So long as you’re not spending your last penny, a used Jaguar XK8 for less than £5000 could be fun. Agreed, a rotten subframe, a sagging headlining, galvanic corrosion where steel and alloy come into close contact, worn suspension and worn bores on pre-2000-model-year cars could wipe the smile off your face but we’re here to celebrate the old Jag, not kick it.  Jaguar XK8 4.0 Coupé, £4995: There’s much to celebrate, too. Back in the day, Autocar ran a standard 290bhp 4.0 auto coupé and everyone who tried it loved it. Silver and especially black are the best colours but bright blue also looks good. Unfortunately, our find is in British Racing Green, a colour that doesn’t suit the large XK8, with its executive pretensions.  On the upside, it has done only 67,000 miles and has full service history. (It has been serviced every year of its life by a mix of main dealers and reputable specialists.) The private seller appears to be of the fussy persuasion, too, because he has dug deep for a new headlining and even a new alternator, which he describes as a “precautionary measure”. We like that. We also like the fact that he says it has been “well loved and looked after”.  Of course, we could be reading too much into those sweet words. At the end of the day, it’s only £5000 and an early model at that where later cars got improved steering, styling tweaks and xenon lights.  Money no object? Not an XKR but a nice 300bhp XK8 4.2 S with heated seats and 19in alloy wheels. It was launched in 2005 as a last hurrah and today prices start at about £9000 for a 2005-reg coupé with 90,000 miles.  Not just any Yeti but the 2014 Tour de France special that had waterproof seat covers, bike wheel bags and cycle carriers. First owners also got a Rouleur Tour de France centenary book worth £250. It’ll be a miracle if there’s one in this 93,000-mile car. Not as highly prized as the hatch but prices for the best are getting there. This is a tidy 1986-reg car that has done 109,000 miles but it has no rust or mechanical issues. It has matching white alloys, hood and leather trim, so you’ll need to wear your sunglasses.  White suits the 924 and is what drew us to this 1984 car with 117,000 miles. It has stacks of history and has had up to £4000 lavished on it in new parts in recent years. The body has some light rust that could be worth fixing with an eye on its future value. Daihatsu Copen, £1195: Daihatsu used to spring the odd surprise, such as the dinky Copen convertible of 2003. It was powered by a 67bhp 660cc turbo three-pot. Copens are well built, reliable and well equipped and, as this 2004-reg with 64,000 miles proves, good value. Auction watch It’s neither as pretty as the 205 nor as popular, which is why, for years, the 309 GTi was such a bargain, at least if you could find one. Many were broken for spares to keep 205s on the road. It’s arguably better to drive than the 205 (something to do with it having a stiffer shell).  This 1990 example, a 15,000-mile Phase 2 model, passed through auction a month or so ago when it made a solid £12,432, an oddly precise figure. The last owner had had it for 29 years. How he kept himself from driving it is beyond us.  Future classic No prizes for tipping this one as a future classic. The Cube is already a sought-after motor by those who like running around in something inspired by a 1950s refrigerator. The reason for pointing it up now is that they’re still good value for money. However, the market is dominated by Japanese imports. Instead, we reckon a rare UK car is the way to go and duly found a mint 2010-reg 1.6 with 42,000 miles and full Nissan service history for £4990. Finished in black, it looks like a taxi that has been shunted up the back, but we’ll live with that. Clash of the classifieds Brief: Car spotters’ special – something for £4000 that’s rare, innovative or interesting – or a bit of all three. Midas Gold, £3995 Mark Pearson: Johnno wanted a rarity and an innovative design and, baby, here it is: a Midas Gold from 1989. It’s a Mini Metro but thankfully not as we know them. Instead, this marked-up Mini Marcos was tweaked by Midas and received further input from the great Gordon Murray – and he’s very tall and notably South African, so I wouldn’t argue with him. Wind-in-the-hair fun and a collectable classic. What the hell have you chosen?  Max Adams: I, Mark, have also gone for something rare and innovative, but ultimately far cheaper: a Citroën C3 Pluriel in Charleston form to celebrate 60 years of the 2CV. At its height, there were 46 of these on our roads, making this coupé/convertible/pick-up a very rare beast indeed.  MP: I’m not surprised. It’s hideous. Is that the thing with the roof that doesn’t work?  MA: Initially, it didn’t, but by the time this 2009 one was built, they’d ironed out the kinks. Anyway, those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. I don’t suppose yours is much better?  MP: Mine has poise,
Origin: Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 27 September

