The only new car I’ve ever bought was a Skoda citigo for my Mum. She was being ripped off by garages maintaining and repairing older cars.
So I started to think what would £5k buy me in the little, pretty new, low tax, hi mpg cars - and the answer was not much at all. So I started looking at a bit more money and a bit more money and then realised they hold their value and I was getting close to a new price.
The citigo was a bit over £9k with a deposit (can’t remember what it was) 4 years 0%, and a cheap servicing deal. It was £131 a month.
After 4 years the settlement was under £3k I think - and that was for a full service history car , with under 1000 miles on it. It was a no brainier.
I don’t know what the exact mpg is, but it’s around 60mpg. Whilst the tax is £20.
It is very cheap motoring, and really quite fun to drive too.