8 Cheap V8 Cars For Under £5000

There’s nothing quite like a V8 engine. Arguably even more than the hallowed V12, an eight-pot just has a certain… mysticism around it, an undeniable allure that makes it appeal to car fans of all tastes.

Perhaps part of the appeal is that the V8 is fast disappearing from new cars, but there was a time when it was fairly commonplace not just in exotica and the most powerful saloons and SUVs, but in an impressively wide range of cars. Better yet, lots of these cars are now temptingly cheap, with plenty available for under £5000.

We’ve picked out our eight (obvs) favourites below. Full disclosure, as if it was needed: we’re not suggesting that any of these cars are going to be cheap to run. That’s sort of the point of a V8. And things are likely to go wrong on most of them too. Consider yourselves fairly warned.

Audi S4 (B6)

The B6-generation Audi A4 sold for a very short time between 2003 and 2005, but it marked the transition for the performance S4 from a V6 engine to a V8. It came as a saloon, estate or convertible, and weirdly, it’s the drop top that seems to be the most numerous these days. All the better for hearing that engine. For around £4500, you should be able to find one with comfortably under 100,000 miles.

The V8 crammed under the bonnet is a 4.2-litre unit with 339bhp, and assuming it still has all its horses after two decades, that’ll get you to 62mph in just over five seconds. Once again, running costs will be heinous, and it’s not the best-handling Audi ever made, but enjoy the noise and the Quattro acceleration and count the pennies you haven’t spent. Yet.

BMW 645i (E63)

When it was new, the E63-generation BMW 645i cost north of £50,000. Between 2003 and 2010, that money got you one of the finest luxury coupes on the road. While the Chris Bangle-styled looks divide opinion, we think it’s aged exceedingly well.

Today, for as little as £3000, you can get yourself an early 645i (or the convertible 645Ci) with its 4.4-litre and its 338bhp. That’s a heck of a lot of style, comfort and engine capacity for very little cash. Sure, it’ll be 20 years old and probably have north of 100,000 miles on it, and you might end up spending a fortune fixing things, but hey, you can’t have everything. This budget should also get you the 4.8-litre 650i if you’re prepared to take a bigger risk, too.

Jaguar XK8

The idea of a svelte Jaguar grand tourer – one that shares its DNA with an Aston Martin, no less – for under £5k feels almost too good to be true, but here we are. Never mind that the Aston is the relatively unloved DB7 and that both cars’ chassis can be traced back to the 1970s – the original Jaguar XK still looks like exceptional value today.

From as little as £2500, you can pick up an early first-gen XK8, complete with a 4.0-litre, 290bhp AJ-V8 engine, while a little more money and patience will net you a later 4.2-litre, 300bhp car. Both come wrapped in that curvaceous body and stuffed with more wood and leather than a forest full of Friesians. Once again, expect mileage to be around the 100k mark.

Porsche Cayenne

Many scoffed when Porsche first brought out an SUV, but the Cayenne has sold by the bucketload and has helped finance the development of more pure-blood Porsches. So stop laughing and start looking at the classifieds – you can now find early Cayennes for less than £5000.

A scan of the classifieds shows several first-generation Cayenne S models, with a 4.5-litre V8 and 335bhp. Start looking around the £3500 mark – everything below that comes with big, scary block capitals in the ads that say things like ‘READ FIRST’ or ‘SPARES AND REPAIRS’. Not only do you get a lot of physical car for the money, with bags of space inside - you also get a top-quality interior and, crucially, outstanding handling. Yeah, it’s big, but it feels like a Porsche. Promise. And yes, it’ll cost Porsche money to service and maintain. You have been warned.

Land Rover Range Rover (L322)

Luxury motoring doesn’t come more obvious than a Range Rover. The latest model is well north of £100,000, but an older one? How does around £3000 grab you? We found several very well-appointed L322-generation models from the mid-2000s, with relatively low miles – around 100,000 – for under £5000.

For that money, you’ll get the waftiest of wafty drives, urged forward by a 4.4-litre petrol V8 with 282bhp. Or, if you’ll be pounding the motorways, what about a 272bhp 3.6-litre diesel V8, for slightly less insane fuel bills? Always good to save money for repair costs…

Lexus LS430

Probably the most sensible car on this list (maybe least silly would be a better description), the Lexus LS is just as cheap to buy as the European metal on this list, but doesn’t have the same reputation for something unexpectedly going bang and making the car do its best Flying Scotsman impersonation.

Third-gen LS430s, with their silky 4.3-litre, 290bhp V8, can be had for as little as £2500, and while they tend to carry more miles than the other cars on this list, that’s likely to be less of an issue. In fact, a cursory Google reveals that the most moaned-about problem with these barges seems to be the Mark Levinson sound system not working properly. Stick an aftermarket exhaust on it (the car, not the stereo), and that’ll quickly stop being a problem.

Chrysler 300C 5.7 Hemi

A list of V8s without something American on it would be like an extra-large number nine combo meal without extra cheese on it – unthinkable. While most American V8 metal that finds its way over here tends to be of the higher-performance muscle car variety, there is one exception: the Chrysler 300C.

Yes, it’s big, floppy and unapologetically brash, and the interior’s rubbish, but it’s a hugely comfy, spacious wafter of a car, and its in-yer-face attitude rather suits the 340bhp, 5.7-litre Hemi V8. Unsurprisingly, this engine was not a big seller in the UK, but the upper end of our budget should get you one if you’re patient. What the f*** is a cubic centimetre, etc, etc.

Mercedes CLK500

Like the V8, the mid-sized coupe feels like a dying breed these days, so the chance to combine the two, then, should be relished. That’s done to rather nice effect in the Mercedes CLK.

Effectively positioned as an E-Class coupe (or convertible), £3500 upwards will bag you a second-gen CLK500 with a meaty 5.0-litre V8. 302bhp sounds a little paltry for such a big engine, but it’ll be smooth and effortless and make a nice noise. And if you really want more pace, you can actually get the 5.4-litre, 362bhp CLK55 AMG in budget too. Risky move, though.

Bonus: VW Passat W8

Yes, in its cash-flush and sometimes overly ambitious early 2000s era, when you really have to wonder what was going on behind closed doors in board meetings, VW built the only W8 engine ever made – effectively four very narrow banks of two cylinders each. It then went and shoved it in, of all things, the Passat, when a V6 was considered a bit saucy in most mid-sized family saloons.

Because it’s not a V8, we’re including it as a special bonus feature. The fact that it’s a total maintenance headache means that even low-mileage cars are within budget – we found one with just 48,000 miles on the clock for £4800. If you’re prepared to take the gamble, you’re getting yourself three things: a totally unique engine, a brilliant soundtrack, and the ability to tell people you own half a Bugatti Veyron. Sort of.