Thirty-eight thousand of them, and the six things that separate a good one from a cheap one. That is the whole market for autos under £10k on the index this morning, and it is deeper than most buyers expect: 240-plus models, from fifteen-year-old executions of the idea to four-year-old superminis that still have a warranty.
The six checks, in the order the data ranks them: gearbox service history (the single best predictor of what a used automatic costs you after purchase), mileage versus age (a 2016 car on 40k beats a 2014 on 60k at the same money), the index price versus asking (anything more than £800 over the band median needs a reason), MOT history continuity, brand parts availability, and only then the trim.
One warning from the file: the cheapest automatics under £3,000 cluster in models with expensive gearbox failures and no service records. The index prices them low for a reason, and the reason reappears at 60,000 miles with a four-figure invoice attached.
