Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i What Car?

WHEN THE LATEST iteration of Peugeot’s 3008 family SUV first arrived earlier this year in electric (e-3008) guise, we were impressed with its long official range and the quality of its interior, but one of the issues we had was its high price (starting at more than £45,000). Well, it has now been joined by a cheaper petrol 3008 Hybrid that’s more competitively priced. With a mild hybrid 1.2-litre engine producing 134bhp and a 0-62mph time of 10.2sec, the 3008 isn’t as quick as the Cupra Formentor 1.5 TSI 150 – a rival with a similarly swoopy roofline – but it’s similar to the 1.8-litre Toyota C-HR. While the 3008 doesn’t feel all that urgent off the line, it has plenty of punch for accelerating up to motorway speeds or…

SOME BUYERS THINK estate cars have had their time and belong in the past, along with fax machines and cassette players. Volkswagen, though, thinks there’s life in them yet. The ID 7 Tourer is the big-bottomed version of the sleeker regular ID 7 electric executive car, and it’s one of a handful of electric estates on sale. Both ID 7s are available in three versions. The entry-level Pro, with a 282bhp electric motor that drives the rear wheels, can officially sprint from 0-62mph in 6.6sec and has plenty of muscle for day-to-day driving. With a 77kWh battery as standard, its 373-mile official range beats that of any BMW i5 Touring. The ID 7 Pro S has a larger, 86kWh battery, boosting official range to 424 miles, and it reaches 62mph…

THE NEW HYUNDAI Santa Fe might remind you of a school mate who took a gap year, went travelling and returned a completely different person. The Santa Fe hasn’t bleached its hair or gained any questionable tattoos, but it has taken on a bold new look that’s certainly a stark contrast to its more conservative predecessors. That said, the reborn model uses the same mechanical underpinnings as the previous car, as well as tweaked versions of the hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) petrol engines; gone is the diesel engine. We tested the PHEV, which combines a 1.6-litre petrol engine and an electric motor. The latter provides instant shove at low speeds and helps this model feel quite sprightly for such a big, heavy SUV. A drained battery takes a…

AS IF TO prevent it from feeling left out after the launch of the EX30 and EX90 electric SUVs, Volvo has treated its former flagship – the combustion-engined, seven-seat XC90 – to a facelift to bring it more into line with its younger siblings. A new front grille rings in the changes, flanked by reshaped LED headlights. The lower grille is now shallower than before, and there are a pair of upright side air intakes in place of the old car’s horizontal items. There’s a fresh set of LED lights at the rear, too. As with today’s car, the updated XC90 comes in mild hybrid petrol or plug-in hybrid form. The 247bhp B5, which officially returns 33.2mpg, is our pick of the current XC90 lineup. It sprints from 0-62mph in…

