Cut-price Christmas

WE’VE assembled a rogues gallery of some of the toughest cars in the UK to sell. But if you’re buying, then welcome to the cut-price delights of the 70 Per Cent Club! These three-year-olds have all lost 70 per cent or more of their list price, and show just what you can find in the classifieds these days.

In more buoyant times, this is virtually unheard of. The price guides, who predict future values to help calculate finance costs, didn’t foretell drops like these. For example, had CAP’s prediction for our Nissan X-Trail dCi been correct, then the independent dealer would have paid over two grand MORE for it than it’s now selling for. Even franchise showrooms are slashing prices.

Of course, prices could stabilise as people realise that road tax bills for bigger used cars aren’t going to rise as much as first planned. But right now it has never been cheaper to jump into a three-year-old motor. Whatever your needs, there’s a 70 Percenter to fit.