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Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- 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.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Mercedes-Benz EQS
The limousine class has long been something of a technological vanguard for the automotive industry, and in one respect in particular – when it comes to the provision of outright electric range in EVs - it's preserving that status. Some of the competitors of the updated Mercedes-Benz EQS – the subject of this road test – really are pushing the envelope when it comes to squeezing mileage into a big four-door saloon. The UK market may still be waiting for right-hand-drive versions of them, but for the past two years the Lucid Air has been offering North American buyers a range in excess of 500 miles, while China's Nio ET7, with its 150kWh semi-solid-state battery, has become the first electric production car to be certified for more than 1000km (621 miles) of range on a single charge. So there's pressure on the likes of the EQS to keep up. Introduced in 2021, this was Stuttgart's memorable bid to respond to the Tesla Model S and successfully electrify much of its S-Class customer base. It has thus far failed to do that, consistently being outsold by its more traditional sibling, with global demand for both cars slackening far enough for their shared production line at Sindelfingen to dial down output from two shifts a day to only one. Stand by to find out just how Mercedes has sought to boost this electric saloon's fortunes by bolstering its power reserves. The main development to the EQS for the 2025 model year concerns battery capacity. Where previously there was only one, there are now two nickel-manganese-cobalt packs offered: the larger one extending to 118kWh of usable capacity, and the smaller one offering 96kWh and being fitted exclusively to the entry-level 350 model. For the bigger battery, that's a hike of a little under 10% compared with what the car was launched with and raises its WLTP combined range to as high as 481 miles, depending on the model and optional equipment. Estimated by the North American EPA test cycle to be worth only 390 miles, however, that won't be enough to worry the likes of Lucid too much, but it's progress all the same – and about as much as any EV maker is likely to achieve at a mid-life facelift. We opted to test an upper-trim Business Class version of the EQS 450+, which is a single-motor EV driven by a 356bhp, permanent magnet synchronous motor mounted adjacent to the rear axle. It's slightly more powerful than the equivalent launch model but still less potent than key competitors even in single-motor form. The Business Class trim adds 22in alloy wheels to the car, whose rolling resistance knocks the claimed range down a little, to 446 miles. Like Mercedes' other bigger EVs, the EQS sits on the firm's EVA platform, and gets adaptive air suspension underneath front double-wishbone and rear multi-link axles. Four-wheel steering features as standard on all EQS derivatives, but on our test car its rear-wheel manipulation is up to 10deg – two or three times what similar systems from other manufacturers offer. Our test car weighed 2608kg on the proving ground scales: slightly under Mercedes' official claim for it, but still likely to have at least as significant an impact on its true range and efficiency as the EQS's much-touted 0.20 drag coefficient. There was plenty about the design of the EQS that, when the car first came along in 2021, made it seem like a tellingly direct riposte to the Tesla Model S – an EV that had been eating into S-Class sales in the US for several years. But nothing did more so than Mercedes' Hyperscreen infotainment system, which made it look as if the car's entire fascia had been replaced by one gigantic touchscreen. Four years ago, of course, this was an optional feature, whereas now every EQS gets this system as standard. And, while you can decrease the brightness of the three display screens of which it is comprised, or turn at least two of them off entirely, its glare is certainly considerable when all are lit – and then exacerbated by that of the cabin's ambient light features, which can pulse and glow in different colours when the right setting is selected. It's more than enough to mark this car out, for better or worse and in fully unapologetic terms, as a limousine for the digital age: a jilted lover's letter, clearly, to all those Mercedes S-Class exiles running a Model S. The rest of the EQS's cabin layout is more traditional, however, with a default four-seater passenger configuration and a big armrest console between the rear passengers that houses a removable tablet-style touchscreen remote for the car's main multimedia system and can be folded away to create an additional third back seat. In the front, the driving position