Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i What Car?

If you’ve got an older sibling, you probably ended up with quite a few hand-me-downs when you were a kid – clothes or toys that wouldn’t have been your first choice but which you just had to make do with. However, when it comes to cars, second-hand doesn’t have to mean second rate. After all, buying used can not only save you a lot of money on the purchase price, but also put you in the driver’s seat of a model that you might otherwise not be able to afford. And, of course, it will help you avoid the heavy initial hit of depreciation that almost all new cars suffer from. But with so many tempting options on used forecourts and in the classifieds, where should you start? Well, that’s…

EVER TRIED FITTING a pair of six-footers in the back of a typical electric hatchback? The result is often a chorus of grumbles and possibly even bruised knees. Well Kia, it seems, has been listening, because while its new EV4 is a rival to the Cupra Born and Renault Megane, it feels more like a limo in the back. The EV4 is closely related to the EV3 SUV, but you sit 40mm closer to the road and there’s a bigger distance between the front and rear wheels. These changes not only improve aerodynamics but also help to carve out that remarkably spacious interior. Plus, at 435 litres, the boot is bigger than those of the Born and Megane. As with the EV3, power comes from a single 201bhp electric motor…

IT WOULD APPEAR that Citroën has never heard the saying ‘you can please some people all of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time’. You see, this all-new C5 Aircross wants to be exactly that: a people pleaser that offers something for everyone. While its predecessor majored on comfort, this new one builds on that by being even more spacious inside, thanks to a longer wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels) and slightly taller proportions. On top of that, as well as mild hybrid petrol and plugin hybrid (PHEV) variants to choose from, a pure electric e-C5 Aircross is available for the first time. Here, though, we’re focusing on the PHEV, which is the fastest C5 Aircross that you can…

ON AVERAGE, FOUR people per day were killed in road traffic accidents in the UK last year. The latest figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) have sparked urgent calls for reduction targets from the Government. A total of 1602 fatalities were recorded in reported road collisions in 2024, down just 1% on the year before. The number of people killed or seriously injured also fell by 1%, to 29,467, while casualties of all severities were down by 4% compared with 2023. The limited improvement in road safety has sparked calls for the Government to urgently implement a safety strategy to reduce some of the major causes of road traffic accidents. Indeed, a strategy was promised last year by the DfT, which stated that fatalities on the road had been…

ACCORDING TO CHARGING data provider ZapMap, the number of home chargers for electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK passed the one million mark at the end of 2024. That might sound like a lot, but when you consider that there are 28.6 million homes in the UK and two-thirds of them (19 million) have driveways that would allow their owners to have an EV charger fitted, there’s still plenty of scope for expansion in the sector. Indeed, it’s estimated that around 300,000 new units are likely to be added each year. And that means choosing a home charger will currently be on the minds of many. Some brands might already ring a bell, including Andersen, Hive and Pod (which recently changed its name from Pod Point). But many of the…

Hyundai Tucson On sale from 2021-present Prices from £13,000 Our pick 1.6 T-GDi 230 Hybrid Premium THE HYUNDAI TUCSON is concrete proof of things getting better with age. Across more than two decades and four generations (including the badged-for-Europe ix35), Hyundai’s family SUV has improved to the extent that the latest version is one of the best in its class. Perhaps the biggest indicators of how far the Tucson has come are its interior quality and the amount of tech fitted as standard. There’s a good balance of physical and touch-sensitive controls and a crisp, responsive 12.3in infotainment touchscreen. The Tucson feels much more sophisticated inside than the equivalent Citroën C5 Aircross. There’s no shortage of equipment in any version, with dual-zone climate control and cruise control fitted across the…

OVERALL WINNER Lexus/Toyota Relax THE RELAX WARRANTY is one of the very few to provide cover for cars up to 10 years old and very much does what it says on the tin, by offering buyers of eligible used Toyotas and Lexuses almost unparalleled peace of mind. Somewhat confusingly for our purposes here, there are actually two complementary Relax schemes – one for Lexus and one for Toyota – but they come from the same parent company and are identical in every way, so they’re joint winners. The length of the warranty is linked to your car’s service schedule. Take it to a franchised dealer every 12 months for a service and you’ll be rewarded with another 12 months’ worth of warranty and UK-wide roadside assistance courtesy of the AA,…

