What Car? Used Car of the Year - Best supermini

£3000 to £5000
Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 Club 5dr ’02/51, 32k, £4425
New car buyers may grimace at the mere mention of depreciation, but, in the used car market, it can be the best news you’ve ever had.

Take this Vauxhall Corsa, for example. When it was new, it cost over £9000, but a little more than two years later all its abilities are yours for less than half that price. It represents an awful lot of car for your money – and in this class, you simply can’t find better value.

Mind you, there’s a great deal more to the Corsa than just simple financial considerations. For a start, you have an enormous range of models to choose from. With so many being sold as new cars, you can afford to shop around to find just the right used car for you: the correct price, the right colour and the perfect specification.

For the same reason, the Corsa is an easy car to run. There are plenty of places to buy spares and get work done, if that’s necessary. The good news is that’s unlikely to be the case, however. Our experts happily confirmed that the Corsa is an extremely solid car with no reliability worries.
Admittedly, it’s not the most exciting car to drive, but it does all the basics well enough. Around town, the Vauxhall’s steering makes light work of slotting the car into the tightest spaces, and it’s a capable, if a little noisy, cruiser. This makes it a popular driving school car, so be sure to avoid any such example.

Finally, if you buy a car at this age, you forget worries about depreciation. The Corsa has taken its biggest hit.

Also consider
Fiat Punto 1.2 16v ELX 5dr ’02/02, 30k, £4390

Up to £3000
Nissan Micra 1.0 S 3dr ’00/W, 49k, £3000
The only question here was what would be the runner-up, because at this price, nothing can touch the Micra.

The Nissan’s reliability is beyond question: phrases such as ‘bulletproof’ and ‘just keeps on going’ rang around the room as our judges ran through the Micra’s talents. On top of that, it’s fun to drive and cheap to run. You can expect well over 40mpg from this 1.0-litre engine, and it has enough poke to mean there’s no point buying the bigger, more expensive 1.3.

Also consider
Citroen Saxo 1.1 SX 3dr ’99/T, 57k, £2800

Over £5000
Skoda Fabia 1.4 16v Comfort ’01/51, 36k, £5565
Our former Car of the Year very nearly completed a double by going on to claim a used car award. However, it can’t quite compete with the Corsa’s value.

Nevertheless, this is still an awful lot of car for your money – and with more Fabias now hitting the market, it’s an easy job to recommend one. Its quality and refinement shine through, while the cabin is one of the most spacious in this class.

Also consider
Toyota Yaris 1.0 GLS 5dr ’01/51, 36k, £5500