IT’S NO SECRET that we’ve long been fans of the Kia EV6, so much so that we named it our overall Car of the Year in 2022 and a class winner at the 2024 What Car? Awards. However, the electric SUV competition has been catching up quickly, and this EV6 facelift is Kia’s response. There’s more to the latest model than just a fancy new front bumper, some new wheel designs and some nice new lights, though. The biggest of these changes is a new battery, which is lighter than its predecessor and has a bigger usable capacity: 84kWh, up from 77kWh. As a result, its range has been increased; the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) versions can now officially cover up to 361 miles between top-ups (versus 328 miles previously). That’s farther…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Toyota Aygo X (2021-present) Toyota’s tiniest and most affordable car has outdone its bigger siblings with a perfect reliability rating of 100%. This indicates that not one of the Aygo Xs in our survey had any glitches at all. That means not a single Aygo X owner has needed to seek assistance from dealers at all in the previous 24 months. Reliability rating 100% What went wrong? Nothing Owner’s view “Its superb reliability is the thing I like best about my Aygo X” 2 Kia Picanto (2017-2024) This version of the Picanto may no longer be on sale new, but it’s well worth considering as a bulletproof city car. A mere 6% of examples aged up to five years old had any issues, and only with the…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Mini Countryman (2017-2024) The Countryman isn’t only the most dependable small SUV you can buy; it’s also the most reliable Mini model in the survey. Owners told us just 2% of their cars had any issues and these were restricted to niggles with the bodywork. With all these foibles sorted out at no cost and in less than a week, the Countryman has kept its owners extremely happy. Reliability rating 99.7% What went wrong? Bodywork 2% Owner’s view “My Countryman really feels like a high-quality vehicle” 2 Audi Q2 (2016-present) Almost all of the Audi Q2s in our survey behaved impeccably, according to owners. Only 3% reported any issues, all of which concerned engine faults that prevented the affected cars from being driven. Although all the faults…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Hyundai Santa Fe (2019-2024) According to owners, the Santa Fe is the most bullet-proof seven-seater you can buy. A mere 4% of owners reported any faults with their cars, and all were fixed for free. All of the affected cars could still be driven, and half were back on the road in a day or less, the rest being put right in less than seven days. Reliability rating 98.9% What went wrong? 12-volt battery 4% Owner’s view “I like how my car comes with a five-year warranty, just in case” 2 Land Rover Defender (2020-present) The Defender is the most dependable Land Rover model, with a 14% fault rate. Those cars that did go wrong mostly suffered engine and sat-nav/infotainment faults. All issues were fixed for free,…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Tesla Model Y (2021-present) Tesla has really turned round the reliability of its cars over the past few years and the Model Y is testament to this. Only 4% of the examples we heard about went wrong, and all were fixed for free. Three-quarters of cars were fixed the same day, and the rest were back on the road in less than a week. Reliability rating 99.2% What went wrong? Non-motor electrics 3%, motor electrics 1% Owner’s view “My car’s reliability gives me confidence in the brand” 2 BMW iX3 (2021-present) Only 12% of the iX3s in our survey had any glitches, and most were electrical issues affecting the air-con, motor and other components. BMW covered the cost of repairs, but these tended to be on the…

When it comes to reliability, a car’s brand is a better indicator of its durability than its fuel type. Mini claims the top spot this year, with a near-faultless score for all five of the diesel, electric and petrol models reported on in our survey. The shining stars were the Countryman, which gained 99.7%, making it the highest-scoring SUV overall, and the Mini Electric, which was the best EV with a rating of 98.4%. Former winner Lexus was just 0.4% behind Mini. The ES claimed the top spot in the executive class, while the 2014-2021 NX was the best family SUV and the 2016-2022 RX the top luxury car. The NX and Toyota Aygo X were also the only models to achieve a full 100% reliability rating. Suzuki wasn’t far…

All modern EVs have a readout designed to tell you how efficiently the car is using electricity. Usually, this information is displayed on the instrument panel behind the steering wheel, or on the infotainment touchscreen – either in miles per kWh (miles/kWh), kWh per 100 miles or sometimes even Wh per mile. But how accurate are these figures, and should they be relied upon? Well, the short answer is: it depends. We found that the efficiency readouts in six of our contenders – the Audi Q6, BMW i5, Cupra Born, Mini Cooper SE, Peugeot e-308 SW and Renault Scenic – were fairly accurate, reading within 3% of our calculations (dividing the range achieved on test by the usable battery capacity). However, other models showed bigger discrepancies. The readout in the…

Mileage 4924 List price £77,105 Target Price £70,819 Price as tested £92,570 Test range 318 miles A PENNY DROPPED from the top of the Empire State Building can kill; the Great Wall of China is visible from space; it takes seven years for your body to digest a piece of chewing gum. Most of us have heard these ‘facts’, even though we probably can’t remember where we learnt them. But it’s safe to say that it wasn’t from a school textbook, because in reality none of them is true. And another false fact that people often think they know is that electric cars are more efficient around town than on faster roads. My BMW i5, for example, spends much of its life in stop-start London traffic, where it has a…

