Meant to say earlier, make use of the ability to check a car's MOT history as, while no means the be all and end all, it will give an indication of how well the car has been looked after. But with that in mind, obviously at this price point, you really can't be too fussy. You might get lucky and find something local owned by an old biddy and kept in a nice dry garage, serviced meticulously etc, but in reality, it will probably boil down to choosing the least bad of a bad bunch!.

pug 107 should be on the list but as said at this sort of budget you really can't that choosy.

I have read that early Citroen C1's can have gearbox problems. If that is the case, it would surely also apply to the mechanically identical 107 (and Toyota Aygo). But otherwise, they are simple and cheap to run cars.

I'd also put forward the VW Fox, not because they are particularly good cars, but because of the very low insurance group coupled with them being driven mostly by old biddy's. The 1.2 (3 cyl) is group 1 and even the more reliable 1.4 (4 cyl) is only group 3. And yes, before anyone says, i do realise that there is not a direct correlation between insurance group and relative price, especially for a younger driver (see earlier post re Skoda Fabia VRS), but because the Fox is not a typical youth choice, it might be worth getting a quote for the 1.4 (i'm sure SLO has mentioned the 1.2 not being that reliable). There are only two trim levels (doesn't affect insurance groups), the basic and the Urban. The basic trim has black unpainted bumpers and looks naff, whereas the Urban, looks a bit better.