Cheap car in Turkey

Many people settling in Turkey are getting stuck with choosing the family car. Turkish car market is quite different from car markets of other countries. Some models that are very cheap in Europe turn out to be expensive in Turkey and vice versa.

New or used one?

I would rather recommend buying a new auto. First of all, second hand vehicle is always a kind of black box. Fake milage, hidden defects, bad reconstruction works after accidents… Probably you can easily deal with your car problems in your homeland, but here in Turkey without speaking Turkish language, it can be quite tricky. Another thing is that Turkish drivers are usually do not care about their car. “Check Engine” light makes some matter only when the car is not going to move anywhere.

Cheap cars with manual gear

So what do we have on Turkish car market…

The prices are changing with growth and falling of Turkish Lira. Following prices are taken from official dealer websites in November 2017.

Petrol Engine:

Fiat Fiornio Pop 1.4 Fire 77Hp – 43 900 TL
Dacia Sandero Ambiance 1.0 Sce 75 bg – 46 350 TL
Hyundai i10 1.0 D-CVVT JUMP – 52 000 TL
Fiat Linea Pop 1.4 77 HP – 54 400 TL
Toyota Yeni Yaris 1.0 Life – 54 950 TL
Skoda Fabia 1.0 MPI 75 PS Green Tec – 55 400 TL
Fiat Panda Pop S1 1.2 69 HP – 55 900 TL
Peugeot 208 ACCESS PureTech 82 hp – 56 800 TL
Dacia Logan MCV Ambiance 1.0 Sce 75 bg – 57 350 TL
Nissan Micra 1.2 MATCH – 57 382 TL
Renault Symbol Joy 1.0 SCe 75bg – 58 000 TL
Volkswagen Polo 1.0 75 PS Manuel Trend – 58 000 TL
Opel Corsa 5 Kapı 1.2 70 HP MT-5 Essentia – 58 350 TL
Hyundai i20 1.2 MPI JUMP – 58 800 TL
Fiat Punto Popstar 1.4 Fire 77 HP S&S – 58 900 TL
Seat Ibiza 1.0 75 hp S&S – 59 000 TL
Renault Clio Joy 1.2 75 bg – 59 900 TL
Fiat Egea Sedan Easy 1.4 Fire 95 HP – 60 900 TL
Ford Fiesta 1.2L 82PS (114 Nm) Euro 6 5 Kapı – 61 360 TL

Diesel engine:

Fiat Fiornio Pop 1.3 M.Jet 75Hp – 55 400 TL
Dacia Dokker Combi Ambiance 1.5 dCi 90 bg – 57 700 TL
Renault Kangoo Multix Joy 1.5 dCi 90 bg – 62 050 TL
Ford Tourneo Courier 1.5L TDCi 75PS (190 Nm) – 6 2640 TL
Fiat Linea Pop 1.3 M.Jet 95 HP – 65 900 TL
Fiat Doblo Combi Easy 1.6 M.Jet 105Hp – 65 950 TL
Dacia Logan MCV Ambiance 1.5 dCi 90 bg – 66 900 TL
Dacia Sandero Stepway 1.5 dCi 90 bg – 67 900 TL

Cheap cars with automatic gear

Automatic gear is an option that increases the price of a car significantly. Some people drive only automatic gear cars, so let’s take a look on this category as well.

Fiat Fiornio – 58 400 TL
Dacia Sandero – 61 800 TL
Nissan Micra – 63 297 TL
Fiat Panda – 64 900 TL
Kia Picanto – 65 200 TL
Peugeot 208 – 65 600 TL
Hyundai i20 – 66 300 TL
Opel Corsa – 67 250 TL
Skoda Fabia – 67 600 TL
Ford Fiesta – 68 230 TL

As we can see, Fiat Fiorino is an absolute leader in all three categories, with the price of 43900 TL for the junior petrol model, 55400 TL for junior diesel and 58400 TL for the car with an automatic gear box. It is worth of mentioning that searching for “automatic” Fiorino can be tricky as it is usually being used in commerce as a cheap compact tool with some cargo capabilities. Anyway, the car is very nice.

The second is Dacia Sandero. It is inviting by its price – 46350 TL for the car with manual gear box and 61800 TL for the automatic variant. Price is the only benefit of this car. We tried to rent one of these and it didn’t do well. Noisy and small. If its driver (or passenger) is tall, there will be no room for people sitting behind (even for children).

For those who likes small cars, I’d recommend Toyota Yaris 54950 TL, Skoda Fabia 55400 TL or Nissan Micra 57382 TL (63297 TL for automatic transmission version).