offers plenty of leg and elbow room, though it's tighter around your head, especially when getting in. The front seat and primary control layout are both very good, however; the former having abundant adjustment potential and all the expected heating and massage options. In the back, Mercedes' optional Rear Seat Comfort Plus package matches the comfort level of the front seats. The reclining rear seat on the passenger side, which has a seat cushion that extends by 50mm and a floor-mounted footrest, isn't quite a 'sleeping seat' but would seem to offer at least some use for long-distance lounging. Unfortunately, Mercedes didn't fit that option to our test car, whose back seats were certainly spacious, luxurious and comfortable but didn't match the BMW i7 we tested in 2023 for first-class transatlantic passenger comfort (Mercedes does offer something comparable on its Maybach S-Class and GLS, and on the Maybach EQS SUV, it claims). Boot space, however, is surprisingly good – with a liftback-style hatchback rear end granting very easy access to a particularly long loading volume in excess of 600 litres. If you were to undertake a long touring trip with plenty of luggage, the EQS would certainly be well prepared in that respect. As imposing as it is, the EQS's Hyperscreen multimedia system isn't difficult to get on with. You can use the 'D-pad' controller on the left-hand spoke of the steering wheel as a cursor controller to navigate it if you prefer that to direct touchscreen input; there are physical menu shortcuts close to your left hand, to jump between important menu screens (ADAS, charging, parking cameras etc); and Mercedes provides an excellent top-level 'zero layer' navigation that's only ever one touch away. That the car's ventilation controls are screen-based is a little irksome, but they are permanently displayed, accessible and not fiddly. There's also a permanent toggle button to turn off the speed alarm. The navigation system is easy to program, via your voice or fingertip input, and also easy to follow, with good support to find charging stations. In the back row, meanwhile, our test car came with the MBUX rear-seat entertainment system, which grafts on a pair of 11.6in displays to the front seatbacks, as well as wireless headphones. Between these and the removable tablet remote, you can assume command of the car's main multimedia system from the back row, or select and stream your own entertainment online, with options for HDMI input from external devices as well. As the middle-rung version of three EQS derivatives, with a dual-motor Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 version above it, the EQS 450+ has a well-judged performance level. It's not quite quick enough to feel like it's interested in playing to a sporting crowd, but it nonetheless meets a limousine's typical dynamic brief with a bit in hand. And its drivability is not only good but has improved over the past four years. Our test car had chilly but dry test conditions. It addresses the road in a controlled, comfortable way even under full power, building up to full torque at least a little gradually from rest, and not even flirting with wheelspin. You can see that in our performance numbers, with 0-60mph taking about a second longer than 30-70mph or 50-80mph (modern EVs often show remarkable direct proportionality in these performance numbers). Out on the road, however, the car motivates its mass very assuredly, and has the power in reserve you would expect of an expensive luxury option, whether for overtaking, climbing or just hurrying along when called to. Mercedes provides paddle-shift control of regenerative braking, and this isn't linked to the selected drive mode, so the setting is always how you like it and as you left it. It works nicely both as an extra route towards driver involvement and to reassure you that you're driving as efficiently as possible, rather than wasting energy in unnecessary regen and acceleration, when range may be limited. We were also impressed with the car's battery management – particularly that it showed little performance deterioration at low charge and didn't wilt in intensive running – and with its brake pedal feel, which gave a clear, tactile impression of the handover between regenerative and friction braking. All EQS models get Mercedes' Driving Assistance Package Plus as standard, which gives them the full suite of active lane keeping, steering assistance and speed monitoring systems. As part of a feature new for the European market, it can now also use its various forwards- and rearwards-facing cameras to automatically overtake slower-moving vehicles on multi-lane highways, assuming it's safe to do so, although this isn't yet enabled for UK cars for legal reasons. The assistance systems are simple to enable and disable via an easily accessed shortcut menu. The AEB system is well tuned and