CAN YOU CREATE a product that’s properly premium off the bat? Is it more than just history that distinguishes what will stand the test of time versus the things that are just fads? Or is it more like architecture, where some buildings are old, ornate and destined to remain part of the landscape for years to come, whereas others are just designed to mimic what already exists but soon feel dated? Those questions have been on my mind while running my GV60, given that Genesis is a relative newcomer to the UK prestige market that’s immediately trying to go toe to toe with the establishment. And I found myself mulling them even more after several (admittedly non-car people) thought I’d pulled up in a Bentley – probably because of the…

Mileage 4890 List price £35,895 Target Price £34,193 Price as tested £37,895 Test economy 63.7mpg ALTHOUGH I’VE RUN plenty of fully electric cars over the years, my experience with plug-in hybrids was limited prior to the arrival of my Mazda MX-30 R-EV. And the up-and-down nature of its fuel economy is taking time to digest. You see, my car’s average economy had been climbing steadily (getting as high as 108mpg), because I hadn’t done any long journeys for a few weeks, so I’d been running exclusively on electric power. I assume it would continue on that trajectory indefinitely if I only ever did trips of less than 53 miles and topped up the battery after each one. I say ‘53 miles’ deliberately, because that’s the official electric range of the…

STAR RATINGS TARGET PRICE The What Car? Target Price is the maximum you should pay for a new car and is researched by our crack team of mystery shoppers. Haggling for the best price with salespeople can be an uncomfortable experience, but it’s made much easier with our Target Price as a realistic figure to aim for. TARGET PCP Based on the Target Price figures set by our mystery shoppers, Target PCP is a fair monthly payment to aim for if you’re taking out a personal contract purchase (PCP) finance agreement at a car dealership. Most are over 48 months with a 15% deposit and an 8000-mile annual limit. Those marked with an asterisk are over 36 months and those with an apostrophe are over 42 months. Ford deals are…

BIG CITIES, big personalities, big portions; America does things big. It’s an appropriate place to build the new Volvo EX90, then. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, the EX90 is Volvo’s new flagship seven-seat electric SUV, which will sit above the petrol-powered XC90 in the Swedish firm’s line-up as an electric alternative. It’s quite a big beast at just over five metres long; it’s 84mm longer than the XC90. Unsurprisingly, it comes with a considerable price tag, too, which means it will be mixing with the likes of the five-seat Audi Q8 e-tron and BMW iX, as well as seven-seat versions of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV. Plus, there are cheaper seven-seat electric SUVs, such as the Kia EV9 and Peugeot e-5008, to consider. What’s it like to drive? There are…

‘The plug-in hybrid’s official 70-mile battery range eclipses those of rival PHEVs’ THE IDEA BEHIND the new Cupra Terramar is very simple. In the same way that chorizo is a spicier, more flavoursome Spanish alternative to the German bratwurst, the Terramar is a sportier serving of the VolkswagenTiguan family SUV. Both cars offer a similar range of engines, but variations on and beneath the surface mean they look and feel different The Terramar is larger and more expensive than Cupra’s Formentor, but it will still rival the likes of the Kia Sportage and Nissan Qashqai. Like most other Cupra models, it has a heavily sculpted ‘shark nose’ front end, triangular LED headlights and an illuminated badge at the rear. Power comes from a range of mild hybrid petrol and plug-in…

KIA IS LOSING its Soul – but not in the way you might think. No, it’s not its spirit that’s departing, but rather the Soul EV – an electric SUV that, to be honest, never found many buyers in the UK and always seemed a bit lost next to the brand’s similar-sized Niro EV. Kia is hoping the all-new EV3 will change that. While this all-new small electric SUV plays a similar role to the Soul EV by promising to combine affordable pricing with a long official range and generous equipment levels, it sets itself apart from the Niro EV (our 2019 Car of the Year, let’s not forget) with its strong resemblance to Kia’s flagship seven-seat EV9. There are two batteries to choose from, with 58.3kWh or 81.4kWh usable…

