Hot car deals, 18 September 2009How to get Fords, VWs and Vauxhalls for less

18 September 2009

This week we'll tell you how to save stacks of cash on the VW Passat in frugal BlueMotion form, the sporty Vauxhall Astra and the small but perfectly formed Nissan Note

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VW's BlueMotion models offer great economy 

Up to £2,500 off the new VW Passat BlueMotion 

Volkswagen’s BlueMotion line is capable of delivering impressive real world economy - but they're usually not cheap.

A new Golf and Polo BlueMotion have just been launched, alongside a heavily revised version of the Passat, powered by a 1.6-litre TDI turbodiesel engine. As a result the Passat now emits as little as 118g/km CO2. And remarkably DealDrivers is already offering it at a handy discount.

The list price is £18,665 for the saloon and £19,855 for the estate. Sourcing new cars direct from VW main dealers, DealDrivers is selling them for £16,708 and £17,322, respectively. That’s a discount of between £1,957 and £2,533 on a really fuel-efficient, well-made new car.

Of course, if that’s not cheap enough, you could always buy a used example of the previous 2.0-litre TDI Passat BlueMotion. For example, ArnoldClark.com has a 3,500-mile-old 09-plate saloon going for £13,988. 

Now is a good time to nab a Vauxhall Astra for less

£7,000 saving on Vauxhall Astra SRi

We’ve seen other big discounts on Vauxhall Astras recently, but these have mostly been on lower spec petrol versions, and depended on the scrappage scheme. Here’s a deal on a sporty Astra turbodiesel.

UK Car Discount is selling 1.9-litre CDTi three-door models with 148bhp in SRi specification for £15,070 - including metallic paint and the exterior pack for sharper looks. The list price for such a car is £22,070 - so that’s a huge £7,000 discount.

Look out for more deals on the current Astra - the new replacement Astra has just been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Used Nissan Notes for under £7k

Big savings on little Nissan Note

Finally this week, just saved £7,000 on an Astra? Then maybe you could spend that on a small slice of affordable but pleasing practicality.

Motorpoint has a number of second-hand Nissan Notes dating from 2007 available, priced at £6,999. All of them are powered by the 1.4-litre petrol engine, and in SE specification with around 15,000 miles under their wheels.

It’s difficult to make a direct comparison, because the current Note has been subject to styling, engineering and equipment upgrades, but the list price for this engine and least expensive Visia trim level is currently £10,295 - so these used examples represent at least a £3,296 saving.

If you want a newer one, Buy A New Car Online seems to be amongst the UK’s cheapest, offering the 1.4 Visia pre-registered for £8,224. That’s a £2,071 saving over list - but you might want to check whether you can take away the V5 registration document at the time of purchase though.

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