Used cars

Thrills without the bills: the Toyota GT86

Like an Aston Martin! Only much, much cheaper! And without a massive V8!

Published: 02 Jan 2026

What is it?

A front engined, rear wheel drive coupe. Much like an Aston Vantage. Both are immense fun to drive. But one doesn’t cost an arm and leg to buy and insure.

Why are we interested?

Essentially you’ve got a similar recipe, but the GT86 has half the cylinders, nearly a third the power and two thirds the weight.

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So... it’s the same but not?

It is. But a new V8 Vantage is £165k. A really nice GT86 can be had for sub-£15k. And you’ll get more driving thrills.

What should I buy?

The GT86s were all 2.0-litre boxers, so there’s just trim choices and condition. We’d look for a 2013 version with under 60k miles on the clock.

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