The best secondhand cars of the year have been revealed after What Car? published their influential list of winners in the Used Car of the Year awards 2019.
The top prize went to an estate, Mercedes’ E-Class Estate, a rare win for a category which is rarely in the headlines. Judges rated the E-Class for its “luxurious and spacious interior, immense comfort and remarkable value-for-money.”
In winning the best overall prize, the E-Class also claimed the best Used Estate Car of the Year award, beating the BMW 3 Series and Skoda Octavia.
Mercedes-Benz also enjoyed a win in the best luxury car category wth the S-Class beating the challenge of the Porsche Panemera and the BMW 5 series.
Alex Robbins, used cars editor at What Car? commented: “It isn't often that the winner of one of our overall awards comes from the estate category, but this year the Mercedes E-Class Estate proved impossible to resist.
“Up front there's a luxurious interior, an extremely comfortable ride, cosseting refinement no matter which engine you choose and impressive fuel economy for such a large car.
"But the E-Class Estate combines all this with a terrifically roomy tail end; the boot is simply vast, making it practical enough for almost anything you'd care to throw at it, whether that be a fully loaded family holiday, a new sofa, or all the bags of rubbish that result from that first household clear-out of the year.
“It's a master of all trades in its own right, in other words, but what really gives the E-Class the overall win here is that it combines this all-round excellence with terrific value on the used market.
“It is, in short, today's best-kept used car secret, and a worthy winner of our overall award.”