50 of the greatest used car bargains: a Top Gear guide

Price when new £12,315 / Price now from £700

If we’re talking engineering masterpieces, this is up there with Veyron and Zonda. Stop laughing. The OG Focus is perhaps the closest humanity has ever come to perfecting the C segment: it nailed the sensible stuff, looked fantastic and was staggeringly good to drive. Buying one today? Befriend a welder.

Price when new £14,500 / Price now from £1,800

The feral John Cooper Works GP is already a bonafide modern classic, but a humble Cooper S can still be had for the sort of money you might find down the back of the sofa. Boggo Coopers go for even less - but you deserve a bonnet scoop and supercharger in your life.

Price when new £14,865 / Price now from £2,000

There are no dud generations of MX-5 but we reckon the NB (Mk2) is the sweet spot right now. It’s almost as pure as the Mk1, but easier to find clean, cheap examples of. Taller than the average rollercoaster minimum height restriction? Just be sure to also buy a good waterproof hat.

Price when new £9,995 / Price now from £2,500

The Panda is hardly an obvious starting point for a yobbish performance car, but that’s exactly what makes the 100hp so charming. It was a proper job too: swollen arches, larger wheels and lowered suspension all help distinguish it from your Nan’s one, while the upsized engine fizzes with character at all speeds. An adorable little rascal.

Price when new £31,995 / Price now from £3,000

In a world increasingly full of often dreary, often needlessly fast EVs, the RCZ’s delicious coupe styling grows more and more appealing - while its slightly plodding performance becomes easier and easier to forgive. Sure, a Smart #1 beats you away from a set of traffic lights, but you’ve got a double bubble glass roof and they’re getting beeped at by the ADAS for no clear reason. Who’s the real winner?

Price when new £16,995 / Price now from £3,000

With its eager, naturally aspirated engine and dinky dimensions, the 182 offers a flavour of hot hatchery that died out not long after it. Prices have already crept up to a point where it’ll sting a bit each time a piece of the papier-mâché interior comes off in your hand, but show it a twisty, open the taps and you’ll forget all about that. 

Price when new £45,830 / Price now from £3,500

Regarded by many as peak Range Rover and by some as peak car. You’d have to be a masochist to gamble on a dirt cheap example, and even if you buy a tidy one you should expect to shell out a four figure sum every time the bonnet opens. But on its day? There are few more exquisite automotive experiences.

Price when new £44,530 / Price now from £3,500

Funny how your perception changes over time, eh? The original Cayenne was unanimously deemed an affront to eyeballs everywhere when it came along in 2002, but these days we think it looks rather tidy. If we ever start saying similar things about the first gen Panamera, please consider it a cry for help.

Price when new £19,995 / Price now from £4,000

The car that got the GTI lineage back on track, emphatically returning to that key core value of just sort of being really good at everything. It can’t match the effervescence of its old foe, the Clio 182, but this is a 20 year old hot hatch you could still daily with pleasure. Get em while they’re cheap - prices are already on the up.

Price when new £33,950 / Price now from £4,500

It’s easy to forget that Porsche existed in a Jag-like state of perpetual imminent financial disaster for much of the twentieth century, given how successful it’s been since, Today, you can own the car instrumental to that change in fortunes for as little as four grand - and exist in your very own Jag-like state of perpetual imminent financial disaster. Or, you know, pay a little more and get a good one.

Price when new £15,995 / Price now from £4,500

Cars were better when they were worse. Floor it in any modern hot hatch, in any gear, at any revs, and speed happens. But where’s the fun in that? In the EP3 you have to extract performance - and not gently. Only by kicking it do you unlock the Civic’s manic VTEC delights, and they’re all the more rewarding for it.

Price when new £69,995 / Price now from £4,500

Important reminder that maintenance costs don’t drop in accordance with second hand prices, and that old Italian cars rank just behind yachts and children in terms of their ability to ruin you. But you find us more car for the money - we dare you. A gorgeous, Ferrari-fettled super saloon that’s all the more enticing now that Maserati has killed off the V8 forever.