unintrusive around town, although it can be over-sensitive when manoeuvring. It intervened unnecessarily on two occasions when reversing, slamming on the brakes rather unpleasantly. The EQS is certainly a big saloon car and yet, much of the time, at low speeds especially, it really doesn't handle like one. That's how the impact of its unusually bold four-wheel steering system is felt, which in an objective sense certainly makes for remarkably wieldy manoeuvrability for such a big car and short work indeed of getting in and out of parking spaces and executing three-point turns. The system's subjective appeal is a little more complex. There is certainly some artificiality in the way the chassis' responsiveness picks up at very low speeds. When you pull out of a junction on full lock, or sweep into a driveway, the way the rear axle can suddenly seem to pivot around behind you can put you in mind of shopping trolley handling a little too clearly. But it's a short-lived phenomenon, because at greater speed there's certainly no undermining this car's handling security or high-speed stability. It continues to steer through a light, filtered steering rack, which has just enough heft to suit its pacy directness off-centre. The car is fairly softly sprung, as you would expect of a limousine, and while it maintains good lateral body control when cornering, it can begin to run short of control of pitch and heave near the national speed limit on country roads. Here, Sport mode better supports the car's considerable bulk than Comfort, and makes it more composed and steady, and though it means sacrificing a little ride isolation, better vertical body control can also make for better overall ride comfort here. Our EQS 450+ test car had really impressive ride isolation on better surfaces. In this respect, the car feels like it has been refined and improved quite a lot since its introduction four years ago. Even on 22in wheels, it kept a commendably quiet cabin (58dBA at a 50mph cruise, compared with 60dBA for the BMW i7 xDrive60 M Sport and 61dBA for the Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid). That hushed sense of distance from the road surface underneath you isn't quite ever-present, however. While they're less commonly occurring than in those early cars we drove several years ago, occasional thumps and jitters from the axles do still suggest the secondary ride isn't as perfectly controlled and resolved as it might be, and the quicker you go, the more common these incidences get. Smaller wheels might help mitigate the phenomenon and soften the ride, as unlikely as modern Mercedes buyers may be to opt for them. But while Sport mode does evidently ramp up damping rates and better controls wheel movements, neither it nor Comfort can quite deliver the world-class out-of-town ride you would hope for here. The EQS range now opens with an entry price just under £100,000, and extends to the far side of £200k for a range-topping Maybach 680 model. And that's broadly in line with what BMW charges for an i7. With the addition of the 350 entry-level model and the improvement in standard equipment across the range, moreover, Mercedes can justifiably say it has made the car better value than it was originally – making it less prone to being undercut by emerging electric car brands and without, quite clearly, taking an axe to prices anywhere. Having a 400V electrical architecture, the EQS also remains a little vulnerable to attack from those brands on rapid-charging speed. It hit a weighted average charging speed of 135kW, which puts it only just inside the top 15 results we have recorded since 2022. It's not an awful outcome: but a sub-£50,000 Hyundai Ioniq 5 charges quicker, which could be a problem for Mercedes. A fairly creditable UK motorway touring efficiency of 2.6mpkWh (this is a big car, remember) makes for just over 300 miles of long-distance range – better than our BMW i7 xDrive 60 M Sport test car managed in 2023, though not by a huge margin. Perhaps not the sort of range that's likely to give Mercedes too many bragging rights, either. Mercedes' efforts to accelerate the EQS towards greater commercial success in later life have certainly had a positive effect on the car. There are now moments of real accomplishment about its refinement and manoeuvrability, and the authoritative performance and excellent drivability you would expect of a luxury car. It is also now capable of more than 300 motorway miles on a charge, even in wintry conditions. However, still higher levels of comfort, and much bigger strides in terms of efficiency and real-world range, are needed to conjure the aura of effortless superiority you would associate with 'an electric S-Class'. The technological razzmatazz of a 21st-century luxury icon certainly isn't in short supply. But the matching gravitas, substance and true sophistication remain slightly elusive. ]]>
