Has anyone found automatic cars more or less expensive (pre owned) in the UK?

I have a car now and will be very sad to leave it behind when I move to England next year. I drive automatic, but will eventually learn manual! I just don't want worry about learning how to drive a manual right away with everything else I'll be worrying about. I know I can drive on my US liscence for 1 year which makes me curious to know where can I find/look for an automatic. Pre owned is fine as long as it's safe and suits my needs. Oh and what's a good automatic car? Like make wise? Thanks fellow UKYers!

Automatic cars will always be more expensive than manual cars.  Sometimes thousands of £ more expensive.  I'd start looking on AutoTrader.co.uk for a good idea, or if you will be in/near London, Car Giant is the perfect place to look for an affordable newer car.

If you are mainly looking for affordablility over any kind of driving experience (and dont mind cheapy/plastic parts), Citroen may be good, or one of the smaller Renault or Peugeot models.  If you want something a bit better built, maybe look at the Volkswagens polo or Seat (which is actually owned by VW).   Or you can focus your search on Mercedes b/c they are mostly all automatic  

If affordability isnt the major factor and you can afford a nicer car, one thing to keep in mind when you are searching is that you may find that you have a very hard time finding insurance cover on some of the nicer/faster cars b/c most insurance companies will classify you as a new driver regardless of how many years you have been driving in America. If you are looking on AutoTrader.co.uk, make a note of the insurance group as this will have a major effect on insurance price.  If the insurance group is over about 10 (its a scale of 1-20), you will probably run into trouble with insurance coverage as a driver with no UK driving experience.

If you aren't bothered by something being too old, you can also check on Gumtree, which is a free site in which to sell/advertise goods, services, etc.  I had always driven a manual (after way too many lessons) and found a car in the right price bracket that happened to be an automatic (I wanted to spend around £500-so not a lot!) and it was a 1993 VW Golf.  But then I'm not interested in how it looks (totally fine but if you're into cars, you'd probably think it was a bit crappy), I don't drive a ton (needed to move from Norwich to Liverpool and that was all I was really hoping for).  In this case, the automatic was nearly the same price as manuals I was looking at, but then the car is old, it had 90,000 miles and I wasn't too particular.   The guy I bought it from was completely genuine, very nice and I have been very pleased (and driving an automatic in the UK has been something of a revelation....)

further to the issue about cost of insurance - my husband and I have been licensed drivers for 40+ years; he is UKC, I am USC. I still had my UK license from when I lived here 11 years ago, but the insurance only considered the place where we had our 'most recent' driving license. They did NOT consider our 'no claims' history from the US, but as soon as we got our UK license updated, the premium dropped by >£300.

So - get the UKDL as sson as you can.

We bought an automatic because we are older and didn't want the hassle of a manual, even though we both can drive a stick . Find a dealer that sells the ex-motability scheme cars; many are automatic, an they are generally newer and low mileage.

If you aren't bothered by something being too old, you can also check on Gumtree, which is a free site in which to sell/advertise goods, services, etc.  I had always driven a manual (after way too many lessons) and found a car in the right price bracket that happened to be an automatic (I wanted to spend around £500-so not a lot!) and it was a 1993 VW Golf.  But then I'm not interested in how it looks (totally fine but if you're into cars, you'd probably think it was a bit crappy), I don't drive a ton (needed to move from Norwich to Liverpool and that was all I was really hoping for).  In this case, the automatic was nearly the same price as manuals I was looking at, but then the car is old, it had 90,000 miles and I wasn't too particular.   The guy I bought it from was completely genuine, very nice and I have been very pleased (and driving an automatic in the UK has been something of a revelation....)

So how long have you owned it now? 90,000 miles isn't a lot of mileage for today's cars.
Automatics can be economical to own because you don't have to replace the clutch.

When I first moved here in 2003, I bought a second-hand automatic Metro for £600. Drove it into the ground and resold it in 2006 for £300.

When I first moved here in 2003, I bought a second-hand automatic Metro for £600. Drove it into the ground and resold it in 2006 for £300.

I like your style Chary hehe Well I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on a car my main qualities I want: safe, reliable, economical and possibly spacious? Am I shooting for the moon? lol

As other posters have written on here, used cars are usually cheaper in the UK than in the US.

Current car 1993 VW Golf:
Bought August 2011 for £500 (year's MOT)....so far, so good

Previous car 1996 VW Polo (manual, 95,000miles):
Bought March 2009 for £250 (with 6 months tax and MOT), put a bit of money in at MOTs and sold in August 2011 for £150!

Family in the USA thought I was nuts but had to tell them that a VW under 100K miles had a fair bit of life left! Golf is safe, economical, spacious....and hopefully reliable.

Current car 1993 VW Golf:
Bought August 2011 for £500 (year's MOT)....so far, so good

Previous car 1996 VW Polo (manual, 95,000miles):
Bought March 2009 for £250 (with 6 months tax and MOT), put a bit of money in at MOTs and sold in August 2011 for £150!

Family in the USA thought I was nuts but had to tell them that a VW under 100K miles had a fair bit of life left! Golf is safe, economical, spacious....and hopefully reliable.

I've also read on here, I think, that the European VW is a better car than the VW  that is sold in the US.

Well I looked on autotrader.co.uk and I did see some cars that struck my fancy, however the insurance estimates start at a minimum 800 pounds a month?!?! That's just crazy! That's also without me taking into account my non existant driving record in the UK  Any good insurance companies for 25 and over?

£800 per month? Are you sure? Even a new driver here doesn't pay that, and my 93 year old father in law was only paying £1600 year and he had several accidents (little bump-ups because he should NOT have been driving).

Try www.confused.com or www.comparethemarket.com; call direct line insurance definitely.

That's obviously a mistake. But it generally will be higher your first year or two. Mine dropped drastically after that. I now pay far less than I ever did in the US. Get in touch with a good local insurance broker (not one who's part of a big chain).

If you are looking at the insurance estimates provided by AutoTrader.co.uk right underneath the listing, this is an annual premium, not monthly payment.

If you are looking at the insurance estimates provided by AutoTrader.co.uk right underneath the listing, this is an annual premium, not monthly payment.

Ok good to know, thatmks for clarifying! For a minute there I had an OMG moment! LOL