Even when the cheapest new car in Britain costs a good few grand more, £10,000 is still a heck of a lot to play with when it comes to buying used. There’s an endless array of sensible second-hand options for that budget for people who just need some transport, and enthusiasts are pretty well catered for with hot hatches, sports cars, off-roaders and more.
But what if none of that appeals, and you want to look like you’re a regional CEO/wedding car hire operator/mob boss? Or, you just want to travel about in sumptuous luxury and serenity? Well, thanks to a magical thing called depreciation, your options for four-figure luxury barges are impressively broad too.
They’ll all likely cost a heck of a lot more to run, financially and emotionally, than, say, a low-mileage Mk7 Golf, but on the occasions when all is well, nothing much compares to the experience of a big, wafty luxury car. Here are 10 of the best for under £10,000.
Mercedes S-Class (W221)
Mercedes S-Class (W221)
Much like the Golf and the 911, the Mercedes S-Class is one of those sturdy pillars of the German automotive industry, the ur-example of an Autobahn-pounding business jet for high-flying execs to drive and be driven in.
Always bringing new tech and innovations to the table, and always offering bags of space and comfort, your best bet for our budget is the W221 generation, produced from 2005 to 2013. You’ll find everything from sensible V6 diesels to highly unsensible AMG-fettled V8s, and compared to other Mercs of the era, they have a fairly decent reputation for reliability (although that’s not saying much).
BMW 7 Series (F01)
BMW 7 Series (F01)
Of course, anything one of the big three posh German brands does, the other two have to respond to, which is why the BMW 7 Series came into being. In Beemer tradition, it trades the S-Class’ sheer tech focus for a little extra driver involvement, but it’s still a vast, sumptuous luxury barge.
Again, there are plenty in budget, and while a ’90s E38 looks tempting if only for its phenomenal looks, the F01 – built from 2008 to 2015 – is going to feel leaps and bounds ahead in terms of how we quantify ‘luxury’ these days. Go for a six-cylinder diesel 730d if you’re feeling sensible, or one of the petrol V8s if you want to give your local petrol stations a friendly boost in income.
Audi A8 (D4)
Audi A8 (D4)
Completing the trio is the Audi A8, which has always felt like a slightly naughty, rogueish choice alongside its BMW and Merc rivals. You can thank its roles in Ronin and the Transporter films for that, as well as its always imposing styling.
If you want one with a truly silly engine like a V10 or a W12, you can opt for the D3 generation of the noughties, but the later D4, sold between 2009 and 2017, has already been hit pretty hard with the depreciation stick, and represents a slightly more up-to-date and less financially risky take on the formula, as long as you don’t mind settling for a diesel V6.
VW Phaeton
VW Phaeton
A product of the wonderful combination of ambition and madness that was Ferdinand Piëch’s reign at the helm of the VW Group, the enigmatic chairman infamously decreed that the VW Phaeton should be capable of cruising all day at 186mph in 50-degree heat while maintaining a 22-degree cabin temperature. This made it incredibly popular with heatstroke-prone Death Valley-based getaway drivers.
They were about the only people the Phaeton was popular with, in fact. Something to do with trying to sell an S-Class-sized luxury saloon wearing the same badge as a Polo. Still, that means it’s been more depreciation-prone than most rivals, and though it’s perhaps conceptually flawed, as a sheer luxury car it’s phenomenal. Most that come up for sale have a TDI V6, but if you’re both brave and patient, you might be able to track down a W12 or even one with the truly mad turbodiesel V10.
Jaguar XJ (X351)
Jaguar XJ (X351)
For the first 40-odd years of its life, the fundamental styling cues of the Jaguar XJ didn’t really change once. For the final generation, chief Jag designer Ian Callum ripped up that rulebook and came out with the staggeringly beautiful X351, a car whose styling still holds up today.
Those looks were paired with a superb chassis, an interior that still looks and feels special 15 years on, and a good range of engines including Jag’s snorty 5.0-litre supercharged V8 – and yes, you can just about get that one under budget. You can also get plenty of less thirsty petrol or diesel V6s, and pretty much all of them look superb.
Maserati Quattroporte V
Maserati Quattroporte V
Pretty much the only thing on this list that can outdo the big Jag for both driver satisfaction and sheer cool factor, the Maserati Quattroporte is also the unquestionable champion when it comes to financial risk. Any used Maser is going to be a purchase fraught with jeopardy, but a four-figure Quattroporte, at this price point likely fitted with the fragile DuoSelect semi-auto gearbox? Yeah…
And yet, when you sit down and take in the recipe – a 4.2-litre Ferrari-derived V8, a transaxle gearbox for optimal weight distribution, and a properly knee-trembling engine note, all wrapped up in a spacious and sumptuous interior and topped off with a Maserati badge – you could forgive it for pretty much all of its flaws. Until it left you with your hazards blinking and a remortgaging on your hands.
Lexus LS (XF40)
Lexus LS (XF40)
We’ve had a lot of cars so far that represent a bigger financial risk than a tequila-fuelled night in Vegas, so here’s a novel idea: how about a big cheap luxury barge that might actually be reliable?
That falls, of course, to Lexus and the fourth generation LS, a vision of calm, understated Japanese luxury. It’s far from the sexiest car on this list, but as long as it’s been properly looked after, it should offer you many thousands of miles of relaxed, wafty, leather-clad motoring. You could even get an LS600h hybrid – okay, its environmental cred was somewhat damaged by it also having a 5.0-litre V8, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
Range Rover (L322)
Range Rover (L322)
Who says a luxury car has to be a low-riding saloon? The Range Rover’s been challenging that perception for yonks, and though it’s spawned lots of imitators in the deluxe SUV field, it’s still the undisputed monarch (and favoured by actual monarchs, no less).
The third-generation L322 version easily comes in under budget, and while no old Rangie is going to be risk-free, a good one represents a hugely complete car – plush and comfortable on the road and massively capable off it, and with a huge range of engines available to boot. To many aficionados, this era is peak Rangie, and we have to say, we don’t disagree.
Bentley Flying Spur
Bentley Flying Spur
The first four-door to come out of Bentley under its reinvigorated VW-owned era, the original Flying Spur was a counterpart to the contemporary A8 and Phaeton, but always felt more special – partly because of that badge, and partly because it only came with the silky-smooth twin-turbo W12 engine.
That examples of this 12-cylinder slab of sheer opulence can now be found for four figures should perhaps tell you the levels of risk involved, then, but if you’re willing to take that on, you’re getting hold of one of the fastest four-doors of its day, capable of almost 200mph. Granted, there’s nowhere in Britain you can do that without getting a new address that starts with ‘HMP’, but it’s nice to know the capability’s there.
Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
Frankly, the Silver Shadow was not Rolls’ finest hour, and driving one in 2025 means you’re going to look like you either run a wedding car hire business in a dilapidated seaside town or you regularly appear on the news with the word ‘disgraced’ in front of your profession and name.
But Rolls-Royce is a name without parallel in the world of luxury cars, so it’s fairly remarkable that you can still buy a serviceable example of anything with those intertwining Rs on its big, imposing grille for under £10k. And though it’s no Phantom VIII, the Shad still does all the Rolls stuff – there’s no reason bystanders need to know it cost half a boggo Dacia Sandero.
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