Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 19 October

Honda Odyssey, £4995:

This privately imported 2016 Honda features a 200bhp 2.4-litre VTEC petrol engine for mum or dad up front, and has seven seats for the family to fill. It’s well-equipped, too, and a bargain at this price. This Odyssey would certainly be nice to come Homer to every night.

Vauxhall VX220, £8450:

So you’ve got a mid-engined two-seater that dispatches 0-62mph in 5.9sec and has handling that matches an Elise’s, and with a mere 69,000 miles showing, all for just over £8k. What’s not to like? Er, well, the badge, maybe, but if you can overlook that, you’ve got yourself a sports car bargain.

Mercedes-Benz E280, £5250:

This large Mercedes estate gained a reputation for indestructibility, which means this 1994 example with only 134,000 miles is barely run-in. There’s also a 2.8-litre six-cylinder petrol engine up front and oodles of space in the rear. The first owner was Earl Spencer, so this car might suit you royally.

Auction watch: 

BMW 750i: It’s not often you can snap up the same sort of car James Bond drove in one of the films for peanuts, but this 1997 BMW 750i recently went at auction for £1650.

Okay, purists will note that this car is on the standard wheelbase, whereas the car 007 used in Tomorrow Never Dies was actually the long-wheelbase 750iL model, but who’s quibbling over a few inches? Anyway, his car was much shorter by the end of the movie. This one has all its bodywork intact, a creamy V12 under the bonnet and even a current MOT. You can’t drive it from the back seat, though.

Get it while you can: 

Mazda 6, Price new £25,795. Price now £14,690: Anyone looking for a competent family saloon that’s both well-equipped and good to drive could do a lot worse than rock up at their local Mazda dealer and get themselves inside a 6. This year, Mazda took the step of facelifting the car, with minor mods to the styling, suspension tweaks and a new engine option. However, buy a 2017 pre-facelift version of our favourite 2.2d SE L Nav model and you could save more than £11,000, enough for a long family holiday to the Cayman Islands.