You don’t need us to tell you that motoring is a financially taxing way of life. First, you have to buy the car. Then tax it, sort out insurance, fill it with fuel, buy some of those fluffy dice to dangle from the rear view mirror; it’s like a second mortgage.

But it doesn’t have to be. As our recent focus on cars priced under £10,000 proved, motoring needn’t cost the earth and there are plenty of decent, reliable cars with a four-figure asking price out there.

Acquiring the car is only the start of the battle though; you’ve got to run the thing now. So how do you ensure you’ve not bought a fuel-guzzling monster? Catastrophic running costs can quickly sour your new purchase, so here, we’ve laid out the cars that are the cheapest to fuel, tax and insure, according to Auto Express.

Rather than list a load of city cars though, we’re looking at them by segment with each model judged by its total cost of ownership (TCO) over a typical three-year/36,000-mile cycle.

City car

Suzuki Celerio 1.0 SZ2. TCO: £7,100

When the Celerio launched in 2015, it replaced the Alto, which had been the UK’s lowest-priced car until the Dacia Sandero stole the title.

Starting from £6,999, the Celerio hasn’t engaged in price limbo battles, but when it comes to running a car on a budget, you really can’t get better than the Celerio.

Supermini

Dacia Sandero 1.5 dCi Ambiance 5dr. TCO: £7,212

The UK’s cheapest car is also one of the cheapest to run. That said, this is the almost range-topping Ambiance model that comes with a £9,195 asking price, rather than the £5,995 tag attached to the entry model. Still, this means you can have a car and run it for three years at just over £16,000.

Family car

MG 6 GT 1.9D S 5dr. TCO: £12,559

MG made waves in 2016 by pulling out of Britain’s automotive manufacturing industry but its family-sized saloon remains well suited to families on a budget.

MPV

Kia Venga 1.4 ISG 1 5dr. TCO: £10,831

There are better MPVs and better Kias than the Venga, but if you can get past its frumpy drive and awkward appearance, then you’ll make some handy savings over three years of motoring.

SUV

Dacia Duster 1.6 115 Access. TCO: £9,996

More justification that Dacia really is the brand of choice for frugal motorists.

Executive

Jaguar XF 2.0d Prestige. TCO: £18,085

The first surprise entry here because it isn’t often a premium brand like Jaguar is associated with frugality, but here we are. The next two will shock you too.

Sports car

Audi TT 1.8 TFSI Sport. TCO: £15,351

For drivers of sports cars that don’t like paying for fuel, this entry-level TT is the car to go for with its 47.1 combined mpg and 139g/km CO2 output.

Luxury car

Bentley Flying Spur V8 saloon. TCO: £86,264

Look at that TCO figure, you could buy half a house for the cost of running the entry-level Flying Spur. With 25.4mpg and 254g/km CO2, we dread to think how bank balance-busting the rest of the segment could be.