A used Vauxhall Insignia is our pick as Britain's best used car to buy in 2014
From Just £3,800
In terms of ultimate value for money, the Vauxhall Insignia can’t be touched. There simply isn’t a car out there that can match it in terms of specification, price and driver appeal at 12 months old.
How about this for an example? We found a 13-plate 1.8 Exclusiv model with a negligible 15,000 miles on the clock, sold through a well known used car supermarket for just £9,495. That’s one of several examples on offer for the same price or less than a new Corsa 1.0 Expression. Of course, heavy discounting when new means that the Insignia isn’t quite the 50 per cent of its new price that it appears, but even so this is a seriously well equipped car for the money, and one that is also more than half-decent to drive.
There are other highlights in the Insignia range, too. How about a well equipped SRi VX-Line Nav 2.0 CDTi on a 62-plate for £12,795 from a main dealer? That’s small car money with big car toys and main dealer peace of mind. All of which would be fair enough if there was a compromise – but with the Insignia there isn’t. Indeed, in our view it’s an excellent car, and one that few others can come close to in terms of comfort or refinement.
A well packaged, well made and likeable car in almost all of its guises, along with the option of a sleek and usable Sport Tourer estate, make the Insignia the best used car bargain on sale in Britain – and a model that we have no hesitation in naming our 2014 Used Car of the Year.
Special award: Kia Approved Used
We’ve looked, and we genuinely don’t believe there’s a better main dealer-backed used car scheme out there than Kia’s Approved Used channel. Its unique selling point is one of the most innovative we’ve ever seen, and underlines the Korean brand’s confidence in its recently re-energised model range.
Buy any Approved Used Kia that’s up to 18 months old – and has done up to 18,000 miles – from a main dealer and the company will start its seven- year warranty all over again from scratch. With that kind of back-up, it even puts forward the argument that a used Kia is a better buy than a new one, as it can take the warranty on the car out as far as eight-and-a-half years from its date of first registration.
Other benefits of the Kia Approved Used scheme include an 88-point check and full mechanical inspection, seven’ days free insurance, a year’s overseas breakdown cover, an Experian mileage and vehicle history check and first-year MoT test insurance cover for up to £500 worth of repairs.
Kia even offers a 60-day quibble free exchange plan, so if you decide the car you’ve chosen isn’t for you, and you’ve covered less than 1,000 miles, you can bring it back and swap it for another one.
The scheme is sold through participating franchised Kia dealers, and is by some margin the best Approved Used programme on the market today. If it’s ultimate peace of mind you’re after, you simply can’t go wrong with Kia.