Audi A3 Sportback On sale from 2020-present Prices from £14,000 Our pick 40 TFSIe Sport PLUG-IN HYBRIDS (PHEVs) often take the form of big, bulky SUVs, but the Audi A3 TFSIe isn’t like that. This posh family hatchback is one of the most compact PHEVs you can buy – a factor that will appeal to those who seek some electrification in their motoring but who don’t want to wrestle with an unnecessarily large car. In 40 TFSIe form, the A3 initially came with a 1.4-litre petrol engine and an electric motor that could propel the car for up to 40 miles (officially) on electricity alone. That’s farther than the Volkswagen Passat GTE can go. It performed well, too. The 40 TFSIe produced a healthy 201bhp, with 0-62mph taking a brisk 7.6sec.…

WHEN I FIRST got my Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport, I had visions of showing it at modified car meets, of racing away from traffic lights, and of, perhaps, shaking the odd window with bass as I drove past. In short, the sorts of thing that, as a younger chap, I thought hot hatches were all about. Having run one over the past few months, though, my perception has changed. Yes, my Golf GTI has been enormous fun, but it’s also been comfortable and practical for family life. And while you might think that’s always been the GTI’s schtick, driving my car back to back with some of its forebears showed just how far it has come. True, an early GTI feels more visceral to drive than today’s car, helped by…

Mileage on arrival 40,181 Mileage now 41,261 List price when new £56,545 Value on arrival £16,500 Test range 286 miles MY TESLA MODEL 3 hit 852 miles per hour the other day, and it was, as you’d expect, a thrill. Not 852mph on the road, of course; the Model 3 Performance is fast, but not land speed record fast. No, the speed I was delighted to hit was the rate at which a Tesla Supercharger in Ipswich was filling up my car’s battery. The Model 3’s touchscreen showed a charging rate of 212kW and helpfully converted that into 852mph. That’s a lot of numbers, but it means I could hit the road just 10 minutes after first plugging in and get to my destination with ease, even if I had…

Mileage 6218 List price £26,995 Best price £26,995 Price as tested £27,395 Test range 211 miles AFTER DRIVINGTO Belgium in my Renault 5 (R5) last month, I’ve continued to pile on the miles on home turf. And one place I visited was Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, where I found some interesting parallels with my car. You see, while many small electric cars go with the grain of modern hatchback styling or mini-SUV looks, the R5 stands out by cleverly incorporating many features of its 1970s ancestor, albeit giving them a modern twist. Similarly, the striking red brickwork of the medieval Oxburgh Hall is enlivened by a plethora of towers, turrets and terracotta chimneys, but these were added later, in Victorian times, making it look very different from other properties of…

COMPUTER ANIMATION MAKES the impossible possible, and the next big-screen blockbusters by Dreamworks, Marvel, Pixar and the rest will likely have your jaw dropping like an anvil from a tree. It seems a safe bet, too, that the next-generation Porsche Cayman – most versions of which will be 100% electric vehicles (EVs) – will be an incredible piece of kit. It’s said that the batteries will be shaped and sited in a way that apes the outgoing 718 Cayman’s mid-engined layout, with similar weight distribution as a result. Plus, the sublime Taycan and Macan Electric have demonstrated that Porsche can make EVs that are every bit as high on driver appeal as they are low on emissions. ‘You can carve your line in the manner of an expert downhill skier’…

THE Q3 IS a family SUV that Audi hopes will be loved as much as the third quarter (or Q3) of the calendar year, from July to September. Barbecues, holidays, sunshine (sometimes, at least)… what’s not to like? And Audi knows it has a winning formula on its hands already, with the previous Q3 proving to be one of its most popular models. This new, third-generation version is slightly larger all round than its predecessor, promising incremental improvements in space inside. At the same time, it has been given a shake-up in terms of interior layout, and there’s a revised choice of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid power options. And as before, there’s the alternative of a coupé-styled Q3 Sportback, which uses the same ingredients as the regular Q3 but…

IF YOU’RE ABOUT to buy a lottery ticket, you might want to ask Dacia which numbers to choose, because the new Hipster concept suggests the firm has a crystal ball. EU president Ursula von der Leyen had barely finished announcing her intention to introduce a new, less regulated category of small electric car to help bring down prices, when Dacia pulled the covers off the Hipster. This three-metre-long electric hatchback would be even cheaper than today’s Dacia Spring (which costs from £14,995). But crucially, it could be put into production only if it wasn’t subject to all of the current legislation – particularly around active safety. Given how long it takes to develop a car (even when it’s just a concept), work on the Hipster clearly began long before von…

