Great used cars for the summer

Rising material and energy costs, supply chain restrictions and increased equipment levels among them – and on top of that, most buyers are having to wait months between placing an order and taking delivery due to heavily delayed production schedules. The second-hand car market can provide welcome respite. And here we’re looking at some great cars for the summer: family haulers to get you to a location – and some fun cars to drive when you get there. We start with family haulers, by Piers Ward:

Beloved by everyone from school-run parents to impoverished aristos, the Golf transcends lists like these: it’s just so ubiquitous that it’s the cliché that keeps on giving. Hand-me-down Mk4 hatches were popular when my mates and I were in our youth, but those in the know hankered after a Mk5 estate. Launched in the wake of the all-conquering Focus, the Mk5 was when Volkswagen realised it couldn’t just make a reliable car (remember the ad?): it had to drive well ’n’ all.

This was in an era when diesel wasn’t completely vilified, so the 2.0 TDI was the engine of choice. The 1.9 diesel was a bit rougher.  Most Golfs of this vintage were and remain pretty reliable, but keep an eye out for the alloy wheels because they can suffer from corrosion.

ONE WE FOUND: 2008 VW GOLF 2.0 TDI SPORTLINE, 76K MILES, £4690

Beloved by everyone from school-run parents to impoverished aristos, the Golf transcends lists like these: it’s just so ubiquitous that it’s the cliché that keeps on giving. Hand-me-down Mk4 hatches were popular when my mates and I were in our youth, but those in the know hankered after a Mk5 estate. Launched in the wake of the all-conquering Focus, the Mk5 was when Volkswagen realised it couldn’t just make a reliable car (remember the ad?): it had to drive well ’n’ all.

This was in an era when diesel wasn’t completely vilified, so the 2.0 TDI was the engine of choice. The 1.9 diesel was a bit rougher.  Most Golfs of this vintage were and remain pretty reliable, but keep an eye out for the alloy wheels because they can suffer from corrosion.

ONE WE FOUND: 2008 VW GOLF 2.0 TDI SPORTLINE, 76K MILES, £4690

Perhaps one of the ultimate Q-cars. Since 1978, the Passat had been a byword for suburbia, but the 2001 W8 and its 266bhp 4.0-litre eight-cylinder soon sorted that out. Car spotters take note: model-specific wheels, a tiny W8 badge and quad exhausts are the visual clues to spotting one. Extremely rare, the W8 engine only ever appeared in the Passat and even that model was only on sale for three years.

ONE WE FOUND: 2002 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT W8 4MOTION, 93K MILES, £5595

There’s a great video of when the Volvo 850 Estate touring car was unveiled: the looks on rival drivers’ faces alone are enough to get it on this list. The racer has a naturally aspirated petrol 2.0-litrewith a six-speed sequential ’box, but the road cars got 222bhp turbo five-cylinder engines. Check the front tyres, because even with a torque limiter on first gear, you’ll be lucky to get10,000 miles from a set. YellowT5-Rswith the manual gearbox are the popular ones.

ONE WE FOUND: 1997 VOLVO 850 T5,102K MILES, £16,400

From when Mercs were hewn from granite. The 300 TE isn’t the most powerful family hauler on our list (180bhp and 188lb ft from its 3.0-litre straight six), but for understated cool, few come close. We had one when I was growing up, complete with rear-facing boot seats (handy for six-year-olds to blow raspberries at following traffic) and it remains the car my dad held onto for the longest – well over 120,000 miles by the time he decided to get rid of it.

ONE WE FOUND: 1992 MERCEDES-BENZ 300 TE, 183K MILES, £5000

No list of family haulers could be complete without a fast Audi and the first RS ever is a logical  starting point. The RS2 was based on the relatively suburban Audi 80. Porsche breathed on the suspension and engine, yielding 311bhp and 302lb ft from the 2.2-litre turbo five-cylinder unit. All that power was kept in check by a Torsen-type Quattro set-up.

But the real master stroke was the Avant bodystyle, mixing sleeper-car cool with family practicality – a recipe that Audi still dominates today. With fewer than 3000 made, the RS2was rare even when new and is sought-after today, as prices show.

ONE WE FOUND: 1994 AUDI RS2 AVANT, 81K MILES, £65,000

The Country Squire was sold across four decades but it’s the 1979-1991 edition we’re interested in. Why? Chevy Chase. The car and the man are indelibly linked in a melting pot of ’80s nostalgia. Pace won’t be strong. Despite a 5.0-litre V8, it could muster just145bhp, but then given the body roll evident in the movies, that’s probably no bad thing. Americana comes to Amersham.

ONE WE FOUND: 1983 FORD LTD COUNTRY SQUIRE WAGON, 54K MILES, £10,000

The world’s only three-door MPV – and likely to remain that way, given how MPV sales are going. Cutting-edge production techniques (Renault used high-pressure waterjets to cut the plastic bodyshell) and genuine standout styling weren’t enough to save the Avantime. If you ever sit in one, look at the double parallel opening door hinges. The way they allow the extremely long doors to cantilever out in a tight space is a thing of beauty.

ONE WE FOUND: 2003 RENAULT AVANTIME 2.0, 65K MILES, £5250

For once, BMW stuck it to Audi in the fast boot stakes. On song, and revving to 8250rpm, the 5.0-litre V10 is one of the greatest engines of the past quarter century. Reliability issues have scarred a few owners, though, so go carefully, and the engine did a pretty good impression of a diesel at idle, but for making the school run feel like a Juan Pablo Montoya outlap, the M5 brings a sense of occasion to the ordinary like few others.

ONE WE FOUND: 2008 BMW M5 TOURING SMG, 41K MILES, £36,950

Sales have dropped like a stone recently but the original Mk1 Focus will forever occupy a special place in Autocar’s heart, mainly because it makes everyday family driving rewarding. The estate lacks the hatch’s distinctive ‘NewEdge’rear-end styling but gains a healthy 520 litres of boot space. Used ones are mostly super-high-milers, but the odd one crops up with fewer than100k on the clock. They’re generally pretty reliable and rust-resistant, too.

ONE WE FOUND 2002: FORD FOCUS 1.6 LX, 103K MILES, £1995

Now let’s look at some fun cars to drive this summer, by Steve Cropley

Why a Westfield? Because it’s not a Caterham and thus not constrained by Caterham-ness: the need to compete with some pretty well-heeled, slightly snooty, marque-conscious owners. There are sophisticated Westfields, true, but I’m talking fun cars and there are plenty out there. Back in the day, I bought one and taught my kids to drive on a farmer’s field. The car wasn’t so precious that we worried about getting it dirty and it was easily mended by the local garage, not that it needed much.

Even the basic 1600cc Ford Zetec engine in an SEi has a decent turn of speed. Many have potent 2.0-litre fours, and your budget might even stretch to the V8. I drove the first-ever SEiGHT prototype in the wet and had my one and only experience of fourth-gear wheelspin. Lots of cars have the roll bars and harnesses needed for a bit of light competition, too. Hard to beat for the money.

ONE WE FOUND 2005 WESTFIELD SEi, 11K MILES, £13,995

Crazy idea? Not at all. Here’s a chance to own a serious performance car with a 4.2-litre V8 for hot hatch money, and (if you look after it) get most of your money back. Famous for durability, great at long distances, awesome power and noise. And there’s that beautiful gearchange gate to stare at whenever you don’t have your eyes on the road. What more can you ask for?

ONE WE FOUND: 2009 AUDI R8 V8 MANUAL, 50K MILES, £39,950

Any Mini’s fun, but the first of the ‘new’ Minis is capable, too. They’re also robust, so long as you buy on condition and heed the service records. The Cooper is the best option. You get the legendary agility and chuckability, but you can also take it on your holidays. They’re just starting to acquire classic value – which probably means that if you buy now, you’ll do okay when you sell.

ONE WE FOUND: 2004 MINI COOPER 1.6, 127K MILES, £1695

Forget the sophisticated Disco 3 and onward: we’re talking second-series Disco here – plentiful (which the original Disco isn’t) but easy to mend because it’s pleasantly crude. You used to be able to buy a V8 for buttons, if you can still afford 15mpg and don’t intend to drive to Turkey. But the 2.5 TDi is king: it works, keeps working and is a charming old car. Try some (legal) green-laning. You’ll love it.

ONE WE FOUND: 2003 LAND ROVER DISCOVERYTD5,150K MILES, £3750

Much nonsense is talked about these by people who’ve never driven one: they’re lovely old cars. Comfortable, too. Don’t confuse a B with a Caterham: it rolls on corners and isn’t quick. But it’s sporty in its own way, has one of the best exhaust notes going, and if you buy well, it’ll be strong and faithful. And you’ll be part of a large, like-minded community for which lots happens every summer.

ONE WE FOUND: 1973 MGB ROADSTER, 66K MILES, £5750

Much nonsense is talked about these by people who’ve never driven one: they’re lovely old cars. Comfortable, too. Don’t confuse a B with a Caterham: it rolls on corners and isn’t quick. But it’s sporty in its own way, has one of the best exhaust notes going, and if you buy well, it’ll be strong and faithful. And you’ll be part of a large, like-minded community for which lots happens every summer.

ONE WE FOUND: 1973 MGB ROADSTER, 66K MILES, £5750

Okay, another wild card. But if cruising is your thing, this Astra-based open four-door has considerable style, if you can forget the everyman Griffin badge. Just tell yourself it was also made as a Buick, GM’s premium economy badge stateside. Top dollar will buy you a 168bhp petrol auto from 2015,with plenty of miles left.

ONE WE FOUND: 2014 CASCADA 1.4T SE, 56K MILES, £8500

Where are you going on holiday this year? Probably easier not to leave the country. If you’re clever, there are plenty of secluded UK places a family of up to five can take a VeeWee. The old air-cooled Type 2 models are still very much in vogue but dog-slow and prices are steeply inflated by classic-ness. But all VW campers, old and new, have good residuals, so your money’s pretty safe. More recent T5 examples are downright excellent to drive, too. They’re pretty quiet, are very reliable, steer nicely and ride softly (unless you plump for one of the lowered, sportified examples) and there are 4x4 models, too, though at high prices. Best of all is the view as you ride along. (You sit higher than in a Range Rover.) Well, if you’re setting out to see the world, you might as well have the best possible view.

ONE WE FOUND: 2011 VW CALIFORNIA 2.0 TDI, 75K MILES, £36,995

Bit of a weird choice, but I’ve always liked this Twingo-based two-seater. Best ones are the 1.6 VVT models based on a TwingoRS. They’re a little heavier than absolutely ideal but go quite well, have decent steering and the usual supple Renault ride. You get wind in your hair cheaply, and when you drive, you’ll never see another.

ONE WE FOUND: 2011 RENAULT WIND 1.6 GT LINE, 58K MILES, £4300

There’s no better sense of well-being than punting a large, tall Yankee-style pick-up truck. Ford’s Ranger is the coolest, and so long as you can find enough road for it, it’s a decent drive. They’re all diesels, and mostly auto. The 4x4 helps plenty in tough terrain, and there’s the one-tonne tray for shifting gear. A taste easily acquired.

ONE WE FOUND: 2009 RANGER XLT THUNDERTDCi, 130K MILES, £5795