Three car garage: this trio of award winning cars for £45k

Auto Express

07-07-2025

The results of the Auto Express New Car Awards were announced this week with the fantastic Skoda Elroq taking the overall win. It also got us thinking about previous champions and what we'd like to fill our imaginary driveway - here we've found three excellent former Car of the Year winners that still boast plenty of appeal.
The current Skoda Octavia offers a lot of what we like about the Elroq. It's spacious, full of equipment and drives well. Another feature you'll find on every Skoda is excellent build quality and we reckon that, even after five years and 71k miles, this example will still feel solid. The one we found has the VW Group's 1.0-litre TSI petrol engine too, meaning an impressive 54.8mpg average. It's easy to see why this was our Car of the Year in 2020. Advertisement - Article continues below
If this Skoda Octavia was snatched up too quickly for you, click here to find more used Skodas available through Auto Express.
We acknowledged the latest Land Rover Discovery's curvy look wouldn't be to everyone's tastes when it won the Car of the Year in 2017, but we reckon the once-bold styling has softened over the years - helped by the deep black paint finish of this 2019 example. With seating for seven and a decently sized 258-litre boot (with the rear seats up), this is an ideal family SUV and comes with genuine off-road ability thanks to four-wheel drive - as you'd expect of a Discovery.
If this Land Rover Discovery has already found its new home, take a look at these used Land Rovers available through Auto Express.
We've seen Jaguar's vision of the electric future with the rather controversial Type 00 recently, but back in 2018 the brand's electric plan was based on the forward-thinking I-Pace. While the EV game moves quickly, the I-Pace's vital statistics still look impressive, with 400bhp, a 0-62mph time of 4.8 seconds and a range of 273 miles. The I-Pace also looks just as sensational today as it did back then and inside you'll be greeted by a well appointed and classy interior.
If this Jaguar I-Pace has already found its new home, check out hundreds of listings of used electric cars available now from Auto Express's network of trusted dealers.
Head to the Auto Express used car search page and let us know which cars you'd park in your £30k three-car garage in the comments section below…
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