WHEN CROSSING THE Atlantic, Concorde used to burn 6771 gallons of fuel per hour – around four times as much as a 747. But then it was more than twice as fast. Yes, you usually have to accept reduced efficiency if you want increased performance, but the latest Bentley Flying Spur is both the brand’s most powerful saloon yet and its most frugal. This is made possible by the fact that it now uses plug-in hybrid (PHEV) power, combining a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine with an electric motor. Working together, these two power sources produce 771bhp, which is 145bhp more than the previous flagship W12 engine offered and enough to get the new car from 0-60mph in just 3.3sec. Yet, thanks to a sizeable 25.9kWh battery, it can officially…

‘The #5 can recharge faster than its siblings; a 10-80% battery top-up could take as little as 15 minutes’ THE NUMBER FIVE is considered significant in many fields, including mathematics, science and religions. In numerology, it stands for enjoyment, freedom and adventure, and these are attributes that might have been on the minds of the Smart #5’s designers when they were creating the brand’s first family SUV. The electric #5 sets itself apart from its smaller, sleeker #1 and #3 siblings with boxy, rugged-looking exterior styling and the sort of off-road accessories that you’d expect to find on a Land Rover Defender. These outdoorsy looks are backed up by traction-enhancing four-wheel drive (on some versions) and a variety of off-road driving modes. The #5 does have some of the same…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Skoda Octavia petrol (2013-2020) Petrol versions of the previous-generation Octavia gain a near-perfect reliability rating. This makes it a much better bet than the latest version (see below), with just 6% suffering any glitches. All issues were inconsequential, too, because they didn’t cause any breakdowns and were put right in less than a day. All work was done for free. Reliability rating 99.3% What went wrong? Fuel system 6% Owner’s view “I love my Octavia’s dependability; it never lets me down” 2 Mercedes-Benz A-Class hybrid (2018-present) Hybrid versions of the A-Class go wrong less often than petrols (11% versus 21%), and when they do, they’re quicker and cheaper to fix. All faulty hybrids were fixed for free in a day or less, whereas some petrol cars cost…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Lexus NX (2014-2021) The previous-generation Lexus NX is your best bet if you want a fault-free family SUV. Not only is it the top scorer in this class, but it also outperforms the latest NX, which scores 97.6% and lies in fifth place. No NX owners reported any issues with their cars, and that meant no time off the road for repairs and no unexpected repair bills. Reliability rating 100% What went wrong? Nothing Owner’s view “My car has been faultless in the two years I’ve owned it” 2 Toyota RAV4 (2019-present) Just 2% of RAV4 owners had any problems with their cars, mainly relating to the 12-volt or drive battery/charging system. While 50% of faults stopped cars from being driven, 83% were fixed in less than…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Mini Electric (2020-2024) The Mini Electric may not have the longest range, but it’s the most reliable electric car and far more dependable than its Peugeot and Vauxhall rivals. Only 5% of the cars reported on had niggles with their 12-volt batteries or motor electrics. While it took up to a week to rectify these faults, all cars remained driveable and all were fixed at no cost. Reliability rating 98.4% What went wrong? Motor electrics 3%, 12-volt battery 2% Owner’s view “Faultlessly reliable and I love the quality feel of its interior” 2 Nissan Leaf (2019-present) Only 11% of the Leafs in our survey had a glitch – either with the brakes, interior trim or non-motor electrics. Those faults didn’t cause any breakdowns, and 60% of the…

In spite of their complex engine and motor combinations, hybrids and plug-in hybrids are the least likely type of car to go wrong. Only 19% of cars with this power set-up had a glitch. Petrol models are the next best bet if you’re after a dependable motor, with a fault rate of 22%. While some electric vehicles (EVs) never put a foot wrong, others suffered a range of issues affecting motor and non-motor electrics, and some also had faults with their charging systems. Overall, 27% of EVs had a glitch. Meanwhile, diesel cars are the most likely to suffer a fault, with nearly a third (31%) of those in our survey having a problem. Diesels are also the least likely to be fixed for free; manufacturers covered the cost of only…

