Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 27 July

For the sake of the four-wheel drive system, just make sure that all four tyres match and that the car comes with a full service history. It’s a quick car, after all, so you want to know it has been looked after.

Seat Leon £16,500

This Leon, with just 27 miles on the clock, is the 2.0-litre diesel, which means it’s good for 0-62mph in 8.5sec and a claimed 60mpg. It’s an FR Technology model and has sat- nav, LED lights and 18in alloy wheels. Haggle on the price of a new Leon and you might get one for £20,500, but this pre-registered car is only £16,500.

Citroën Berlingo £13,000

Few types of car can beat the practicality of a van-based MPV and few can beat the Citroën Berlingo on price. This one-year-old car has covered 18,000 miles from new, is in top-spec Flair guise with a 98bhp 1.6-litre diesel engine and could be yours for £13,000. And you don’t have to pay VAT on that.

Bristol 411 £79,995

Owning a classic can be green. One of the appealing things about Bristols is that they come with heavy-duty mechanicals that go on forever and most owners pass them down in the family. This one has had an LPG conversion to ease the conscience of the next owner, since they’ll be running a 6.6-litre V8 monster.

Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG £28,500

There’s a Formula 1 tie-up with the 518bhp SL63 AMG. You see, an SL63 AMG was used as a pace car during the 2008 and 2009 F1 seasons and this 28,000-mile example from 2008 could be yours for less than a third of what it cost new. It even comes in the same shade of silver as the grand prix pace car.

Auction watch: Bedford Chevanne

It’s amazing to think that there are any Bedford Chevannes left on the UK’s roads, considering the hard lives that these workhorses must have led. Such vehicles can be rarer than most classic cars because few people have deemed them worthy of preservation.

Although this one didn’t make its lowest estimate of £6000 at auction, it is worth a lot more than it was only a few years ago. And it makes sense as a starter classic because of its tough mechanicals and simple electrics.

Rust is the main issue so take along a magnet and poke around underneath to check for any nasty holes.

Get it while you can

Volvo S60 D4 Business Edition Lux - Price new £27,710. Price now £17,000. The Volvo S60 was never the most spacious car in its class and the boot is a little pokey, but it’s a stylish, well-equipped and likeable alternative to the more obvious BMW, Mercedes or Audi. Now that this one is a year old and has covered 9326 miles, it could be yours for a modest £17,000. That’s a huge saving over the new one, and it’s got sat-nav, climate control, cruise control and autonomous emergency braking.

Clash of the classifieds

Brief: It’s festival season, which means big music events, camping, BO and mud. With that in mind, find me a cheap and capacious car for under £2000.

Volkswagen Touran £1250

Decent. Solid. Reliable. It could be there’s no effective substitute for the Touran. Indeed, if you’re the sort who goes to festivals, it’s definitely for you. It’s big inside and it’ll seat seven, although if you are a regular festival goer, I’d be surprised if you can find six people who’ll want to share it with you. This one’s petrol and grey, so you won’t need to wash it. Or yourself, probably. It’s well inside budget, too. MARK PEARSON

Rover 75 Tourer £1995

It might not be the coolest thing in the field, but this Rover 75 Tourer is an ideal festival truck. For starters, it’s powered by the creamy-smooth and gutsy 2.5-litre KV6 engine. There’s loads of room for luggage — and mates, too, in those big, squidgy seats. But here’s the clincher: this one’s done just 37k miles, with a full history to back it up. And thanks to the fuddy-duddy image, no tea-leaves in the crowd will give a second glance. ALEX ROBBINS