We review the five of the UK’s cheapest cars from price to economy and all their features

FUEL has just fallen below a Pound a litre for the first time since 2009.

So this is an amazingly cheap time to finance and run a new car.

That is why we have brought together the five cheapest new cars in the UK — Dacia Sandero, Dacia Logan, Suzuki Celerio, Skoda Citigo and Kia Picanto.

Their prices range from £5,995 to £8,345 for a basic version of each — which you probably won’t buy, unless you are bizarrely committed to plastic wheel trims, lukewarm air blowers and the ancient practice of opening your car door by putting a key into it.

The fact remains they are remarkably cheap. Each one will, for less than £10,000, give you an awful lot of car.

Apart from one, these are not tiny, tinny misery boxes but genuinely excellent cars for a number of reasons.

It has black plastic bumpers, a spare wheel on each corner and less kit than Ringo Starr

So let’s start with the exception — the Celerio. Suzuki is a past master at building brilliant Sport Celerio small cars, look no further than the Swift Sport. But the Celerio, the newest of the models here, feels like it was knocked together using parts found in a crate marked “best before 1993”.

You sit too high and it is cramped, noisy and slow.

It is, however, well equipped with DAB radio, Bluetooth and 14in alloy wheels as standard.

On the other hand, the UK’s two lowest-priced new cars, the Dacia Sandero and Logan, feel anything but kitted out.

If you buy a Sandero for less than six grand, everyone will see how tight you are.

It has black plastic bumpers, a spare wheel on each corner and less kit than Ringo Starr.

Yet without ever doing anything fancy it always feels solid — a lot like Ringo. It is also pleasingly quiet and rides well. A lot like … never mind.

Meanwhile, the Logan is surely pound for pound the most spacious new car.

For £6,995 its 573-litre boot is about 20 per cent bigger than a Range Rover Sport’s. Which brings us now to the Picanto and the Citigo.

These are two genuinely joyous runabouts that dish up the sort of basic tyre-squealing driving fun that makes every trip to the shops potentially hilarious.

And they achieve it in slightly different ways.

The Citigo feels like a much larger, higher-quality car than its actual size and price should allow and it is impressively at home on a motorway.

The Picanto is not so much of a long-distance car but is even more receptive to being recklessly steered from left to right. Its 64bhp three-cylinder engine is revvy and sounds good, meaning you are inclined to thrash it while taking corners that little bit faster than you normally would.

The Picanto also deserves to be singled out for its sharp looks.

Overall, the best of these five cars is the Citigo.

But it is good to say the cheapest cars in the UK today are mostly great in their own way.

Key facts: Dacia Logan Access 1.2 5dr