Advice: Used cars - best buys

We all knew how much cash Ferdinand Piech threw at the Phaeton project: gazillions. He had to. He wanted the world's most torsionally rigid body. He wanted the climate control to switch into 'recirc' each time the windscreen wash washed, so occupants weren't bothered by washer fluid fumes. He wanted four independent temperature zones. He wanted the headlight washers to alternate in operation, to minimise dimming during cleaning. He wanted heated and cooled rear seats to complement those in front. He wanted special elasticated fabric on the rear sunblind to hide the joins. He wanted the 6.0-litre W12 engine to out-power Mercedes' S500, the 4MOTION chassis to outgrip it, the (potential) top speed to outshine it.

He got what he wanted. The rich nodded in acknowledgement. Then went and brought an S500 anyway.

Result? You'll soon be able to buy a three-year-old Phaeton W12 for £20,000, if Glass's 27% retained value is to be believed. Already you can get them in the classified from £27,000  a deeply heady loss for a near-£70,000 car. Even Piech might baulk at that.

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