Price when new £30,980 / Price now from £5,000

One of the only used EVs you can currently pick up for peanuts, which also happens to be one of the coolest electric cars ever made. The i3 was among the first to use clever thermal management systems to preserve its battery, meaning even high milers will still offer useful range. But more importantly, it has scissor doors.

Price when new £12,590 / Price now from £7,000

If there was a nuclear war tomorrow, only cockroaches and 190E drivers would survive. The original baby Merc is legendarily reliable and robust, making it a perfect choice for anyone who is passionate about classic cars AND regularly making it to their intended destination.

Price when new £8,900 / Price now from £7,000

Here’s a spicy alternative to the old Merc: throw caution to the wind and have a V12 Jaaag. Intrigued as we are by the recent rebrand, it’s definitely increased our nostalgia for the Jaguars of yesteryear. Ah, wood dashes and being stranded on the hard shoulder in a cloud of smoke. Simpler times.

Price when new £24,950 / Price now from £7,500

The standard Brera was another in a long line of “so close, yet so far” efforts from Alfa Romeo. It had the looks and the soundtrack, but the handling was pure custard. Thankfully, Alfa UK agreed - so they summoned the wizards at Prodrive, who chucked out the 4WD system and worked their magic on the chassis. The resulting Brera S is immeasurably better to drive and currently commands only a modest premium.

Price when new £49,960 / Price now from £7,500

Were these always so pretty, or has the current state of Mercedes design given us a case of rose tinted spectacleitis? In any case, the R129 isn’t just a desirable object, it’s a relic of a golden age of Mercedes engineering. Look after one of these and your grandkids will be squabbling over it at your funeral.

Price when new £23,745 / Price now from £7,500

One of several utterly mad engineering projects from the Ferdinand Piech era at VW, born from the same “screw it, let’s just see if we can” mentality that spawned the Veyron. With a 3.2-litre VR6 crammed into its nose, the R32 never handled as well as a GTI, but it wasn’t trying to. Instead of attacking corners, you burble leisurely along, savouring the incongruously big-chested engine and wookie-esque exhaust howl. They’ll never make anything like it again.

Price when new £59,900 / Price now from £8,500

A wonderfully Jaguar take on the super saloon, this. Instead of stiffening everything up like its German rivals, the XFR retained all the suppleness of the standard XF - it just happened to have an atom bomb under the bonnet. Yours today for the price of a Citroen Ami.

Price when new £29,335 / Price now from £8,000

Audi has never much gone in for the whole “lightweight specials” malarkey, which makes this rare toe dip all the more memorable. In the name of said lightness, it shuns the V6 for a turbo four, but what it lacks in V6 woofle it makes up for with a sharpness few subsequent TTs have matched. Also bucket seats and alcantara bits.

Price when new £24,995 / Price now from £9,000

The GT86 is summed up neatly by its skinny rear tyres. Fatter, stickier numbers would’ve improved lap times, but Toyota was more interested in lowering the limits of grip down to a point where you could play with them on public roads, without getting yourself all arrested. Rarely has a car so explicitly prioritised engagement over all else - and examples have just started to drop below 10 grand.

Price when new £23,555 / Price now from £9,500

VW’s new electric supermini will finally arrive in 2027. But why wait? They nailed it the first time. An electric powertrain only further improved the cutie patootie Up - its only hinderance was its high price. No longer!

Price when new £27,245 / Price now from £9,500

By no means the only ST deserving of a place on this list - the Mk7 is a certified TG hero and cheaper to come by. But being the swansong for fast Fiestas, the Mk8 feels extra special, and all but guaranteed to one day surge in value. At least Ford still makes other sporty family cars, like the Capri. Yay.

Price when new £10,070 / Price now from £10,000

You can look at this one of two ways. It’s an awful lot of money for a 90s Peugeot, but an absolute steal for a proper homologation special. Sure, modcons are limited to manual window winders and the main crash protection structures are your kneecaps. But pound for pound, you’d struggle to find anything on this list that beats it for sheer analogue driving pleasure.