ONCE UPON A TIME, the idea of a two-tonne SUV that could outdrag a supercar would have seemed absurd. These days, it’s almost expected. So, the new Tesla Model Y Performance isn’t here to shock anyone; it’s here to refine a recipe that the brand has been serving up for years: massive pace, everyday usability and cutting-edge tech. As with its predecessor, the acceleration figures of this new Model Y Performance are mightily impressive. Tesla claims it can sprint from 0-60mph in 3.3sec, putting it roughly on a par with the more powerful (but heavier) Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and MG IM6 Performance. But this isn’t just a Model Y with more powerful electric motors. It also gets bespoke adaptive suspension and stickier tyres to help it during cornering. Sport…

AS MANY AS two million disabled drivers in the UK are at risk of being left behind due to a lack of accessible electric vehicle (EV) chargers, a recent report has found. According to research by independent watchdog Transport Focus, no public chargers on England’s motorways or major A-roads officially adhere to the standards outlined for accessible charging. Guidelines for these measures were introduced in 2022 by the British Standards Institution (BSI), but meeting them is not compulsory when installing chargepoints. As a result, disabled EV drivers face obstacles that prevent them from using these chargers. These include small bays that don’t provide the room required for easy movement around the vehicle, and a lack of on-site assistance – on top of heavy cables and poor charger reliability. As a…

Toyota Corolla On sale from 2019-present Prices from £11,000 Our pick 1.8 Hybrid Icon THE ARGUMENT THAT something must be good if it’s popular is one of the most flawed; after all, does Starbucks make the best coffee just because it’s the world’s most successful chain? But it would be just as wrong to assume that the two things never go together, with the Toyota Corolla being definitive proof they can. Over the years, Toyota has sold more than 50 million examples of its family hatchback, across 12 generations. And yet in its latest form it’s the best car of its kind – whether you’re buying new or used. It helps that it’s very efficient, thanks to the same hybrid technology that made the Prius a household name. Both 1.8…

Tesla Model 3 On sale from 2019-present Prices from £12,000 Our pick Standard Range Plus RWD POP MUSIC CHANGED for good after Rock Around The Clock. The world would look very different had Frank Lloyd Wright not been so good with a pencil. And it’s just as hard to overstate how the Tesla Model 3 forever changed the way people look at electric cars. Prior to the Model 3’s arrival in 2019, the Nissan Leaf had gained traction among environmentally conscious families, but the Model 3 was aimed squarely at the executive class as an all-electric alternative to the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series. It sold like hot cakes, no doubt helped by being far more attainable than the bigger Model S. But the Model 3 was and still…

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate On sale from 2016-2023 Prices from £13,000 Our pick E220d SE “SPACE,” NOTED THE Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is.” Well, so is the boot in the previous-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate. In fact, with a capacity of 640 litres with the rear seatbacks up, its load bay dwarfs those of the Audi A6 Avant and BMW 5 Series Touring, making the big Benz even more useful than a towel to an intergalactic traveller. And with a low sill height and a long, flat floor with the rear seatbacks folded down, loading or unloading bulky items is easier than it would be in most family SUVs. The E-Class Estate’s credentials as a family car…

Toyota GR Yaris On sale from 2020-present Prices from £21,000 Our pick GR Circuit THE TOYOTA GR Yaris is no ordinary hot hatch. The pet project of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, it’s a road-going version of what became the brand’s World Rally Championship (WRC) car. Compared with the regular Yaris hatch, it shares only its headlights, door mirrors and shark-fin antenna, and it’s built in the same factory as the legendary Lexus LFA supercar. The end result is extraordinary. The GR Yaris may be modest in its cylinder count (three), but its 1.6-litre engine is turbocharged and, with 257bhp, remarkably powerful. That power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox – one with a satisfyingly short and snappy shift. We timed 0-62mph in an astonishing 4.6sec,…

Mileage 2314 List price £53,230 Best price £51,995 Price as tested £56,080 Test economy 50.8mpg AN OLD PROVERB tells us that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I reckon practicality is, too. You see, my Mazda CX-80 is such a spacious car that even its third-row seats can accommodate tall adults – especially if those sitting in the second row are prepared to slide forward a bit. However, surprisingly, the third row is actually far less useful if you want to put young children there, because it doesn’t feature Isofix child seat mounts. Now, most of the time, this isn’t actually a problem for me, because my eight-year-old daughter can sit in her booster seat in the second row, alongside the family dog, while my wife and…