We should be talking about soft-tops in winter when, so the theory goes, their prices are lower, but who wants to wait until it’s too cold to put the roof down?  In any case, the third-generation Mazda MX-5 that we found – a 2013/63-reg 2.0 Sport Tech with 62,000 miles – already looks well priced at £8870. Being a 2013 car, it has the later-style nose plus improved throttle response and brake feel. Meanwhile, the Tech part in the name means it has a TomTom sat-nav with touchscreen.  We like the Mk3, and the later the better. Like all generations, it’s reasonably tough, and in comparison with the Mk1 and Mk2, it actually seems to be less prone to rust. Only ‘seems’, mind you: most early Mk3s have a spot of rust at the base of the front quarter window frame, where the black coating appears to be thin.  It’s a reminder that for all its qualities, the model is not without problems, although most are down to poor maintenance. So we’ll check our chosen car’s oil quality and level and listen for a rumbly crankshaft. Just like the current Mk4’s gearbox, the Mk3’s feels notchy when cold, so we’ll go for an extended drive to warm the oil through, when the shift action should ease up. A gentle whine from the rear could be a wheel bearing or, worse, the rear differential.  The Mazda’s pointy handling can surprise some people, so we’ll make sure panel gaps are regular, there’s no fresh or poorly applied paint and things like wing bolts are original. Finally, we’ll inspect the tyres for uneven wear and for bald inner shoulders, signs that it could be due a geometry check. Morris Marina 1.8 TC, £4450: As GTI is today, so TC (twin carburettor) was in days of yore. It means this 1974 Marina saloon puts out 95bhp – more than enough for its woeful chassis. Although it’s exempt from the test, our find has 12 months’ MOT and looks in decent nick. Sporty Legacys have always played second fiddle to hot Imprezas but should not be ignored. Which is why we bring you this, the 3.0 R with its 241bhp flat six and four-wheel drive. Our find is a 2009-reg with 109,000 miles and full service history.  Nissan’s smoothly styled SUV still looks appealing. Early versions, such as this one – a 2005-reg with 108,000 miles – were powered by a detuned version of the 350Z’s 3.5 V6, teamed with a CVT gearbox. It’s thirsty but comfortable and well equipped. Audi Q7 6.0 V12 TDI quattro. In this age of downsizing, let’s hear it for the Q7 6.0, whose V12 musters 493bhp and 737lb ft for 0-62mph in 5.5sec. New, it cost £100k. Our find, a 2011-reg with 80,000 miles, is a quarter of that, leaving you change for its next set of carbon-ceramic brakes. Auction watch  Few used cars look such value for money as an early Continental GT W12. Take this one, which passed through auction recently. It’s a 2005-reg with 69,000 miles and full service history – most of it Bentley – that went for £16,650. The last service included a new spoiler motor and four tyre pressure sensors, so no expense spared.  However, you don’t need to risk all at auction to bag a bargain Conti. Around £17,500 will get you into a tasty private-sale car – such as the 2004-reg one we found with 78,000 miles and full Bentley service history – and you can drive it before you buy it.  Future classic If the interest in the last air-cooled 911s is anything to go by, interest in the last flat six Boxsters before the arrival of the flat four 718 may one day be almost as strong. Certainly, values of the 981-generation Boxster, as it is known, are holding up. Our tip for future glory is the 311bhp S variant with the manual gearbox. The more common Tiptronic is good but experience shows manuals become more sought after. We found just such a car – a one-owner, 2012/62-reg with 74,000 miles and full Porsche history – for £25,500. Clash of the classifieds Brief: Find me a good family hatchback for £8000, please. Mark Pearson: I notice John has asked for a good family hatchback, but as my family are far from good, I thought I’d whip up something naughty instead. Take this immaculate 2009 Civic Type R with just 50,000 miles for £8k. Yes, I know it’s only got three doors, but it also has a 197bhp VTEC and sees off 0-60mph in just 6sec, so they’ll just have to climb into the rear through the front doors, won’t they?  Max Adams: I, on the other hand, don’t have a family, but I think I’ve gone for the far more grounded choice. The Leon is the best buy at this price level because you get tonnes of equipment – sat-nav, LED headlights, cruise control and more – for a bargain price. My car is also much newer – 2016 – and will be inexpensive to run. I’d hate to think what the insurance would be on yours.  MP: Think of their little faces as you introduce them to their first roundabout in the Civic Type R. It’s a thrill they’ll never get over.  MA: Unlike the cripplingly firm ride that’ll induce car sickness during every journey. No, mine’s the better
Origin: Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 20 September

