It’s a contradiction in terms, no one would think that you could buy a brand new automatic car on the cheap but you can. You won’t find it on the fleets of the car hire suppliers and brokers used by Automatic Car Hire but you could buy a brand new automatic for less that seven grand!
Many of the “budget” cars currently on the market allow an upgrade to their automatic gear box. One such maker is the second largest car manufacturer in Malaysia (after Proton) Perodua or if you prefer their full name the Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Berhad.
Founded only in 1993 their reputation is questionable but we at Automatic Car Hire can find nothing wrong with their automatic Kelisa. Packing a 1.0 litre engine and available on the road at an amazing 6,399 GBP it is cheap but apprantly it will struggle on long journeys with the small engine coupled to an automatic but of course like many automatic small cars, it is designed for city living!
Another option would be the stylish SmartForTwo, at a smidgen under seven thousand, it is good value and has a good build. Again though this is a semi-automatic gearbox so wouldn’t really be a totally bona fide automatic car and it is pretty small.
Still the favourite in the office here is the Ford Focus automatic. Much more than the two cars above but worth picking up if you don’t mind a second hand car.