Mileage 5683 List price £84,470 Best price na Price as tested £96,033 Test economy 28.8mpg IF I HAD to pick one thing about my Land Rover Defender that’s proved disappointing during the past 5000 miles, it would have to be fuel economy. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting 60mpg parsimony from an enormous 4x4 shaped like a brick – especially when the official figure promises only 32.5mpg. But an average of less than 29mpg from a modern diesel is still below par at best. So, with a driving holiday to the Dordogne in France rapidly approaching, I decided to find out if pumping up the Defender’s enormous, 22in tyres to their maximum ‘load’ pressures would make a difference. Helpfully, I’d made exactly the same journey back in April with the Defender’s tyres…

Mileage 1776 List price £53,845 Target Price £39,350 Price as tested £56,175 Test range 265 miles SWIPING DOWN FROM the top of my CupraTavascan’s infotainment touchscreen reveals a configurable row of‘favourite’ shortcuts for frequently used functions. It’s an obvious place to put some of the driver aids that I might want to turn off, such as lane-keeping assistance and the speed limit warning. And accessing most of these functions is then a doddle; a swipe, a tap and another swipe up and I’m back to where I was before. However, unlike all the other things in that menu, the speed warning icon refuses to stay put for long. How long it remains in the favourites list seems to vary, but more often than not it makes itself scarce after just…

BEING AN EARLY leader in new technology doesn’t guarantee long-term success. Are today’s famous artificial intelligence companies likely to be on top in 15 years’ time, for example? Perhaps, perhaps not. The world, and technology, moves quickly. Just ask Nissan. The original Nissan Leaf was launched in 2010 as the world’s first mass-market electric car, establishing Nissan as an early electric pioneer at a time when few other manufacturers were taking electrification seriously. Fast forward to today and all manner of high-quality electric options are offered from a broad array of brands, and Nissan’s early dominance seems a distant memory. But, following on from Nissan’s electric Ariya and this year’s reborn Micra, the Leaf is now back for a third generation, this time as an SUV rather than as a…

AFTER A CAMPING trip, trying to stuff your tent or sleeping bag into their carry sacks requires patience and technique, and Toyota’s designers were faced with a similarly tricky challenge when developing the Aygo X. By redesigning the car’s front end, they’ve crammed the 1.5-litre engine and electric motor from the bigger Yaris hybrid into Toyota’s smallest model. And by tweaking the rear underpinnings, they’ve made room beneath the rear seats for the hybrid battery. That lifts official fuel economy from an already impressive 58.9mpg for the non-hybrid car to a huge 76.3mpg. Performance is drastically improved, too; with 114bhp in total (up by 43bhp), the 0-62mph time is slashed from 14.9sec to 9.2sec. That makes the Aygo X very sprightly for its class; you can keep up with traffic…

LET’S TALK ABOUT the Filet-O-Fish. Some people love it. Others think it isn’t substantial enough to qualify as a proper burger – their logic presumably being that if you’re going to eat fast food, you might as well go the whole hog and get the biggest, meatiest item on the menu. With the Civic Type R hot hatch retiring, buyers looking for a Honda that’s exciting to drive might be hoping this new Prelude coupé will whet their appetite. This sixth-generation model adopts fuel-efficient hybrid power for the first time, though, and that decision is likely to be as divisive as the Filet-O-Fish, with the guilty pleasure of a rorty petrol engine potentially diluted somewhat. Still, this isn’t the first time the brand has used hybrid technology in sportier models;…

72,779 September’s figure for new EV sales in the UK – a new monthly record. This comes in the wake of new incentives from manufacturers and the Government, including the Electric Car Grant, for which around a quarter of EVs are eligible. 329 The projected range, in miles, of Ferrari’s first electric car. Due next year, the EV – codenamed Elettrica – will produce around 1000bhp from four motors, but Ferrari bosses say it won’t be a supercar; it’ll take the form of a grand tourer. 28% The percentage of UK van drivers who experienced tool theft in 2024, according to research by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. VW’s survey estimates that £3.5 billion worth of kit was stolen last year.…