A Phaeton kicks off our ‘worth buying’ round-up of Wolfsburg’s weird and wonderful. It’s a first-generation model (2002-10) and a rare example of the V10 diesel, since most remaining cars are 3.0 TDI V6s.  Volkswagen Phaeton 5.0 V10 TDI 4Motion LWB, £4999: The Phaeton was the response of the now late Volkswagen Group boss Ferdinand Piech to Mercedes-Benz parking its new A-Class on his Golf’s neatly trimmed lawn. It had to be good if it was going to take the fight to the mighty S-Class and, to that end, was constructed in a brand-new dedicated factory.  Our find is a 2004/04-registered example with 136,000 miles and full service history. First, we’d want to check that ‘full’ means every service on the button because the Phaeton is a complex beast with the potential to write itself off over the merest thing.  For example, the torque converter relies on regular fluid changes to perform smoothly and the oil cooler radiator needs its fins scrubbing to stop the transmission fluid from overheating. Oil changes prevent the turbo imploding.  There are 63 black boxes, any one of which could throw its toys out. And if the plenum chamber at the foot of the windscreen gets blocked, water falls onto the heater matrix with dire consequences for the electrics located behind the glovebox.  There are two batteries, one to turn the engine and the other to power the electrics. We’d check they’re in good health and, while peering around, inspect the bottoms of the doors for galvanic corrosion. Finally, we’d want to ensure the car’s famous party trick, its motorised ventilation covers, are working because if they aren’t, well, it’s just a big Passat, isn’t it? Volkswagen CC 3.6 FSI GT DSG 4Motion, £7495: At the model’s 2008 launch, VW reckoned it’d sell only 100 of these 298bhp top-spec CCs each year. In fact, only 69 appear to be licensed making this 2010-registered example with 68,000 miles and full service history pretty special. Compact crossovers? They’re nothing new. Back in 2006, VW was punching out the jacked-up Polo Dune, with tough bodykit and other off-roader details, much like its Rover Streetwise rival. Our spot is a 2006-reg car with 86,000 miles. Lighter than the Polo GTI but with the same 125bhp 1.6-litre engine, this hot city car can crack 0-62mph in 7.7sec. It looks tall but clings on in corners, with little body roll. Our find is a 2001/ Y-reg with 118,000 miles and Koni shocks. It’s an Up GTI for less money. The same 5.0-litre V10 diesel as in the Phaeton popped up in the Touareg R50, only with even more muscle: 345bhp rather than 309bhp and 627lb ft in place of 553lb ft. We found a 2008-reg with 54,000 miles and full VW service history. Auction watch  Mazda MX-5: We’ve become so used to hearing about the scarcity of good used Mk1 MX-5s at sensible money that it’s a shock when you do see them. Ones like this 1998-registered example with 101,000 miles on the clock that went for £1200.  It’s a pukka UK car – not that there’s anything wrong with the Japanese-spec Eunos grey import – with main dealer service history to 2004 and then a sheaf of workshop invoices. It was recently Waxoyled so the successful bidder must have assured themselves it wasn’t hiding corrosion.  Future classic Looks, performance, technical interest and rarity: this most powerful version of the RCZ has at least four of the ingredients for future classic success. Will it ascend the same heights as the 205 GTi? It’s not as great as that car so probably not and prices still have a way to fall – £12k buys a 2014-reg with 65,000 miles and full Peugeot history – but maybe, just one day, a mint, low-mileage R may reward an investor’s faith. As this was written, there were only 288 on the road plus seven SORNed. Are those seven people thinking what we’re thinking?  Clash of the classifieds Brief: Find me a tasty M-series car for £10k. 2005 BMW M6, £9489 2005 BMW M3, £9500 Mark Pearson: I think the motorsport-inspired 5.0-litre V10s were the ultimate expression of the might of the M-car and here’s one wrapped up in the sadistic splendour of the butch but relatively lightweight M6 Coupé. All that luxury and presence and yet 507bhp and 0-60mph in 4.5sec. Top dog.  Max Adams: You’re incredibly brave going for that M6 considering that any repair bills you’ll encounter will feature many zeros. Mine is a far simpler M3 from the E46 generation with the glorious 3.2 straight six engine. Not quite as powerful, mind, but it provides a far purer M-car experience.  MP: You see yours just looks like an old 3 Series, whereas mine looks so purposeful that it’ll look right at home outside the Eden Roc in Antibes. And it’s quicker than flying.  MA: Are you angling for a free stay with that plug? MP: I’m just saying that the M6 looks like it’s doing 100mph when it’s standing still and could move in circles that your car could only dream of…  MA: Quick, let me crack open my copy of ‘Motoring clichés 101’! Nope,
Origin: Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 13 September

