7 Awesome Winter Cars For Less Than £4000

It’s now officially winter, according to the UK calendar, so that got us thinking about the kinds of cars that are best suited to this weather. Inevitably that led us to the classifieds, which dug up a few surprises. We took an imaginary budget of £4000 and went window shopping, and the amount of car you can buy for that much (or less) is incredible. Which of these would you pick?

Nissan Navara Outlaw - £3995

This Navara Outlaw caught our eye straight away, with its (not standard) black steel wheels and off-road tyres. Whatever the car is actually like, those wheels and tyres give you the feeling that if anything is going to get you through the winter, this will. You even get leather seats – they look a bit tired but get the right cleaning products and they’ll come up nicely.

A mere 80,000 miles lie on this one’s shoulders and the 2.5-litre diesel engine will keep going for a lot longer than that. Our imaginary budget covers a whole load of choice, too, with plenty of Ford Rangers around for similar money.

Modified Toyota Hilux - £3995

While we’re on the subject of pick-ups, try this for size. It’s an absolute beast; a second-gen Toyota Hilux that’s been modified to go just about anywhere. Check out the ground clearance! Then let your eyes wander to the heavy duty front bumper, the snorkel for those flooded river crossings and the high-power spotlamps above the cabin. And because it’s an old Hilux, you know it will never, ever die in a way that can’t be fixed with basic tools.

Obviously, if you don’t want something quite this gobsmackingly awesome, the ultra-dependable Hilux starts from not much over £2000, giving you plenty of breathing room within the budget to fix any worn mechanicals or upgrade the tyres.

Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 - £3500

Looking at something a bit smaller and a lot faster, Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000s are within budget. This is good news. The model sits in the pantheon of great special-edition classic Imprezas but without the insane price tags that good RB5s and P1s are attracting. That makes these 208bhp rally cars for the road look like fantastic value for money.

This 92,000-miler in its fetching Deep Green Metallic looks like a nice one, although the fact that it’s had a gearbox refurb makes us wonder whether it’s been abused. The seller says it’s just had a service and the cambelt was changed 16,000 miles ago. There’s no air-con, though, so be prepared to wait a bit longer than usual for the windscreen to clear. A small price to pay for a winter filled with warbly flat-four goodness.

Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B Sport Tourer - £2425

But if you’re after a Subaru with an estate boot and a bit more power, we’ve found just the ticket. This amazingly cheap Legacy Spec B Sports Tourer has heated leather seats, an automatic gearbox for relaxed cold-weather progress, Bluetooth, sat-nav and climate control, among other kit highlights. It always was a superb combination of permanent four-wheel drive, spaciousness and speed, but now it’s also pretty damn cheap. This one has even just had new discs and pads.

The 3.0-litre normally-aspirated flat-six pumps 241bhp to the wheels via a traditional slushbox transmission, and no advisories are recorded on its most recent MOT. The reason it’s so cheap is clearly its mileage, but there’s no reason why this platform shouldn’t run for a lot longer if it’s been properly maintained. A full service history is included, but it’s worth checking how thorough it is.

Audi TT Roadster 3.2 V6 - £3995

Equally interesting is this first-generation Audi TT Roadster 3.2 V6, which has DSG for smooth shifts and quattro four-wheel drive for maximum traction. The soft top also gives you the chance to show everyone else how committed you are to open-air motoring in mid-winter. The listing is irritatingly light on detail but we can see the alloys aren’t the originals, and it looks like the cream leather could use a good clean, but the engine and exhaust noise make this a surprisingly tempting find.

Our budget doesn’t buy many V6s but they don’t have to be particularly high-mileage. There are loads of 1.8 turbo quattro models with both hard and soft roofs if you’d prefer a cheaper TT.

Suzuki Jimny - £3495

Back to a more traditional 4x4 now, and by traditional we really mean old-fashioned. The Jimny hasn’t changed all that much since it was launched back in the bronze age, but its owners love it for that. It’s such a chirpy, characterful and generally endearing little chap that you can’t help enjoying it. They also happen to be stunningly capable off road, and because they’re so light they have no issues in snow, either – at least with decent tyres fitted.

There are loads in the classifieds, all blessed with the simple but willing 1.3 petrol engine. The choice is yours, although there doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference between cheap ones and those that max out our budget. For a winter beater, stick to your budget. They start from under £1000, although for that price, it’ll probably be riddled with rust on the sills and boot floor, so make sure you check these areas thoroughly!

Mercedes ML 270 CDi - £3976

Now we get into the really surprising end of things. For our fictional £4000 you could buy this Mercedes ML, in which you could luxuriate among heated seats, climate and cruise control, tan leather upholstery, electric windows and mirrors, and parking sensors front and back. Up front is a 163bhp 2.7-litre V6 diesel with 107,000 miles to speak of, which is nowhere near end-of-life.

Okay, so it’s a bit old-mannish but this is a proper luxury SUV that’s built to last; one that will (probably) deliver massive comfort right up until the apocalypse. We’re genuinely staggered that you can get this much car for that much money. It’s hard to do any better within our budget.

Audi S6 - £3000

But if six cylinders just isn’t enough, or the idea of owning a diesel SUV turns your blood snow-cold, check this out. You can buy a 2003 Audi S6, complete with glorious 4.2-litre V8 and 335bhp, with enough change left over for tyres and/or maintenance. As winter runabouts go, how do you top this? Heated, electric, leather front seats (they need a good clean, though), hefty lumps of wooden trim and a six-CD multichanger? Yes please. It’s the stuff winter commuters’ dreams are made of.

If you’ve clicked the link you’ll probably have noticed the mileage count. At an estimated 200,000 miles, following an instrument cluster swap at around 55,000 miles plus 145,000 covered since then, this S6 has definitely been around the block a few times. There’s also a gearbox change listed as having been carried out at 90,000 miles. But still, it’s a big, comfy V8 saloon with four-wheel drive and a good bit of pace. What’s not to love?