The BMW 3 Series (2019-present) has been named Britain’s best used car by the country’s leading consumer champion and car buying platform, What Car?.
It comes at a time when used car prices are looking more tempting than they have since before the pandemic, due to demand no longer exceeding supply. Used electric car prices, in particular, have dropped significantly as private buyers stall on making the switch to an EV and a surplus of used models hit the market.
As a result, used buyers can now get more car for their money – great news, given how much the general cost of living has risen – but they still have to choose carefully.
To help, the What Car? Used Car of the Year Awards highlight the best used models across eight classes, ranging from hatchbacks to SUVs, with an overall winner chosen from the category winners.
Launched in 2019, the current BMW 3 Series walked off with two category wins this year; it scooped Best Used Executive Car for the range as a whole, plus Best Used Hybrid Car for the 330e plug-in hybrid.
It then beat a host of excellent cars to this year’s overall What Car? Used Car of the Year title, including the Ford Puma (2019-present) and the Tesla Model 3 (2019-present).
The 3 Series was crowned winner thanks to its immense driver appeal, great range of engines, upmarket interior and class-leading refinement, as well as for its versatility.
What Car? used cars editor Mark Pearson, said: “The task of picking just one winner seems to get more and more daunting with each passing year. In the end, though, the 3 Series stood out.
“It’s a desirable choice that does almost everything exceptionally well, which means you can buy it with your head as well as your heart, and its versatility means it won not one but two of our classes this year.
“It was the variety of options it offers the used car buyer, from swish petrols to frugal diesels and a highly tempting hybrid, that gave it the victory. That this immensely appealing executive car should also be such great value when bought used just sealed the deal for us.”
Other winners included the Audi TT (2014-present) (Best Used Sports Car), Honda Jazz (2020-present) (Best Used Hatchback), Peugeot 5008 (2017-present) (Best Used Seven-Seater) and the Volkswagen Passat Estate (2015-present) (Best Used Estate Car).
In addition to the Used Car of the Year and the eight category winners, What Car? also named a number of alternative cars to consider in each category, with these excelling in areas that might be of particular interest to used buyers.
The full results can be read on whatcar.com, which features market-leading, independent used car editorial, and is currently home to more than 1000 used car reviews. These combine with other used content to generate around 30 million page views per year.
In addition, all the winners can be bought via the website, which offers its own classifieds section with more than 400,000 used cars for sale.