It’s a constant source of amazement that the company that trots out the Micra and Pulsar is the same one that fashions the mighty GT-R. It arrived in the UK in 2009 costing from £57,000, but today’s updated and more powerful version starts at £82,000.  All this makes the 50,000-mile 2009 Black Edition we saw for sale at £32,990 very tempting indeed. It has every service accounted for, most performed by leading specialist Litchfield. Being a Black Edition, it has powered seats, a Bose sound system and automatic headlights. Any worries about how it’s been driven can be addressed by taking it to an official Nissan GT-R performance centre, which, for about £60, will interrogate its software. Within a few days, its darkest secrets will drop through your letterbox.  Its solid maintenance record suggests all should be well, but while we’re waiting for the performance report, we’d be keen to check for flywheel shaft bearing noise emanating from the bell housing behind the engine. The thought that it’ll need new cam chains in 20,000 miles at a cost of around £2000 will occupy our attention, too.   We won’t be unduly worried about transmission noise on the test drive – “they all do that, sir” – but we will check that the dampers aren’t weeping and that the inner shoulders of the tyres aren’t worn.  The paint chips easily, in turn causing rust spots to erupt, but the biggest concern regarding bodywork, in addition to crash repairs, is that the bonnet isn’t misaligned. It’s a single-use, pedestrian-friendly item that costs up to £10,000 to replace. It doesn’t seem much for a 2003 DB7 V12 with a claimed full history. The seller says it’s running beautifully, but we’d check for misfires, frail hoses, gearbox coolant leaks, worn brakes, rust, a malfunctioning air-con system and sticky power windows. Pick-ups weren’t always overblown Dodge RAM lookie-likies. The Sierra-based P100, launched in 1987, was a more modest and honest affair. This one’s a 1992 K-reg with 98,000 miles that seems to have avoided hard labour and appears in fine condition.  Where does a keen driver on a budget find their Lotus kicks? We found this 80k-mile 1995 Elan S2. No word on its history, but check for faulty injectors causing rough running, the glassfibre body for repairs, a warped hood frame and the underside for scrapes.  The 1 Series M Coupé was welcomed with open arms, not least by Autocar, which praised its back-to-basics feel, epic performance and overall handling feel. Our find is a BMW approved used 2012/12-reg manual with 60,000 miles. Auction watch  Proof that auctions are the place to go if you want a bargain is this 150,000-mile, 1988-reg 928 that went for £9056. A bargain? Not if it’s a bucket, but this one has just been serviced, so there’s another stamp to add to the 13 already in the file. It had an engine rebuild in 1997 and since then has had £8000 spent on it, with an aluminium radiator among the new parts. We’d have been keen to check that belts, tensioner and water pump had been changed at intervals, that the gearbox isn’t leaking and that the underside and window surrounds are free of rust.  Future classic The last Beetle scuttled out of the Mexico factory recently, making this a good time to comb the family album for promising derivatives. And lo, we found this: the 2.0 TSI Turbo with 197bhp and an impressive 206lb ft at just 1700rpm. Check out those 19in Tornado alloys, rear spoiler, privacy glass and red, uprated brake calipers. True, it’s a stretch to imagine it might one day achieve real classic status, but with looks, rarity and performance on its side, it must stand a fairly good chance. And they don’t make them any more… Clash of the classifieds Brief: Find me a bona fide V8 muscle car for £12k. Porsche 928 S4, £10,250 Max Adams: My Mercedes might not be American, but it has all the correct ingredients of a proper muscle car: a huge 6.2-litre V8 in an equally big vehicle, rear-wheel drive and a fantastic soundtrack when you peel away from a stop light. What are your wheels of choice, Mark?  Mark Pearson: A wonderful bahnstorming 1987 Porsche 928 S4, complete with that delightful 5.0-litre V8, wonderful balance and, oh, those polar moments of inertia! It’s had £25k spent on it and yet is just £10k to buy. Yours is a taxi, right?  MA: Traditional muscle cars are based on saloons, so my E-Class fits the brief. And, of course, they’ve had to spend so much keeping your old crate going because it’s two decades older than mine – which also explains the 200bhp deficit…  MP: Mine oozes style, though, and no one complained that it lacked for power back then – it’ll see off 0-60mph in six seconds. It has perfect weight distribution and much else besides, and I should think its price can only go one way.  MA: The E-Class wasn’t regarded as a minger at the time either, but this AMG has the subtlety to surprise the uninitiated.  MP: Too much of a
Origin: Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 6 September