Price when new £29,990 / Price now from £10,000

So common a sound are its flatulent DSG upshifts on UK roads that it’s easy to forget just what an utterly magnificent machine the R is. In the real world, it’s as fast as anything you’d care to put it up against and, when you’re done schooling supercars, it’s still a Mk7 Golf - the finest vintage of them all. A ludicrous amount of car for £10k

Price when new £68,700 / Price now from £11,500

Get this: for certain spells during the early years of its production run, Tesla’s first model was offered with a lifetime of free supercharging - an offer which transfers to new owners when bought second hand. That, combined with the minuscule maintenance costs of any EV undoubtedly makes this the cheapest car to run… in the world. For this, we can forgive the panel gaps.

Price when new £N/A / Price now from £12,000

The sheer number of these you can find in the classifieds, despite the fact it was never actually sold in the UK, speaks to just how much the Impreza STI’s boxier sibling resonated with British petrolheads. Rally car hardware, gold wheels and several labradors worth of boot space? It’s like Japan made it just for us. We’re half surprised there wasn’t a dedicated crumpet holder.

Price when new £29,515 / Price now from £13,000

Like a well mannered Japanese student who studied abroad in Turin and came back smoking cigarettes and swearing in Italian, the 124 combines the MX-5’s sweet chassis with Abarth’s foul mouthed four pot and slaps on a black bonnet for good measure. The result is wonderfully obnoxious and - with no successor on the horizon - potentially the last ever small Italian sports car. Crikey.

Price when new £34,420 / Price now from £13,000

New, the appeal of its sensational design and lounge-y interior was tainted by the absurd price and poor range. Today… the range is still pants. But having shed £20k of value, it suddenly looks very tasty as an urban runabout. This is Honda at its off-beat, brilliant best.

Price when new £49,985 / Price now from £14,000

Funny to look back and think that, among the 2000s trifecta of V8 German super saloons, this was regarded as the restrained option. It’s a raging hooligan in today’s money, but one which - hole in fuel tank notwithstanding - still has big daily drivability 20 years on.

Price when new £39,750 / Price now from £14,000

High art. That furious six cylinder bark. That understated, yet menacing bodywork. Those exhaust tips! No one would argue if you declared this peak M car - so how on Earth are these still so cheap?

Price when new £18,950 / Price now from £14,000

If you want a purer driving experience, you’ll have to start looking at cars that sacrifice doors for flappy bits of cloth. Right now, £14k gets you a tidy example of the first or second gen Elise - and that seems far too good to last.

Price when new £78,950 / Price now from £14,000

We were never quite able to completely fall in love with the old Granturismo in its day. The new car is a far more polished product, both with petrol and electric power - but do you know what neither version has? A honking great big V8. In fact, no Maserati ever will again - which surely makes this a future classic.

Price when new £53,650 / Price now from £16,000

Six point two litres. It was outrageous in 2008, but in eco-conscious 2025 it’s like you’re punching a polar bear in the face every time you fire it up. Still, there’s an argument to be made that this is AMG’s greatest ever engine. And you can own it for the price of a Dacia Spring.

Price when new £71,470 / Price now from £17,000

It wasn’t the most revered M5 in its day - succeeding the deranged V10 powered E60 was always going to be tricky. But what it lost in high revving insanity, it gained in… the ability to survive 100,000 miles without blowing up. Also improved fuel economy, superior refinement and immense torque. It’s only a matter of time before the F10 gets its day in the sun - get in before it does.

Price when new £46,950 / Price now from £20,000

Surely the coolest ever diesel, from surely the coolest ever car brand. More refined than an M3 yet equally capable of clearing slow moving traffic with its tidal wave of torque, and all while delivering some 50+mpg. There may not be a more broadly talented car for 20 grand.

Price when new £61,675 / Price now from £20,000

There’s an analogue tactility and nimbleness to the 997 generation 911 that, brilliant as it was, the bigger, heavier 991 that followed could never quite match. The GTS is our go-to pick, but prices for those have gone bananas already - pick a C2S up before the inevitable happens.

