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Scottish Sun
02-06-2025
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
Top five affordable luxury cars to get back into driving this summer from a used car expert
DESIGNER DRIVER Top five affordable luxury cars to get back into driving this summer from a used car expert Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) EARLY mornings, late nights, and lots of sun are the perfect driving conditions. Don't like the car outside your doorstep or on the driveway? Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Check out Sun Motors' selection of the best and most affordable luxury cars for sale in time for summer. Why buy a luxury car? Because you're worth it. Prestige cars – like those featured below – look better, feel better and drive better than your average car. Luxury cars aren't just bought with the heart but involve the head, too. When you buy used, you're getting a bargain, with the original owner taking the hit. If you're searching for an inexpensive luxury car, Sun Motors gives you access to the UK's best selection of premium cars. You'll find luxury cars from all manufacturers for sale at competitive prices. In fact, we've found some seriously cheap luxury cars that won't break the bank. Here's our top-five affordable luxury cars… What is a luxury car? Luxury cars are, as their name suggests, a cut above your bog-standard, basic models. You'll find bigger and better engines, refined looks, better interiors and enjoy a smoother driving experience. Most read in Buy NEED FOR SPEED I'm a used car expert, these are the top FASTEST selling cars I'd recommend There are companies that specialise in building prestige, performance cars like Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Maserati etc. These are all considered luxury cars. You'll also find that pretty many of the established names like Mercedes Benz, BMW, VW, Audi, Ford and more produce luxury rages. Some of these are featured below, like the S Class, a luxury executive car that oozes class and sophistication. Most car brands also produce luxury versions of standard models. The Golf GTIi is a good example of how a manufacturer can improve the engine, internals and externals to transform a good one into a truly great one. Buying a used luxury car Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but luxury cars look good. (Or at least, they should do!) Nobody is going to argue that a Porsche Cayman isn't perfection, are they? Luxury cars should be as attractive on the inside as the outside, with fine internal fittings, comfortable seats, and ultra cool in-car-entertainment. You'll also find a more powerful engine, precision steering, super smooth suspension and higher levels of driving technology. Depreciation on a luxury car can be massive. When you buy a used luxury car, you're getting a huge amount of engineering and performance at a much lower price tag. Top 5 affordable luxury cars This is our list of the best and most affordable luxury cars for sale today. This list isn't scientific or based on any fixed criteria. That's the point with a luxury car, it's about your personality… Range Rover Evoque 6 Model: Range Rover Evoque Considered an 'entry level' Range Rover, the Evoque was still over £40,000 when new – and it feels it. The crossover SUV is a firm favourite among families, yummy mummies and what we used to call yuppies (ask your dad). The Evoque is a proper luxury car and, for us, is a better investment than the BMW X3. (Opinions on this may differ.) It's luxurious inside, with amazing in-car entertainment and a smooth ride all around. This used-approved 2020 Evoque is top of budget at £25,000, but that's still a bit of a bargain. Porsche Boxster 6 This 2015 Porsche Boxster has done 45,000 miles and is on sale currently for £28,500 Model: Porsche Boxster Who doesn't love the Porsche Boxster? It's a super capable mid-engine roadster that tears up the road. 'Sensationally to drive and beautifully built,' is WhatCar's opinion and it's all true. The Porsche Boxster is a super convertible. This 2015 Porsche Boxster Convertible is a shade over £25k, but with some careful negotiation could get you closer to "affordable" levels. Open top cruising probably doesn't get any cooler. Mercedes S Class 6 Sun Motors houses multiple Mercedes S Classes for a perfect price Model: Mercedes S Class The ultimate executive car? Lexus might disagree, but the S-Class range of sedans and coupes has been carrying the rich and powerful around for over 50 years. They are exquisitely built and near silent while driving. Under the bonnet of every S-Class is a finely tuned beast. A brand new S-Class can easily run you over £100,000 – but you can pick up a used bargain. This awesome Mercedes-Benz S Class 2.9 S350L d AMG Line car comes in at around £23,000 – which is an amazing price for this 9-speed, diesel-powered beast. BMW 6 series 6 This 2016 BMW 6 series is available for £400 per month on finance on has only done 54,000 miles Model: BMW 6 series The BMW 6 series is classed as a grand tourer and is built for cross-continental journeys on those unregulated German motorways. But don't worry, it'll also fit in just as well in the Lidl car park. The BMW 6 series is no longer in production, being replaced by the 8 Series. That means you can pick up a bit of a bargain. It's summer, so our choice is this BMW 6 SERIES 3.0 640d M Sport Convertible. You get a super convertible with the all-important M-series badge on the back. If you don't buy it, I might. Jaguar XE 6 Model: Jaguar XE Jaguar is the quintessential luxury