Twice a year (in the height of summer and the depths of winter), we put a selection of electric vehicles (EVs) through a ‘drive ’em until they die’ endurance test. The aim? To find out how far they can really go on a full charge and how efficiently they use the electricity stored in their batteries. Some of the cars lining up this August, such as the BMW i5, Cupra Born and Tesla Model 3, had taken part in previous tests – but there were plenty of newcomers, including the Audi Q6 e-tron, Mini Cooper SE and Volvo EX30. And for those in the market for a used EV, or anyone concerned about the longevity of electric cars, we also included a nine-year-old Tesla Model S with a whopping 258,000…

LIKE MANY SUPERSTARS – Beyoncé, Bowie, Britney and so on – some car models are so familiar that just one word will do to describe them. So, the question “What do you drive?” is quickly answered: “Civic”, “Qashqai” or (in your favourite dream) “Testarossa”. It’s safe to say the Honda e:Ny1 isn’t quite there yet. Therefore, since taking delivery of mine, I’ve used variations of the following rather a lot: “An e:Ny1. It’s an electric SUV that looks just like a Honda HR-V. No, you’re thinking of the ZR-V; this one’s smaller and… oh, forget it, here’s a photo.” None of which, of course, has any bearing on whether or not you should buy one. What matters to me – and what I’ll be testing over the next few months…

I’VE NEVER BEEN keen on the question “Would you like to go large?” that they ask at fast food restaurants. If I’d wanted enough chips to feed a family, I’d have said so, and a bigger drink only means more stress on my bladder. Generally speaking, a moderate serving is more than enough for me, and this is part of the reason why there’s now a Skoda Kamiq sitting outside my house. I’ve had SUVs of all sizes over the years, and bigger hasn’t always meant better. That’s despite every one of them having faced the same challenge: as a photographer, I have to load my car up with bulky gear and visit exotic locations (I was in Bicester the other day) at the drop of a hat. Therefore, any…

In production 2022-present Price from £26,000 Our favourite version C300e BACK IN 2022, New York magazine ran a cover story entitled ‘The Year of the Nepo Baby’, with the article poking fun at Hollywood stars and their influential parents. However, nepotism isn’t just alive in Tinseltown; it also exists in the car world, as demonstrated by the latest Mercedes-Benz C-Class. You see, this executive saloon is, in effect, a baby S-Class limousine. It looks a lot like that car, inside and out, and it uses the same underpinnings. Their engines are rather different, though, with every C-Class having four-cylinder power (versus six cylinders in the S-Class). These include 201bhp 1.5-litre and 254bhp 2.0-litre petrols (in the C200 and C300 respectively), plus 2.0-litre diesels producing 197bhp (C220d) and 262bhp (C300d). All…

“SIMPLIFY AND ADD lightness,” Lotus founder Colin Chapman once said. And in one regard, Audi has taken the latter part to heart with the new Q5. That’s because the latest generation will trip the light fantastic with headlights and tail-lights that are able to create intricate 3D patterns, plus interior illumination that creates a range of different ambiences. Yet far from simplifying, the new Q5 will be among the brand’s most sophisticated cars yet. It’s based on new underpinnings shared with the upcoming A5 executive car and will initially be powered by petrol and diesel engines featuring fuel-saving mild hybrid electrical assistance. A plug-in hybrid model will arrive later, but there won’t be an electric Q5; the new Q6 e-tron assumes that role. The mild hybrid system works slightly differently…

WHEN TIZER BOWED to the challenges of ‘sugar tax’ imposition and switched to artificial sweeteners, fans of the soft drink were saddened by how the taste had changed. Yet the packaging yelled “Now with added Zing!” as if to spin the change as an improvement. The outcome meant fewer dissolving teeth, so there was a positive. Likewise, the updated Ford Puma has a much more modern-looking interior than before, and is more in touch with what buyers demand, tech-wise. But here, too, the changes haven’t all been for the better. The air-con knobs and buttons that were so easy to use on the move are gone, as are most other physical dashboard controls, replaced by icons on a new 12.0in infotainment touchscreen. This has you looking away from the road…

