What do the official used car sales figures tell us? I’m no longer sure. On the face of it, they seem to be reassuring and confirm that the nation’s favourite pre-owned model just happens to be the Ford Fiesta. This all comes from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and they indicate that the UK’s used car market last year was more or less on a par with 2018’s. So that’s 7,935,105 sales in 2019, down a paltry 9935 on the 12 months before.
The reassuring news is that all the diesel-geddon scaremongering hasn’t swayed the real-life car buyer. Diesel car sales were down by just 0.6% and petrol by a teeny 0.3%. Apparently there were ‘surges’ for electric cars but, as a percentage of the overall market, it was a titchy 0.2%. We’ll forget about them for now because they don’t yet count as ‘real’ used cars. Instead, if you’re on this page thinking about something that’s not a supermini, you could make your money go further with a petrol or diesel executive or sports car.
What can we treat ourselves to? This week our budget is based on the rather high average price, which is up 0.6% to £12,800. So how about a great big and very scary 2011 BMW 640d M Sport coupé for a paltry £12,000? It has more than 105,000 miles but the dealer breathlessly announces that it comes with more than £6500 worth of extras. That’s pretty academic by the time any vehicle is nine years old but, even so, here is a lot of continent-crushing car for supermini money.
Then again, if you want something smaller and less aggressive but just as practical, the late, lamented Volkswagen Scirocco is a great model to track down. A 2014 2.0 R-Line TDI DSG Bluemotion with just 40,000 miles is yours, once again, for £12,000. This is a one-owner car and I wouldn’t worry about the automatic gearbox too much. If nothing else, it makes your life easier.
If you want to descend into hardcore wonderfulness, then £12,000 also gets you aboard a 2014 Toyota GT86 2.0 D-4S with a barely run-in 36,000 miles. It’s being sold privately, but I think this is a seller you could trust because I liked all the pictures and the fact that it was black but spotlessly clean.
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@ James Ruppert
These forward facing radar on Golfs are a pain. A good friend of mine has had two complete uits taken out ....both by Pheasant strikes.
Very expensive insurance claims and sure to effect policy costs.
This tech is not robust enough for rural roads with huge numbers of Pheasants and Partridges in the roads.
435d 2014 £13k with 80k
However, running costs do apply.
Enter a 2014 435D. £13k with 80k into the discussion. In my view the most car money can buy, period. With similar money for the 3 Series...
I drive a 3.0ltr Merc diesel with FSH and 205k on the clock.
I've owned it for eight years and will be looking to buy the above and keep for at least five years...
P. S. Off to wash my hands now.
Lol.
640D
As ever, LP, it depends how fastidiously it has been looked after and serviced. I have had a 635d followed by a 640dGC over the last 10 years and, although my mileage in the two of them has not been much more than 80,000, running costs have been pretty moderate. Decent tyres are about £220 each, insurance (for me) in the region of £500 and annual servicing has been less than that. The 635d averaged 38mpg and the 640d has avareged 43.5 - including plenty of short journeys. Yes, there are people on here who rail about BMW reliability but I have run diesel BMWs for the last 17 years without a hitch. The only downside of the 640GC: length and width. (One of the several reasons I won't be migrating to an 8 series.)
johnhg wrote:
But Rupert is referring to the BMW as available for fiesta money, even citing your experience a BMW 6 will surely cost considerably more to own and run than a fiesta. Even the diesel Scirocco will cost more no doubt.
si73 wrote:
Sorry, Ruppert, spelled his surname wrong.
@ si73
....the expression BMW (or any other premium car), for Fiesta money refers to cost to buy NOT cost to run.
You can buy Maserati Quattroporte's for Mondeo money - I have been tempted myself - but no one is suggesting you can run a Quattroporte for Mondeo money!!
Impressive
640D