car to any kid brought up in the 70s and 80s. It may no longer be British-owned, but the brand is as part of our culture as apologising for nothing in particular. Jaguar executive care, like the Jaguar XE, can lose a huge amount of value in the first 3 years – in some cases, almost 50%. Spare your tears for the sad banker and instead start looking for a bargain, like this 2019 JAGUAR XE 2.0 [250] R-Sport. The 250 in brackets refers to the 250 horsepower, turbocharged petrol engine. The R-Sport trim describes the aggressive and sporty styling which continues inside. Trust us, arrive in this luxury car and you'll turn heads at the golf club. Sun Motors: Buy your next vehicle today If you're part of the 3.3 million Brits looking to buy a used vehicle this year, Sun Motors is an ideal place to start *If you click on a link in this boxout we will earn affiliate revenue Sun Motors is a seamless, straightforward, transparent platform that ranks by customer searches, not payments. It offers innovative financing and concierge services, ensuring a simple, fair car-buying experience. Enjoy: A choice of fuel type whether it's petrol, diesel, electric or hybrid A range of models from convertible, estate, saloon and many more A range of top brands such as Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota and BMW Financing options Trusted dealers Get started finding your next used vehicle here. Luxury car FAQs What are some luxury car brands? When you think of luxury cars, you naturally think of prestige brands like Jaguar, Porsche, Aston Martin, Range Rover, etc. These are all luxury car brands. You'll also find mainstream brands like Mercedes Benz, BMW, VW and any other you can think of with luxury lines, as well. Cheapest luxury cars to look out for A cheap luxury car isn't necessarily a great thing because they're notoriously complex to work on and costly to fix. Instead, let's look at the biggest depreciation. We can see the Maserati Levante, Audi A8, Audi S6, Maserati Ghibli are all luxury cars that lose *a lot* of value, says AutoExpress. If you're looking for bargain luxury cars that won't break the bank, check out our list above! What is luxury car tax? The luxury car tax is an additional £425 levy applied to any car that costs over £40,000 when new. Introduced in 2017, the increase in vehicle excise duty (VED). The increased cost is paid for 5 years. New cars are sold with a year's VED paid, so the luxury car tax is paid from when the car is 1 year old to 6 years old. Does luxury car tax apply to second-hand cars? Sadly, yes, the luxury car tax covers used cars, too. Are luxury cars more expensive to insure? Yes. Bigger, more powerful and more expensive cars will cost you more money to insure than a smaller car. But the total price you pay depends on more than the make and model of car but your circumstances, age, driving history and more. In the end, many people think a few extra quid a month to insure a prestige car is money well spent, and who are we to argue? Buying a used car? Check out Sun Motors and find your next vehicle today. Whether you're looking for automatic, manual or electric, use Sun Motors to decide on your next model.
Miami Herald
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
What If The Alfa Romeo 4C Returned As A Hybrid?
Discontinued in 2020, Alfa Romeo's 4C and 4C Spider offered buyers the least expensive mid-engine sports car with a carbon-fiber monocoque. Despite its modern turbocharged four-cylinder engine and dual-clutch transmission, the Alfa Romeo 4C was devoid of power steering and used a mechanical throttle linkage–traits that were seductively intuitive, and within minutes of driving one, any true enthusiast fell madly in love. The 4C may not have been a sales phenomenon, but that was never its intended purpose. What the mid-engine sportster did do for Alfa Romeo, however, was prove to the world that its engineers were still more than capable of crafting not only great sports cars, but ones that could give heavy hitters like Porsche and Lotus a real run for their money. While the contemporary Porsche Cayman was like a scalpel for race tracks, allowing drivers to carve through apexes with surgical precision, and the Lotus Elise was like a lightweight firecracker, the Alfa Romeo 4C aimed to give drivers as much control as physically possible. Without power steering and with its mechanical throttle linkage, the Alfa 4C required true mastery over its chassis to achieve optimal lap times. Where an amateur driver might be able to set a blistering pace with a Porsche Cayman S, they'd likely have a tough time trying to replicate their record with the 4C. A professional driver, on the other hand, might be able to beat out the Cayman S's absolute limit on a track (I speak as someone who has driven both of these vehicles on the same track), but it takes serious precision and effort on the part of the driver, rather than from the car. It's precisely this rewarding nature of the Alfa Romeo 4C that makes it so endearing: if you want the 4C to be faster around a track than its competitors, you have to really earn it. The Alfa Romeo 4C's driver-oriented excellence extended onto the street as well. With its 237-horsepower turbocharged 1.7-liter four-cylinder mounted behind the driver's seat, the enchanting noise of forced induction whooshes satisfyingly scratches the itch in your ear, and the 4C's balanced weight edges you around corners with unmatched charisma. Despite the 4C's excellence, buyers couldn't help but flock to the Cayman, thanks to its admittedly superior build quality, but also because of its