THE FORMER FLAGSHIP of Maserati’s GranTurismo coupé range (named MC Stradale) was lighter, louder and quicker than its lesser stablemates. Now, though, there’s a new flagship, and while it’s still the quickest, it’s a lot quieter and much heavier than its siblings. That’s because it trades V8 petrol for electric power. Less aggressively styled than other GranTurismos, courtesy of different bumpers and wheels, the Folgore is powered by three electric motors (two for the rear wheels and one for the fronts). The front motor looks after propulsion most of the time, to maximise efficiency, including when cruising, with the rear motors kicking in only during acceleration. However, switch to the most aggressive Corsa mode and it’s the rear motors that do the heavy lifting. Those three motors give the Folgore…

WHEN BUYING A television, you’ll get a much larger screen from a lesser-known brand than you might from a big name such as Panasonic or Sony. BYD is doing a similar thing in the car world, by offering an electric family hatchback similar in size to a Volkswagen ID 3 at less than the price of the smaller Vauxhall Corsa Electric. BYD isn’t alone in playing the bang-for-your-buck game, though. When we tested the earliest, higher-spec Dolphin (with the biggest, 60.5kWh battery option), it was totally outclassed by the MG 4 Long Range – a rival that’s not only cheaper to buy but also has an even larger battery and can charge up quicker. The gulf was even wider between the Dolphin and the cheaper-still MG 4 SE. Now, though,…

DOES WHAT IT says on the tin. It’s a slogan that’s served Ronseal well for years, but that no-nonsense ethos applies equally as well to vans. The Ford Transit is always in transit. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter sprints, and the Volkswagen Transporter transports. This new model is longer and wider than the current version, the distance between the front and rear wheels is longer and there’s more space between the rear wheels; as a result, loading Euro pallets into the 5.8m3 cargo area should be easier. It can carry up to 1.33 tonnes – a little more than before – and the range includes long-wheelbase and high-roof models. As with rivals such as the Transit Custom, the Transporter will be available in a range of interior configurations, including panel vans with…

THERE ARE THOUSANDS more electric vehicles (EVs) on UK roads now than this time last year, but are they the most dependable cars you can buy? After all, EVs are far less complex than hybrid cars and require less maintenance than petrol or diesel-engined models, so they ought to come out on top, right? To answer this and other related questions, the annual What Car? Reliability Survey asks thousands of motorists to tell us if their cars have let them down during the past 24 months. The latest survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, has gathered data from 29,967 car owners. As well as telling us if their cars had suffered any faults, they also told us how much each issue cost to fix and how long it kept their…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Lexus ES (2018-present) The ES outclasses all its premium German rivals when it comes to dependability. Only 4% of ES owners reported issues, and only with the sat-nav/infotainment systems. Lexus covered the cost of all remedial work, and the only real inconvenience was that owners had to wait between one and seven days to get their cars back. Reliability rating 99.3% What went wrong? Sat-nav/infotainment 4% Owner’s view “My ES has been totally fault-free so far over five years” 2 BMW 3 Series petrol (2019-present) Petrol 3 Series models go wrong less often than diesels, with a fault rate of 9% (versus 17%). The most common issues were with the engine and electrical systems. Owners told us that 89% of work was done for free. The only…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Lexus RX (2016-2022) Like the Lexus NX, the larger RX demonstrates that being a complex hybrid is no barrier to being dependable: only 3% of the RX models in our survey went wrong. In even better news for owners, all problematic cars could still be driven and were back on the road in a day or less, and Lexus covered the cost of all repair work. Reliability rating 98.8% What went wrong? Bodywork 3% Owner’s view “It’s a Lexus, so I’m confident that my car won’t let me down” 2 BMW X5 (2018-2024) Bodywork and engine issues were the two biggest complaints among the 12% of owners who reported a fault with their X5. Four out of five faulty cars could still be driven, and 75% were…

