Must-have fast wagons | Six of the Best
From 15 years old to delivery mileage, here are the mega estates we can't stop looking at this week...
Alpina B3, 2022, 15k, £69,999
Make no mistake about it, the most significant fast wagon to launch in recent years is the BMW M3 Touring. Not just because it broke with historical precedent by finally offering M car customers what they always wanted, but mostly because it was also fantastically good to drive. However, it was not fantastically good to look at, and that’s where the Alpina B3 comes in. Same basic engine, same basic xDrive system, but without a face for radio. Not quite as fierce or as scalpel-sharp, perhaps, although uniquely desirable and slightly more affordable, too. This one, in Midnight Sapphire with only 15k on the clock, undercuts most used M3s despite being considerably rarer. The connoisseurs' choice, then.
Mercedes-AMG E63 S, 2020, 22k, £57,890
You didn’t need to be a connoisseur to appreciate everything in the last E63’s toolkit. More than 600hp? Check. Understated styling? Check. Vast size? Check. Supercar-threatening performance? Check. The outgoing E-Class wagon very much had it all, and in such improbable quantities that it was declared a classic virtually from launch. And thanks to the volley of hybrids and EVs that will follow it, you can expect that reputation to set like a bug in Jurassic amber. Handily, that fact hasn’t prevented it from steadily depreciating; here’s a fully loaded one from 2020 with very modest miles for significantly less than £60k. Wonky infotainment aside, it’s worth every penny.
Skoda Octavia vRS, 2023, 100 miles, £29,890
Obviously not everyone has space in their lives for a turbocharged 4.0-litre V8; some might even suggest it’s overkill for the job at hand. If you’re in the latter camp, you’re probably a fan of the Skoda Octavia vRS, which has been pluckily fulfilling the practical, fast-ish estate car brief for about 400 years. Older versions proliferate among bargain wagons, although we’d encourage you in the direction of the pre-facelift model that has already slipped under £30k. Sure, there are more exciting ways to spend that kind of money on a big boot, but precious few will have been registered in 2023 and covered just 100 miles. Or be available with a throwback six-speed manual. The thinking man's choice.
Audi RS6, 2015, 49k, PHAuction
Talking of throwbacks, let’s all pause to reflect on the C7 RS6’s place in fast estate folklore. Has any car launched in 2013 aged more gracefully? To say it still looks the business is like saying Emily Blunt still brushes up nice. Let’s not forget the impact that 560hp from its turbocharged V8 made on people at the time either: a sub-four-second 0-62mph time was greeted with near incredulity. It was a confirmed monster from day one, and while the newer E63 above would eventually dethrone it from a driving point of view, it hardly made a dent in the car’s popularity. Now you can have a very nice used one - this car, currently up for auction on PH, has suffered just one owner and fewer than 50k miles - for roughly the price of a new diesel Golf.
VW Passat R36, 2009, 98k, £9,995
Okay, sure, you’re thinking, I like the idea of a burly, burbly all-wheel-drive Germanic wagon - but I’ve only got £10k to spend. Well, worry ye not: how about a lesser-seen R36 Passat from the carefree days of 2009? We’ll grant you that 300hp from the narrow-angle 3.6-litre V6 does not a rocketship make, but the top-spec Passat looked the part and sounded even better. This one seems in decent nick and promises a full service history covering 98k in the hands of just two previous owners. Not as revered as some of the more senior cars on this list, perhaps - but rarer and very much replete with noughties charm. Expect admirers of a certain age to form a queue.
Peugeot 508 PSE, 2021, 15k, £32,990
We dallied with the idea of something Subaru-shaped for a tail-end wildcard (or else the formidable but Marmite-ish Panamera wagon) but you don’t get much more left field than the 508 PSE. It doesn’t present like that: after all, it’s a petrol-electric hybrid and as modern to look as a Denis Villeneuve movie. But the 360hp flagship turned out to be neither one thing or the other, and was priced like it were Faberge egg. That made it an also-ran at best, which was unfortunate because it was actually very pleasant to drive and impressively economical if you ran it properly. Little surprise then that with more than £20k knocked off the as-new price, a secondhand one looks a wee bit more compelling. This one, from 2021, has barely been run-in.
If an Audi/BMW estate of the same era was on offer, one of those may be my choice. These are from a time when performance did subtle.
If an Audi/BMW estate of the same era was on offer, one of those may be my choice. These are from a time when performance did subtle.
If an Audi/BMW estate of the same era was on offer, one of those may be my choice. These are from a time when performance did subtle.
For me the 530d was the best estate car and much better than these on offer. In general you have a big estate because you are doing big trips and carrying lots of stuff around, not doing track days or hustling down country lanes on a Sunday morning. A big diesel (obviously with an automatic gearbox) just ticks all the important boxes.
Also cheap to run, considering oomph…
Of those six E63 because V8 but those Alpina are very very special.
I’d probably go C63 though - a bit smaller and a bit more mental being rwd.
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