WHAT KIND OF dinner do you fancy tonight? French, Italian, Korean or Chinese? Some of us will reel off these options like it’s second nature, but when it comes to car buying in the UK, we still tend to stick to what we know. It has taken decades for South Korean models to be widely accepted, and we’re in the midst of finding out how well the recent influx of Chinese brands will fare. One of them – BYD – has dived straight in at the deep end, with six models launched within two years, and the latest one is the Atto 2 small electric SUV. It promises plenty of interior space and technology for an attractive price, putting it right in the firing line of the Renault 4 (R4).…

Skoda Kamiq On sale from 2019-present Prices from £10,000 Our pick 1.0 TSI 116 SE IF YOU’RE ONE of a trio of triplets, people can assume you have the same personality as the other two. It would be easy to assume this was true of the closely related Seat Arona, Skoda Kamiq and Volkswagen T-Cross, but no; the Kamiq stands out for being roomier, classier and more comfortable than its siblings. Unusually for a small SUV, the Kamiq is spacious enough for a six-footer to sit behind an equally tall driver without brushing their knees on the seat in front. It’s a capable load lugger, too; its boot can hold a whopping seven carry-on suitcases (two more than the T-Cross will take), yet it’s still compact and manoeuvrable enough to…

Peugeot 5008 On sale from 2017-2024 Prices from £12,000 Our pick 1.2 Puretech 130 Allure FASHION CHANGES, BUT style is eternal. So said Coco Chanel, but she could have been talking about the Peugeot 5008 because, to us, this seven-seat SUV still looks as good today as it did when it was launched in 2017. We rate it for far more than just its looks, though. Indeed, it’s the ideal second-hand car for larger families. The interior features a pleasing mixture of high-quality, tactile materials for a more upmarket ambience than you’ll find in a Seat Tarraco or a Skoda Kodiaq. What’s more, it provides a very civilised and flexible travelling environment for up to seven occupants. The middle-row seats individually slide and recline; if you shove them all the…

Skoda Enyaq On sale from 2021-present Prices from £13,000 Our pick 60 WHEN IT COMES to bang for your buck, few cars of any type can match the Skoda Enyaq. Prices for used examples start at just £13,000 – which, as we’ll see, makes this practical family electric SUV incredible value for money. With acres of space inside, the Enyaq can comfortably accommodate a family of five, with plenty of room for tall adults to stretch out front and rear. In fact, it’s better for carrying passengers in the back seats than a BMW iX3 or a Volkswagen ID 4. Their surroundings are plusher than you might expect, too, with a variety of soft-touch materials used throughout. The Enyaq isn’t far behind the Audi Q4 e-tron for quality. And equipment?…

ALL OF OUR category winners are terrific used buys, so narrowing the list down to just one overall winner is always a difficult process. The fact that both the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate and the Peugeot 5008 are previous holders of the Used Car of the Year title shows you just how tough the competition continues to be. The E-Class Estate still appeals greatly in our eyes, because it’s highly practical, with a huge boot, and it’s a lot of very plush car for the money. Meanwhile, the 5008 has always been nicely refined and impressively versatile, and as it gets older, its used prices look even more tempting. And how can you ignore the Tesla Model 3? A few years ago, it wouldn’t have seemed possible that you could put…

FROM BEHIND THE wheel of my new Vauxhall Grandland Electric, I’m thinking back to April 1981. On that day, proud new parents Mr and Mrs Haining made the journey from a maternity ward in Colchester to their home in Walton-on-the-Naze. Mrs Haining sat on the beige leatherette rear seat, tending the precious cargo in a basket beside her. That cargo was me, and the car was a 1975 Vauxhall Victor 2300SL. Having made my first-ever journey in the biggest 1970s model from the brand with the Griffin badge, I now have its modern equivalent – Vauxhall’s latest flagship – on my drive. Of course, it’s a very different machine from the Victor; that’s the traditional saloon of olden times. The Grandland is a family SUV, and a technical sister to…

A DOMINANT, ASSERTIVE and confident individual, often seen as a natural leader. All of those are terms that describe the Alpha Male, and they make me feel rather happy about myself, given that I am now one of those individuals. Okay, I’m a male who drives an Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida. Same thing, right? After running an eminently sensible, very talented but perhaps slightly unevocative Skoda Kodiaq for the past few months, the Junior is something of a contrast. It’s a slinkier small SUV, and its glamorous badge – the figurehead of a brand with a long and illustrious history of sports cars and motorsport success – carries a certain swagger. I’m looking forward to the new light in which my friends are bound to see me, now that I’m…