Price when new £32,265 / Price now from £22,000

21 grand may sound like an awful lot for a Focus, but remember two things. First, the Mk3 RS was the 2016 TG car of the year. And we know stuff about cars. Second, it’s a fast Ford and those are synonymous with stratospheric appreciation. If you’d bought and held onto a few Escort Cosworths 20 years ago, you’d be sipping gold leaf mojitos on your private moon yacht today.

Price when new £103,000 / Price now from £22,000

Into proper brave pill territory now. The bills would be astronomical, the fuel economy harrowing. We’re not saying you should, we’re simply saying you can own one of the most beautiful cars ever made, with one of the great V12 engines, for less than a new Polo. Do with that information what you will.

Price when new £40,000 / Price now from £25,000

Two brave pills for this one. You’d struggle to find anything less reliable than a 2000s TVR, but there’s also precious little more capable of turning heads and garnering nods of respect at your local Cars and Coffee. Respect, and curiosity as to how you’ll be getting home.

Price when new £88,200 / Price now from £32,000

Get this: there are early Taycans available now for only slightly more than the value of the options fitted to them. Pour one out for the poor souls who bought instead of leased - and then ruthlessly exploit their misfortune by picking up one of the finest performance EVs for utter peanuts.

Price when new £78,195 / Price now from £33,000

One of the most useable, practical supercars ever made, yours for the going rate of a compact crossover. Granted it’s not quite as practical as said crossovers but do you really need rear seats? Let the kids take it in turns sitting in the front for the school run and have the other run alongside - it’ll give them a chance to admire the airblades.

Price when new £32,995 / Price now from £45,000

With just 2,500 made, this commemorative special edition of one of the great rally cars feels weirdly undervalued to us. It surely won’t last - once the Subaru P1 inevitably ascends to unobtanium status alongside the 22B, these are surely next. A nest egg that you can hoon around muddy fields of a weekend.

Price when new £143,320 / Price now from £50,000

In period, the baby Fezza was maligned for being too soft and not a “real” Ferrari. For 50 grand, we can handle a bit of squidge. Especially when it represents the cheapest way to experience Maranello’s last ever naturally aspirated V8. Or…

Price when new £182,952 / Price now from £60,000

… you could neck the whole bottle of brave pills and experience automotive nirvana - a Ferrari V12. You’ll have to make do with the Scaglietti’s slightly irritating F1 box - manual examples go for more than double - but that’s no major issue in this long legged GT. Also, when did these get so pretty?

Price when new £168,500 / Price now from £60,000

Peanut butter and chocolate. Strawberries and cream. McLarens and depreciation. The MP4 heralded a new dawn for Woking’s finest, yet, today you can have one for half of what its contemporary rival, the Ferrari 458 sells for. Trust us, it ain’t half the car.

Price when new £284,535 / Price now from £65,000

Ahem. Look, “bargain” is a relative term. We didn’t promise cheap, we promised value. And we put it to you that the Phantom VII of the 2000s offers nine tenths the opulence and presence of the latest model, for less than two tenths the price. Subscribe for more money saving tips.

Price when new £169,545 / Price now from £115,000

A real sweet spot in 21st century Ferrari lineage, post shonky F1 gearbox and pre turbocharging. Prices for the holy grail Speciale have already left this galaxy, but you can bag a “regular” 458 for a deeply reasonable sum right now. And you jolly well should.

Price when new £185,500 / Price now from £122,000

Even the really special McLarens aren’t safe from monstrous depreciation, it seems. Production of the 600LT ended in 2021, during which time it’s somehow managed to lose 60 grand in value. Do chunks of carbon just fall off them at speed? Anyway, the upshot is that for the price of a new and conservatively specced entry level 911, you can have a full blown supercar with more performance than you will ever know what to do with. Plus, they couldn’t lose any more value, right? Right?

Price when new £140,780 / Price now from £125,000

Quite simply, there’s never been a big car that was better to drive, and we appreciate it that little bit extra now that its impressive, albeit portly, successor has arrived. Only 1,000 or so examples of this, the first ever M5 CS, are believed to have been built, so good luck finding one. But if you do, buy it. And if you find two, buy both.