Three-car garage: used VW Golf, Porsche 911 and Jeep Wrangler for £142,000
For the price of a new Land Rover Defender Octa, you could have a great family car, an accomplished sports car and tough off-roader
As new car brands continue to make headlines, legacy manufacturers are doubling down on their history and heritage, reviving old nameplates that generate conversation, stir emotions and get people reminiscing about the legends of yesteryear.
Just look at the cars we’ve driven this week: SEAT Ibiza, Honda Prelude – even the Suzuki Vitara and Vauxhall Frontera. These names unlock experiences and conjure up memories in ways the Ora 03, Jaecoo 7 or Omoda 9 can never do.
But which are the ultimate new-car nameplates? And can you compile a three-car garage based solely on brilliant badges? We reckon so – and here’s our starter for 10…
Volkswagen Golf - £21,499
The Volkswagen Golf is as much of a household name as Tesco, Cadbury or Coca-Cola here in the UK – and for good reason. It’s the quintessential family car, summed up by its “like a Golf” tagline used in various advertising campaigns over the years.
The eighth-generation car, launched in 2020, can’t be considered peak Golf – for that you need to look back to the hewn-from-granite Mk4, or well-rounded Mk7 – but there’s still plenty to recommend, especially if you go for one of the later facelift versions.
Sure, you’ll pay a premium over the equivalent Ford Focus or Vauxhall Astra, but we’d argue that brings much more than a better badge. The model we found is less than a year old, and has just 5,000 miles on the clock. It’s the base Life trim, but there’s still loads of goodies, and the 1.5-litre turbo engine is both punchy and frugal.
If the Golf we selected has gone, fear not; at the time of writing there were 31 models under a year old, in a variety of trims. No engine is a lemon, either.
Porsche 911 - £85,000
If you’re after the ultimate all-round sports car, nothing comes close to the Porsche 911. Not only is it the most famous car of its kind, it’s also the very best.
You’ll pay for the privilege – on Auto Express’s used-car listings, there isn’t a single current, 992-generation model available for less than £85,000 – but you can sleep tight in the knowledge that you’re driving a car with over 60 years of tried and tested engineering nous, backed up by repeated strong showings in our Driver Power owner satisfaction surveys.
Our 911 is a three-year-old model with the slick-shifting PDK gearbox. Don’t be put off by the fact it’s only the base Carrera; it’ll still do 0-62mph in a smidge over four seconds, wrapped up as one of the finest-handling sports cars money can buy.
Provided you’ve got the funds, there should be a 911 to suit all tastes from the entry Carrera to the flagship GT3 RS. You can find plenty for sale via the Auto Express Buy A Car service.
Jeep Wrangler - £35,288
Like the VW and Porsche, the Jeep Wrangler has been around for decades, earning its place in automotive history. Indeed, there’s nothing quite like it, and while it’ll meet its demise in the next couple of months thanks to stringent emissions regulations, we reckon the maker would be mad not to continue its legacy in years to come.
The model we’ve found is a classy five-year-old Overland with the lesser-seen Hydro Blue paint. It’s done fewer than 30,000 miles, and being the four-door variant, it’ll have room for the whole family – however far off the beaten track you choose to go.
The 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine isn’t the most economical, but that doesn’t seem to have damaged residual values. This looks like a pretty safe place to fend off the dreaded depreciation you see on almost every new car; pick wisely and you should be able to run one for a couple of years without losing much money at all.
Consider yourself a bit more of a patriot? Auto Express has plenty of used Land Rover Defenders available for sale, with a choice of punchy powertrains.
Head to the Auto Express used-car search page and let us know which cars you’d park in your dream three-car garage in the comments section below…
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