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Best cars & vans

Best new cars for under £300 per month

You can get these top cars for less than £300 per month

If you’ve got £300 per month to spend on a new car, there are all manner of different vehicles you could choose from. A wide variety of family cars, SUVs and even electric cars can be found within your budget and lots of them have performed very well in our tests. To give you a solid starting point, we’ve picked the best new cars for under £300 a month in the list below.

With every Personal Contract Hire deal, we've also linked to our Find a Car deals pages so that you can view the very latest offers from a range of top providers. 

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At present, the majority of the car finance deals with the lowest monthly prices are on a Personal Contract Hire basis. This is an agreement where you will lease the car for a limited period of time, but will not have the option to own the car at the end of your contract. 

Cupra Born - £288 per month

  • Model: Born e-Boost V1
  • List price: £35,495  
  • Powertrain: 58kWh battery, 1x e-motor, RWD  
  • Power: 227bhp  
  • 0-62mph: 6.7 seconds

The Cupra Born shares most of its major mechanicals with the Volkswagen ID.3, although the Cupra has sharper looks, sportier dynamics and a more generous equipment list. So although you might expect it to be more expensive on a monthly lease, it seems that the Born is usefully cheaper.

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The e-Boost V1 can be yours for £288.18 per month, which undercuts the less powerful ID.3 Match Pro by around a fiver. Both hatchbacks have a 58kWh battery, which gives a range in the region of 260 miles.

Besides the extra power – which is accessed by a gimmicky ‘e-Boost’ button on the steering wheel – we prefer the Cupra’s sporty personality, which makes it much more fun to drive than the Volkswagen.

Our deal is for the entry-level V1, or you can upgrade to the V2 with heated seats and an augmented-reality head-up display for an extra £15 per month.

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See our Cupra Born deals

Hyundai Kona Electric - £265 per month

  • Model: Kona Electric 65kWh Long Range Advance
  • List price: £38,595 
  • Powertrain: 65kWh battery, 1x e-motor, FWD  
  • Power: 215bhp 
  • 0-62mph: 7.8 seconds

While the Hyundai Kona is available with petrol and hybrid powertrains, it’s the Hyundai Kona Electric which is the bigger bargain on the leasing market, with a monthly rate of £264.82 and an advance payment of £1,588. That’s £33 per month less than the best deal we could find on the hybrid.

Although a pure-electric model might not suit everyone, the Kona’s large battery and strong efficiency will make it easy to live with, giving a 319-mile range. It combines daring looks with excellent comfort and tech levels, plus there is much more space than in the previous version, making it a practical proposition for small families and all their associated clutter.

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But the real surprise is the performance. With the larger-battery model, Hyundai unlocks 215bhp from the e-motor. This is enough for 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds, although the chassis is more suited to relaxed driving.

See our Hyundai Kona Electric deals

MG ZS EV - £264 per month

  • Model: ZS EV SE Long Range
  • List price: £30,495
  • Powertrain: 68kWh battery, 1x e-motor, FWD  
  • Power: 154bhp 
  • 0-62mph: 8.2 seconds

It’s cars such as the MG ZS EV that have seen MG storm up the sales charts in the UK, thanks to their sheer value for money and seven-year warranty. If you are looking to lease one, you have the choice of petrol or electric powertrains for almost the same monthly payments. The ICE-engined option is a run-out pre-facelift 1.5 VTi-Tech Exclusive, at £264.54, while the electric version is an SE EV that costs less than £4 more at £267.94.

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Even though it's not so well equipped, we’d choose the electric model, especially because it’s the Long Range car with the bigger 68kWh battery. This gives a theoretical 273 miles between charges, along with temptingly low running costs.

Whichever powertrain you choose, the ZS is spacious and well equipped, even in the lower SE trim. The EV is also refined and easy to live with.

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See our MG ZS EV deals

Nissan Juke - £228 per month

  • Model: Juke 1.6 Hybrid N-Connecta
  • List price: £29,095
  • Powertrain: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder petrol hybrid, FWD 
  • Power: 141bhp 
  • 0-62mph: 10.1 seconds

The Nissan Juke has always divided opinion, but it has spawned a raft of copycat rivals; drivers seem to love the combination of SUV style with a raised driving position and low, supermini-style running costs.

There are lease deals using our sample terms from £206.88 per month for the 1.0 DiG-T N-Connecta. But we think most drivers would be better off skipping a few posh coffees and finding the extra £21.05 for the Hybrid version. Besides having better performance, it returns another 12mpg, which means our 8,000 mile-per-year driver would recoup £17.59 a month in fuel.

See our Nissan Juke deals

Peugeot 2008 - £223 per month

  • Model: 2008 1.2 Puretech 100 Active
  • List price: £24,180
  • Powertrain: 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol, FWD  
  • Power: 101bhp 
  • 0-62mph: 10.8 seconds
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Peugeot’s smallest SUV combines some striking styling with surprising quality. It’s practical, too, with decent cabin and boot space for this size of car. Although some rivals are more engaging to drive, the Peugeot is more refined.

We’ve plumped for the cheapest deal on a Peugeot 2008, for the entry-level 1.2-litre 100 Active model, which has just been dropped from the official price lists. But you might think it’s worth paying an extra £15 per month for the more powerful 130 Allure, which cuts a second off the 0-62mph time and adds some interesting tech, including the digital i-Cockpit dash display.

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Make sure you try one for size before signing on the dotted line though, because the driving position and tiny steering wheel won’t suit everyone – and especially taller drivers.

See our Peugeot 2008 deals

Vauxhall Grandland - £255 per month

  • Model: Grandland 1.2 Ultimate
  • List price: £37,045  
  • Powertrain: 1.2-litre 4-cylinder petrol, FWD
  • Power: 134bhp  
  • 0-62mph: 10.4 seconds

If you are not too bothered about having the latest model, then the run-out deals on stocks of the last generation Vauxhall Grandland are pretty compelling. It’s a big, family-sized 4.6-metre-long SUV with a massive 550-litre boot for less per month than most superminis.

The deal we found costs just £254.83 per month for the range-topping Ultimate version, which is packed with kit, including a powered tailgate, clever matrix-LED headlights, heated seats and windscreen, a head-up display, plus a huge panoramic sunroof.

Don’t be put off by the small 1.2-litre engine. An added turbo and mild-hybrid system help  it produce a reasonable 134bhp. But our deal is only for the six-speed manual model, which  is a shame because the dual-clutch automatic transmission suits this car better.

See our Vauxhall Grandland deals

More of the best new car deals

Did you know you can sell your car with Auto Express? Get the highest bid from our network of over 5,500 dealers and we'll do the rest. Click here to try Auto Express Sell My Car now...

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Consumer reporter

Tom is Auto Express' Consumer reporter, meaning he spends his time investigating the stories that matter to all motorists - enthusiasts or otherwise. An ex-BBC journalist and Multimedia Journalism graduate, Tom previously wrote for partner sites Carbuyer and DrivingElectric and you may also spot him throwing away his dignity by filming videos for the Auto Express social media channels.

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