Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 24 August

Vauxhall Insignia £8650: They might be about as exciting as a spoon, but these late-model Insignias are terrific value if all you need is a whopping car for the money. Elite-spec ones like this come laden with kit and don’t cost much more than the mid-range cars. You’ll probably have to pick a diesel, though, because petrol versions are rare and thirsty.

Subaru Legacy 4WD HOLD ALL £3650: A tidy old Legacy estate is an incredibly useful thing to have around, and although this fully historied 3.0 petrol won’t be cheap on fuel, it should be dependable, cavernous and well equipped. With four-wheel drive, it’ll get you where you need to go in winter, too, and remain comfy and warm throughout.

Saab 9-3 £1450: Saab marketed the three-door version of its lovely 9-3 as a coupeÃ. A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but it’s nevertheless a sweet-looking thing. You’ll find few comfier cars at this price, too — just look at the inviting velour seats — and you get the added benefit of a pleasingly torquey light-pressure turbo engine.

Auction watch: 

RENAULT GTA V6: Another ‘get in while you still can’ tip here. Prices for the Renault GTA have been pretty stagnant for the past few years, which is surprising given that it’s exactly the sort of cult 1980s classic that should be climbing away out of sight. With all the hoo-ha surrounding the Alpine brand right now, don’t expect things to stay that way.

Granted, this one’s only a V6, not a Turbo, but the mileage is just 54k and there’s a long MOT and history, so £8480 doesn’t seem like a lot to pay for a car like this. It feels like now’s the time to take advantage if an Alpine — sorry, Renault — GTA is on your want list.

Get it while you can: 

Volkswagen Touareg Price new £50,770. Price now £34,499: It has never had the badge to compete with premium rivals such as the BMW X5, but the Volkswagen Touareg has gained a small following as a big, no-nonsense SUV with loads of space, comfort and toys on offer. True, you don’t get seven seats, although you do get a cavernous boot as a pay-off. Now the new version is out, nearly new previous-generation Touaregs are cheaper than ever, which means this used example with 6000 miles on the clock can be had for a whopping £16,000 less than it cost new.

Clash of the classifieds: 

Brief: For less than £5k, I want a family car that’ll please the head without being too tedious for the heart to live with

Citroën C6 £4595:

The C6 is wonderfully quirky, with a cosseting ride and a luscious interior. I can’t think of any car at this price level I’d rather transport a family in. It’s a car for the heart — just look at it — and for the head: that hydropneumatic suspension is so good that it’s a logical imperative. Alas, underneath its elegant bonnet is a diesel engine (petrol-engined C6s are extremely rare), but I think the sacrifice just about worth making. Now what was Max saying? Something about money, wasn’t it? MARK PEARSON 

BMW 540i £2950:

I like a big floaty Citroën, but the fact is that you’ll be crippled by the horrendous £540 per year tax bill of Mark’s C6. No, a sensible E39-era BMW 5 Series is what you need. It has a big boot and space for five.

Practical stuff boring you? Well, this one has a 4.4-litre V8. Plus, this stealth M5 runs on LPG so the running costs will be pretty reasonable. So, you see, it satisfies the demands of the head and desires of the heart. MAX ADAMS