If you’re searching for sedan, you should take a look on Fiat Linea 54400 TL or more attractive Fiat Egea 60900 TL (by the way, Egea has much more space for passengers inside).

If you’re in search for the spacious vehicle, you should certainly consider buying Fiat Doblo 61950 TL. It is remarkably huge inside. Also it has recommended itself as good and reliable car. That’s why it is widely used by taxi drivers.

What about SUV?

Crossovers and SUVs are not really cheap in Turkey. Only pickup trucks are being sold at a reasonable price.

For those who loves big cars, I’d recommend looking for rear wheel driven versions. Why? There are two reasons for this:

1) During my 2-year ownership of Volkswagen Amarok and with 90000 km on odometer, I used 4×4 mode only 3 times.

Roads in Turkey are very good and you can reach even faraway points without activating 4×4 (it can be useful only for those often going to mountains for skiing).

2) The tax for RWD 4×2 pickup truck (MTV – Motorlu Taşit Vergisi) is several times lower then tax for AWD 4×4.

E.g.:
The yearly tax for Toyota Highlux 2.4 4×2 is 697 TL
The yearly tax for Toyota Highlux 2.4 4×4 is 4317 TL

The difference in 3620 TL (it is almost 1000$ per year) is explained by difference in taxation of 4×2 and 4×4 trucks. 4×2 pickups are being taxed with truck rules (carrying capacity up to 1500 ton – 697 TL), 4×4 pickups are being taxed with passenger car rules (engine volume 1601-1800 сс – 1827 TL, 1801-2000 сс – 2878 TL, 2001-2500 cc – 4317 TL, 2501-3000 cc – 6019 TL, 3001-3500 cc – 9166 TL… and even higher).

4х2 and manual gear box:

Nissan Navara 2.3 dCi 4X2 VISIA MT – 91 674 TL
Fiat Fullback Rock 4X2 M/T 2.4 150 HP – 97 900 TL
Mitsubishi L200 2.4L 4×2 MT STORM – 101 244 TL
Toyota Hilux 2.4L 4×2 Active MT – 105 980 TL
Ford Ranger 2.2L TDCi 4×2 MT – 112 835 TL
Volkswagen Amarok Highline 2.0 TDI 4×2 MT – 130 340 TL

4х2 and automatic gear box:

Mitsubishi L200 2.4L 4×2 AT STORM – 107 636 TL
Ford Ranger 2.2L TDCi 4×2 AT – 120 345 TL
Toyota Hilux 2.4L 4×2 Adventure A/T – 121 500 TL
Volkswagen Amarok Highline 2.0 TDI 4×2 AT – 139 700 TL

4х4 and manual gear box:

Fiat Fullback Rock 4X4 M/T 2.4 150 HP – 110 400 TL
Nissan Navara 2.3 dCi 4X4 VISIA MT – 112 200 TL
Mitsubishi L200 2.4L 4×4 MT STORM – 117 630 TL
Ford Ranger 2.2L TDCi 4×4 MT – 122 700 TL
Toyota Hilux 2.4L 4×4 Adventure MT – 130 250 TL
Volkswagen Amarok Highline 2.0 TDI 4×4 MT – 140 180 TL

4х4 and automatic gear box:

Fiat Fullback Hardrock 4X4 A/T 2.4 180 HP – 120 400 TL
Mitsubishi L200 2.4L 4×4 AT TORNADO – 125 486 TL
Ford Ranger 2.2L TDCi 4×4 AT – 130 575 TL
Toyota Hilux 2.4L 4×4 Hi-Cruiser A/T – 135 450 TL
Nissan Navara 2.3 dCi 4X4 PLATINUM AT – 136 251 TL
Volkswagen Amarok Highline 2.0 TDI 4×4 AT – 149 570 TL

So, even though I am Volkswagen Amarok owner, I would recommend buying Nissan Navara in rear-driven manual gear box version for 91 674 TL.

Buying a new car in Turkey is very simple. You only need to get your tax number (Vergi Numarası) and get enough money. All other works are being done by the car dealer.

Also worth of mentioning is that pickup trucks in Turkey are not “passenger cars”. They should obey “Kamyonet” speed limits.

That’s what we have for passenger cars:
50 km/s – city, 90 km/s – 2-lane road, 110 km/s – 4 and more lane road, 120 km/s – highway

And that’s what we have for pickups:
50 km/s – city, 80 km/s – 2-lane road, 85 km/s -4 and more lane road, 95 km/s – highway

Used cars

If you are brave enough to buy second hand car, following websites will help you doing that: