Bargain used cars for £1000

You barely need four figures to get into these fine automotive figures
1/10
Rob Adams|Autocar13 June 2017

Even a tight budget is no barrier to bagging yourself an interesting, reliable and practical secondhand car. If you pick right, you can feel like a millionaire for the sort of cash they lose down the back of the sofa. Here are our 10 grand picks.

Jaguar S-Type

It’s not pretty, but underneath, there’s genuine Jaguar appeal to be found. The S-Type handles well while V6 and, in particular, V8 engines are powerful and fruity. Lots of equipment: make sure it all works.

Top buy: 2002 3.0 V6 SE (80,000 miles)

Vauxhall Corsa

You see a lot of them out there and there’s good reason for that. Vauxhall’s little supermini is reliable, cheap to run and still smart-looking, particularly racy SXi trim. If you’re a youngster looking for a first car, you could do a lot worse.

Top buy: 2005 1.2i SXi

Honda CR-V

Want a bulletproof compact SUV? Look no further. The practical CR-V is archetypal Honda – intelligently designed, practical and tough, and able to go much further off road than you’d ever believe.

Top buy: 2002 2.0 i-VTEC Sport (FSH)

BMW 7 Series E38

As featured in late-1990s Bond films, the 7 Series is as fun to drive as you’d hope an executive-line 3 Series would be. The core of it is very reliable, so just make sure there aren’t any expensive niggles buried within suspension and electrics.

Top buy: 1998 728i (100,000 miles)

Lexus IS 200

The Lexus alternative to a BMW 3 Series, that’s lasting much better than its arch rival from Munich. It’s very reliable, very good looking and still fun to drive. Just don’t pick one riddled with niggles, as they’re pricey to fix.

Top buy: 2003 IS 200 SE (100,000 miles)

Mazda 6

Mazda is another Japanese brand that’s a byword for reliability. The 6 is one of the best cars it’s made in recent years, one that drives nicely and looks after the family well. Either diesel or petrol are good, but petrol is cheaper to buy, so better here.

Top buy: 2004 1.8 TS

Honda Accord Estate

The distinctive Honda Accord still looks sharp, and that clean-cut body hides an amazingly roomy and practical interior. It’s engineered like a premium car so the drive remains appealing; our choice is the petrol, as it’s less likely to suffer niggles.

Top buy: 2003 2.0i Executive (140,000 miles)

Skoda Superb

Minicab drivers love them, for reasons that should appeal to the rest of us too – the Superb is enormous inside, very reliable, cheap to run and, with a 1.9-litre turbodiesel, excellent on fuel. The Skoda badge keeps prices affordable.

Top buy: 2006 1.9 TDI PD Classic (118,000 miles)

Toyota Yaris

Think you need an advanced new petrol car to get mega miles to the gallon? The Yaris was doing this more than a decade ago – bank on over 50mpg for the basic 1.0-litre, and over 47mpg from the 1.3-litre. Reliability goes without saying with a Toyota.

Top buy: 2003 1.0 CDX

Saab 9-5

Saab may be no more but that shouldn’t put you off picking up one of its finest cars, a late-model 9-5. Parts supply is good, but they’re tough enough to ensure you shouldn’t need that many, and they’ll go on forever if you pick one that’s been looked after.

Top buy: 2003 2.0 petrol Vector

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