What Car?'s best used executive cars for less than £25,000

With standards incredibly high thanks to years of continuous development by manufacturers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes, and increasingly stringent demands from buyers, any executive car has to be at the top of its game if it’s to be a worthwhile purchase.

Fortunately, buyers of used executive cars also benefit from this ceaseless drive for improvement. At just a few years old, all that fantastic new technology, not to mention the smart looks, comfort, sharp drive and everyday usability, start to become available for very reasonable prices.

So if you have £25,000 burning a hole in your pocket, which is the best used executive car to buy? Here’s a round up of our top 10:

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Style and real driving ability are the hallmarks of the Jaguar XE. Very few executive cars can cut such a dash, and when it comes to steering and handling few in this class can match it.

It also feels well built inside and comes with a particularly smart interior. The diesels offer a perfect combination of punch and economy, but they can be gruff.

Rear leg room is a little limited, too, but you'll have to accept that as the price you pay for beauty. Not the most reliable either, but there's a decent used warranty scheme available.

We found: 2019 Jaguar XE 2.0d 180 R-Sport, 5275 miles, £22,900

If you’re looking for a little Latin flair among the more sober-sided executive cars here the Giulia could be the one for you.

Indeed it’s fair to say that a number of people have bought a used Alfa Romeo in the past simply because it looked really good and its value had dropped faster than a lift with the cable cut.

Now, though, with the Giulia, you have a really compelling used alternative to the executive car norm that competes on performance, running costs and offers a great driving experience to boot.

We found: 2019 Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.2 TD Super, 6742 miles, £21,995

When it comes to a rock-solid premium image, there’s little to beat a Mercedes-Benz. After all, who doesn’t want to ride behind that famous three-pointed star? The only problem for the C-Class has always been the stiff competition it faces in the compact executive car class, namely the Audi A4 and the BMW 3 Series.

However, recent versions of the evergreen C-Class have offered both comfort and a relaxed driving experience, not to mention an air of dependability. That’s been enough to win it plenty of admirers on both the new and used car markets.

We found: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C220d Sport Premium, 9150 miles, £23,106

The Passat is admittedly not as stylish as its Arteon sibling, but it is nonetheless an able and solid performer with a touch of class. It’s good to drive, for one thing, with a spot-on driving position; and, despite a ride that errs on the side of firmness, it’s a very comfortable car to travel in.

The interior’s classy and it’s also massive, so there’s plenty of space for five. There’s a sizeable boot out the back, too. Cheaper new than the Arteon, but there’s not much in it at this age.

We found: 2019 Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDI 150 GT, 5214 miles, £19,000

So take your Volkswagen Passat and add a splash of glamour, a smidgen of extra practicality and a smattering of extra toys and what you get is the Volkswagen Arteon.

The Arteon replaced the Passat CC (latterly just the CC) – in other words, it was a smoother, sharper-suited version of Volkswagen’s slightly dowdy executive favourite.

It broke with the CC in adding an extra door, though: one at the rear, turning it into a five-door hatchback, rather than a four-door saloon. Choose the 2.0 TDI version and you’ll get a strong engine, there’s a huge amount of interior space and it's well equipped too.

We found: 2019 Volkswagen Arteon 2.0 TDI 150 R-line, 7742 miles, £21,999

If space isn’t quite such a high priority for you, the A3 saloon might make perfect sense. It takes all the good qualities of the popular A3 Sportback, a competent and extremely capable five-door hatchback, and adds a three-box, four-door and separate boot into the equation.

The result is a handsome confection that handles brilliantly, with plenty of grip and precise steering. All models are capable and composed, and as a further bonus it rides well, with a firm but comfortable set-up. The interior’s lovely, too, and beautifully built.

We found: 2018 Audi A3 35 TDI Sport, 1500 miles, £22,888

Another executive top 10, another Audi. By Sportback, Audi means a blending of coupé style with saloon practicality, and you get a pair of extra doors and a useful hatchback rear tailgate over the regular A5 coupé.

It’s lower, wider and shorter than the contemporary A4 saloon on which it’s based, so some rear head room has been sacrificed inside on the altar of design, but it drives extremely well and its interior is a work of art. It’s refined, too, especially the petrol-engined version we’ve found, and wonderfully classy.

We found: 2019 Audi A5 Sportback 35 TDI S Line, 15,093 miles, £24,999

Not a badge snob, I hope? Good, because there are no two ways about it: if what you require from an executive car is a large interior and a massive boot, the Skoda Superb is the perfect car for you. No other car in its class can match the Superb for space, and if that was your sole criteria when choosing a car, then the stylish Superb has won the vote before it turns a wheel.

But it’s also beautifully made, has loads of standard kit, is great to drive and has a comfortable ride. As with all VW Group products in this class, there’s a range of high-performing and efficient engines and a good choice of trim levels, all handsomely equipped. Our £25k budget buys you a car so new you can almost smell the fresh paint.

We found: 2019 Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI SE L Executive, 3679 miles, £20,995

It might seem like BMW has every niche covered in the motoring world these days, but if there's just one car that's come to define the German firm's products it must be the 3 Series saloon.

When it was originally launched, way back in 1975, it was a rather humble two-door car, but it's achieved near iconic status over the last few decades as a four-door executive.

This sixth-generation version of the ever-popular 3 is the most spacious to date, offering enough legroom and headroom in the back for a couple of adults to travel in comfort.

Better still, all this in a car that is genuinely fun to drive, very well built and subtly stylish. Prices for this generation are also temptingly low because an all-new (and very good) seventh-generation version has superseded it.

We found: 2019 BMW 320d M Sport Shadow Edition, 8490 miles, £21,900

The executive saloon market has long been a close battle between Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and for many years the 3 Series was undisputed king.

So it’s no surprise that Audi pulled out all the stops to ensure this seventh-generation A4 was a worthy contender.

It’s roomy, well built and offers a class-leading interior not only in terms of outright space but in quality too. All that hard work paid off – this was the first A4 that really socked it to the 3 Series and deservedly took top-slot at the summit of the executive car class.

It’s wonderfully refined and great to drive, with a range of efficient engines and sumptuous interiors. Our budget buys you a nearly new car, of which we found plenty of examples with either a smooth petrol and frugal diesel engine.

We found: 2019 Audi A4 2.0 40 TDI Sport, 8850 miles, £23,000