exceptional prowess on both track and B-road settings, even if it is the car doing most of the work on behalf of the driver. Those who have experienced the charismatic differences between the Cayman and the 4C know that if you're a driving enthusiast with car-related OCD, the Cayman simply doesn't offer the rewarding sensation of getting a corner "just right" like the 4C does. So, what if Alfa Romeo decided to bring it back? Using generative text-to-image artificial intelligence and Adobe Photoshop over official press images, we take an imagined look at what a hypothetical Alfa Romeo 4C revival could look like, incorporating current Alfa Romeo design elements and styling cues. These images are for speculation purposes only and in no way depict any actual Alfa Romeo or other Stellantis products. If there's one thing the Ferrari 296 GTB has proven, it's that hybrid technology can be used to enhance the experience of driving, rather than detract from it, even retaining the empirically immeasurable emotional factors that die-hard enthusiasts seem to obsess over. Perhaps a revived Alfa 4C could benefit from learning a thing or two from its Ferrari cousin. Additionally, integrating hybrid technology into a hypothetically revived Alfa Romeo 4C would ensure its competitiveness against increasingly modernized rivals. With the possibility of Porsche's Cayman becoming fully-electric, and with the rumors circulating of an upcoming, hybrid-powered Toyota MR2 revival, it seems that if Alfa were to revive the 4C, it would be a futile effort to leave it absent of battery-powered assistance. With a lightweight carbon tub, a hybridized and turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and a rapid-shifting dual-clutch transmission, a revived Alfa Romeo 4C with a power figure in the mid-to-high 300 range could continue Alfa Romeo's legacy of sporting excellence and bring much-needed excitement to the brand to help boost sales of more volume-focused products, such as the brand's upcoming Stelvio replacement. With a modernized design that borrows its proportions from the Ferrari 296 GTB, albeit scaled down accordingly, and styling elements reminiscent of visually striking Alfa Romeo models such as the 8C Competizione, the Disco Volante, and the 33 Stradale, a revived Alfa Romeo 4C is sure to be a hit with the automotive press and enthusiast crowds alike. While a successor to the beloved Alfa Romeo 4C of yesteryear is not confirmed by Alfa Romeo, we'd love to see something exciting come from the brand that seems to have forgotten about its aging lineup. While a new Stelvio replacement is on its way, it's obvious that it won't be here soon enough, because if it had been, it would have been on sale years ago, as the current generation is nearly a decade old. Alfa Romeo (and Stellantis in general), for some reason, has completely neglected its entire lineup, yet wonders why it struggles to sell cars. The solution seems pretty obvious to us, and likely to many of you: Alfa Romeo needs a new product. More importantly, it needs an exciting product. Perhaps bringing back the 4C could be the way to go for the storied Italian marque. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Electric Porsche 718 Cayman Shown Testing in New Spy Photos
While we've had pictures and for a few years, we finally got our first look at the . is currently transitioning its lineup to include pure combustion, hybrid, and battery-electric options in each of its segments. For two-door models, that means transitioning the 718 platform away from Porsche's 9000-rpm flat-sixes into a fully electric lineup. Whether the motoring world is ready or not, the electric Porsche Cayman is well on its way to production. In fact, the next-gen Cayman is far enough along on its march toward production that our spy photographers caught sight of a test model without any camouflage. Outside of its existence, details surrounding the upcoming Cayman and its droptop Boxster sibling are about as clear as mud. Porsche has confirmed that it will ride on a newly developed sports-car platform that has been designed to keep the weight down. The body panels are all new, and the EV Cayman looks to take after the 911 slightly more than the outgoing generation did. The front of the car sports a new set of headlights that are clearly inspired by the Taycan sedan. The rear of the car maintains thin, separated taillights similar to the current generation, though it does adopt the vertical third brake light from the Boxster. Using the Taycan as a guide, we don't feel totally in the dark about what sort of performance we can expect from the 718. Depending on the model, the Taycan's power ranges from 402 horsepower sent to the rear wheels up to 1019 horsepower in the top-dog Turbo GT model. If you're worried the new Cayman will lack performance, you can probably stop now—that Taycan Turbo GT ran from zero to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds during our testing. We can't yet assuage any fears that the new 718 will be lacking in the fun-to-drive department, though. Range estimates are a similar shot in the dark, with nothing but the Taycan lighting the way. Range should easily be north of 200 miles, and we expect the car will ride on an 800-volt architecture. Porsche claims the most recent Taycan is able to charge from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes. Porsche hasn't given a clear timeline as to when we should expect the 718 EV to arrive on our shores, but we think it will be sometime next year, as a 2027 model. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
