Manual is usually cheaper both to buy and to insure. Across seven common first cars automatics average around group 13 against manual's group 8, and typically cost £10,500 to £16,700 used against manual's £5,500 to £11,000. The real reason to choose automatic is ease of driving, not cost.
The numbers
Manual gearbox
Automatic gearbox
Insurance group
Averages around group 8 across common first cars, range group 1 to 28.
Averages around group 13 across the same models, range group 1 to 30.
Typical used price
£5,500 to £11,000 on the used market
£10,500 to £16,700 on the used market
Road tax
Depends on the specific car and registration date, not the gearbox itself
Depends on the specific car and registration date, not the gearbox itself
Fuel economy
57 mpg average combined across common first cars
51 mpg average combined across common first cars
Euro NCAP rating
Not affected by transmission choice; check the specific model's rating
Not affected by transmission choice; check the specific model's rating
Why choose this one
Cheaper to buy and consistently cheaper to insure across common first cars, with no real downside besides learning to use a clutch.
Easier to drive in traffic and for a nervous new driver, and increasingly common on hybrid first cars where the automatic gearbox is part of the efficiency, not against it.
Sources: First Car Scout vehicle listing and insurance-group data (July 2026).
The catch
The gap isn't universal to every individual car, it's an average across the market: a CVT hybrid automatic can insure and run cheaper than a manual with a bigger engine, as the Yaris and Jazz comparisons on this site show. But as a general rule, spanning Fiesta, Corsa, Polo, Yaris, i10, Picanto and the Fiat 500, the automatic version of the same badge tends to sit in a meaningfully higher insurance group and cost more to buy used. If budget is tight, learning and buying manual is the more forgiving choice; if ease of driving matters more, budget for the automatic premium rather than being surprised by it.
