There is a winner and a loser in every situation. For every goal Cristiano Ronaldo scores, there is a sobbing goalkeeper pulling the ball out of his net. For each dark Knightthere is a lesbian vampire slayers. The struggling auto industry is currently a big loser due to the recession, but we, the general public, benefit as a result. Yes, we can’t sell our cars for as much as we could a year ago, but to buy we are in control. The used car market is abuzz with fantastic cars whose value has plummeted, leaving us with a wide variety of quality Harrods products at sterling prices.
I recently bought a Hyundai Coupe F2 Evolution of which only 1500 were made. It cost £20,000 new and comes with 155bhp, 16in racing alloy wheels, deep front bumper, a large rear wing to aid loading, leather interior , lambswool rugs, CD player, cruise control, air conditioning, power sunroof and windows. In short, almost everything you want and then some. The cost of this rare, highly equipped, low-mileage, fun-to-drive car? £1,500.
I appreciate that he’s Korean and his biggest export is Park Ji-Sung to Manchester United, but while the build quality isn’t the best, it’ll kill anything up to a Honda Civic Type R on the road. So I’ve been pretty smug the last few months until this week when a friend of mine showed up in a 2000 Audi A6. Now as we all know Audi is built to the highest standards so the fact that this car nine years old is irrelevant: there was not a panel out of place or a squeak to be heard.
The A6 came with so many interior toys that I felt like my head was going to explode. I even got lost at one point as the seats were so wide. The car was also upgraded at birth to have the S6 sport package, which included an upgraded sport exhaust, exterior styling, and from what I could tell a badge on the steering wheel to remind you of the extra cost. With a 2.8-litre engine making 210bhp, I felt like I was driving a 5-star hotel, just so fast.
Did I mention it was a Quattro? I thought not. Yes, the A6 wasn’t just luxurious and fast, but the legendary 4-wheel drive system meant it was so well balanced that instead of handling like a 5-star hotel, it was much more of a sports saloon. When new, the A6 cost £38,000. Used car price – £2,000. No, it wasn’t stolen and there really was nothing wrong with it. Good old recession, huh?
Hopefully the examples above highlight just how much metal you can get for your money. However, my choice of used car to pick up has to be the Audi TT. With the new model released last year, there are a plethora of options on the used car market. This means that costs will be lower and the chances of you getting a pristine second-hand bargain will be even higher.
When it was launched in February 1999, the Audi TT was a new explosion in a stagnant coupe market. The resurgence in the market is largely due to the success of the TT and the Hyundai Coupe. The styling to this day is impressive, even if it has a bit of the Porsche Boxster in it. By this I mean that if you’re not paying attention it’s hard to tell which end is the front end and which end is the back end. However, the simple form works well and needless to say, it’s incredibly well put together; expect no less from the used examples you see.
When they were first released, there were some issues related to high-speed handling, or more precisely, the lack of it. Fear not, as Audi added a rear spoiler and ESP to overcome this problem. You can contact any dealer to verify this work has been done on your car, although a lack of spoiler would give away unsubtle play.
The standard 180bhp engine is decent, but keep an eye out for the 225bhp version which will hit 150mph and offer a 0-60mph time of 6.9 seconds. A 2000 example with 225bhp will cost in the region of £5,500 – £6,500 if you want low mileage. Audi engines tend to outlast everything else, so high-mileage examples shouldn’t be discounted if you want to save money.
As a friend of mine said the other day, “I don’t know why everyone is complaining about the recession, as far as recessions go, this one has been a huge success.” In the world of second-hand cars he was right.