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

Alpina B7, £24,999: Our story on pre-Brexit bargains found a one-owner B7 with 74k miles for £16k. The catch? It’s a left-hooker. This example, also a one-owner car with full service history, is right-hand drive and has done just 57k miles. It’s immaculate, too.

Citroen BX, £995: The BX of 1982-1994 can be credited with having kick-started the UK’s love affair with powerful, sporty diesels. Most have gone to the great scrapper but not this tidy, 1990/H-reg 1.8 TZD. It’s got 186k miles on the clock and a sheaf of workshop invoices. 

Jaguar XKR 4.0, £4995: An old XKR still makes a great spot. One like this 2002/02-reg with 109,000 miles, gleaming in Zircon Blue and with a sand leather interior. The best bit? It has 15 stamps in its service book, the last fettle performed by Guy Salmon Jaguar.

Vauxhall Insignia, £6295: Trips to the tip, house and student moves, long drives to one’s second home… A big diesel hatch like this Insignia has its uses, and when it’s this much value (a 2015/15-reg 2.0 CDTi Design with 68k miles and full service history), it’s near impossible to resist.

Auction watch

Ferrari 412: You can pay up to £85,000 for a pristine, low-mileage example of Ferrari’s flawed four-seater, so someone knew a bargain when they bagged this 1987 example with just 17,000 miles on the clock and a year’s MOT, for £43,460. It once belonged to a sultan, who, judging by its condition, financed its servicing without blinking. 

Examples like this are rare. Worse than the body rot they eventually succumb to is the chequered past most have had at the hands of bargain hunters who couldn’t afford to run them. Budget at least £1500 in annual maintenance and about 10mpg with a light foot.

Get it while you can

Mercedes-AMG A35 4Matic auto, price new £35,580, price now £32,834: It has just gone on sale and already you can get £2746 off a new A35 4Matic. That’s some saving on a car that’s even more entertaining than the previous-generation A-Class hot hatch, the A45 4Matic, and puts that model in a bit of a spot. We saw a 2018/18-reg A45 Premium with 8000 miles for £37,990, or £5156 more than a discounted A35. That seems a hefty premium (no pun intended) to pay for driving an old model. Try that line on the salesman and see if you can get an appropriate discount on a nearly new A45 while they’re still around.

Clash of the classifieds

Brief: Find me a Tardis: a versatile, roomy but compact car for an active young family with an £8000 budget.

Citroën Berlingo Multispace 1.6 HDi Plus, £7499: Many believe that an active family needs an SUV. Not so. The Berlingo’s boxy shape affords a remarkable amount of space for passengers and a 675-litre boot (with the seats up). There’s an ultra-low loading sill, too, and you won’t find an annoying transmission tunnel in the back, so this is a genuine five-seater. The sliding rear doors are a boon, especially in a multi-storey, and the hardy wipe-clean plastics will shrug off the abuse of an active lifestyle. All in all, it’s the perfect family car. Max Adams