Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 22 February

Now the big one: the chassis and body. The car has a replacement galvanised chassis, which is good, so we’d turn our attention to common rust zones, including rear seatbelt mounts, boot floor, bonnet hinge, sills, door bottoms and windscreen surround. Fingers crossed…

Jaguar X-Type 2.2D Premium, £4500: This luxuriously appointed baby Jag, a 2008/08 car with 73,000 miles, has had 11 documented services, or around one every 6500 miles. The X-Type wasn’t the last word in Jagness but Premium spec brings leather seats that wouldn't disgrace a Bentley. 

Porsche 911 (996), £11,000: Thank heavens so few like the 996-series 911 (1997-2004): it means bargains for the rest of us, like this 1998 Carrera 2 with 102,000 miles. The ad says it has a full service history with invoices. We don’t expect many to be main dealer but reputable specialists would be reassuring.

Ford Focus 1.6 Ecoboost Zetec S, £7990: We like spotting discreet warm hatches like this. Its engine produces 177bhp, which is even more appealing in a car as well sorted as a Focus. It’s a 2012, one-owner car with full service history. Downside? It’s done 20,000 miles so it has been worryingly idle. 

Volkswagen Lupo 1.6 GTI, £1150: Are you sitting down? This ancestor of the Up GTI has done almost 250,000 miles. It was registered in 2001 and the seller, who is responsible for 200,000 of them, has owned it for 15 years. “Don’t be put off. She drives like a peach,” they say. It has full service history, apparently.

Auction watch 

BMW 328i M Sport Coupé: Honest, low-mileage E36-generation 3 Series coupés like this are rare. The 1998 car fetched £5000 – not stupid money, given its modest 40,000 miles and good service history. It’s in the right colour, too, and the nappa leather looks fresh. Add the electric sunroof and BBS alloys, and it’s a bargain, especially when the classifieds yield so little. Closest we came was a 1996 328i coupé with full service history and 99,000 miles for £5495. Mind you, we did find a later, one-owner, 2000-reg E46-gen 323i auto with 70,000 for £2995. Rather have that thuggish 328i manual, though.

Get it while you can

Peugeot 108 1.0 72 Allure 5dr, price new - £13,049, price now - £8700: You can have any engine you like in a new 108 so long as it’s the 1.0 72. The earlier 1.0 PureTech 68 and 1.2 PureTech 82 are no more. If that spoils your appetite for a 108, then consider this: it’s possible to secure a discount as high as £4349 on one. It brings the price of a new and amply equipped Allure five-door (air-con, richly featured infotainment system, reversing camera, alloy wheels and auto headlights) to £8700, from £13,049. That’s a big saving at this price level, although you can pick up a nearly new 1.2 Allure from £7350. 

Clash of the classifieds

Brief: Find me a cheap-as-chips, fully loaded, premium bruiser that makes a mockery of buying new.

Jaguar XJ 2.7 TDVi Sovereign, £5495: If you’re after a bargain bruiser that’s also stuffed with gadgets, then look no further than a used Jaguar XJ. The crazy thing is that there are still good examples to be snapped up. We found an economical 2007 2.7 TDVi with just 77,000 miles on it for only £5495. And it’s a Sovereign, which means it comes with everything including sat-nav, voice activation, electric seats and heated bum warmers all round. Plus, you can find plenty of Sovereigns with a wire mesh grille and not the horrible, plasticky alternative found on lesser models. Max Adams