recovered from the trauma. Affordable car leasing contracts are still out there, though. You just need to work a little more diligently to find them, and you’ll need to fork out a large deposit to keep your monthly repayments low.
For this list, that’s the tactic we deployed. We focused on Personal Contract Hire deals here, setting the initial rental amount to the maximum in a bid to find some inexpensive monthly payments. In the process, we learned the days of the sub-£100 per month new car (with a remotely sensible deposit) are behind us, but there are still a couple of motors clinging on in the £150 per month range.
Naturally, when you restrict your budget this much, you’ll need to make some sacrifices. In this instance, you’ll need to compromise on space and equipment. The two cheapest cars here are dinky city cars, while the rest are superminis and compact SUVs. So, if you need more space for your family, it might be worth stepping your budget up and checking out best cars for £200 per month.
However, if all you need are some affordable wheels for zipping around town, scroll down to check out our list of the cheapest leasing deals on the market.
The best cheap leasing deals for 2024
A pretty and practical city car for a good price
It’s also surprisingly refined for such a small car. It stifles road and wind noise admirably well and it’s very nearly as comfortable as Volkswagen Up, which is high praise ion the city car sector. For this money, you’ll be shopping for a car powered by Hyundai’s most basic 67hp 1.0-litre petrol engine which is fine for around town, but a little breathless on the motorway. Still, it offers an easy 40mpg.
Read our Hyundai i10 review
Pros
- Spacious interior
- Easy-to-use dashboard
- Lots of safety tech
Cons
- Optional auto 'box is woeful
- Higher trim levels are expensive
Fiat 500
A cutesy urban runabout, but it’s starting to show its age
The 500 is a very easy car to live with, though. It’s a doddle to thread through crowded city streets, thanks to its enormous glasshouse, while its latest 1.0-litre mild-hybrid petrol engine is punchy and offers good fuel economy. Just don’t take it on the motorway too often. The sit-up-and-beg driving position is enough to cramp you up entirely after a mere 50 miles.
Read our Fiat 500 review
Pros
- Cheeky styling
- Compact dimensions
- Efficient mild hybrid engine
Cons
- Awkward driving position
- Noisy on the motorway
Sharp-driving supermini for a reasonable price
It’s a lot more grown up than the other cars in this list – you’re certainly getting your worth out of the extra £20 per month you’ll spend over a Fiat 500, for example. You get plenty of standard equipment, all the engines offer good fuel economy and there’s genuinely enough space inside for four adults and their luggage. Granted, some of the cabin trims are a little low-rent, but you can’t have it all.
Read our SEAT Ibiza review
Pros
- Reasonable monthly lease
- Easy to drive, but also fun
- Lots of equipment for the cash
Cons
- Some interior plastics feel cheap
- No hybrid models available
Vauxhall Corsa
Vauxhall’s best-selling supermini, improved
That means you get a 10.0-inch infotainment system, 17-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights, Alcantara seat upholstery and a massaging driver’s seat. Interior space and storage isn’t quite as good as the Ibiza (there’s nowhere convenient to store your phone, for example) and the ride is a little firm. But it’s still a great all-rounder for the money.
Read our full Vauxhall Corsa review
Pros
- Impressive fuel economy
- Punchy 100hp and 130hp engines
- Good levels of standard equipment
Cons
- Lack of cabin storage
- Jerky automatic gearbox
It’s expensive for this list – but we think it’s worth it
If we had to criticise it, it’s that it leans a little too far towards the sensible end of the scale. It’s rather forgettable to drive and the engines are focused more on delivering good fuel economy than driving fun. But not everyone is a petrolhead – so if all you need is a practical family runabout, we strongly suggest you give the Scala a chance. Opt for a car in Skoda’s SE trim for the best bang for your buck.
Read our Skoda Scala review
Pros
- Golf space for Polo money
- Generous safety equipment
- Refined petrol engines
Cons
- Not that fun to drive
- Narrower inside than rivals
Used car finance deals offer an alternative
Dirt cheap Personal Contract Hire deals are hard to find for new cars these days, but a Personal Contract Purchase deal on a nearly new or used car might prove to be more attractive. Going the used route is easy too. Most used car dealers offer PCP on nearly new cars, and they usually allow you to drive away on the same day.
Alternatively, if that doesn’t appeal to you, you could apply for a loan from a bank to buy an affordable nearly new car outright and ditch the monthly finance merry-go-round altogether.
A lot of people search Google for £99 a month car deals with no deposit. We’re here to tell you that it’s impossible to get a new car on these terms. If you don’t have any money for a deposit, but £99 spare each month, we recommend saving the cash up and buying a cheap used car for £1,000.
* These deals are indicative examples of some packages available as of 15 January 2024 but are subject to change without prior notice. Everyone’s financial circumstances are different and the availability of credit is subject to status. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Parkers cannot recommend a deal for you specifically.