While 82% of the cars in our survey had their faults fixed for free, the flipside is that 3% of car owners were left facing bills that exceeded £1500 for each issue. When it comes to costly repairs, the current Nissan Juke stands out, with 52% of faulty cars costing their owners more than £1500 to repair. The latest Porsche Cayenne can also be a costly car to live with; 40% of owners had to fund repairs costing more than £1500. And although the Jaguar F-Type and Peugeot 208 don’t have much in common, both models left 33% of owners with bills that topped £1500 per fault. At the other end of the scale, Audi pleased owners of Q2, Q3, Q4 e-tron and Q5 models by fixing 100% of their…

MOST RELIABLE 1 Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman (2016-present) Between Porsche’s mid-engined roadster and its coupé sibling, only 6% had any glitches, and the only area of concern was the bodywork. Getting things fixed was easy, too, with all work completed in a day or less, and Porsche covered the cost of all the work required. Reliability rating 99.3% Bodywork 6% Owner’s view “I really appreciate my car’s build quality and reliability” 2 Mini Convertible (2016-2024) Only 7% of Mini Convertibles exhibited faults, and the sat-nav/infotainment system was the only area that gave owners any grief. All of the affected cars were put right in a day or less, and Mini covered the cost of all remedial work, ensuring that disruption was kept to a minimum for owners. Reliability rating 99.2% 3…

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Mileage 3795 List price £53,530 Target Price £49,273 Price as tested £57,210 Test economy 39.0mpg MY WIFE AND I recently celebrated our wedding anniversary and, as has become traditional, we did so with a long weekend in Glastonbury – a great opportunity to put my Audi A6 Avant through its paces on a long trip. Of course, with the A6 Avant being a substantial estate car, you wouldn’t expect a few days’ holiday luggage to fill its boot. And, sure enough, our soft bags, walking boots and wet weather gear (it rains in Glastonbury from time to time, you know) barely touched the sides. More of a test was a Mk1 Ford Mondeo saloon bootlid. I had volunteered to pick this up from a local eBay seller and deliver it…

Mileage 23,445 List price when new £49,590 Price new with options £49,590 Value on arrival £31,000 Test range 265 miles A BIG REVELATION from living with my Model 3 is just how practical it is. Sure, we’ve praised it for this before in our group tests, but that was when comparing it with other executive cars; what’s surprised me is how practical it is full stop. I recently used it to help my daughter move home, and with some careful packing we managed to load it up with around 20 holdalls of clothes and household items. As if that weren’t enough, we then needed to buy a new door for her house – something that I wouldn’t usually expect to be able to transport without the help of an estate.…

Mileage 1298 List price £35,605 Target Price £35,173 Price as tested £35,605 Test economy 56.2mpg THERE’S A PARTICULARLY vicious pothole down one of the roads I use on my commute. And over the past few years, it’s become a standard test by which I judge the ride quality of my company cars. You see, in some models, you barely feel the pothole at all; the Range Rover I ran last year, for example, glided over it as if it wasn’t there. However, others, like the Kia Niro I had a while back, thumped to such an extent that on one occasion I got out to see if any damage had been done. So, how does my Lexus LBX fare? Well, the LBX’s low-speed ride has a firm edge to it,…

Purchase prices You’ll need around £26,000 to buy a 2022 C-Class. It’s likely to be a C200 or C220d Sport with around 30,000 miles on it, with AMG Lines rising to £30,000. For around £32,000, you can pick up a C300e – similar money to a comparable BMW 330e. The C43 is currently a year old and goes for around £48,500 used; that’s a few thousand pounds more than an equivalent Audi S4. The C63 PHEV is only just starting to appear on the used market, with the rare few examples costing upwards of £84,000. Fuel economy The two diesels are more economical than the equivalents in the A4 and 3 Series, with the C220d officially averaging a little over 60mpg and the C300d in the high 50s. The petrols…