"Bag a Vantage or an M-threeee" - the best used cars for Christmas

Kia EV9 2023-

Price range: £45,000 - £75,000

Capable of seating seven comfortably and with an electric range of up to 350 miles, an EV9 is just the thing for collecting and returning far-flung family. Close your ears to criticisms of its bumpy ride - your passengers should be grateful you're running around after them. Beware damaged extremities (the Kia, not your passengers).

Citroen C4 Grand Spacetourer 2018-2022

Price range: £10,000 - £17,500

Most MPVs are utilitarian things: boxy but boring. Not so the Spacetourer. It's efficient and practical right enough, but it's nicely sculpted and packed with thoughtful details. One in Flair trim, finished in black with silver pillars, dark alloys and a panoramic sunroof, should set the rellies' tongues wagging. Even from 2014, the 2.0 HDi engine was Euro 6-compliant. Check for emissions system issues.

Seat Alhambra 2010-2020

Price range: £12,000 - £16,000

It's time to show your selfless side with a seven-seat MPV that can collect extended family from the train station on Christmas Eve and return them before the King's Speech on Christmas Day. With its sliding doors - handy for those folk presenting a range of infirmities - multiple seat configurations and the option of a swift but economical diesel engine, the Alhambra ticks all the boxes. Check the interior for damage.

Fiat Multipla 1998-2010

Price range: £500 - £1500

Forget The Ghost of Christmas Past-one look at the pre-facelift Multipla is enough to turn your hair white. However, your passengers will soon be won over by this remarkable MPV's impressive load-carrying potential and two rows of three seats that make every trip an adventure. Rare, and a future classic.

Best performance cars

Something for that last minute Christmas Eve present sprint

Volkswagen Golf R Estate 2015-2020

Price range: £12,000 - £30,000

With much more load space than the hatchback, as well as a longer floor, the Golf R estate is perfect for present buyers in a generous mood but with little time before the shops shut. It's very quick, but the R estate flies even further under the radar than the hatch. Full history and a quality warranty are essential.

Audi RS4 2012-2015

Price range: £20,000 - £30,000

The RS4 easily satisfies the twin challenges of generosity and limited time. Its additional mechanicals come at no cost to load space compared with regular Avants, while its performance and handling are on another level. The larger RS6 of the same era is tempting but more expensive and not as accomplished. Beware a jerky transmission and suspension and intake issues.

Tesla Model 3 Performance 2018-

Price range: £14,000 - £25,000

The 3 Performance is both quick (0-62mph in 3.3sec) and a tidy handler, and a frunk plus boot, with a huge underfloor well, make it practical. Range is almost 330 miles, so a dash across the country and back in time to put mince pies out for Santa is doable. Check battery health, brakes and trim.

Toyota GR Yaris 2020-

Price range: £25,000 - £40,000

If your route to the shops is via something like the A701 Moffat to Edinburgh road, for much of its length one of the finest driver's roads in the land, and time is short, you'll need a GR Yaris. Born of rally stock and in Circuit trim with stiffer springs and anti-roll bars, it will make easy work of the twists and turns - but pack delicate gifts securely. Beware track-day refugees.

Range Rover Sport SVR 2015-2022

Price range: £12,000 - £60,000

At its launch in 2015 and with 542bhp from its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine, the Sport SVR was the most powerful Land Rover in the company's history. With all seats folded there are 1671 litres of gift space to draw on, and with the ability to cross fields you'll not be held up by the Christmas Eve queues. Slap a quality warranty on it.

Best load carriers

Something to carry the Christmas tree

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate 2016-2023

Price range: £13,000 - £35,000

Not as big a boot as the Superb's (1660 litres with seats down, compared with the Superb's 1950 litres), but the E-Class is the better car in terms of its range of abilities. With a heavy tree in the back, an example fitted with the optional air suspension will sit better and ride more comfortably. Check the electrics are fine and, if it's a diesel, that there are no diesel particulate filter issues.

Skoda Superb Estate 2015-2022

Price range: £5000 - £30,000

The Superb wagon is so big that with a bit of judicious pruning you might even be able to sneak Trafalgar Square's giant Norwegian spruce into the back of it. Cars in SE Technology trim with the 1.5 petrol engine are good value. Check for damage in the load bay.

Ford Ranger Raptor 2023-

Price range: £35,000 - £50,000

When the Christmas tree is at the back of the nursery and still in the ground, this will be the perfect device to get to it. Then, when you've dug it out, toss it in the load bay and, with the Raptor's adaptive dampers smoothing out the rough stuff, make a sharp exit thanks to its 288bhp and 316lb ft. Expect wear and tear, but check for body and interior marks.

Volkswagen Passat Estate 2015-2024

Price range: £10,000 - £25,000

Another estate with almost as much load space as the Skoda Superb. For effortless hauling, the powerful 2.0-litre diesels are just the job, but the 1.5 petrol is better value and pulls reasonably well. Beware warning lights and loose trim.

Fiat 500C 2009-

Price range: £2000 - £15,000

An alternative to carrying a Christmas tree lengthwise is to stow it vertically, but which cars have the roof space to permit that? The 500C is one. At the press of a button, its canvas roof peels back to offer sky's-the-limit room for even the tallest spruce. Should it topple, the car's roof sides will catch it. Check the roof is watertight.

Best sensible A to B cars

What the head wants for Christmas

Skoda Octavia 2013-2020

Price range: £2000 - £20,000

For A to B motoring you can't go wrong with a reliable, practical and comfortable Octavia. The 2017 facelift gave it sharper looks, but its key attractions - acres of boot space and a roomy rear cabin - remained unchanged. The earlier 1.4 petrol engine is a good all-rounder, but its successor, the 1.5, is more economical. Check interior trim and that the infotainment system is glitch-free.

Lexus NX 2014-2021

Price range: £8500 - £30,000

It won't set your Christmas puddings ablaze, but in all other respects the NX is a faithful and well-appointed companion with a decent image. Hybrid petrol motors are your only option, and we would go for the lustier 2.5 in the 300h. The CVT gearbox is sluggish and noisy, but it and the rest of the car are reliable. Check for body and interior damage.

Toyota Corolla 2019-

Price range: £9000 - £30,000

Here's your opportunity to put others first this Christmas with cars they can rely on, starting with the Toyota Corolla. Reliable, efficient, comfortable, nice to drive and good looking, it just gets on with the business of carrying people and things quietly and unobtrusively. Be sure recalls have been actioned.

LEVC TX 2018-