The used car market is brimming with tasty deals, but sometimes it can be hard to tell the wise buys from the potential money pits.
Fear not: our used car experts have compiled their picks from the classifieds. See anything you like? Best to move fast and buy them before we do...
You may think it a little trite that we’re singing the praises of the Volkswagen Golf R, but if you weigh up the reasons for it, you’ll understand. Although it might not be the most exciting car to drive and it isn’t as exciting to look at as an electric blue Ford Focus RS or the bewinged Honda Civic Type R, that’s what fans are after. It’s supposed to be understated and subtle – but what isn’t subtle about the Golf R is the way it goes.
Find a used Volkswagen Golf R for sale on PistonHeads
On paper, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine isn’t that exotic, particularly next to, say, a six-cylinder BMW 135i. But when you drop a gear or two in the Golf R and pin the throttle, it pulls with such vigour that you’d need to be in a supercar to outpace one in the real world.
It’ll also dispatch corners with ease because it has huge reserves of grip and it can get all of its power down onto the road through an effective part-time four-wheel drive system. It’s intelligent enough to shuffle power from front to back and the stability control system can even brake the inside wheels to tuck the car into corners, making it devastatingly quick point to point.
There are plenty of examples out there for you to pick from and you have the choice of a slick-shifting manual or an easy-to-drive dual- clutch automatic. The Golf R we found for sale on Pistonheads.com has the manual and comes with climate control, adaptive cruise, a DAB radio and xenon headlights.
For the sake of the four-wheel drive system, just make sure that all four tyres match and that the car comes with a full service history. It’s a quick car, after all, so you want to know it has been looked after.
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C6
I considered buying a Citroen C6 a few years ago, given the huge depreciation, it looked like a real bargan.
Now they seem amazingly cheap for what they are and likely to be future classics. However, I guess it could be a bit scary if things go wrong? Maybe Bob, who posted the comment above would know more about it.
I have got a Rover 75 V6 that I still use from time to time. It's now got 215,000 miles on the clock and a little bit creaky, but still reasonably fast and nice to drive.
One thing to watch with the example mentioned is to ensure the timing belt has been done. It's needed at 90,000 or after 9 years? Mine's been done twice and It's a difficult job. The last time it was refreshed at 180,000 miles cost over £500, which is a big percentage of the purchase price of the one in the atricle. Buyer beware, eh?
My eyes!!!
That Bristol looks like a posh Marina.
I could think of 100s of cars I’d buy before dropping £80k on a Bristol makes sense.
A Bristol and a Shove-it van
A Bristol and a Shove-it van in the same used car article?